Sean's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 11 Apr 2025 16:58:09 -0700 60 Sean's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Open, Heaven 216522629 A stunning debut novel from the acclaimed young Irish poet Seán Hewitt, reminiscent of Garth Greenwell and Douglas Stuart in the intensity of its evocation of sexual awakening.

Set in a remote village in the North of England, Open, Heaven unfolds over the course of one year in which two sixteen year old boys meet and transform each other’s lives.

James—a sheltered, shy sixteen-year-old—is alone in his newly discovered sexuality, full of an unruly desire but entirely inexperienced. As he is beginning to understand himself and his longings, he also realizes how his feelings threaten to separate him from his family and the rural community he has grown up in. He dreams of another life, fantasizing about what lies beyond the village’s leaf-ribboned boundaries, beyond his autonomy, tenderness, sex. Then, in the autumn of 2002, he meets Luke, a slightly older boy, handsome, unkempt, who comes with a reputation for danger. Abandoned by his parents—his father imprisoned, and his mother having moved to France for another man—Luke has been sent to live with his aunt and uncle at their farm just outside the village. James is immediately drawn to him, like the pull a fire makes on the air, dragging things into it and blazing them into its hot, white centre, drawn to this boy who is beautiful and impulsive, charismatic, troubled. But underneath Luke’s bravado is a deep wound—a longing for the love of his father and for the stability of family life.

Open, Heaven is a novel about desire, yearning, and the terror of first love. With the striking economy and lyricism that animate his work as a poet, Hewitt has written a mesmerizing hymn to boyhood, sensuality, and love in all its forms. A truly exceptional debut.]]>
224 Seán Hewitt 0593802845 Sean 0 to-read 4.26 Open, Heaven
author: Seán Hewitt
name: Sean
average rating: 4.26
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rating: 0
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date added: 2025/04/11
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Big Chief 228136996 There, There meets Winter Counts in this gripping literary debut about power and corruption, love lost and gained, and the importance of facing one’s past head on.

Mitch Caddo started out with the best of intentions. After his mother’s sudden death in a car crash, he finished law school and returned to Passage Rouge—the reservation where he grew up—hoping to represent disadvantaged families in tribal court. But that was before he got sucked into the world of Mack Plum, his charismatic childhood friend. Before Mack ran and won the race for Tribal President as an underdog populist. Before they compromised their morals to keep Mack at the head of the tribal council. And before he came face to face once again with his teenage flame, Layla Plum—none other than Mack’s sister.

Now, on the eve of Passage Rouge’s next tribal election, Mitch finds himself torn between two rivals. He’s unsettled by his own complicity in Mack’s abuse of power, but he doesn’t quite trust Mack’s opponent, Gloria Hawkins, a nationally known activist and politician—whose campaign happens to be run by Layla. But when an accident claims the life of a central figure in the reservation’s complicated political landscape, the election descends into chaos, and Mitch and Layla find themselves trying to stop the tribe’s slide towards all-out violence while doing their best to correct the wrongs of the past.

Compelling and timely, Big Chief is an unforgettable story that What would you do if the very problems you sought to fix consumed you? It’s about the search for belonging, not just as an individual, but as a sovereign people at a moment of great historical importance.]]>
320 Jon Hickey 0771015496 Sean 0 to-read 0.0 2025 Big Chief
author: Jon Hickey
name: Sean
average rating: 0.0
book published: 2025
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/03/27
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<![CDATA[The Devil You Know (Dr. Jane McGill, #2)]]> 35260919
She’s got a great job at a VA Hospital, an adorable daughter, and a loving husband. Granted, it would be wonderful if her preschooler wouldn’t wake her up at three in the morning, and it would be a miracle if her husband would change the toilet paper roll once every millennium. Still, in most ways, she has the ideal life she’d always imagined.

Then Jane discovers that Dr. Ryan Reilly is the VA’s newest vascular surgeon. Dr. Ryan Reilly, a.k.a. Sexy Surgeon, a.k.a. the biggest jerk she ever loved.

A decade ago, Jane broke up with the Sexy Surgeon to marry the Nice Software Engineer, but as cracks and crevices appear in her marriage, she can’t help but wonder what life would have been like if she’d made a different choice. Or if it isn’t too late to change her mind…]]>
355 Freida McFadden Sean 3 3.90 2017 The Devil You Know (Dr. Jane McGill, #2)
author: Freida McFadden
name: Sean
average rating: 3.90
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/14
date added: 2025/03/14
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<![CDATA[The Devil Wears Scrubs (Dr. Jane McGill, #1)]]> 18400112
Not literally, of course. But between her drug addict patients, sleepless nights on call, and battling wits with the sadistic yet charming Sexy Surgeon, Jane can’t imagine an afterlife much worse than her first month of medical internship at County Hospital.

And then there’s the devil herself: Jane’s senior resident Dr. Alyssa Morgan. When Alyssa becomes absolutely hell-bent on making her new interns pay tenfold for the deadly sin of incompetence, Jane starts to worry that she may not make it through the year with her soul or her sanity still intact.]]>
308 Freida McFadden Sean 3 3.46 2013 The Devil Wears Scrubs (Dr. Jane McGill, #1)
author: Freida McFadden
name: Sean
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2025/03/01
date added: 2025/03/01
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<![CDATA[Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI]]> 193388249
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And this was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.

As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.]]>
338 David Grann 0593470834 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.12 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
author: David Grann
name: Sean
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/09
shelves: currently-reading
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A Natural 36074937 An exquisitely crafted coming-of-age novel set in the high-stakes world of English soccer—for readers of Nick Hornby and The Art of Fielding.

After his unceremonious release from a Premier League academy at nineteen, Tom feels his bright future slipping away. The only contract offer he receives is from a lower-level club. Away from home for the first time, Tom struggles on and off the field, anxious to avoid the cruel pranks and hazing rituals of his teammates. Then a taboo encounter upends what little stability he has, forcing Tom to reconcile his suppressed desires with his drive to succeed.

Meanwhile, the team’s popular captain, Chris, is in denial about the state of his marriage. His wife, Leah, has almost forgotten the dreams she once held for her career. As her husband is transferred from club to club, and raising their first child practically on her own, she is lost, disillusioned with where life has taken her.

A Natural delves into the heart of a professional soccer club: the pressure, the loneliness, the threat of scandal, the fragility of the body, and the struggle of conforming to the person everybody else expects you to be.

Praise from the U.K. for Ross Raisin and A Natural

“A layered and subtle exploration of masculinity, fear and desire,ĚýA Natural is as good a novel as I’ve read in years. The poignancy of Ross Raisin’s characters is equalled only by the brilliance of his writing.â€�—John Boyne

“A Natural is a brilliant, deft, and moving coming-of-age novel about the nature of masculinity and sexuality set against the backdrop of sport. Sensitively and beautifully drawn, it confirms Ross Raisin as a superb writer.�—Carol Ann Duffy

“Admirable . . . genius . . . amazing . . . vertiginous.��The Sunday Times

“Not since Annie Proulx’s Brokeback Mountain has there been a better portrayal of a conflicted male sexuality.â€�â€�The GuardianĚý

“A powerful evocation of repressed emotion�The Remains of the Day as told by Match of the Day.��The Daily Telegraph

“Supremely accomplished and moving . . . a masterful performance . . . This is a gripping, mature, important novel. It would be a travesty if it doesn’t win prizes.��The Observer

“A believable glimpse into a closed world, from a writer whose outlook is formidably open.��Esquire

“Most novels about football aren’t really about football. . . . They tend to avoid describing the game itself, with its strange mixture of pelting energy and exquisite boredom. Instead they shunt it into the background or repackage it as a metaphor, allowing the simple whacking of a ball into the net to be used as a way of writing about far less tangible goals. . . . Ross Raisin’s latest novel is refreshingly different. Following the fortunes of two lower-league footballers, it is a bold attempt to capture sport in the raw. . . . Pitch-perfect.��The Times

“Ross Raisin has done his homework so well that I spent much of the novel wondering which club had let him inside the changing-room for a season. . . .]]>
384 Ross Raisin 0525508783 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.50 2017 A Natural
author: Ross Raisin
name: Sean
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2017
rating: 0
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date added: 2025/02/09
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Providence: A Novel 200270524 An introverted English professor's quiet life gets turned upside down when he falls for a dangerous, enigmatic sophomore. Mark Lausson has everything he thought he a coveted job at elite Sawyer College in Ohio. But at the start of his second year, stuck in a small town with deadlines piling up and paychecks falling short, Mark can already feel the fantasy crumbling. And then, a few weeks in, sophomore Tyler Cunningham shows up in class. In Tyler—confident, mysterious, and popular—Mark glimpses another way of being in the world. He finds Tyler’s self-possession both compelling and unsettling. Caught in the rush of sex and secrets, Mark ignores the increasing evidence that Tyler can’t be trusted. But by the time Mark comes to his senses, the irreparable damage is done. Complicating easy ideas of innocence, Providence explores the ways loneliness and desire distort our senses of self and other, right and wrong.Intense, propulsive, and impossible to put down, Providence is perfect for readers of P. J. Vernon’s Bath Haus and Donna Tartt’s The Secret History, as well as Patricia Highsmith’s Talented Mr. Ripley and Garth Greenwell’s What Belongs to You. Ěý±Ő±Ő> 313 Craig Willse 1454952008 Sean 4 3.60 2024 Providence: A Novel
author: Craig Willse
name: Sean
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/09
date added: 2025/02/09
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The Boyfriend 209950981 She's looking for the perfect man. He's looking for the perfect victim.

