Who among us would ever have thought that Reese Witherspoon would end up being one of the most supportive voices in the world of women authors? It turns out that now I’ve read three of her picks, and ended up really impressed with two of them. Well done, Reese. Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows was her pick for March, and it really wasn’t on my radar until leedock reviewed it last week, but after reading that, I went out and got it the same day. […]
Little Boxes on the hillside, Little Boxes all the same
I meant to read Everything I Never Told You ages ago but I think I had read too many novels about family secrets and suburbia at the time and kept putting it off for later. I always meant to get around to it, but with the whole Reese Witherspoon book club and optioning of Little Fires Everywhere, I decided to start with Ng’s follow up. The novel, set in 1998, begins in early summer in suburban Shaker Heights, outside Cleveland, Ohio. Ng hints at previous […]
“To look out and see not another soul between you and the horizon could be a strange and disturbing sight.”
This was by no means a pleasant reading experience. But its one that I’ll remember for quite a long time. Aaron Falk is a federal police officer in Australia, specializing in financial crimes. He comes home to the country for the funeral of his childhood best friend, Luke, who apparently brutally murdered his wife and young son, and then took his shotgun to himself. Luke’s father, who knows a secret about Aaron, convinces him to stick around town for a while to investigate. Luke’s parents […]
“If someone asks you how you are, you are meant to say FINE. You are not meant to say that you cried yourself to sleep last night because you hadn’t spoken to another person for two consecutive days. FINE is what you say.”
My new book club has a bit of a fascination with books that Reese Witherspoon likes. And that’s fine. Reese’s picks are usually quick and entertaining reads, and lead to interesting discussions that pair well with wine. Without Reese Witherspoon, I’m not sure I would have had Eleanor Oliphant on my radar — I know its been positively reviewed here many times, but something about it just didn’t call out to me. Until Reese announced it would be a movie, which inspired my book club…and […]
The Big Little Lies That We Tell …
I just finished watching the HBO series Big Little Lies and, I’m sure, like many others, didn’t want it to end. The slow, almost hypnotic pace of the direction by Jean-Marc Vallée in producer and writer David E. Kelley’s adaptation of Liane Moriarty’s book eased viewers into the complicated lives of the mothers of first graders in an affluent suburb of Monterey, California. I quickly scooped up the book and was not disappointed by its southern Australian setting. The characters are the same: the charismatic, rapid-fire and funny Maddie, […]