Mamie’s Monday—One Plus One
I have been holding off reading One plus One because I was so crazy about Jojo Moyes book, Me Before You, and I worried another of her books could never live up to the first. Now I am on the verge of...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—The Painter from Shanghai
The Painter from Shanghai is historical fiction covering the life of the rags to riches and fame artist, Pan Yuliang. Her life is one that defies logic and begs inspiration. Forced into...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—A House in the Sky
Amanda Lindhout combines a form of teenage rebellion and a desire to run away from her fragmented childhood into a wanderlust that knows no limits. By alternating six-month stints of world travel and...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—A Constellation of Vital Phenomena
This is a book that I regret not paying closer attention to from the start. It deserves and needs that focus to appreciate the subtle yet powerful unraveling of Marra’s story. Set in the midst of the...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—All The Light We Cannot See
This novel is set in World War II and I am once again compelled to think about why there continues to be so many books written about this painful time in our history. And the first thought that I...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—Ordinary Grace
Ordinary Grace is a book that grew on me as I read it. The messages I gleaned from the book are good ones for all of us, especially in light of the recent news of Robin Williams’ tragic death: that...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—A Place at The Table, a Guest Review by Sara Fiore
Whenever I am ready for the next book to read, or adding books to my “To-Read” List, I go straight to Goodreads and check the rating and how many people have read the book in question. I then might...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—In the Kingdom of Ice
I love getting my non-fiction fix, and I can never have enough history. This book is really a classic man versus nature, exploration tale into an uncharted area of the globe. Just 15 short years after...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—The Children Act by Ian McEwan
Atonement is the only other book I had read by Ian McEwan; only now do I realize how prolific an author he has been. Atonement was a best seller and a home run with my book club. And I adored the...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—On Chesil Beach
It is fascinating how some of our life experiences happen and are through, while others seem to be turning points, crescendos, and unforgettable. On Chesil Beach pinpoints the momentous occasion of...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—Where’d You Go Bernadette
I have had Where’d You Go Bernadette on my list to read for months, and when my book club chose it I was glad to have a reason to finally get to it. Maria Semple’s book has a quirky unusual family at...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—From the Bottom Up
If you have ever thought one average person can’t really make a difference, you haven’t met Chad Pregracke. And while I call him average, his optimism and can-do spirit propel him into the...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—Winnie Davis: Daughter of the Lost Cause
Heath Hardage Lee has written a book that makes history come alive. This is no fluffy historical fiction or drama: it is a real life-and-death telling of the heroes and characters that were major...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—Bitter Greens
Somehow, Kate Forsyth melds historical fiction and fairy tale to tell the riveting story of three women, each one uniquely fascinating. The approach, treating fairy tale more like fiction and less like...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—My Notorious Life
Kate Manning took inspiration for her main character of My Notorious Life, Axie Muldoon, from two sources, the photo below and the adult life of Ann Trow Lohman. The photo is a picture of a young girl...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—The Rosie Effect
The Rosie Project, published in 2013, was one of my favorite books from this past summer. (Read my review here.) It is an endearing story set in Australia about an emotionally stunted geneticist who...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—Still Alice
Yet another book I had on my list for a while. Once I knew the movie was being released soon, I finally made the effort to read it. Alice is a brilliant Harvard psychology professor who teaches,...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—The Things They Carried
I am not sure how I came across this book but so glad I did. Published in 1998 by Tim O’Brien, a Vietnam War veteran and writer, The Things They Carried is a cross between a short story collection and...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—Grimm’s Last Fairytale: A Novel
This book alternates between a historical biography of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and a Sleeping Beauty-related fairy tale. I have a conclusion similar to the one I had after reading Bitter Greens by Kate...
View ArticleMamie’s Monday—The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy
I was a huge fan of The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce, so I was glad to hear she had written another book. This second book is unlike anything I have ever read: it is not a sequel...
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