Some books require just enough suspension of disbelief on the part of the reader to provide an enjoyable escape. The Little Italian Hotel is just this type of book. Ginny Splinter, a dazzling talk show host who seems to “have it all,” finds herself blindsided with a divorce requested by her husband, Adrian, just days before their anniversary.… Continue reading
Tag: fiction (Page 1 of 2)
A couple of years ago, I wrote a book review on The Eyre Affair, the first book in Jasper Fforde’s captivating “Thursday Next” series. Thursday, a literary detective in the SO-27 government agency, previously found herself embroiled in a page-turning series of tumultuous events when Acheron Hades—one of the world’s most notorious criminals—kidnapped Jane Eyre from the classic Jane Austen novel.… Continue reading
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist whose mind is too vast and too brilliant to fit the constraints of the society she is born into. It’s the 1950s, and instead of rising deservedly to the upper echelons of the scientific community she has fought so hard to enter, she finds herself the subject of her male colleagues’ ire, disdain, and unchecked desire.… Continue reading
Sometimes, books are best selected through random discovery rather than careful consideration. I’ve found this to be especially true during the summer season, as some of my favorite lighthearted beach reads have been picked up in random nooks or crannies. I stumbled upon Last Summer at the Golden Hotel on a coffee table at a friend’s grandmother’s house in Mashpee, MA…and after thumbing my way through a few pages with waves lapping onshore in front of me, I was invested enough to ask my generous hosts to take the book home and finish it.… Continue reading
Have you ever read a book a second time to reintroduce yourself to a character? I was searching for a lighthearted read in recent weeks, having fallen into an odd pattern of trudging through heavy, dense stories and abandoning them partway.… Continue reading
