Barbara Kingsolver is at her best when she views a particular setting and its inhabitants through the eyes of a keenly perceptive female character. Writing
Whenever I read a book in translation, I always wonder whether I’m reading exactly what the author intended. Or is the translator getting in the
Sometimes, when you open a book and begin reading, you’re totally surprised. Expecting one sort of novel, you discover another. That happened to me when
Australian novelist Liane Moriarty poses an intriguing question: what might occur if/when a wife unwittingly/purposely unearths a heretofore hidden, horrific marital secret? What might happen,
These Precious Days – Ann Patchett’s gathering of whimsical, wise, comical, sad, personal, prosaic, and profound essays that readers will find as enchanting as her
Imagine Daphne du Maurier, sipping absinthe and smoking pot, while rereading Jane Eyre and rewriting The Turn of the Screw! That is precisely my impression
Shrewd and subtle are two adjectives I would use to describe Ann Packer’s novel, The Children’s Crusade, which traces several decades of dysfunctional California family
THE FIFTH PETAL Brunonia Barry is another contemporary author who can deftly embroider three narratives into a single story. The Fifth Petal takes place during
INHABITED Torrey House Press fills a very special publishing niche. Their stated mission is to promote “environmental conservation through literature.” Their editors choose books that
Reading Journal, November 30, 2012 A member of our Clayton Community Library Book Club recommended David Mitchell’s Cloud Atlas to me quite a few months ago.
Today, we just published two new reviews by Ann Ronald. One is on Jack Todd’s Sun Going Down and the other is on Dorothy Wickenden’s
Truthfully, I never ever have wondered what it would be like to delay menopause forever. It certainly never has occurred to me to want to
When Anne Morrow, the daughter of well-do-do parents, graduated from Smith College, she immediately married an American icon, Colonel Charles Lindbergh, the man who recently
GIRL IN THE BLUE COAT When I reached page 239 of Monica Hesse’s 301-page novel, Girl in the Blue Coat, I thought to myself that
After several years of writing “Bookin’ with Sunny” reviews, I risk sounding like a broken record. When I go on holiday, I prowl the local
I always admire novels with innovative structural designs, like The Last Painting of Sara de Vos, written by Dominic Smith. Moving back and forth between
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