Sydney Shaw, like every single woman in New York, has terrible luck with dating. She’s seen it all: men who lie in their dating profile, men who stick her with the dinner bill, and worst of all, men who can't shut up about their mothers. But finally, she hits the jackpot.

Her new boyfriend is utterly perfect. He's charming, handsome, and works as a doctor at a local hospital. Sydney is swept off her feet.

Then the brutal murder of a young woman―the latest in a string of deaths across the coast―confounds police. The primary suspect? A mystery man who dates his victims before he kills them.

Sydney should feel safe. After all, she is dating the guy of her dreams. But she can’t shake her own suspicions that the perfect man may not be as perfect as he seems. Because someone is watching her every move, and if she doesn’t get to the truth, she’ll be the killer’s next victim...

A dark story about obsession and the things we’ll do for love, #1 New York Times bestselling author Freida McFadden proves that crimes of passion are often the bloodiest…]]>
370 Freida McFadden Sean 3 4.20 2024 The Boyfriend
author: Freida McFadden
name: Sean
average rating: 4.20
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2025/01/28
date added: 2025/01/28
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Mothers and Sons 212923993 A mother and son, estranged but yearning for reunion, reckon at last with the secret that has kept them apart for decades in this highly anticipated novel by "one of the country's most talented writers" (Wall Street Journal�)

At forty, Peter, an asylum lawyer in New York City, is overworked and isolated. He spends his days immersed in the struggles of his clients only to return to an empty apartment and occasional hook-ups with a man who wants more than Peter can give. But when the asylum case of a young gay man pierces Peter's numbness, the event that he has avoided for twenty years returns to haunt him.

Ann, his mother, who runs a women's retreat center she founded after leaving his father, is wounded by the estrangement from Peter but cherishes the world she has built. She long ago banished from her mind the decision that divided her from her son. But as Peter’s case plunges him further into the memory of his first love and the night of violence that changed his life forever, he and his mother must confront the secret that tore them apart.

With unsurpassed emotional depth,ĚýMothers and SonsĚýreveals all that is lost by looking away from the past and what might be restored by facing it. In his spellbinding new novel, Adam HaslettĚýdemonstrates yet again his mastery of “a rich assortment of literary giftsâ€� (New York Times).]]>
336 Adam Haslett 0316574716 Sean 5 3.81 2025 Mothers and Sons
author: Adam Haslett
name: Sean
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2025
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
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The Whale Tattoo 60261868
When a giant sperm whale washes up on the local beach it tells Joe Gunner that death will follow him wherever he goes. Joe knows that the place he needs to go is back home.

Having stormed out two years ago, it won’t be easy, nor will returning to the haunted river beside the house where words ripple beneath the surface washing up all sorts of memories. Joe turns to his sister, Birdee, the only person who has ever listened. But she can't help him, she drowned two years ago. Then there’s Tim Fysh, local fisherman and long-time lover. But reviving their bond is bound to be trouble.

As the water settles and Joe learns the truth about the river, he finds that we all have the capability to hate, and that we can all make the choice not to.

Ransom’s fractured, distinctive prose highlights the beauty and brutality of his story, his extraordinarily vivid sense of place saturates the reader with the wet of the river, and the salty tang of the sea]]>
Jon Ransom Sean 0 currently-reading 3.68 2022 The Whale Tattoo
author: Jon Ransom
name: Sean
average rating: 3.68
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/12/04
shelves: currently-reading
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Life after Joe 8481480 It's not the breaking up that kills you, it's the aftermath.

Ever since his longtime lover decided he'd seen the "heterosexual light," Matt's life has been in a nosedive. Six months of too many missed shifts at the hospital, too much booze, too many men. Matt knows he's on the verge of losing everything, but he's finding it hard to care.

Then Matt meets Aaron. He's gorgeous, intelligent and apparently not interested in being picked up. Still, even after seeing Matt at his worst, he doesn't turn away. Aaron's kindness and respect have Matt almost believing he's worth it-and that there could be life after Joe. But his newfound happiness is threatened when Matt begins to suspect Aaron is hiding something, or someone...

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141 Harper Fox 1426890362 Sean 3 3.89 2010 Life after Joe
author: Harper Fox
name: Sean
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2010
rating: 3
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date added: 2024/12/04
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The Friendly Ones 35720312 The things history will do at the bidding of love

On a warm Sunday afternoon, Nazia and Sharif are preparing for a family barbecue. They are in the house in Sheffield that will do for the rest of their lives. In the garden next door is a retired doctor, whose four children have long since left home. When the shadow of death passes over Nazia and Sharif’s party, Doctor Spinster’s actions are going to bring the two families together, for decades to come.

The Friendly Ones is about two families. In it, people with very different histories can fit together, and redeem each other. One is a large and loosely connected family who have come to England from the subcontinent in fits and starts, brought to England by education, and economic possibilities. Or driven away from their native country by war, murder, crime and brutal oppression � things their new neighbours know nothing about. At the heart of their story is betrayal and public shame. The secret wound that overshadows the Spinsters, their neighbours next door, is of a different kind: Leo, the eldest son, running away from Oxford University aged eighteen. How do you put these things right, in England, now?

Spanning decades and with a big and beautifully drawn cast of characters all making their different ways towards lives that make sense, The Friendly Ones, Philip Hensher’s moving and timely new novel, shows what a nation is made of; how the legacies of our history can be mastered by the decision to know something about people who are not like us.]]>
624 Philip Hensher 0008175640 Sean 2 3.54 2018 The Friendly Ones
author: Philip Hensher
name: Sean
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2018
rating: 2
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date added: 2024/10/31
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Our Evenings 211201832 From the internationally acclaimed winner of the Booker Prize, a piercing novel that envisions modern England through the lens of one man’s acutely observed and often unnerving experience, as he struggles with class and race, art and sexuality, love and violence.

Did I have a grievance? Most of us, without looking far, could find something that had harmed us, and oppressed us, and unfairly held us back. I tried not to dwell on it, thought it healthier not to, though I’d lived my short life so far in a chaos of privilege and prejudice.

Dave Win, the son of a British dressmaker and a Burmese man he’s never met, is thirteen years old when he gets a scholarship to a top boarding school. With the doors of elite English society cracked open for him, heady new possibilities lie before Dave, even as he is exposed to the envy and viciousness of his wealthy classmates, above all that of Giles Hadlow, whose worldly parents sponsored the scholarship and who find in Dave someone they can more easily nurture than their brutish son.

Our Evenings follows Dave from the 1960s on—through the possibilities that remained open for him, and others that proved to be as a working-class brown child in a decidedly white institution; a young man discovering queer culture and experiencing his first, formative love affairs; a talented but often overlooked actor, on the road with an experimental theater company; and an older Londoner whose late-in-life marriage fills his days with an unexpected sense of happiness and security.

Moving in and out of Dave’s orbit are the Hadlows. Estranged from his parents, who remain close to Dave, Giles directs his privilege into a career as a powerful right-wing politician, whose reactionary vision for England pokes perilous holes in Dave’s stability. And as the novel accelerates towards the present day, the two men’s lives and values will finally collide in a cruel shock of violence.

This is “one of our most gifted writers� (The Boston Globe) sweeping readers from our past to our present through the beauty, pain, and joy of one deeply observed life.]]>
496 Alan Hollinghurst 1039000460 Sean 4
We follow David from the time he wins a scholarship to a local boarding school into adulthood where he has a long career as an actor. Oh, and David is, not surprisingly for a Hollinghurst novel, also gay, although the novel is not as explicit as some of his earlier ones. The novel touches on the evolution of gay rights, racial relations (albeit to a lesser extent) and finally the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Britain in the Brexit era.

