Hang the Moon by Jeannette Walls
364 Pages, Published In 2023
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One of the best historical fictions I’ve ever read. It’s about a woman’s journey to independence in the Prohibition era of 1920s rural Virginia. The characters will stay with you for a long time. The plot is complex and so is the history. The writing is beautiful. A book I’d recommended for slow reading.
The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
368 Pages, Published In 2020
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Set in the 1955’s India, a nascent nation of independence, the story is about a girl who chooses her own life path, escaping from her abusive husband and becoming an accomplished henna artist.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
640 Pages, Published In 2021
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The author’s previous novel All the Light We Cannot See is a masterpiece. The high bar has not been reached again. Still a good book, but not great. The plot is intriguing but a little overly complicated and scattered. The ending is a surprise but feels too contrived.
The Lost Apothecary by Sarah Penner
320 Pages, Published In 2021
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The mystery of a female apothecary in the 18th century London and the murders she committed through her poisons. The victims were always men. Her customers were always women. The only link to the mystery was a vial with an etching of a bear, unearthed from River Thames by a present-day woman. En route to solving the 200-year old mystery, she also resolved her own marriage dilemma. What an intriguing story!
A Spark of Light by Jodi Picoult
384 Pages, Published In 2018
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A suspension (gunshot), buried from the very beginning, unearthed at the very end with multiple surprises. It’s a well-researched book, an outcome of hundreds of interviews with women who sought abortions, medical practitioners, and pro-life & pro-choice activists, and researches by shadowing doctors performing abortions at different stages of pregnancy. I loved the author’s approach to explore this contentious issue by dissecting the arguments, without judgement, layer by layer from each side. Ultimately it is about understanding, not convincing the other side.
The Overstory by Richard Powers
512 Pages, Published In 2019
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A novel about trees. Really, it is a novel about people, and their relationships with trees. The lives of several families, across multiple generations, were woven together by the trees. I am in awe of the author’s broad knowledge of plants, literature, gaming, and technology. I can guarantee you will never look at trees the same way again after reading this book.
Circe by Madeline Miller
393 Pages, Published In 2018
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A plethora of characters (gods and mortals) and stories from Greek mythology, woven together by the Goddess Circe. It was the first book I read about Greek mythology and I loved it. Full of adventures, wonders, and love; also sorrows, pains, and hate. The author accentuates the women’s voice and power with her tender, beautiful writing.
The Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank
283 Pages, Published In 1947
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The dairy of a 13-year old Jewish girl during the two years hiding behind a bookshelf in a warehouse building in the Nazi occupied Netherlands during WWII. She wrote about her thoughts, feelings, ideals, dreams, and hopes. She wrote about her relationships with her mother and father, sister, and boyfriend. Many of her dreams were not realized as she died in a concentration camp in 1945. But her father, the only survivor in the family, fulfilled her one dream to be a writer, after publishing her diary in 1947. Her passage on 4/5/1944: Will I ever be able to write something great, will I ever become a journalist or a writer? I hope so, oh, I hope so very much, because writing allows me to record everything, all my thoughts, ideals and fantasies. She certainly was one of the greatest diarist in history.
The Guest List by Lucy Foley
320 Pages, Published In 2020
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So many hidden, dark secrets were revealed one at a time at a “perfect” wedding, on a remote island. The story has a slow start with two dozen characters, all the wedding guests, and finally it bursted out with a murder. If the reader can get over the slow buildup, the ending is worth it.
The House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
400 Pages, Published In 2020
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Loved all the magical characters in the story. It’s a charming and heartwarming tale, at a remote island in the cerulean sea. We shall all accept and embrace the differences in our children, and adults alike. We shall fight against prejudice, one step at a time. We shall all cherish our own uniqueness and strength. A fantasy, also a classic.
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
353 Pages, Published In 2005
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What a heartwarming memoir by Jeannette Walls! Throughout the book, I was captivated by the beautiful and candid writing of her love for her family- the flawed parents, four siblings. Her father was alcoholic; mother was selfish; life was hard with a nomadic family of six without stable jobs. However, the love was salient. The father-daughter relationship was tenderly written. Jeanette was the champion of her journey. Thanks the author for sharing the journey with readers.
The Library Book by Susan Orlean
336 Pages, Published In 2018
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Library is an enchanted place.