My favorite genre, historical fiction, inserts characters into real-life events. As a former news reporter, I enjoyed doing research when communicating factual information to readers. I love learning about different time periods and coming away with a fresh perspective on times gone by. History is subjective and always revised and revisited, but factual dates and occurrences remain the same. All the stories I chose to review reveal how fictionalized characters, in real events, deal with coming out on the other side of loss or pain with a stronger spirit. None of us escape loss. Itās inevitable. But thereās healing over time and trust in a God that loves us beyond expectations.
In this book, thirteen-year-old Liv captivates my imagination and heart with devotion to her mom, a broken soul that endures her husbandās abuse, endless arguments, and irrational decisions. Iām drawn to coming-of-age stories that tug at memories of my own battles with self-criticism and angst.
As a survival story, the book serves up a double portion that I devour with every turn of the page. At its heart, the story contrasts the expansive, unforgiving, unrelenting climate and terrain of Alaska with a claustrophobic family dynamic. I love stories that weave in the raw beauty of nature and, at times, the brutality of elemental forces beyond our human control. Livās embodiment of endurance and the sheer will of the human spirit remains with me.
In Kristin Hannahās The Great Alone, a desperate family seeks a new beginning in the near-isolated wilderness of Alaska only to find that their unpredictable environment is less threatening than the erratic behavior found in human nature.
#1 New York Times Instant Bestseller (February 2018) A People āBook of the Weekā Buzzfeedās āMost Anticipated Womenās Fiction Reads of 2018ā Seattle Timesās āBooks to Look Forward to in 2018ā
Alaska, 1974. Ernt Allbright came home from the Vietnam War a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes the impulsive decision to move his wife and daughterā¦
I cried at the conclusion of this book. I cried because I cared so deeply for the women I met on their journeys. And I cried to release the anguish I felt from their rejection, constriction, and subjugation to arranged marriages.
Iām so very grateful for a book written by an Afghan with a clear-eyed perspective of his culture and sensitivity to the tyranny of suppression, especially for women treated as unequal to men. But thereās so much more to this book; it is an homage to courage, resilience, and, ultimately, love, namely, a motherās self-sacrificing love. The characters conquer despair and limited freedoms with enduring hope.
Mariam is only fifteen when she is sent to Kabul to marry Rasheed. Nearly two decades later, a friendship grows between Mariam and a local teenager, Laila, as strong as the ties between mother and daughter. When the Taliban take over, life becomes a desperate struggle against starvation, brutality and fear. Yet love can move a person to act in unexpected ways, and lead them to overcome the most daunting obstacles with a startling heroism.
Ferry to Cooperation Island
by
Carol Newman Cronin,
James Malloy is a ferry captain--or used to be, until he was unceremoniously fired and replaced by a "girl" named Courtney Farris. Now, instead of piloting Brenton Islandās daily lifeline to the glitzy docks of Newport, Rhode Island, James spends his days beached, bitter, and bored.
In the first few chapters, the book left me cold and unfeeling about the story or characters. But, years ago, I vowed to finish every book I started.
Initially, I felt no connection to Agnes, a strange, eccentric, anti-social protagonist. By mid-story, something happenedāan all-in conversion. I felt the very depth of grief that pierced the body and soul of Agnes as a grieving mother. Her ravaged heart touched my own. We all know loss in some form. But the story puts words to an emptiness that, most times, words cannot express. When an author taps into emotions, itās a remarkable, unforgettable experience.
Iām also fond of any insight into the life of William Shakespeare, and Iāve portrayed a few of The Bardās iconic roles while in college.
WINNER OF THE 2020 WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION - THE NO. 1 BESTSELLER 2021 'Richly sensuous... something special' The Sunday Times 'A thing of shimmering wonder' David Mitchell
TWO EXTRAORDINARY PEOPLE. A LOVE THAT DRAWS THEM TOGETHER. A LOSS THAT THREATENS TO TEAR THEM APART.
On a summer's day in 1596, a young girl in Stratford-upon-Avon takes to her bed with a sudden fever. Her twin brother, Hamnet, searches everywhere for help. Why is nobody at home?
Their mother, Agnes, is over a mile away, in the garden where she grows medicinal herbs. Their father is working in London.