The major weakness the novel is in its main character, our narrator. David is somewhat dull. He lives a lively and interesting life but lacks the recklessness found in many major characters in previous Hollinghurst novels. The reckless decisions in those novels were often things that created tremendous tension as one read them, a tension that is lacking here. It also lacks those delicious set pieces found in many of his other novels (particularly the dinner parties). It does, however, end very strongly.

I gave it four stars because the writing itself is exquisite and trying to see how life would have looked in Hollinghurst’s lifetime in the eyes of a biracial man in Britain was a worthy effort.
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4.08 2024 Our Evenings
author: Alan Hollinghurst
name: Sean
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2024
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/17
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
This novel, which spans the period from the early 1960s to the contemporary Covid era, is written as a memoir of a man named David Win. David was apparently born in Britain, the product of a love affair between a single English woman working in Burma in the late 1940s and a Burmese man David has never met. Raised by a single seamstress in an English market town, David always stands out as different, “other�, and is often assumed to be an immigrant. This is the first time Hollinghurst has written a novel with a racialized protagonist, and it is an interesting experiment which in my view is in the most part successful.

We follow David from the time he wins a scholarship to a local boarding school into adulthood where he has a long career as an actor. Oh, and David is, not surprisingly for a Hollinghurst novel, also gay, although the novel is not as explicit as some of his earlier ones. The novel touches on the evolution of gay rights, racial relations (albeit to a lesser extent) and finally the growing anti-immigrant sentiment in Britain in the Brexit era.

The major weakness the novel is in its main character, our narrator. David is somewhat dull. He lives a lively and interesting life but lacks the recklessness found in many major characters in previous Hollinghurst novels. The reckless decisions in those novels were often things that created tremendous tension as one read them, a tension that is lacking here. It also lacks those delicious set pieces found in many of his other novels (particularly the dinner parties). It does, however, end very strongly.

I gave it four stars because the writing itself is exquisite and trying to see how life would have looked in Hollinghurst’s lifetime in the eyes of a biracial man in Britain was a worthy effort.

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The Bee Sting 62165787
If you wanted to change this story, how far back would you have to go? To the infamous bee sting that ruined Imelda’s wedding day? To the car crash one year before Cass was born? All the way back to Dickie at ten years old, standing in the summer garden with his father, learning how to be a real man?

The Bee Sting, Paul Murray’s exuberantly entertaining new novel, is a tour de force: a portrait of postcrash Ireland, a tragicomic family saga, and a dazzling story about the struggle to be good at the end of the world.]]>
736 Paul Murray 0374600317 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.77 2023 The Bee Sting
author: Paul Murray
name: Sean
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2023
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/17
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Small Rain 205592907 A medical crisis brings one man close to death—and to love, art, and beauty—in a profound and luminous novel by award-winning author Garth Greenwell.

A poet's life is turned inside out by a sudden, wrenching pain. The pain brings him to his knees, and eventually to the ICU. Confined to bed, plunged into the dysfunctional American healthcare system, he struggles to understand what is happening to his body, as someone who has lived for many years in his mind.

This is a searching, sweeping novel set at the furthest edges of human experience, where the forces that give life value—art, memory, poetry, music, care—are thrown into sharp relief. Time expands and contracts. Sudden intimacies bloom. Small Rain surges beyond the hospital to encompass a radiant vision of human life: our shared vulnerability, the limits and possibilities of sympathy, the ideal of art and the fragile dream of America. Above all, this is a love story of the most unexpected kind.]]>
299 Garth Greenwell 0374718156 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.98 2024 Small Rain
author: Garth Greenwell
name: Sean
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/03
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[Fingal O'Reilly, Irish Doctor (Irish Country #8)]]> 18679271 432 Patrick Taylor Sean 0 currently-reading 4.51 2013 Fingal O'Reilly, Irish Doctor (Irish Country #8)
author: Patrick Taylor
name: Sean
average rating: 4.51
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/09/02
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II]]> 9145281 The classic account of one of the most dramatic battles of World War II.A Bridge Too Far is Cornelius Ryan's masterly chronicle of the Battle of Arnhem, which marshalled the greatest armada of troop-carrying aircraft ever assembled and cost the Allies nearly twice as many casualties as D-Day. In this compelling work of history, Ryan narrates the Allied effort to end the war in Europe in 1944 by dropping the combined airborne forces of the American and British armies behind German lines to capture the crucial bridge across the Rhine at Arnhem. Focusing on a vast cast of characters—from Dutch civilians to British and American strategists to common soldiers and commanders—Ryan brings to life one of the most daring and ill-fated operations of the war. A Bridge Too Far superbly recreates the terror and suspense, the heroism and tragedy of this epic operation, which ended in bitter defeat for the Allies.]]> 672 Cornelius Ryan 1439126712 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.45 1974 A Bridge Too Far: The Classic History of the Greatest Battle of World War II
author: Cornelius Ryan
name: Sean
average rating: 4.45
book published: 1974
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/30
shelves: currently-reading
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Henry Henry 201918588 LAUGH NOW. CRY LATER.Ěý


"Two stars keep not their motion in one sphere..."

It’s London, 2014, and Hal Lancaster, son and heir of Henry, Duke of Lancaster, is in a holding his mother is dead, his father is dying or remarrying or both, his siblings are fighting, his internship is pointless, and nobody will leave him alone.Ěý


Everything is as it should be and yet nothing is right. Over the course of a year of partying, drinking, and flirting to dubious consequence, Hal is tested by brutal family legacies, Catholic guilt, and the terrifying possibility of being loved. All of which is complicated by a pattern of abuse that threatens to chase Hal into adulthood. The House of Lancaster will never be the same.Ěý

Crackling with intelligence and wit,ĚýHenry HenryĚýis a brilliant recasting of the Henriad in which Hal Lancaster is a queer protagonist for a new era. Allen Bratton arrives as a successor to Waugh and St. Aubyn with this lush, stylish novel of family, legacy, and what it means to be alive today.]]>
338 Allen Bratton 1961884038 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.65 2024 Henry Henry
author: Allen Bratton
name: Sean
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/28
shelves: currently-reading
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Enlightenment 196774352 The Essex Serpent, a story of love and astronomy told over the course of twenty years through the lives of two improbable best friends.

Thomas Hart and Grace Macaulay have lived all their lives in the small Essex town of Aldleigh. Though separated in age by three decades, the pair are kindred spirits—torn between their commitment to religion and their desire to explore the world beyond their small Baptist community. It is two romantic relationships that will rend their friendship, and in the wake of this rupture, Thomas develops an obsession with a vanished nineteenth-century astronomer said to haunt a nearby manor, and Grace flees Aldleigh entirely for London.

Over the course of twenty years, by coincidence and design, Thomas and Grace will find their lives brought back into orbit as the mystery of the vanished astronomer unfolds into a devastating tale of love and scientific pursuit. Thomas and Grace will ask themselves what it means to love and be loved, what is fixed and what is mutable, how much of our fate is predestined and written in the stars, and whether they can find their way back to each other.

A thrillingly ambitious novel of friendship, faith, and unrequited love, rich in symmetry and symbolism, Enlightenment is a shimmering wonder of a book and Sarah Perry’s finest work to date.Ěý±Ő±Ő>
384 Sarah Perry 0063352613 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.54 2024 Enlightenment
author: Sarah Perry
name: Sean
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/21
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Wild Houses 194032681 A darkly funny and deeply moving debut novel about crimes of desperation, dreams abandoned, and small-town secrets that won’t stay buried

As Ballina in the west of Ireland prepares for its biggest weekend of the year, the simmering feud between small-time dealer Cillian English and County Mayo's fraternal enforcers, Gabe and Sketch Ferdia, spills over into violence and an ugly ultimatum. When the reclusive Dev answers his door on Friday night, he finds Doll—Cillian's bruised, sullen, teenage brother—in the clutches of Gabe and Sketch. Jostled by his nefarious cousins, goaded by his dead mother's dog, and struck by spinning lights, Dev is unwillingly drawn headlong into the Ferdias' revenge fantasy.

Meanwhile, seventeen-year-old Nicky can't shake the feeling that something bad has happened to her boyfriend Doll. Hungover, reeling from a fractious Friday night, and plagued by ghosts of her own, Nicky sets out on a feverish mission to save Doll, even as she questions her future in Ballina.]]>
264 Colin Barrett 0771051700 Sean 5 3.75 2024 Wild Houses
author: Colin Barrett
name: Sean
average rating: 3.75
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/15
date added: 2024/08/19
shelves:
review:
I really liked this novel. Other reviewers describe the plot but I want instead to comment how the characters pulled me in and I felt really emotionally involved even though my life is not similar at all to theirs. They were so compelling, complicated but so sympathetic.
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James 179550498
While many narrative set pieces of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn remain in place (floods and storms, stumbling across both unexpected death and unexpected treasure in the myriad stopping points along the river’s banks, encountering the scam artists posing as the Duke and Dauphin�), Jim’s agency, intelligence and compassion are shown in a radically new light.

