15 Years of Great Books June 2018 marks the end of my fifteenth year of writing a monthly “Reader’s Choice” book review column for The Town Courier. (Yes, I was quite young when I started. …) Reading back over them,…
Readers Choice
Category: Reader’s Choice
Readers Choice
‘Before We Were Yours’ Written by Lisa Wingate Two storylines vie for our attention in Lisa Wingate’s hugely popular novel, “Before We Were Yours” (2017). One takes place in 1939 on the shores of the Mississippi River in Tennessee where…
Readers Choice: ‘A Gentleman in Moscow’
Written by Amor Towles I could have never imagined that a work of fiction existed that would inspire me to read more Russian history. I have found it, though, in “A Gentleman in Moscow” (2017), the fascinating and touching novel…
‘Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk: A Novel’ Written by Kathleen Rooney
Grab your coat and come take a walk through the streets of lower Manhattan with a witty, outspoken, fun-loving and still curious octogenarian in “Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk” (2017). It’s New Year’s Eve 1984 when 85-year-old Lillian Boxfish leaves…
‘Lilac Girls’ Written by Martha Hall Kelly
The cover of “Lilac Girls” (2017), showing three young women dressed in mid-20th century style, suggests they are chatting as they stroll about … but what is the topic of their conversation? Romance? Adventure? Where to have tea? Readers do…
‘The Underground Railroad’ Written by Colson Whitehead
It’s hard to pass up a book that was the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize winner in 2016, but having read enough about Colson Whitehead’s “The Underground Railroad” to know it was not an easy read, I hesitated picking…
Five Holiday Book Ideas
‘Tis the season to drum up gift ideas, which will then be followed by the season to relax by the fire with a good book. Since I’ve read some good ones over the last year, I’d like to highlight these…
‘Little Fires Everywhere’ Written by Celeste Ng
If you pick up this new arrival to the world of fiction, you had better clear your schedule for the next day or two; it is one compelling story! Celeste Ng’s (pronounced “ing”) first book, “Everything I Never Told You,”…
‘A Piece of the World’ Written by Christina Baker Kline
The cover shows a landscape with an unsettled sky and a lush, grassy hill with a simple, old clapboard house at the top, the kind that has housed children, their parents and grandparents over generations. For many, it will strongly…
‘Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine: A Novel’ Written by Gail Honeyman
When you pick up a book titled “Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine,” you know you are not getting another “Pride and Prejudice” or “The Sun Also Rises.” Yet, there is a quality about Gail Honeyman’s 2017 debut novel that left…