There are stories where the setting is a character. In North Woods, as the title suggests, the setting is the MAIN character. The generations that pass over, under, and through the land are all just temporary visitors (as are we all) who leave their mark in different ways on the land they inhabit. At first, I felt confused by the seemingly unconnected tales of the "heathen" tribe and the young lovers who preceded them on the same land. But once I fell into the rhythm and gorgeous language of each vignette, the story washed over me and eventually the dots were connected in the same way the earth holds the seeds of one generation into the next. The author's clever use of different modes of storytelling (letters, diary entries, poetry, saga, a psychologist's notes, speeches) added to the authenticity of each time period. What a crazy cast of characters - from early natives to farmers, creepy sisters, clandestine lovers, artists, hunters, and ghosts! I loved starting each new chapter, not knowing who we'd meet, only that they would be anchored somehow to the woods. I highly recommend this beautiful saga where the woods tell the story.
A sweeping novel about a single house in the woods of New England, told through the lives of those who inhabit it across the centuries—“a time-spanning, genre-blurring work of storytelling magic” (The Washington Post) from the Pulitzer Prize finalist and author of The Piano Tuner and The Winter Soldier.
“With the expansiveness and immersive feeling of two-time Booker Prize nominee David Mitchell’s fiction (Cloud Atlas), the wicked creepiness of Edgar Allan Poe, and Mason’s bone-deep knowledge of and appreciation for the natural world that’s on par with that of Thoreau, North Woods fires on all cylinders.”—San Francisco Chronicle
Time travel AND Greek mythology? Yes and PLEASE! The quirky main character-narrator's tone is reminiscent of Rosie (The Rosie Project), which I also loved. Named for Cassandra of Greek myth (the goddess who could foretell the future but nobody believed her), this Cassandra sees the world in colors, yet at the same time, in "black and white" as her autism manifests. She first time travels by accident on a terrible day in her life, and once she figures out what has happened, she tries to fix everything - and fails over and over again. But not in a Groundhog's Day ripoff kind of way, because details are different each time, and she doesn't have the luxury of changing everything or everyone around her just by learning from past mistakes.
I rooted hard for Cassandra to fix her life, but then, like Cassandra herself, I started rooting for something else - for her to accept who she was and the gifts that her unique life could bring. I love that this story doesn't tie every conflict in a neat bow. Life is messy and real and mostly wonderful.
A REESE'S BOOK CLUB PICK from the author of the GEEK GIRL series, now on NETFLIX!
"Fascinating...witty...self-deprecating...We meet Cassandra on the worst day of her life. She's getting fired, her boyfriend dumps her, and her roommates hate her. On that same day, she discovers she has the power to go back in time. You'd think you would know how this book is going to end, but it really surprised me. There's a twist at the end that I did not see coming!" —Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club June ’23 Pick)
If you had the power to change the past…where would…
I love a book that teaches me something - who knew two giraffes crossing the Atlantic in 1938 en route to the San Diego Zoo were tossed overboard in a hurricane? This story comes alive through the vivid main characters - our narrator Woodrow Wilson Nickel (a young man orphaned just as the story begins), the old man with a mysterious past and a heart of gold, an intrepid female photojournalist (Augusta "Auggie" aka "Red") reaching for a goal beyond any woman of her time, and of course, the two amazing giraffes. Every chapter is a new thrill as Woody and the old man fight against thieves and flash floods on their journey to deliver the two gentle giants. Everyone's motives are both honorable and questionable at the same time, which makes the story unpredictable and intense. I loved the undercurrent of a coming-of-age love story that flows beautifully between Woody and Red throughout their travels, causing Woody to act recklessly at times, despite his best intentions. Through it all, West With Giraffes is a powerful story about the connection between man and beast, and how animals have a way of bringing out the humanity in all of us.
An emotional, rousing novel inspired by the incredible true story of two giraffes who made headlines and won the hearts of Depression-era America.
"Few true friends have I known and two were giraffes..."
Woodrow Wilson Nickel, age 105, feels his life ebbing away. But when he learns giraffes are going extinct, he finds himself recalling the unforgettable experience he cannot take to his grave.
It's 1938. The Great Depression lingers. Hitler is threatening Europe, and world-weary Americans long for wonder. They find it in two giraffes who miraculously survive a hurricane while crossing the Atlantic. What follows is a twelve-day…
Immortality isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, especially for the 3,375-year-old virgin of Mount Olympus. Day after day, the God of Love launches his arrows, then watches from the sidelines while everyone else has all the fun. On a mischievous whim, Cupid sends a love-tipped arrow into the wrong rump, and the gods sentence him to a terrible punishment—a taste of his own medicine.
Banished from the only home he’s ever known, Cupid plunges to Earth and lands in present-day Tarra, Indiana, where mortals go on about their daily routines, oblivious to the capricious gods stirring the pot from above. Delighted to discover his wings and pubescent pudge have been transformed into a magnificent human body, Cupid swiftly leaves his virginity behind. But his carnal spree is cut short when he falls passionately in love for the first time in his immortal life, and he understands the full measure of his punishment: he must find the Right Love match for the mortal he desperately loves, and then he must let her go.
Caught between two worlds on a quest to fix Love, Cupid must survive the violent throes of his own coming of age and triumph over the powerful gods conspiring against him. Failure will not be tolerated; success will cost him everything.
First Quiver is an irreverent, contemporary twist on mythology and the struggle between duty and love, a battle as old as the gods themselves. Content Advisory: This book is intended for mature audiences and contains explicit sexual activity and strong language.