Brimming with the electrifying humor and lacerating observations that have made Everett a “literary icon� (Oprah Daily), and one of the most decorated writers of our lifetime, James is destined to be a cornerstone of twenty-first century American literature.]]>
304 Percival Everett 0385550375 Sean 5 4.60 2024 James
author: Percival Everett
name: Sean
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2024
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/06
date added: 2024/08/06
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<![CDATA[Missing from the Village: The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System That Failed Toronto's Queer Community]]> 53690508 The tragic and resonant story of the disappearance of eight men--the victims of serial killer Bruce McArthur--from Toronto's queer community.ĚýShortlisted for the 2021 Toronto Book AwardsIn 2013, the Toronto Police Service announced that the disappearances of three men--Skandaraj Navaratnam, Abdulbasir Faizi, and Majeed Kayhan--from Toronto's gay village were, perhaps, linked. When the leads ran dry, the investigation was shut down, on paper classified as "open but suspended." By 2015, investigative journalist Justin Ling had begun to retrace investigators' steps, convinced there was evidence of a serial killer. Meanwhile, more men would go missing, and police would continue to deny that there was a threat to the community. On January 18, 2018, Bruce McArthur, a landscaper, would be arrested on suspicion of first-degree murder. In February 2019, he was sentenced to life in prison for the murders of eight men.ĚýĚýĚýĚý This extraordinary book tells the complete story of the McArthur murders. Based on more than five years of in-depth reporting, this is also a story of police failure, of how the queer community responded, and the story of the eight men who went missing and the lives they left behind. In telling that story, Justin Ling uncovers the latent homophobia and racism that kept this case unsolved and unseen. This gripping book reveals how police agencies across the country fail to treat missing persons cases seriously, and how policies and laws, written at every level of government, pushed McArthur's victims out of the light and into the shadows.]]> 300 Justin Ling 0771048653 Sean 4 4.22 2020 Missing from the Village: The Story of Serial Killer Bruce McArthur, the Search for Justice, and the System That Failed Toronto's Queer Community
author: Justin Ling
name: Sean
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/14
date added: 2024/08/01
shelves:
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Creation Lake 207595731
“Sadie Smith� is how the narrator introduces herself to her lover, to the rural commune of French subversives on whom she is keeping tabs, and to the reader.

Sadie has met her love, Lucien, a young and well-born Parisian, by “cold bump”—making him believe the encounter was accidental. Like everyone Sadie targets, Lucien is useful to her and used by her. Sadie operates by strategy and dissimulation, based on what her “contacts”—shadowy figures in business and government—instruct. First, these contacts want her to incite provocation. Then they want more.

In this region of centuries-old farms and ancient caves, Sadie becomes entranced by a mysterious figure named Bruno Lacombe, a mentor to the young activists who communicates only by email. Bruno believes that the path to emancipation from what ails modern life is not revolt, but a return to the ancient past.

Just as Sadie is certain she’s the seductress and puppet master of those she surveils, Bruno Lacombe is seducing her with his ingenious counter-histories, his artful laments, his own tragic story.]]>
416 Rachel Kushner 1982116544 Sean 0 to-read 3.59 2024 Creation Lake
author: Rachel Kushner
name: Sean
average rating: 3.59
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/08/01
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The Spell 30104 The Spell details the restlessness of every human heart.]]> 272 Alan Hollinghurst 0140286373 Sean 5 Btw I don’t know why Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ said it took me 12 days to read it. You could probable knock this one off on a long plane ride.
I have to confess I have read several times, each time because I was looking for something light to lift my mood.]]>
3.55 1998 The Spell
author: Alan Hollinghurst
name: Sean
average rating: 3.55
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2012/07/10
date added: 2024/07/29
shelves:
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This book is a bit of fun involving a handful of characters in London and Dorset. It is much lighter than Hollinghurst’s other works and it is intended to be that way. If you are looking for gay literary fiction to read on the beach or while traveling, this is the book for you.
Btw I don’t know why Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ said it took me 12 days to read it. You could probable knock this one off on a long plane ride.
I have to confess I have read several times, each time because I was looking for something light to lift my mood.
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A Seaside Practice 70239834 217 Tom Smith Sean 0 currently-reading 4.43 A Seaside Practice
author: Tom Smith
name: Sean
average rating: 4.43
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/28
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<![CDATA[An Irish Country Welcome: An Irish Country Novel (Irish Country Books Book 15)]]> 50677101 In the close-knit Northern Irish village of Ballybucklebo, it’s said that a new baby brings its own welcome. Young doctor Barry Laverty and his wife Sue are anxiously awaiting their first child, but as the community itself prepares to welcome a new decade, the closing months of 1969 bring more than a televised moon landing to Barry, his friends, his neighbors, and his patients, including a number of sticky questions.

A fledgling doctor joins the practice as a trainee, but will the very upper-class Sebastian Carson be a good fit for the rough and tumble of Irish country life? And as sectarian tensions rise elsewhere in Ulster, can a Protestant man marry the Catholic woman he dearly loves, despite his father’s opposition? And who exactly is going to win the award for the best dandelion wine at this year’s Harvest Festival?

But while Barry and Dr. Fingal Flahertie O’Reilly and their fellow physicians deal with everything from brain surgery to a tractor accident to a difficult pregnancy, there’s still time to share the comforting joys and pleasures of this very special place: fly-fishing, boat races, and even the town’s very first talent competition!

Welcome back to Ballybucklebo, as vividly brought to life by a master storyteller.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

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356 Patrick Taylor 1250257298 Sean 4 4.28 2020 An Irish Country Welcome: An Irish Country Novel (Irish Country Books Book 15)
author: Patrick Taylor
name: Sean
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2020
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/27
date added: 2024/07/27
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In Memoriam 62084507 Alternate cover edition of ISBN-13: 9780593534571, ISBN-10: 0593534573

It’s 1914, and World War I is ceaselessly churning through thousands of young men on both sides of the fight. The violence of the front feels far away to Henry Gaunt, Sidney Ellwood and the rest of their classmates, safely ensconced in their idyllic boarding school in the English countryside. News of the heroic deaths of their friends only makes the war more exciting.

Gaunt, half German, is busy fighting his own private battle--an all-consuming infatuation with his best friend, the glamorous, charming Ellwood--without a clue that Ellwood is pining for him in return. When Gaunt's family asks him to enlist to forestall the anti-German sentiment they face, Gaunt does so immediately, relieved to escape his overwhelming feelings for Ellwood. To Gaunt's horror, Ellwood rushes to join him at the front, and the rest of their classmates soon follow. Now death surrounds them in all its grim reality, often inches away, and no one knows who will be next.

An epic tale of both the devastating tragedies of war and the forbidden romance that blooms in its grip, In Memoriam is a breathtaking debut.]]>
383 Alice Winn Sean 3
The novel is well-written and compelling, however I cannot recommend it as the war scenes were so extensive and descriptive that I am glad I am finished reading this novel and feel well rid of it.]]>
4.54 2023 In Memoriam
author: Alice Winn
name: Sean
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at: 2024/07/20
date added: 2024/07/20
shelves:
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This novel follows from an English public school to the western front during the First World War. The primary storyline involves the relationship between two students from that school and follows their experiences in battle.

The novel is well-written and compelling, however I cannot recommend it as the war scenes were so extensive and descriptive that I am glad I am finished reading this novel and feel well rid of it.
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The In-Between 195436024 The tender, sensual and moving new novel from the award-winning and bestselling author of The Slap and Damascus. A compelling contemporary love story between two middle-aged men, told with grace, heart and wisdom.

No life is simple, and no life is without sorrow. No life is perfect.

Two middle-aged men meet on an internet date. Each has been scarred by a previous relationship; each has his own compelling reasons for giving up on the idea of finding love.

But still they both turn up for the dinner, feel the spark and the possibility of something more.ĚýFeel the fear of failing again, of being hurt and humiliated and further annihilated by love.

How can they take the risk of falling in love again. How can they not?

A tender, affecting novel of love, of hope, of forgiveness by one of our most fearless and truthful interpreters of the human heart, the acclaimed bestselling author ofâ€�The Slap a˛Ô»ĺâ€�Damascus.

