There is so much to recommend in this book. It touched on so many social issues, and is both witty and poignant. The characters are well-drawn and interesting, as is the social commentary. I love a book that challenges assumptions and makes you think and examine your own biases. This book does that and more.
'As fearless as she is funny, Danzy Senna is one of this country's most thrilling writers' Rumaan Alam, author of Leave the World Behind
'Hilarious' Raven Leilani, author of Luster
Jane has high hopes that her life is about to turn around. After a long, precarious stretch bouncing among sketchy rentals and sublets, she and her family are living in luxury for a year, house-sitting in the hills above Los Angeles. The gig magically coincides with Jane's sabbatical, giving her the time and space she needs to finish her second novel-a centuries-spanning epic her artist husband, Lenny, dubs her "mulatto…
Amor Towles is a genius! His writing is so captivatingly beautiful. It's easy to get lost inside the worlds he creates. This book is a collection of short stories that all take place around the same time in New York, as well as a novella that will resonate with admirers of the earlier 'Rules of Civility' and the character of Evelyn Ross The stories are loosely linked through setting or circumstance, and feature wildly different characters and situations. The common thread is the way Towles is able to share the inner workings of the human heart and mind.
“A knockout collection. ... Sharp-edged satire deceptively wrapped like a box of Neuhaus chocolates, Table for Two is a winner.” —The New York Times
“Superb ... This may be Towles’ best book yet. Each tale is as satisfying as a master chef’s main course, filled with drama, wit, erudition and, most of all, heart.” —Los Angeles Times
Millions of Amor Towles fans are in for a treat as he shares some of his shorter fiction: six stories based in New York City and a novella set in Golden Age Hollywood.
I sat in my backyard, reading this book, listening to birdsong, and admiring the garden blooming before me. Renkl's writing is lyrical and meditative, and she presents her deep affection for the natural world in all its iterations throughout the seasons. Calling to mind childhood, adolescence, adulthood, and all the requisite changes and challenges of each phase, she ties the seasons of life to the passing seasons in her own backyard. This book reads like a devotional - it is quiet and allows the reader to reflect on life - past, present, and future. The accompanying artwork by the author's brother, Billy Renkl, is stunning.
From New York Times opinion writer and bestselling author Margaret Renkl comes a “howling love letter to the world” (Ann Patchett): a luminous book tracing the passing of seasons, personal and natural.
In The Comfort of Crows, Margaret Renkl presents a devotional of sorts: fifty-two essays that follow the creatures and plants in her backyard over the course of a year. As we move through the seasons—from a crow spied on New Year’s Day, its resourcefulness and sense of community setting a theme for the year—what develops is a portrait of joy and grief. Joy at the ongoing pleasures of…
Artifacts, birds, ghosts, rocks, and rain. These are some of the everyday poetry sparks found inside this very different kind of poetry book. Part memoir, part guide, part manual, all heart - this is a collection that invites and inspires. From the first poetic awakenings as a child to the daily rhythms of a working poet, Kate McCarroll Moore's collection is a how-to chronicle for turning ordinary observations and experiences into poetry. Following an introduction that lays out the book's structure, poems are arranged both alphabetically and thematically. Each poem is introduced by the circumstance that inspired its creation, followed by an invitation to the reader to craft a poem of their own. This book will inspire readers of all ages to pick up a pen and begin.
