Tag Archives: Picador
My Time Among the Whites: Notes from an Unfinished Education by Jennine Capo Crucet
In My Time Among the Whites, Jennine, through a series of autobiographical essays, dissects what it means to be a first-generation minority college student and the excitement and confusion that came with it, not just for her, but her family as well, while also exploring other topics. From the moment I read about Jennine’s trip […]
Certain American States: Stories by Catherine Lacey
Similar to Kimberly King Parsons’s Black Light, Catherine Lacey’s stories in Certain American States feature lost, broken individuals who are in various states of mind. These people are at turning points in their lives going through loss – be it the loss of a loved one, or merely a sense of lack of direction in their lives. So […]
Number One Chinese Restaurant by Lillian Li
While I was curious to read Number One Chinese Restaurant written by a fellow Ann Arborite, it is a book I approached with some amount of apprehension. Out of the books that were long-listed for Women’s Prize for Fiction 2019, this is one book that received the least amount of love by bloggers who got […]
Theory of Shadows by Paolo Maurensig
I was an enthusiastic chess player back when I was in high school. Those days I was living and breathing chess, and although it has been a while since I last played chess, I was thrilled to get my hands on Theory of Shadows, a novel based on Alexander Alekhine who became the World Chess […]
Grist Mill Road by Christopher J. Yates
One fateful day in August 1982, somewhere out in the woods in Upstate New York, Patch witnessed his best friend Matthew shooting Hannah with a BB gun forty-nine times. They were all seventh graders attending the same school, but this had been the first time a girl joined in the boys’ excursions – before that, […]
Goodbye, Vitamin by Rachel Khong
Rachel Khong’s debut novel Goodbye, Vitamin tells the story of the thirty-year-old Ruth who is back at her parents’ home after avoiding them for ages. Ruth’s father, a well-known history professor, is suffering from Alzheimer’s, and upon her mother’s request, Ruth decides to stay with them for a year to help take care of her […]
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk by Kathleen Rooney
It’s New Year’s Eve in 1984 when we first meet the heroine of Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk, the novel’s namesake. Lillian is eighty-five at the time, but not even the Subway Vigilante can keep her from taking evening strolls in her beloved city of Manhattan. So clad in a mink coat, Lillian hits the […]
The Sea by John Banville
The Sea is a book that genuinely daunted me! Oh boy! I thought I write long sentences! But no, John Banville writes LONGER sentences! He uses gazillion commas and, at one point I swear it made my head spin! 😀 Here is an excerpt to give you a taste: Speaking of the television room, I realize suddenly, […]
In a Free State by V. S. Naipaul
In a Free State is set in a post-independence unnamed African country, governed by a king and a president who belong to two different tribes. At the beginning of the novel, the king who was once supported by the colonials is on the run for his life, as the president with his many allies, including the army, has overthrown […]