Praise for Christos

'I've admired the risk and power of all his novels, but this might be the riskiest of all—so personal, so delicate and true—and I love it.' � Charlotte Wood on 7 1/2

'A scorching, mythic work with a heart of the sweetest intimacy.'� Helen Garner on 7 1/2

'The audacity of Tsiolkas is still a thrill. And, dare one say it, necessary.' � Nigel Featherstone on 7 1/2

'Tsiolkas has proved himself a heroic writer, ready to enter the fray and wrestle with intractable moral and political questions. A powerful parable of our times.' � The Saturday Paper on Damascus

'Every time I was 10 pages in a new book, I thought, "It's not Damascus", and put it aside for another day . . .' � Stephen Romei, Weekend Australian on Damascus

'I finished Barracuda on a moved, elated, immersed . . . This is the work of a superb writer who has completely mastered his craft but lost nothing of his fiery spirit in so doing. It is a big achievement.' � The Guardian

'Once in a while a novel comes along that reminds me why I love to The Slap is such a book . . . Tsiolkas throws open the window on society, picks apart its flaws, embraces its contradictions and recognises its beauty, all the time asking the reader, Whose side are you on? Honestly, one of the three or four truly great novels of the new millennium.' � John Boyne, author of The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

'The Slap is nothing short of a tour de force, and it confirms Christos Tsiolkas's reputation as one of the most significant contemporary storytellers at work today . . . Here is a novel of immense power and scope.' � Colm Tóibín, author of Brooklyn]]>
400 Christos Tsiolkas 1761188003 Sean 5
One of the best chapters is a set-piece of a dinner party among friends which becomes increasingly tense as the evening and the friends� drinking progresses. This was one of my favorite parts of the novel.

The novel was a quick read and once I had a clear block of time to devote to it I really found myself tearing through it. Tsiolkas is a highly skilled writer and it shows particularly in this work, which is one of my favorites of his so far.

There is some explicit sex in the book and if that is not your cup of tea the book is not for you. I recommend it highly.]]>
3.66 2023 The In-Between
author: Christos Tsiolkas
name: Sean
average rating: 3.66
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/13
date added: 2024/07/17
shelves:
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As written in the summary, this novel starts out with two aging men who live in Melbourne Australia going out to a dinner date after meeting on a dating website. The novel is composed of a number of parts and follows the development and maturing of their relationship.

One of the best chapters is a set-piece of a dinner party among friends which becomes increasingly tense as the evening and the friends� drinking progresses. This was one of my favorite parts of the novel.

The novel was a quick read and once I had a clear block of time to devote to it I really found myself tearing through it. Tsiolkas is a highly skilled writer and it shows particularly in this work, which is one of my favorites of his so far.

There is some explicit sex in the book and if that is not your cup of tea the book is not for you. I recommend it highly.
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Caledonian Road 213013770
Campbell Flynn - art historian and celebrity intellectual - is entering the empire of middle age. Fuelled by an appetite for admiration and the finer things, controversy and novelty, he doesn't take people half as seriously as they take themselves. Which will prove the first of his huge mistakes.

The second? Milo Manghasa, his beguiling and provocative student. Milo inhabits a more precarious world, has experiences and ideas which excite his teacher. He also has a plan.

Over the course of an incendiary year, a web of crimes and secrets and scandals will be revealed, and Campbell Flynn may not be able to protect himself from the shattering exposure of all his privilege really involves. But then, he always knew: when his life came tumbling down, it would occur in public.]]>
652 Andrew O'Hagan 0771008619 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.57 2024 Caledonian Road
author: Andrew O'Hagan
name: Sean
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/07/14
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[An Innocent Client (Joe Dillard, #1)]]> 16109080
A beautiful, mysterious young girl is accused.

In this Mystery Readers International finalist for "Best Debut Mystery," criminal defense lawyer Joe Dillard has become jaded over the years as he's tried to balance his career against his conscience. Savvy but cynical, Dillard wants to quit doing criminal defense, but he can't resist the chance to represent someone who might actually be innocent. His drug-addicted sister has just been released from prison and his mother is succumbing to Alzheimer's, but Dillard's commitment to the case never wavers despite the personal troubles and professional demands that threaten to destroy him.

"Pratt's richly developed characters are vivid and believable, especially the strong Southern women who fight their male-dominated culture from behind a facade of vulnerability in this brilliantly executed debut." -- Publisher's Weekly.

"It’s Scott Turow and Grisham... The opening chapter is maybe the most compelling I’ve read in a decade.� � Ken Bruen.

Smart and sophisticated, with a plot twist that will leave you shaking your head in wonder, "An Innocent Client" -- the first in the acclaimed Joe Dillard series -- will also leave you wanting more.]]>
374 Scott Pratt Sean 3 3.86 2008 An Innocent Client (Joe Dillard, #1)
author: Scott Pratt
name: Sean
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2008
rating: 3
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<![CDATA[On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service]]> 207752168 The memoir by the doctor who became a beacon of hope for millions through the COVID pandemic, and whose six-decade career in high-level public service put him in the room with seven presidents

Anthony Fauci is arguably the most famous � and most revered � doctor in the world today. His role guiding America sanely and calmly through Covid (and through the torrents of Trump) earned him the trust of millions during one of the most terrifying periods in modern American history, but this was only the most recent of the global epidemics in which Dr. Fauci played a major role. His crucial role in identifying HIV and bringing AIDS into sympathetic public view and his leadership in navigating the Ebola, SARS, West Nile, and anthrax crises make him truly an American hero.

His memoir reaches back to his boyhood in Brooklyn, New York, and carries through decades of caring for critically ill patients, navigating the whirlpools of Washington politics, and behind-the-scenes advising and negotiating with seven presidents on key issues from global AIDS relief to infectious diseaseĚýpreparedness at home. On Call will be an inspiration for readers who admire and are grateful to him and for those who want to emulate him in public service. He is the embodiment of “speaking truth to power,â€� with dignity and results.]]>
477 Anthony Fauci 0593657489 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.69 2024 On Call: A Doctor's Journey in Public Service
author: Anthony Fauci
name: Sean
average rating: 4.69
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/21
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Caledonian Road 199126293 A biting portrait of British class, politics, and money told through five interconnected families and their rising―and declining―fortunes.

Campbell Flynn, art historian and biographer of Vermeer, always knew that when his life came crashing down, it would happen in public―yet he never imagined that a single year in London would expose so much. Entangled with a brilliant student, he begins to see trouble brewing for his family and friends. All his worlds collide―the art scene and academia, fashion and the English aristocracy, journalism and the internet―as dangerous forces enter his life and Caledonian Road gives up its secrets.
Andrew O’Hagan has written a social novel in the Victorian style, drawing a whole cast of characters into company with each other and revealing the inner energies of the way we live now.

“Not only a peerless chronicler of our times, O’Hagan has generosity, humour and tenderness, which make this novel an utter joy to read.”―Monica Ali, author of Love Marriage and Brick Lane]]>
614 Andrew O'Hagan 1324074876 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.73 2024 Caledonian Road
author: Andrew O'Hagan
name: Sean
average rating: 3.73
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/06/10
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Long Island 200359270 The sequel to the prize-winning, bestselling novel Brooklyn.A man with an Irish accent knocks on Eilis Fiorello’s door on Long Island and in that moment everything changes. Eilis and Tony have built a secure, happy life here since leaving Brooklyn—perhaps a little stifled by the in-laws so close, but twenty years married and with two children looking towards a good future.ĚýĚýĚýĚýAnd yet this stranger will reveal something that will make Eilis question the life she has created. For the first time in years she suddenly feels very far from home and the revelation will see her turn towards Ireland once again. Back to her mother. Back to the town and the people she had chosen to leave behind. Did she make the wrong choice marrying Tony all those years ago? Is it too late now to take a different path?Ěý Ěý Long Island is Colm TĂłibĂ­n’s an exquisite, exhilarating novel that asks whether it is possible to truly return to the past and renew the great love that seemed gone forever.]]> 294 Colm TĂłibĂ­n 0771012284 Sean 3 3.76 2024 Long Island
author: Colm TĂłibĂ­n
name: Sean
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/10
date added: 2024/06/10
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Our Fathers 1846109 Be Near Me.

Finalist for the Man Booker Prize, the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, and the Whitbread Award.

Hugh Bawn was a modern hero, a visionary urban planner, a man of the people who revolutionized Scotland’s residential development after the Second World War. But times have changed. Now, as he lies dying in one of his own failed buildings, his grandson Jamie comes home to watch over him. The old man’s final months bring Jamie to see what is best and worst in the past that haunts them all, and he sees the fears of his own life unravel in the land that bred him.