In my teen years, I deemed Great Expectations by Charles Dickens as my favorite novel. In his day, the word āDickensianā referred to the authorās unwieldy, verbose writing style. Now, the expanded meaning of a āDickensian worldā fills my mind with gloom, foreboding disaster, and eccentric characters that appear either heroic, naĆÆve, or inherently evil.
Recently, I acted in a recording of A Christmas Carol and played all the female roles. The recording airs annually on EWTN Global Radio, so Iām not surprised that a friend gifted me with Samantha Silvaās audio book. But, to my surprise, Iām enchanted by the fictional account of how the novel evolved from its inception. Itās as if the author time-traveled to Dickensā world and witnessed every scene firsthand!
For Charles Dickens, each Christmas is been better than the last. His novels are literary blockbusters, avid fans litter the streets and he and his wife have five happy children and a sixth on the way. But when Dickens' latest book, Martin Chuzzlewit, is a flop, the glorious life threatens to collapse around him. His publishers offer an ultimatum: either he writes a Christmas book in a month, or they will call in his debts, and he could lose everything. Grudgingly, and increasingly plagued by self-doubt, Dickens meets the muse he needs in Eleanor Lovejoy. With time running out, Dickensā¦
Edge of the Known World is a near-future love and adventure story about a brilliant young refugee caught in era when genetic screening tests like 23AndMe make it impossible to hide a secret identity. The novel is distributed by Simon & Schuster. It is a USA Today Bestseller and 2024ā¦
I challenged myself by listening to Cloud Cuckoo Land and pondered keeping up with extremely diverse plots and story threads. And yet, I discovered a thrill ride that traversed the past, present, and future! I employed the five sensesāsight, sound, touch, smell, and tasteāwith illustrative descriptions and vivid, vulnerable characters that kept my imagination on full tilt.
I learned that I donāt have to love the characters when Iām empathetic and understanding of their weaknesses, defects, and personal history of suffering and loss. I didnāt miss a beat with all the twists and turns, and a tapestry emerged from divergent storylines. Also, I love it when an author innovates word usage, especially verbs! This book is a descriptive writing master class in a book!
On the New York Times bestseller list for over 20 weeks * A New York Times Notable Book * A National Book Award Finalist * Named a Best Book of the Year by Fresh Air, Time, Entertainment Weekly, Associated Press, and many more
āIf youāre looking for a superb novel, look no further.ā āThe Washington Post
From the Pulitzer Prizeāwinning author of All the Light We Cannot See, comes the instant New York Times bestseller that is a āwildly inventive, a humane and uplifting book for adults thatās infused with the magic of childhood reading experiencesā (The New York Timesā¦
ourteen-year-old Lori Hopkins, an only child, loses her parents to a devastating storm while she sleeps soundly in a fallout shelter she decorated for Christmas. Her grandmother, Lottie, discovers Lori as rescue workers sift through the above-ground carnage.
Loriās sudden loss of family leads to a life in harm's way as an acclaimed photojournalist to test out her own fate and destiny. Through her cameraās lens, she witnesses historic milestones in the United States and world stage that haunt her already damaged psyche. A series of adventures and misadventures follow her to the cultural cities of Europe, the jungles of Vietnam, the bustle of New York City, and Boston, and finally home in the wide plains of Texas. Loriās personal relationships, a patchwork of disappointments and triumphs, shape her paramount journey to the truth.
"Anyone who has felt their world shatter and had to summon the will to live and grow and find meaning in life will relate and find a message of healing, hope and love."
- Michele Chynoweth, Bestselling Author of The Faithful One, The Peace Maker, The Runaway Prophet, and The Jealous Son
This delightful fable about the Golden Age of Broadway unfolds the warm story of Artie, a young rehearsal pianist, Joe, a visionary director, and Carrie, his crackerjack Girl Friday, as they shepherd a production of a musical version of A Midsummer Night's Dream towards opening night.
Tap Dancing on Everest, part coming-of-age memoir, part true-survival adventure story, is about a young medical student, the daughter of a Holocaust survivor raised in N.Y.C., who battles self-doubt to serve as the doctorāand only womanāon a remote Everest climb in Tibet.