Table for Two by Amor Towles
So I don’t want to get into every story in this book because I don’t want to spoil. But wow. This book was really really good. Even though I thought the part two that switched to Los Angeles lost some of its charm, I still thought this was a 5 star read and really enjoyed it. Instead of giving a blow by blow of each story, I am just going to focus on my favs: “The Line”-This story follows Pushkin and his wife Irina and […]
Table for Two by Amor Towles
Table for Two is divided into two parts, one labeled “New York” and the other “Los Angeles.” The New York part consists of six short stories set mostly in the Big Apple. The first story, “The Line”, set in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution, follows a farmer dragged to Moscow due to his wife’s fervent devotion to Communism. Genial despite his joblessness, he finds a niche for himself by cheerfully waiting in lines that others cannot, for bread, milk and other essentials. Eventually, he […]
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Being able to submerge readers in a particular era/time/place is one of Amor Towles’s super powers. Whether it’s early 20th century Russia, or the 1950s American midwest, readers can expect to feel and breathe an era through Towles’ expertly crafted prose. In Rules of Civility, Towles’s debut novel, we find ourselves transported to New York in the late 1930s, just as the city is starting to see the light at the end of a grueling decade, a decade that “launched the Great Depression just to […]
A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
I started A Gentleman in Moscow (2016) by Amor Towles with high expectations. When my book club chose this book, one of my friends (who often aligns with me as far as liking similar novels) said it was one of her favorite books. And then the New York Times had it high on its list of best books of the 21st Century. Even when I started the first chapter, I really liked the tone of the novel. Unfortunately, my expectations were a little too high. […]
The Lincoln Highway by Amor Towles
CBR16 BINGO: Détente, because Billy is always trying to keep the peace Amor Towles is an undeniably talented writer. Having fallen in love with A Gentleman in Moscow and being charmed by Table for Two, I came to expect that I would adore just about anything he wrote. And certainly, there is a lot to like in The Lincoln Highway. At times I would be cruising along like the old Studebaker in the story when a particular turn of phrase or small vignette would stop me […]
Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
In five-ish words: sophisticated, entertaining, New York, haunted I know a lot of people who say that Towles’ “Gentleman in Moscow” is their favorite book. I haven’t read it yet and have it on my TBR, somewhere middling in the middle. But then a co-host on my podcast recommended “Rules of Civility” for her “must read book” so this one rocketed straight to the top. I felt compelled to pick it up and I’m so glad I did! His writing is so clever and he […]