It is Jamie who tells the story of his family, of three generations of pride and delusion, of nationality and strong drink, of Catholic faith and the end of political idealism. It is a tale of dark hearts and modern houses, of three men in search of Utopia. A poignant and powerful reclamation of the past, Our Fathers is a deeply felt, beautifully crafted, utterly unforgettable novel.]]>
304 Andrew O'Hagan 0771068352 Sean 4 3.57 1999 Our Fathers
author: Andrew O'Hagan
name: Sean
average rating: 3.57
book published: 1999
rating: 4
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<![CDATA[Camino Ghosts (Camino Island, #3)]]> 199460331 297 John Grisham 0385546009 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.45 2024 Camino Ghosts (Camino Island, #3)
author: John Grisham
name: Sean
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/28
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In Tongues 195790706 A young gay man upends the lives of a powerful art-world couple in this steamy novel of self-discovery.

It’s 2001, and twenty-four-year-old Gordon―handsome, sensitive, and eager for direction―takes a bus from Minnesota to New York City because it’s the only place for a young gay man to go. As he begins to settle into the city’s punishing rhythm, he gets a job walking rich Manhattanites� dogs. But it isn’t until he stumbles into the West Village brownstone of two of his clients, the powerful gallery owners Phillip and Nicola, that Gordon learns how much the world has hidden from him―and what he’s capable of doing in order to get it for himself.

A lush, heart-quickening novel about family and art, sex and class, and the terror of self-discovery, Thomas Grattan’s In Tongues chronicles Gordon’s perilous pursuit of belonging from the Midwest to New York and, later, to Europe and Mexico City. As he floats further into Phillip and Nicola’s exclusive universe, and as lines blur between employee, muse, lover, and mentor, Gordon’s charm, manipulation, and growing ambition begin to escape his own control, in turn threatening to unravel the lives, and lies, of those around him.

Anchored by winsome lyricism, glinting intellect, and a main character whose yearnings and mistakes come to feel like our own, In Tongues crackles with fierce longing and pointed emotion, further confirming Grattan as a rare chronicler of young adulthood’s joys and devastations.]]>
288 Thomas Grattan 0374608180 Sean 0 to-read 3.93 2024 In Tongues
author: Thomas Grattan
name: Sean
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/21
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<![CDATA[Adult Survivors of Emotionally Abusive Parents: How to Heal, Cultivate Emotional Resilience, and Build the Life and Love You Deserve]]> 197905763 Heal the pain of growing up with emotionally abusive parents, and take the first steps toward the life—and the love—you deserve.

Few things in the world have a more profound effect on your life than the parents who raised you. When your parents are pathologically self-centered, manipulative, or emotionally abusive, the pain they cause is deep and often difficult to put into words. You may experience anxiety, depression, complex post-traumatic stress disorder (C-PTSD), low self-esteem, addiction, or other mental health conditions as an adult. And you may even feel like it was somehow all your fault. But it was not your fault, and there are tools you can use to heal the trauma caused by your childhood.

From the author of the self-help hit Adult Survivors of Toxic Family Members, this compassionate guide will help you gain a greater understanding of what happened in your past; transform deep pain into emotional resilience; and build the loving, meaningful relationship with yourself that you deserve.ĚýYou’ll also learn to set boundaries with others, assert your needs, and overcome emotional avoidance to develop warm, loving relationships with others.

Author Sherrie Campbell offers powerful skills drawn from a range of evidence-based treatments, including mindfulness, acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), self-compassion, lived experience, and body-based practices to help you heal from the past and reconnect with your authentic self.

A happy and healthy life is not a life without struggle—it is a journey full of meaningful lessons. Let this book guide you on the path to healing, wholeness, and self-discovery.]]>
217 Sherrie Campbell 1648482651 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.39 Adult Survivors of Emotionally Abusive Parents: How to Heal, Cultivate Emotional Resilience, and Build the Life and Love You Deserve
author: Sherrie Campbell
name: Sean
average rating: 4.39
book published:
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/05/20
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Young Mungo 58729867 The brilliant new novel from the Booker Prize-winning author of Shuggie Bain.

Douglas Stuart's first novel Shuggie Bain is one of the most successful literary debuts of the century so far. It was awarded the 2020 Booker Prize, and is now published or forthcoming in 40 territories and has already sold more than a million copies worldwide. Now Stuart returns with Young Mungo, his extraordinary second novel.

Five years in the writing, it is both a page-turner and literary tour de force, a vivid portrayal of working-class life and a deeply moving and highly suspenseful story of the dangerous first love of two young men: Mungo and James.

Born under different stars--Mungo a Protestant and James a Catholic--they should be sworn enemies if they're to be seen as men at all. And yet against all odds Mungo and James become best friends as they find a sanctuary in the pigeon dovecote that James has built for his prize racing birds. As they fall in love, they dream of escaping the grey city, and Mungo works especially hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his elder brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold.

But the threat of discovery is constant and the punishment unspeakable. When Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.

Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in the literary world, Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the push and pull of family, the violence faced by many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much. It is set to stand alongside Shuggie Bain as a modern classic.]]>
400 Douglas Stuart 1039003702 Sean 5 4.26 2022 Young Mungo
author: Douglas Stuart
name: Sean
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2022
rating: 5
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Ways and Means 207660626 A searing debut novel about a striving finance student, the line between ambition and greed, and the disordered politics of our era

Alistair McCabe comes to New York with a plan. Young, handsome, intelligent and gay, he hopes to escape his Rust Belt poverty and give his mother a better life by pursuing a career in high finance. But by the spring of 2016, Alistair’s plan has come undone: his fantasy banking job has eluded him, he’s mired in student debt, and in his desperation he’s gone to work for an enigmatic billionaire whose ambitions turn out to be far darker than Alistair could have imagined. By the time Alistair uncovers his employer’s secret, his life is in danger and he’s forced to go on the run.

Meanwhile, Alistair’s paramours, an older couple named Mark and Elijah, must face their own moral and financial dilemmas. Mark, nearing the end of his trust fund, takes a job with his father’s mobile-home empire that forces him to confront the unsavory foundations of his family’s wealth, while Elijah, a failed painter, throws in his lot with an artist-provocateur whose latest project transforms the country’s political chaos into a thing of alluring, amoral beauty. As the nation hurtles toward a breaking point, Alistair, Mark and Elijah must band together to save one another and themselves.

Propulsive, exuberant, and profoundly observed,ĚýWays and MeansĚýis an indelible, clear-eyed investigation of class and ambition, sex and art, and politics and power in twenty-first century America.]]>
400 Daniel Lefferts Sean 0 currently-reading 3.98 2024 Ways and Means
author: Daniel Lefferts
name: Sean
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/04/21
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The Sittaford Mystery 16339
Is this black magic or simply a macabre joke? The only way to be certain is to locate Captain Trevelyan. Unfortunately, his home is six miles away and, with snowdrifts blocking the roads, someone will have to make the journey on foot...]]>
248 Agatha Christie 0007136846 Sean 3 3.77 1931 The Sittaford Mystery
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sean
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1931
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/10
date added: 2024/04/10
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<![CDATA[The Moving Finger (Miss Marple #4)]]> 6251570
Lymstock is a town with more than its share of scandalous secrets—a town where even a sudden outbreak of anonymous hate mail causes onlyĚýa minor stir.

But all that changes when one of the recipients, Mrs. Symmington, commits suicide. Her final note says “I can’t go on,� but Miss Marple questions the coroner’s verdict of suicide. Soon nobody is sure of anyone—as secrets stop being shameful and start becoming deadly.

Ěý±Ő±Ő>
280 Agatha Christie Sean 4 4.24 1942 The Moving Finger (Miss Marple #4)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sean
average rating: 4.24
book published: 1942
rating: 4
read at: 2024/03/06
date added: 2024/03/06
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How We Named the Stars 174712003
"A touching story about a transformative queer romance."—The New York Time Books Review

Named One of the 10 Best Debut Novelists of 2024 by The Observer (UK)

Set between the United States and México, Andrés N. Ordorica’s debut novel is a tender and lyrical exploration of belonging, grief, and first love—a love story for those so often written off the page.

When Daniel de La Luna arrives as a scholarship student at an elite East Coast university, he bears the weight of his family’s hopes and dreams, and the burden of sharing his late uncle’s name. Daniel flounders at first—but then Sam, his roommate, changes everything. As their relationship evolves from brotherly banter to something more intimate, Daniel soon finds himself in love with a man who helps him see himself in a new light. But just as their relationship takes flight, Daniel is pulled away, first by Sam’s hesitation and then by a brutal turn of events that changes Daniel’s life forever.

As he grapples with profound loss, Daniel finds himself in his family’s ancestral homeland in México for the summer, finding joy in this setting even as he struggles to come to terms with what’s happened and faces a host of new How does the person he is connect with this place his family comes from? How is his own story connected to his late uncle’s? And how might he reconcile the many parts of himself as he learns to move forward?

