All Books Considered

The Gunners by Rebecca Kauffman Blurb from Goodreads : Achieving bold emotional complexity, The Gunners explores just how much one moment, one decision, or one person can change us  Following on her wonderfully received first novel, Another Place You’ve Never Been, called "mesmerizing," "powerful," and "gorgeous," by critics all over the country, Rebecca Kauffman returns with Mikey Callahan, a thirty-year-old who is suffering from the clouded vision of macular degeneration. He struggles to establish human connections—even his emotional life is a blur. As the novel begins, he is reconnecting with "The Gunners," his group of childhood friends, after one of their members has committed suicide. Sally had distanced herself from all of them before ending her life, and she died harboring secrets about the group and its individuals. Mikey especially nee...

Memento Park by Mark Sarvas Blurb from Goodreads : A son learns more about his father than he ever could have imagined when a mysterious piece of art is unexpectedly restored to him After receiving an unexpected call from the Australian consulate, Matt Santos becomes aware of a painting that he believes was looted from his family in Hungary during the Second World War. To recover the painting, he must repair his strained relationship with his harshly judgmental father, uncover his family history, and restore his connection to his own Judaism. Along the way to illuminating the mysteries of his past, Matt is torn between his doting girlfriend, Tracy, and his alluring attorney, Rachel, with whom he travels to Budapest to unearth the truth about the painting and, in turn, his family. As his journey progresses, Matt’s revelations are accompanied by equally consuming and imagina...

An Innocent Fashion by R.J. Hernández Blurb from Goodreads : The literary love-child of The Devil Wears Prada and The Bell Jar, this singular debut novel is the story of Ethan, a wide-eyed new Ivy League grad, who discovers that his dream of “making it” at leading New York City fashion magazine Régine may well be his undoing. When Ethan St. James graduates from Yale, he can’t wait to realize his dream of becoming a fashion editor at Régine. Born Elián San Jamar, he knew from childhood that he was destined for a “more beautiful” life than the one his working-class parents share in Texas—a life inspired by Régine’s pages. A full ride to the Ivy League provided the awakening he yearned for, but reality hits hard when he arrives at Régine and is relegated to the lowest rung of the ladder. Mordantly funny and emotionally ruthless, An Innocent Fashion is about a quintessential millennial—naïve, idealistic, struggling w...

Dear Fang, With Love by Rufi Thorpe Blurb from Goodreads Lucas and Katya were boarding school seniors when, blindingly in love, they decided to have a baby. Seventeen years later, after years of absence, Lucas is a weekend dad, newly involved in his daughter Vera's life. But after Vera suffers a terrifying psychotic break at a high school party, Lucas takes her to Lithuania, his grandmother's homeland, for the summer. Here, in the city of Vilnius, Lucas hopes to save Vera from the sorrow of her diagnosis. As he uncovers a secret about his grandmother, a Home Army rebel who escaped Stutthof, Vera searches for answers of her own. Why did Lucas abandon her as a baby? What really happened the night of her breakdown? And who can she trust with the truth?  Skillfully weaving family mythology and Lithuanian history with a story of mental illness, inheritance, young love, and adventure, Rufi Thorpe has written a wildly accomplis...

Monday Musts is a weekly event, started and hosted by Jessica @ Lovin' Los Libros , which asks you to highlight your must read, must listen and must see! MUST READ! The Secret History  by Donna Tartt From Goodreads : Truly deserving of the accolade Modern Classic, Donna Tartt's cult bestseller The Secret History is a remarkable achievement - both compelling and elegant, dramatic and playful. Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality their lives are changed profoundly and for ever. I think I still have a bit of a book hangover from TRK and it makes me want to re-read my all time favorite book, a book which some people suggest if you love the TRC series and which Maggie loves as well !  I'm...

This discussion is partially inspired by Shannon's recent discussion regarding the " Pickiness of Endings " (a must read).  I was thinking about Shannon's discussion and I feel the same -- endings, especially series endings, disappoint me so often.  And then I thought about the fact that some of my very favorite books don't have a "happy" ending.  Sometimes this works because it feels more authentic for the story, for the characters and particularly, as Shannon pointed out, in a dystopian.  This led me to think about what a "happy" ending even means and so today I ask: How do you define a HEA? I often think of endings in simplest of Shakespeare's terms -- if it ends with a wedding, it's a comedy; if it ends with a funeral, it's a tragedy.  But maybe that is too simple. As you know, I hate spoilers and so I am going to try to talk about endings without referencing any particular books.  As I intimated above, some of...

I was tagged by  Shannon @ It Starts at Midnight  to do this and I'm so excited!  This tag was created by Maureen !   The Room Where It Happens (A Book World You Would Put Yourself Into) So you may think I'm crazy for this one but how could I not choose my favorite book of all time?  This gets back to my boarding school love and that there is something about the academic setting of this book that I want!!   The Schuyler Sisters (An Underrated Female Character) With so much focus on the "Boys" in this series, I really think that Blue is so underrated.  And, you know I can't wait for the last book next month -- I am terrified/excited. My Shot ( A Character That Goes After What They Want and Doesn’t Let Anything Stop Them ) Heck yes I am stealing Jessica's answer for this one because Leah is the answer to this question. I don't even want to know about a world where someone is more determined t...