I almost decided not to write a review on Gabriel García Márquez’s Nobel Prize Award-winning novel, One Hundred Years of Solitude. Not because I hated it or couldn’t finish reading—neither was true. More because I wasn’t sure what I would say about it or to whom I would recommend the book. I’m not sure I…
Tag: reading
Book Review: Tom Lake
Earlier this year I read The Dutch House by Ann Patchett and absolutely loved the storytelling. You can read my full review here, but my overall description would be that the novel was a poetic ode to family in all its beauty and complexity. The book felt rich. I am always years behind on best-seller…
Book Review: Lost Illusions
A few years ago, I read (and totally enjoyed) Père Goirot, one of Honoré de Balzac’s most famous novels in his massive work, La Comédie humaine, which is comprised of 90 novels featuring 2,000 characters who cross between the books. As a lover of classic European literature (my favorite book is Les Misèrables), I was…
Book Review: So Long as It’s Wild
Ever since the book So Long as It’s Wild: Standing Strong After My Famous Walk Across America (2023)by Barbara Jenkins was announced, I’ve been highly anticipating reading it. A few years ago, I read (and loved) To Shake the Sleeping Self, written by one of her sons, Jedidiah Jenkins. From following both Jedidiah and Barbara…
Buy the Book
A few years ago, I came across Bookshop.org. This online book retailer sources its stock from local bookstores, some of which don’t have the means to maintain their own online storefronts or might not have the ubiquitous reach that mega retailers have. Beyond the benevolent idea that my shopping would benefit small-to-medium sized businesses, I…
Book Review: Wintering
In mid-November, a friend of mine randomly said, “I have a book I think you’d like.” If you’ve ever been the recipient of that kind of statement, you may understand the slight bristling that I initially experienced. How does she know what kind of book I like to read? I thought, while also gamely writing…
Book Review: The Wednesday Wars
I have been listing The Wednesday Wars as a comparative title when I query literary agents for my own novel for the past year. However, until recently, I had not actually read the book. I was just going off of the recommendations of my mom, who taught the book as a middle grade gifted teacher….
Away
If I never left I could not understand contentment. For being away is the only way to come home. Then when I stay and wait, the journey feels a gift. Without one, I can’t truly love the other, Travel: ‘tis a most ingenious paradox Cue the music. Book the trip. Go away. 8.12.22 | SDG
Book Review: World of Wonders
Have you ever been so enthralled by a book that you were at once inspired to go create and yet totally contented to sit and just be in the present moment? Such was the case for me in reading World of Wonders: In Praise of Fireflies, Whale Sharks, and Other Astonishments by Aimee Nezhukumatathil. One…
Book Review: A Promised Land
With the unforgettable events of early January, it is safe to say that America experienced extreme division through its political landscape. So, what better time to read a political memoir? Written by former president Barack Obama, A Promised Land, was my hefty, but timely choice for early 2021. The 701-page, first-person narrative briefly covered Mr….
L.M.Beatty 