Equal parts tender and triumphant, Andrés N. Ordorica’s How We Named the Stars is a debut novel of love, heartache, redemption, and learning to honor the dead; a story of finding the strength to figure out who you are—and who you could be—if only the world would let you.]]>
306 Andrés N. Ordorica 1959030485 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.11 2024 How We Named the Stars
author: Andrés N. Ordorica
name: Sean
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2024
rating: 0
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date added: 2024/01/30
shelves: currently-reading
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The Swimming-Pool Library 30106 352 Alan Hollinghurst 0679722564 Sean 4 3.77 1988 The Swimming-Pool Library
author: Alan Hollinghurst
name: Sean
average rating: 3.77
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/01/06
shelves:
review:

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Day 123033397
April 5, 2019 : In a cozy brownstone in Brooklyn, the veneer of domestic bliss is beginning to crack. Dan and Isabel, troubled husband and wife, are both a little bit in love with Isabel’s younger brother, Robbie. Robbie, wayward soul of the family, who still lives in the attic loft; Robbie, who, trying to get over his most recent boyfriend, has created a glamorous avatar online; Robbie, who now has to move out of the house—and whose departure threatens to break the family apart. Meanwhile Nathan, age ten, is taking his first uncertain steps toward independence, while Violet, five, does her best not to notice the growing rift between her parents.

April 5, 2020: As the world goes into lockdown, the brownstone is feeling more like a prison. Violet is terrified of leaving the windows open, obsessed with keeping her family safe, while Nathan attempts to skirt her rules. Isabel and Dan communicate mostly in veiled jabs and frustrated sighs. And beloved Robbie is stranded in Iceland, alone in a mountain cabin with nothing but his thoughts—and his secret Instagram life—for company.

April 5, 2021: Emerging from the worst of the crisis, the family reckons with a new, very different reality—with what they’ve learned, what they’ve lost, and how they might go on.

From the brilliant mind of Pulitzer Prize winner Michael Cunningham, Day is a searing, exquisitely crafted meditation on love and loss and the struggles and limitations of family life—how to live together and apart.]]>
273 Michael Cunningham 0399591346 Sean 5 3.50 2023 Day
author: Michael Cunningham
name: Sean
average rating: 3.50
book published: 2023
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/12/27
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<![CDATA[Agatha Christie Collection #1: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (with Hercule Poirot) + The Secret Adversary (with Tommy and Tuppence)]]> 22045467 This carefully crafted ebook: “Agatha Christie Collection #1: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (with Hercule Poirot) + The Secret Adversary (with Tommy and Tuppence)� is formatted for your eReader with a functional and detailed table of contents.


"The Mysterious Affair at Styles" is a detective novel by Agatha Christie. It was written in the middle of World War I, in 1916, and first published by John Lane in the United States in October 1920 and in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head on 21 January 1921. Styles was Christie's first published novel, introducing Hercule Poirot, Inspector (later, Chief Inspector) Japp, and Arthur Hastings. The story is told in first person by Hastings and features many of the elements that have become icons of the Golden Age of Detective Fiction, largely due to Christie's influence. It is set in a large, isolated country manor. There are a half-dozen suspects, most of whom are hiding facts about themselves. The book includes maps of the house, the murder scene, and a drawing of a fragment of a will, as well as a number of red herrings and surprise plot twists. "The Secret Adversary" is a work of detective fiction by Agatha Christie, first published in the United Kingdom by The Bodley Head in January 1922. The book introduces the characters of Tommy and Tuppence who feature in three other Christie books and one collection of short stories written throughout her writing career.

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338 Agatha Christie 8026808215 Sean 3 4.13 Agatha Christie Collection #1: The Mysterious Affair at Styles (with Hercule Poirot) + The Secret Adversary (with Tommy and Tuppence)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sean
average rating: 4.13
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2017/11/30
date added: 2023/12/06
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The explanation behind whodunnit was too intricate to be believed
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<![CDATA[The Marlow Murder Club (Marlow Murder Club #1)]]> 58815966
Judith Potts is seventy-seven years old and blissfully happy. She lives on her own in a faded mansion just outside Marlow, there’s no man in her life to tell her what to do or how much whisky to drink, and to keep herself busy she sets crosswords for The Times newspaper.

One evening, while out swimming in the Thames, Judith witnesses a brutal murder. The local police don’t believe her story, so she decides to investigate for herself, and is soon joined in her quest by Suzie, a salt-of-the-earth dog-walker, and Becks, the prim and proper wife of the local Vicar.

Together, they are the Marlow Murder Club.

When another body turns up, they realise they have a real-life serial killer on their hands. And the puzzle they set out to solve has become a trap from which they might never escape…]]>
352 Robert Thorogood 1728250536 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.98 2021 The Marlow Murder Club (Marlow Murder Club #1)
author: Robert Thorogood
name: Sean
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/11/29
shelves: currently-reading
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Skippy Dies 7146335
Why does Skippy, a fourteen-year-old boy at Dublin's venerable Seabrook College, end up dead on the floor of the local doughnut shop?

Could it have something to do with his friend Ruprecht Van Doren, an overweight genius who is determined to open a portal into a parallel universe using ten-dimensional string theory?

Could it involve Carl, the teenage drug dealer and borderline psychotic who is Skippy’s rival in love?

Or could "the Automator", the ruthless, smooth-talking headmaster intent on modernizing the school, have something to hide?

Why Skippy dies and what happens next is the subject of this dazzling and uproarious novel, unraveling a mystery that links the boys of Seabrook College to their parents and teachers in ways nobody could have imagined. With a cast of characters that ranges from hip-hop-loving fourteen-year-old Eoin "MC Sexecutioner� Flynn to basketball-playing midget Philip Kilfether, packed with questions and answers on everything from Ritalin, to M-theory, to bungee jumping, to the hidden meaning of the poetry of Robert Frost, Skippy Dies is a heartfelt, hilarious portrait of the pain, joy, and occasional beauty of adolescence, and a tragic depiction of a world always happy to sacrifice its weakest members. As the twenty-first century enters its teenage years, this is a breathtaking novel from a young writer who will come to define his generation.]]>
661 Paul Murray 0241141826 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.78 2010 Skippy Dies
author: Paul Murray
name: Sean
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2010
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/10/02
shelves: currently-reading
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The Boys from Biloxi 61065355
Keith Rudy and Hugh Malco grew up in Biloxi in the sixties and were childhood friends, as well as Little League all-stars. But as teenagers, their lives took them in different directions. Keith’s father became a legendary prosecutor, determined to “clean up the Coast.� Hugh’s father became the “Boss� of Biloxi’s criminal underground. Keith went to law school and followed in his father’s footsteps. Hugh preferred the nightlife and worked in his father’s clubs. The two families were headed for a showdown, one that would happen in a courtroom.

Life itself hangs in the balance in The Boys from Biloxi, a sweeping saga rich with history and with a large cast of unforgettable characters.]]>
464 John Grisham 0385548923 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.81 2022 The Boys from Biloxi
author: John Grisham
name: Sean
average rating: 3.81
book published: 2022
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/08/22
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[A Dublin Student Doctor (Irish Country #6)]]> 11289864 493 Patrick Taylor Sean 0 currently-reading 4.44 2011 A Dublin Student Doctor (Irish Country #6)
author: Patrick Taylor
name: Sean
average rating: 4.44
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/08/18
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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<![CDATA[A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple, #4)]]> 16298
The novel was promoted on both sides of the Atlantic as Agatha Christie's 50th book and published in 1950 by William Collins.

Librarian's note: this entry is for the novel, "A Murder is Announced." Collections and other Miss Marple stories are located elsewhere on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ. The series includes 12 novels and 20 short stories. Entries for the short stories can be found by searching Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ for: "a Miss Marple Short Story."]]>
288 Agatha Christie 1579126294 Sean 2 4.01 1950 A Murder Is Announced (Miss Marple, #4)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sean
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1950
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/08/17
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review:

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Lake Life 52756708 From the award-winning author of the acclaimed story collection The Heaven of Animals, called “a wise debut…beautiful [stories] with a rogue touch� (The New York Times Book Review), comes a sweeping, domestic novel about a family that reunites at their North Carolina lake house for one last vacation before the home is sold—and the long-buried secrets that are finally revealed.

The Starling family is scattered across the country. Parents Richard and Lisa live in Ithaca, New York, and work at Cornell University. Their son Michael, a salesperson, lives in Dallas with his elementary school teacher wife, Diane. Michael’s brother, Thad, an aspiring poet, makes his home in New York City with his famous painter boyfriend, Jake. For years they’ve traveled to North Carolina to share a summer vacation at the family lake house.

