Admittedly, I didn’t really know what this book was about. I knew only that Barbara Kingsolver was an excellent writer. The subject matter is admittedly heavy, but I plowed through this book over the course of a weekend.
The protagonist’s voice is a candid window to the brutal losses and addictions that he suffers. He’s never known a world different than this one, which makes his heavier experiences feel somehow more palatable. I was also initially unsure about spending 500+ pages in this world, but it certainly did not overstay its welcome.
Demon's story begins with his traumatic birth to a single mother in a single-wide trailer, looking 'like a little blue prizefighter.' For the life ahead of him he would need all of that fighting spirit, along with buckets of charm, a quick wit, and some unexpected talents, legal and otherwise.
In the southern Appalachian Mountains of Virginia, poverty isn't an idea, it's as natural as the grass grows. For a generation growing up in this world, at the heart of the modern opioid crisis, addiction isn't an abstraction, it's neighbours, parents, and friends. 'Family' could mean love, or reluctant foster…
This is the first book that was chosen by my brand new book club, The Very Suspicious Book Club (AKA VSB), and we are devouring this series.
The book is mysterious, witty, and so fun to dissect in a group setting. We meet every ten chapters and try to analyze clues that Elle may have left us as to whodunnit.
She’s sneaky with the breadcrumbs she leaves and never easy to predict. There are three of these books so far, and another coming in the new year - truly a treat! A fun page-turning read.
"Getting the job done" for one single mom takes on a whole new meaning in Finlay Donovan is Killing It.
One of Suspense Magazine's "Best Thrillers of 2021" One of New York Public Library's Best Books of 2021 Nominated for the Left Coast Crime 2022 Lefty Award for the Best Humorous Mystery
“Funny and smart, twisty and surprising.”—Megan Miranda
Finlay Donovan is killing it . . . except, she’s really not. She’s a stressed-out single-mom of two and struggling novelist, Finlay’s life is in chaos: the new book she promised her literary agent isn’t written, her ex-husband fired the nanny…
How uniquely effective is it to trace the evolution of today’s racial prejudice using fine art and equines?
As the chapters shift between periods, the animals are equal victims of racial prejudice as they are repossessed by owners who are no longer able or permitted to care for them.
It’s the mark of an effective book when I feel frustrated by the cliff-hanging suspense that marks the chapter break and a transition between characters. Compelling to read, yet sad.
"Brooks' chronological and cross-disciplinary leaps are thrilling." -The New York Times Book Review
"Horse isn't just an animal story-it's a moving narrative about race and art." -TIME
A discarded painting in a junk pile, a skeleton in an attic, and the greatest racehorse in American history: from these strands, a Pulitzer Prize winner braids a sweeping story of spirit, obsession, and injustice across American history
Kentucky, 1850. An enslaved groom named Jarret and a bay foal forge a bond of understanding that will carry the horse to record-setting victories across the South. When the nation erupts in civil war, an…
