Category Archives: Contemporary

Breasts and Eggs

Posted on February 15, 2021 by Teresa

My TOB reading continues with Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami and translated from the Japanese by Sam Bett and David Boyd. It’s a long book, maybe the longest on the list this year, and I think it could have done … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction | 8 Comments

October 2020 in Review

Posted on October 31, 2020 by Teresa

I can’t quite believe we’re here at the end of October, just a few days away from the election we’ve been anticipating since November 9, 2016, and with no end to this pandemic in sight. I am cautiously optimistic about … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Contemporary, Fiction, Graphic Novels / Comics | 4 Comments

September Reading in Review

Posted on October 3, 2020 by Teresa

Do you ever feel guilty for not loving a book? I sometimes do, especially when I have several middling reading experiences in a row with books that don’t have obvious problems because that’s when I have good reason to suspect … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Contemporary, Fiction, Speculative Fiction | 10 Comments

February Reading in Review

Posted on March 1, 2020 by Teresa

I hadn’t intended to read all of the 2020 Tournament of Books contenders, but once I’d read most of them, I couldn’t help myself and ended up finishing the list. Alas the TOB brackets have my favorites (Girl Woman Other, … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 16 Comments

Nothing to See Here

Posted on February 8, 2020 by Teresa

A month ago, I was pretty discouraged with this year’s Tournament of Books line up. Everything I read from the shortlist was just … fine. Sometimes pretty good. Sometimes worth discussing. But nothing was knocking my socks off. Well, now, … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction | 12 Comments

Your House Will Pay

Posted on February 1, 2020 by Teresa

Steph Cha’s Your House Will Pay takes a nuanced look at the difficulties of living in a world filled with intergenerational racist violence. It tells this story through the lives of two characters who come at the problem from opposite … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction | 8 Comments

Fleishman is in Trouble

Posted on December 31, 2019 by Teresa

For a long time, Toby Fleishman and his wife Rachel weren’t happy together, and the decision to divorce felt like a relief. But then, in the midst of the separation period, Rachel takes off for a yoga retreat, a day … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction | 2 Comments

What I Read This Summer: June Readings

Posted on November 28, 2019 by Teresa

Instead of attempting to review all the books I read while on my unplanned break, or leaving them entirely unrecorded, I’m going to do a series of posts with mini-reviews of what I read when I wasn’t blogging. If anyone … Continue reading →

Posted in Classics, Contemporary, Fiction, Mysteries/Crime | 6 Comments

Normal People

Posted on November 9, 2019 by Teresa

Now I’m going to see if I can keep up my blogging momentum by writing about a book I enjoyed well enough but don’t think I have much to say about it. Sally Rooney’s Normal People seems to be something of … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction | 6 Comments

Learning to Swim

Posted on May 26, 2019 by Teresa

Abigail Onions was something of a misfit at school. She had trouble with a bully and didn’t have a lot of friends. For years, her only friend was not someone she especially liked, just someone willing to spend time with … Continue reading →

Posted in Contemporary, Fiction | 2 Comments