Lori's Book Recommendations
As You Were
By
Elaine Feeney
Irish poet Elaine Feeney’s not-to-be-missed debut novel, AS YOU WERE, is smart, witty, and very engaging. Feeney’s protagonist Sinead lands in a crowded hospital room with a colorful set of fellow patients whose private dramas soon are made public due to lack of privacy and the indignities of hospital care. Sinead has been the family breadwinner--a successful real estate broker whose skill and ambition provide a comfortable life for her husband and their three young children. But Sinead has kept her cancer diagnosis a secret, and time in the hospital allows ample opportunity to reflect on her feelings toward her loving husband and her past. Two things set this extraordinary novel apart: the amazing writing--lyrical, natural, often very funny, and always affecting; and Sinead, a woman with whom Feeney captures the pain of self-reflection and the stubborn resilience of hope.
Irish poet Elaine Feeney’s not-to-be-missed debut novel, AS YOU WERE, is smart, witty, and very engaging. Feeney’s protagonist Sinead lands in a crowded hospital room with a colorful set of fellow patients whose private dramas soon are made public due to lack of privacy and the indignities of hospital care. Sinead has been the family breadwinner--a successful real estate broker whose skill and ambition provide a comfortable life for her husband and their three young children. But Sinead has kept her cancer diagnosis a secret, and time in the hospital allows ample opportunity to reflect on her feelings toward her loving husband and her past. Two things set this extraordinary novel apart: the amazing writing--lyrical, natural, often very funny, and always affecting; and Sinead, a woman with whom Feeney captures the pain of self-reflection and the stubborn resilience of hope.
Irish poet Elaine Feeney’s not-to-be-missed debut novel, AS YOU WERE, is smart, witty, and very engaging. Feeney’s protagonist Sinead lands in a crowded hospital room with a colorful set of fellow patients whose private dramas soon are made public due to lack of privacy and the indignities of hospital care. Sinead has been the family breadwinner--a successful real estate broker whose skill and ambition provide a comfortable life for her husband and their three young children. But Sinead has kept her cancer diagnosis a secret, and time in the hospital allows ample opportunity to reflect on her feelings toward her loving husband and her past. Two things set this extraordinary novel apart: the amazing writing--lyrical, natural, often very funny, and always affecting; and Sinead, a woman with whom Feeney captures the pain of self-reflection and the stubborn resilience of hope.
Insignificance
By
James Clammer
A short and powerful novel that places readers inside the mind of Joe Forbes, a delightfully perceptive, middle-aged plumber who is trying to recover from a mental breakdown precipitated by his son’s criminal conviction. Joe is very much an “everyman,” yet his way of looking at the world and his circumstances is far from ordinary. With writing full of wit and sensitivity, Clammer’s blue-collar hero goes back to his plumbing job, longing to once again be healthy and confident in a society that stigmatizes weakness. One of the best books that I have read in a while.
A short and powerful novel that places readers inside the mind of Joe Forbes, a delightfully perceptive, middle-aged plumber who is trying to recover from a mental breakdown precipitated by his son’s criminal conviction. Joe is very much an “everyman,” yet his way of looking at the world and his circumstances is far from ordinary. With writing full of wit and sensitivity, Clammer’s blue-collar hero goes back to his plumbing job, longing to once again be healthy and confident in a society that stigmatizes weakness. One of the best books that I have read in a while.
A short and powerful novel that places readers inside the mind of Joe Forbes, a delightfully perceptive, middle-aged plumber who is trying to recover from a mental breakdown precipitated by his son’s criminal conviction. Joe is very much an “everyman,” yet his way of looking at the world and his circumstances is far from ordinary. With writing full of wit and sensitivity, Clammer’s blue-collar hero goes back to his plumbing job, longing to once again be healthy and confident in a society that stigmatizes weakness. One of the best books that I have read in a while.
Burntcoat: A Novel
By
Sarah Hall
In Burntcoat the perceptiveness and passion of Hall's writing is evident on each page. Edith, a famous sculptor living in an unspecified British city, has outlived a global plague, but to what degree has she survived it? Told through a collage of memories, Edith reveals the love of her life and how that love was taken from her. Hall explores the aftermath of plague and how some who contracted the disease but lived are ostracized in the aftermath. Above all, Hall's novel is a love story. But it is also a warning tale about how we care for one another both during and beyond illness. An utterly breathtaking and exquisitely written novel.
