by Maria Roden | Dec 14, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
“There were no women in Nam.” This is the phrase that I remember most and one that is repeated several times throughout this fictional but thoroughly researched historical novel by Kristin Hannah. The book highlights the vital role women played during the war in...
by Maria Roden | Dec 1, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
It took me a while to decide to read this book. It seemed to be about video games and while I loved Zevin’s earlier book, The Storied Life of A J Fikry, I didn’t think I was interested in the world of gaming. I knew nothing about it apart from trying to limit my sons...
by Maria Roden | Nov 15, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
This is the fifth book by Domenico Starnone to be translated into English and I have loved them all. They are always memorable and written with such sharp, witty prose and wonderful observations. This novel introduces us to the narrator Mimí, a writer, who looks back...
by Maria Roden | Nov 1, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
If you have read any of Elizabeth Strout’s books you will probably be familiar with the names Olive Kitteridge or Lucy Barton, the narrators or protagonists of several previous works. In this latest book the two characters actually meet and the world’s of all...
by Maria Roden | Sep 30, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
This is a beautiful novel about finding salvation in art. Meet 82 Year Old Honey Fasinga, feisty, glamorous and subsisting on a diet of valium and viognier who returns home to New Jersey after decades working as a patron of the arts in auction houses in New York and...
by Maria Roden | Sep 30, 2024 | Book review, Fiction
Wow! What a heartbreaking, powerful, at times hilarious, and very moving novel by Tess Gunty. The main character Blandine lives in a low cost housing development nicknamed The Rabbit Hutch along with various neighbors who become integral to her story. She shares her...
