This is an enthralling narrative that profiles five historical figures: polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, President Abraham Lincoln, legendary abolitionist Frederick Douglass, Nazi-resisting clergyman Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and environmental crusader Rachel Carson. Each faced a significant, at times, life-threatening crisis.  Koehn shares their compelling/inspiring stories and the powerful lessons to be gleaned from their examples of leadership, courage, and perseverance.  Most interestingly, … [Read more...] about Forged In Crisis

Naomi Alderman, author of The Power, is Margaret Atwood's protege.  Alderman's new book
is the winner of the 2017 Baileys Women's Prize for Fiction.  The television rights to the book have already been snapped up.  In talking about  the relevancy of sci-fi/dystopian books, especially ones that deal with the roles of women, I like what Margaret Atwood (author of The Handmaid's Tale) says about this genre: "I'm not a prophet. Let's get rid of that idea right now. Prophecies are really about now. … [Read more...] about The Power

Wonderful historical fiction set in 18th C. NY thirty years before the Revolution. Francis Spufford is a fantastic storyteller—his characters and plot are entertaining and compelling to the extent that I couldn’t put the book down. Spufford’s writing is smart, well-crafted, and unique. It was such a pleasure to read his prose—absolutely loved it. I was completely engrossed by the story and the main character’s adventures with all kinds of surprising plot developments, wonderful characters, and a … [Read more...] about Golden Hill: A Novel of Old New York

Thirty-eight-year-old Anna Fox lives alone in an upscale Manhattan home in New York. She spends her days and nights spying on her neighbors, while imbibing a lot of Merlot.  We soon learn why. She’s agoraphobic and has not left her house in almost a year. When not peering out her window, she’s watching black and white movies of the Hitchcock sort. There’s certainly a nod to Hithcock’s Rear Window in the setting and plot of the novel. But to the reader’s delight, the author cleverly creates a … [Read more...] about The Woman in the Window

I simply had to read Hillary Clinton’s new book, What Happened. Here’s 6 reasons I really liked it (by the way, I might have called the book, KEEP GOING!):
1) She’s not running for office anymore, so I felt she was more relatable and authentic.
2) I loved the chapter where she simply gives us all the the details of what a typical day for her is like, including what she reads, eats, drinks, meditates on, breathing exercises, kisses for Bill, and beauty regimen.
3) She’s super well read, and I … [Read more...] about What Happened

I read more non-fiction than fiction, but this book reminded me what I love about great novels-- could be considered historical fiction as well. It takes place in Newport RI, but it's five distinct stories spanning multiple generations. Thematically the book questions what we have in common as human beings even though we are separated by time, gender, race, and sexual orientation. The way Smith captured the essence of each time period and fleshed out these different characters was fantastic. Ron … [Read more...] about The Maze at Windermere

Excellent writing, unusual story, quite well done!  Everyone in book land is lauding this book. … [Read more...] about Asymmetry

Fascinating book about the current and potential impact of computers and robots on our world.  For sure to spawn much discussion. … [Read more...] about 21 Lessons for the 21st Century

Liane Moriarty keeps your interest as 9 strangers encounter each other at an upscale wellness spa in Australia.  Quick, fun read. … [Read more...] about Nine Perfect Strangers