Devotion: A Memoir Dani Shapiro Harper Perennial (2011), Trade Paperback (ISBN 0061628352 / 9780061628351) Nonfiction/memoir, 272 pages Source: publisher, for TLC Book Tours Reason for reading: blog tour, personal interest Opening Lines: “A woman named Sandra was cradling my head in her hands. We were in a small room – just the two of us – and it was so quiet I could hear the ticking of her watch. The air smelled faintly of eucalyptus.” […]
Certain Women: A Novel Madeleine L’Engle HarperOne (1993), Paperback (ISBN 0060652071 / 9780060652074) Fiction, 368 pages Source: purchased/personal copy Reason for reading: Jan./Feb. 2011 selection for Faith and Fiction Roundtable discussion; personal re-read Opening Lines: “The Portia, a shabbily comfortable fifty-foot boat, was tied up at the dock of a Haida Indian village a day’s sail out of Prince Rupert. Emma Wheaton perched on the side of the bunk in the pilothouse, where her father […]
At Home: A Short History of Private Life Bill Bryson Doubleday (2010), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover (ISBN 0767919386 / 9780767919388) Nonfiction (reference/domestic life), 512 pages Source: purchased (e-book for Amazon Kindle: ASIN: B003F3FJGY) Reason for reading: Independent Literary Awards non-fiction short list Opening Lines: “In the autumn of 1850, in Hyde Park in London, there arose a most extraordinary structure: a giant iron-and-glass greenhouse covering nineteen acres of ground and containing within its airy vastness […]
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Rebecca Skloot Crown (2010), Edition: First Edition, Hardcover (ISBN 1400052173 / 9781400052172) Nonfiction (science/history), 384 pages Source: personal copy (gift) Reason for reading: Independent Literary Awards Non-Fiction short list (runner-up) Opening Lines: “There’s a photo on my wall of a woman I’ve never met, its left corner torn and patched together with tape. She looks straight into the camera and smiles, hands on hips, dress suit neatly pressed, lips […]
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America’s Great Migration Isabel Wilkerson Random House (2010), Hardcover (ISBN 0679444327 / 9780679444329) Nonfiction/History, 640 pages Source: purchased (e-book for Amazon Kindle: ASIN B003EY7JGM) Reason for reading: Independent Literary Awards Non-Fiction short list (WINNER) Opening Lines: “The night clouds were closing in on the salt licks east of the oxbow lakes along the folds in the earth beyond the Yalobusha River. The cotton was at last […]
Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship Gail Caldwell Random House (2010), Hardcover (ISBN 1400067383 / 9781400067381) Nonfiction/memoir, 208 pages Source: purchased (e-book for Amazon Kindle: ASIN B003E8AIHU) Reason for reading: Independent Literary Awards non-fiction short list Opening Lines (Chapter 1): “I can still see her standing on the shore, a towel around her neck and a post-workout cigarette in her hand—half Gidget and half splendid splinter, her rower’s arms in defiant […]
Beautiful Maria of My Soul Oscar Hijuelos Hyperion (2010), Hardcover (ISBN 1401323340 / 9781401323349) Fiction, 352 pages Source: ARC provided by the publisher via LibraryThing Early Reviewers Reason for reading: Review, sequel to earlier novel Opening Lines: “Over forty years before, when Nestor Castillo’s future love, one Maria Garcia y Cifuentes, left her beloved valle in the far west of Cuba, she could have gone to the provincial capital of Pinar del Rio, where her […]
The Stupidest Angel: A Heartwarming Tale of Christmas Terror Christopher Moore (blog) William Morrow (2004), Edition: 1st, Hardcover (ISBN 0060590254 / 9780060590253) Fiction, 288 pages Source: Personal/purchased copy Reason for reading: Seasonally appropriate re-read (not previously reviewed) Note: There’s a second edition of this novel available with a new chapter added (ISBN: 0060842350) – that’s not the edition I have. Opening Lines: “Christmas crept into Pine Cove like a creeping Christmas thing: dragging garland, ribbon, […]
Stiltsville: A Novel Susanna Daniel Harper (2010), Hardcover (ISBN 0061963070 / 9780061963070) Fiction, 320 pages Source: Provided by publisher Reason for Reading: Participation in online book club discussion (today), hosted by Gayle at Everyday I Write the Book Opening Lines: “On a Sunday morning in late July, at the end of my first-ever visit to Miami, I took a cab from my hotel to Snapper Creek marina to join a woman named Marse Heiger, whom […]
Sisterhood, Interrupted: From Radical Women to Grrls Gone WildDeborah Siegel (blog)Palgrave Macmillan (2007), First Edition, Paperback (140398204X / 9781403982049)Nonfiction (history/gender studies), 240 pagesSource: Personal/purchased copyReason for reading: Topic of interest, blogging author Opening Lines (from the Introduction): “On February 15, 1969, the day I was born, the newly formed women’s liberation movement launched its national attack on domesticity. In New York City, members of the Women’s International Terrorist Conspiracy from Hell – WITCH – stormed […]
Girl Power: The Nineties Revolution in Music Marisa Meltzer Faber & Faber (2010), Edition: 1, Paperback (ISBN 0865479798 / 9780865479791) Nonfiction (music/women’s studies), 176 pages Source: personal/purchased copy Reason for reading: topic of interest; blogger recommendation (Viva la Feminista) Opening Lines (Chapter 1): “The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington, is the kind of university that offers neither grades nor majors. Its central quad is called Red Square; its concrete-block, riot-proof buildings are nestled among […]
Emily of Deep Valley: A Deep Valley BookMaud Hart LovelaceHarper Perennial Modern Classics (2010), Edition: Reprint, Paperback (ISBN 0062003305 / 9780062003300)Fiction (YA/children’s), 336 pagesSource: Publisher, via Book Club Girl (Jennifer Hart)Reason for Reading: Review Opening Lines: “‘It’s the last day of high school…ever,’ Annette said. She said it gaily, pulling Emily’s hand and swinging her about so that they faced the red brick building with its tall arched windows and doors, its elaborate limestone trimming, […]
