Gather 'round…
My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry by Fredrik Backman My rating: 5 of 5 stars This one was so good I couldn't wait until I was done. I wrote a little preview a few days ago. If you haven't read that, go here first: Book PREview: My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell... Continue Reading →
I don't know if I've ever caressed a book so much. Rainy days rock 🙂 KJ
I don't know if I've ever written a book review before I've finished the book, and I certainly don't intend to start now. But I feel strongly enough about this particular book that it deserves some sort of a mention, right now, even though I'm smack dab in the middle of it. Fredrik Backman owns... Continue Reading →
I've been slowly making my way through Sig Olson's wilderness essays, Wilderness Days. They're gorgeous. I sent the kid up to the outfitting job with a copy, because where better to work through essays on the Boundary Waters than on the edge of the Boundary Waters? I don't know if she's had the time or energy... Continue Reading →
Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan My rating: 4 of 5 stars I've been reading a lot of very picturesque fiction. Quaint people in quaint places. Nostalgia. Beautiful stories, artfully told, deep and lovely messages woven into the fabric of every page. Lots of epistolary forms, letters shooting this way and that, drawing me... Continue Reading →
The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy by Rachel Joyce My rating: 5 of 5 stars If it is possible, Queenie's story is even more compelling than Harold's. This is a beautiful book. Harold's story, from The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry, is told here from the perspective of the woman he is walking to... Continue Reading →
Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry My rating: 5 of 5 stars Confession: I've never read any Wendell Berry. So when I say I've been reading Wendell Berry, it strikes me as a very lofty thing to say. A dear friend called Jayber Crow the best book she's ever read. Another dear friend, upon hearing that... Continue Reading →
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman My rating: 5 of 5 stars And the string continues... What a great tale. Backman hits the nail on the head when entering the head and heart of the curmudgeon, and all those around him. He pulls no punches, and brings Ove to life in brilliant color. He's... Continue Reading →
The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry by Rachel Joyce My rating: 5 of 5 stars Excellent Lenten reading, actually... I recently took up my priest's annual challenge to take a word into your heart for the year. Any word that gets you closer to The Word. Give. Or Love. Maybe Suffer. Then keep it close... Continue Reading →
The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin My rating: 5 of 5 stars A wonderful, moving, endearing story of redemption and transformation that will sing in your heart for a very, very long time. That is what Garth Stein said about The Storied Life of A.J. Fikry, according to the blurb plastered across... Continue Reading →
I don't generally take the time to finish books that I don't like. Sometimes, if I feel that I must, I'll push through, but for the most part, I have no need to torture myself. So, it follows that I would be statistically prone to writing favorable book reviews. I fear this is inevitable, and... Continue Reading →
Shotgun Lovesongs by Nickolas Butler My rating: 5 of 5 stars It took me years to read this book. Well, 17 days to read it, but years to begin reading it. It's been sitting there on the pages of Volume One for what seems to me like Ever, and I have, for mysterious reasons, scorned... Continue Reading →
Tales From the Nexus 