In Burntcoat the perceptiveness and passion of Hall's writing is evident on each page. Edith, a famous sculptor living in an unspecified British city, has outlived a global plague, but to what degree has she survived it? Told through a collage of memories, Edith reveals the love of her life and how that love was taken from her. Hall explores the aftermath of plague and how some who contracted the disease but lived are ostracized in the aftermath. Above all, Hall's novel is a love story. But it is also a warning tale about how we care for one another both during and beyond illness. An utterly breathtaking and exquisitely written novel.
In Burntcoat the perceptiveness and passion of Hall's writing is evident on each page. Edith, a famous sculptor living in an unspecified British city, has outlived a global plague, but to what degree has she survived it? Told through a collage of memories, Edith reveals the love of her life and how that love was taken from her. Hall explores the aftermath of plague and how some who contracted the disease but lived are ostracized in the aftermath. Above all, Hall's novel is a love story. But it is also a warning tale about how we care for one another both during and beyond illness. An utterly breathtaking and exquisitely written novel.
The Anomaly: A Novel
By
Herv# Le Tellier, Adriana Hunter
In an amazing feat of imagination and narrative dexterity Le Tellier draws us into the eerie story of an international commercial flight that hits a pocket of damaging turbulence which, unbeknownst to the passengers on board, also turns out to be a crease in time. The Anomaly is a sci-fi thriller, a mystery, and an astute portrait of human nature. Le Tellier develops his characters with depth, empathy and a sharp eye to the ironies of our current times. I've not had this much fun with a book in a long time. Highly recommended!
In an amazing feat of imagination and narrative dexterity Le Tellier draws us into the eerie story of an international commercial flight that hits a pocket of damaging turbulence which, unbeknownst to the passengers on board, also turns out to be a crease in time. The Anomaly is a sci-fi thriller, a mystery, and an astute portrait of human nature. Le Tellier develops his characters with depth, empathy and a sharp eye to the ironies of our current times. I've not had this much fun with a book in a long time. Highly recommended!
In an amazing feat of imagination and narrative dexterity Le Tellier draws us into the eerie story of an international commercial flight that hits a pocket of damaging turbulence which, unbeknownst to the passengers on board, also turns out to be a crease in time. The Anomaly is a sci-fi thriller, a mystery, and an astute portrait of human nature. Le Tellier develops his characters with depth, empathy and a sharp eye to the ironies of our current times. I've not had this much fun with a book in a long time. Highly recommended!
Rainbow Milk: A Novel
By
Paul Mendez
Out of Stock Indefinitely
Paul Mendez explores themes of exile and belonging as his characters confront racial, religious, and sexual intolerance in 1950s England and 21st century London. The novel opens with Norman and his young family, newly immigrated from Jamaica to the industrial town of Bilston where nothing meets their expectations--they confront hostile racism, poverty, and back-breaking work. Decades later Jesse McCarthy is trying to survive in London. He too is in exile, having been expelled from his Jehovah’s Witness congregation and running from abusive parents. Turning to sex work, Jesse struggles to understand who he is and wants to become. Rainbow Milk is a powerful, emotionally gripping novel, and Mendez writes with satisfying precision and depth.
Out of Stock Indefinitely
Paul Mendez explores themes of exile and belonging as his characters confront racial, religious, and sexual intolerance in 1950s England and 21st century London. The novel opens with Norman and his young family, newly immigrated from Jamaica to the industrial town of Bilston where nothing meets their expectations--they confront hostile racism, poverty, and back-breaking work. Decades later Jesse McCarthy is trying to survive in London. He too is in exile, having been expelled from his Jehovah’s Witness congregation and running from abusive parents. Turning to sex work, Jesse struggles to understand who he is and wants to become. Rainbow Milk is a powerful, emotionally gripping novel, and Mendez writes with satisfying precision and depth.
Paul Mendez explores themes of exile and belonging as his characters confront racial, religious, and sexual intolerance in 1950s England and 21st century London. The novel opens with Norman and his young family, newly immigrated from Jamaica to the industrial town of Bilston where nothing meets their expectations--they confront hostile racism, poverty, and back-breaking work. Decades later Jesse McCarthy is trying to survive in London. He too is in exile, having been expelled from his Jehovah’s Witness congregation and running from abusive parents. Turning to sex work, Jesse struggles to understand who he is and wants to become. Rainbow Milk is a powerful, emotionally gripping novel, and Mendez writes with satisfying precision and depth.