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Monthly Archives: September 2017

The Summer Before The War

Jane Austen meets World War 1. So good. Just completely readable and wonderful. Newly orphaned Beatrice arrives in Suffolk on the brink of World War 1, hired to teach Latin at the local school, despite the moral qualms of the locals about having a woman (gasp!) in the classroom. Helen Simonson’s first book was Major […]

Playing Hurt by John Saunders

This book was written jointly by ESPN announcer John Saunders and a Michigan sportswriter that I loved listening to on Michigan Radio, John U. Bacon. Saunders story of a horrifying childhood, lifelong depression, Canadian hockey, an unexpected career at which he was apparently gifted (his 2-page description of being a sports announcer is SO great […]

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells

Last week I read Andrew Sean Greer’s latest book Less and loved it. His tenderness and humor for his protagonist was so endearing and had a sort of light and masterful way of reading that made me think of Updike or Irving. Published 5 years ago, The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells seems like a […]

The Engagements by J. Courtney Sullivan

Stories of marriages and affairs and partnerships all set in the framework of engagement rings, complete with anecdotes and historical bits about diamond monolith DeBeers and the ad agency and write that created the iconic motto “A Diamond Is Forever.” I found the stories themselves engrossing and think Sullivan has a good ear for different […]

Less by Andrew Sean Greer

I may have this wrong, but reading Less brought me back to the reading of my college days, Updike and Irving, warm stories about fumbling men, alternately mirthful and ruthless. I could feel Andrew Sean Greer’s loving hand on Arthur Less as he pulled the strings that send him catapulting around the globe from mishap […]