Category: Genre

The Woman In The Library – Sulari Gentill


The structure of this mystery/thriller is very intriguing. Hannah is writing a novel about 4 strangers who meet in a reading room in the Boston Public Library, and then hear a scream from a woman is later found murdered. One of the characters is writing about these events, so this is a book about someone writing a book about the same mystery. Is one of the 4 the murderer? A delicious plot with a slow reveal of information – very impressive.

Babel – R. F.Kuang

This is an imaginative work of historical and speculative fiction. The context is all important: Oxford in the 1830s where scholars (professors and students) work in the Royal Institute of Translation, in an academic tower known as Babel. Is there power in words, in etymology? Words lost in translation can be added to silver bars to create magic: protective wards and the casting of spells. Academics can also serve colonialism; can change ever occur peaceably, or does profound change encompass the necessity of violence? What is striking in this book is the role of indecision and questionable motives. Highly recommended.

Cloud Cuckoo Land – Anthony Doerr

Simply put – this is a great book, highly imaginative with a clever storyline and beautiful writing. Imagine three timelines: the past (15th century Constantinople), present (a library in Idaho), and future (an interstellar spaceship). These three timelines are linked by an ancient Greek tale about Aethon by Diogenes. The result is a soaring story about children who find resilience. A final positive comment: this book reminded me of the best of David Mitchell (The Bone Clocks), which is high praise.

Hey, Good Luck Out There – Georgia Toews

Full disclosure: Georgia is the daughter of Miriam so great writing may be inherited! This first novel is a gritty story about substance abuse, specifically alcoholism. There is no supportive network for the un-named young woman, not in the 30-day rehab program, not in post-rehab life: mean girls abound throughout. There is a telling phrase on page 107: “I didn’t want to lie, or tell the truth”, a telling dilemma. This is a solitary struggle. What happens when one is alone in a war with an intrusive inner creature? This is a compelling look at someone both vulnerable and brazen.

Ducks: Two Years in the Oil Sands – Kate Beaton

Ms. Beaton left her Cape Breton home in 2005, to work in the Alberta Oil Sands to pay off her University student loans. The stark black & white drawings in this graphic novel illustrate perfectly her loneliness and isolation, often dealing with overt misogyny in a hyper-masculine environment. And the environmental degradation and rampant capitalism amplify the human cost to the workers. Overall, a compelling coming-of-age narrative.

Between Two Kingdoms: A Memoir of a Life Interrupted – Suleika Jaouad

At age 22, Suleika is diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. What follows are three years of brutal treatments: extensive chemotherapy, an experimental clinical trial, and a bone marrow transplant. The second half of this honest and insightful book details her “survival”, the transition back to the real world. Her coping strategy is to undertake a 15,000-mile road trip to visit those who sustained her when she was very ill. Cancer forces people to face mortality, and emotions are complicated and often conflicted because suffering makes you selfish. Suleika has to imagine a future that includes anger and fear; her writing is brutally honest and courageous. Thanks Sarah, for this recommendation.

The Mermaid Of Black Conch – Monique Roffey

Aycayia was once an indigenous Taino woman in the Caribbean. What curse transformed her into a mermaid? If she is captured, will she re-transform into a woman? What will be her fate? How are the island lives changed by this phenomenon? This is a great story, no surprise since it is a Heather O’Neill recommendation.

Good Moms On Paper – Edited by Stacy May Fowles and Jen Sookfong Lee

Twenty essays about motherhood by (obviously) women authors: struggles with work-life balance, feeling fraudulent as both mother and writer, and creative compulsion – powerful themes with insightful thoughts. Essays cover both biological and adoptive parenting, new mothers, and relationships with the essayist’s mother. Heather O’Neill writes “being a single mother working on a novel is like asking a clairvoyant to book a ticket on the Titanic – it’s a bad idea”! Highly recommended.