That tradition is coming to an end, as Richard and Lisa have decided to sell the treasured summer home and retire to Florida. Before they do, the family will spend one last weekend at the lake. But what should to be a joyous farewell takes a nightmarish turn when the family witnesses a tragedy that triggers a series of dramatic revelations among the Starlings—alcoholism, infidelity, pregnancy, and a secret the parents have kept from their sons for over thirty years. As the weekend unfolds, relationships fray, bonds are tested, and the Starlings are forced to reckon with who they are and what they want from this life.

Set in today’s America, Lake Life is a beautifully rendered, emotionally compelling novel in the tradition of Jonathan Franzen’s The Corrections, Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge, and Ann Patchett’s Commonwealth.]]>
295 David James Poissant 1476729999 Sean 3 3.65 2020 Lake Life
author: David James Poissant
name: Sean
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/05/03
date added: 2023/08/01
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Mothering Sunday 26014651
Twenty-two-year-old Jane Fairchild has worked as a maid at an English country house since she was sixteen. For almost all of those years she has been the clandestine lover to Paul Sheringham, young heir of a neighboring house. The two now meet on an unseasonably warm March day—Mothering Sunday—a day that will change Jane's life forever.

As the narrative moves back and forth from 1924 to the end of the century, what we know and understand about Jane—about the way she loves, thinks, feels, sees, remembers—expands with every vividly captured moment. Her story is one of profound self-discovery, and through her, Graham Swift has created an emotionally soaring, deeply affecting work of fiction.]]>
177 Graham Swift 1101947527 Sean 4
The story is short, even for a novella and has just enough plot to carry your interest through to the end. I felt a strange apprehension as I turned the pages, waiting for some twist, some turn, some unforeseen event to crop up on the page to break the tension created by two people breaking all the rules.

At the same time, it is the story of the development of an imagination, one that a woman willing to break rules is able to use to carry her onward through to a fuller life than the strictly confined one she had in her youth.

The prose was elegant, the pages turned quickly and this book was a satisfying way to spend a few hours. A strong performance by Graham Swift.]]>
3.71 2016 Mothering Sunday
author: Graham Swift
name: Sean
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2016
rating: 4
read at: 2017/05/14
date added: 2023/07/30
shelves:
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Set on an unseasonably warm Sunday afternoon in March 1924, this novella tells a story of two young lovers, Jane, a maid, and Paul, the heir of a neighboring house. Paul is to marry a wealthy girl in two weeks time and He and Jane have a few last stolen hours to spend together in his room while the rest of the house is away for the afternoon.

The story is short, even for a novella and has just enough plot to carry your interest through to the end. I felt a strange apprehension as I turned the pages, waiting for some twist, some turn, some unforeseen event to crop up on the page to break the tension created by two people breaking all the rules.

At the same time, it is the story of the development of an imagination, one that a woman willing to break rules is able to use to carry her onward through to a fuller life than the strictly confined one she had in her youth.

The prose was elegant, the pages turned quickly and this book was a satisfying way to spend a few hours. A strong performance by Graham Swift.
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<![CDATA[Be Mine: A Frank Bascombe Novel]]> 62683170
Now in the twilight of life, a man who has occupied many colourful roles—sportswriter, father, husband, ex-husband, friend, real estate agent—Bascombe finds himself in the most sorrowing role of caregiver to his son, Paul, diagnosed with ALS.ĚýOn a shared winter odyssey to Mount Rushmore, Frank, in typicalĚýBascombe fashion, faces down the mortality that is assured each of us,Ěýand in doing so confronts what happiness might signify at the end of days.

In this memorable novel, Richard Ford puts on display the prose, wit and intelligence that make him one of our most acclaimedĚýliving writers.ĚýBe MineĚýis a profound, funny, poignant love letter to our beleaguered world.


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356 Richard Ford 1443470430 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.11 2023 Be Mine: A Frank Bascombe Novel
author: Richard Ford
name: Sean
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/06/19
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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Juno Loves Legs 61778428 For fans of Shuggie Bain and A Little Life, Juno Loves Legs is the epic and heartbreaking story of a young friendship set in working-class Dublin in the 1980s

Juno Loves Legs is the story of two teens labeled as delinquents. Juno and "Legs" grow up on the same housing estate in Dublin, where spirited, intelligent Juno is ostracized for her poverty and Legs is persecuted for his sexuality; they find safety only in each other.

Set against the backdrop of Dublin in the 1980s, a place of political, social and religious change, the friends yearn for an unbound life and together they begin to fight to take up the space of who they truly are. As their defiance reverberates through their lives, the children are further alienated from their surrounding society through acts of bravery and cowardice, both their own and others�. Finding themselves as outsiders, they are feared, coveted and watched, but rarely truly seen.

Told through the eyes of Juno, we see the pair begin to navigate the political and oftentimes confusing adult world with honesty and intuition. A country emerging from a dark Catholicism into the wider world of possibilities. Who is invited into modernity and gentrification and who is left behind?

Caught between the rich depth of her intellect and the harsh reality of her life, we follow Juno as she begins to understand how divergent a life lived and a life thought can be.

Juno Loves Legs shows the frustration of feeling trapped in a life that is not yours and the ability of friendship to lift us out of our experiences and into a truer version of ourselves. It is a novel that reminds us that kindness, bravery, and love appear in places where they are not always expected and in forms not usually recognised, but with a potency that cannot be ignored.]]>
301 Karl Geary 1646221141 Sean 5 4.09 2023 Juno Loves Legs
author: Karl Geary
name: Sean
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2023
rating: 5
read at: 2023/06/15
date added: 2023/06/15
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The Late Americans 56917531
In the shared and private spaces of Iowa City, a loose circle of lovers and friends encounter, confront, and provoke one another in a volatile year of self-discovery. At the group’s center are Ivan, a dancer turned aspiring banker who dabbles in amateur pornography; Fatima, whose independence and work ethic complicates her relationships with friends and a trusted mentor; and Noah, who “didn’t seek sex out so much as it came up to him like an anxious dog in need of affection.� These three are buffeted by a cast of poets, artists, landlords, meat-packing workers, and mathematicians who populate the cafes, classrooms, and food-service kitchens of Iowa City, sometimes to violent and electrifying consequence. Finally, as each prepares for an uncertain future, the group heads to a cabin to bid goodbye to their former lives—a moment of reckoning that leaves each of them irrevocably altered.]]>
320 Brandon Taylor 0593332350 Sean 4 3.38 2023 The Late Americans
author: Brandon Taylor
name: Sean
average rating: 3.38
book published: 2023
rating: 4
read at: 2023/05/27
date added: 2023/05/27
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I Have Some Questions for You 61053829
But when the Granby School invites her back to teach a course, Bodie is inexorably drawn to the case and its increasingly apparent flaws. In their rush to convict Omar, did the school and the police overlook other suspects? Is the real killer still out there? As she falls down the very rabbit hole she was so determined to avoid, Bodie begins to wonder if she wasn't as much of an outsider at Granby as she'd thought—if, perhaps, back in 1995, she knew something that might have held the key to solving the case.]]>
438 Rebecca Makkai 0593490142 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.57 2023 I Have Some Questions for You
author: Rebecca Makkai
name: Sean
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2023
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/05/20
shelves: currently-reading
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Fellow Travelers 701724
Washington, D.C., in the early 1950 a world of bare-knuckled ideology, hard drinking, and secret dossiers, dominated by such outsized characters as Richard Nixon, Drew Pearson, Perle Mesta, and Joe McCarthy. Into this fevered city steps Timothy Laughlin, a recent Fordham graduate and devout Catholic eager to join the crusade against Communism. A chance encounter with a handsome, profligate State Department official, Hawkins Fuller, leads to Tim’s first job in D.C. and–after Fuller’s advances–his first love affair. Now, as McCarthy mounts an increasingly desperate bid for power and internal investigations focus on “sexual subversives� in the government, Tim and Fuller find it ever more dangerous to navigate their double lives. Drawn into a maelstrom of deceit and intrigue, and clinging to the friendship of a beautiful young woman named Mary Johnson, Tim struggles to reconcile his political convictions, his love for God, and his love for Fuller–an entanglement that will end in a stunning act of betrayal.

Moving between the Senate Office Building and the Washington Evening Star , the diplomatic world of Foggy Bottom and NATO’s front line in Europe, Fellow Travelers is energized by high political drama, unexpected humor, and genuine heartbreak. It is Thomas Mallon’s most accomplished and daring novel to date.]]>
356 Thomas Mallon 0375423486 Sean 5 3.56 2007 Fellow Travelers
author: Thomas Mallon
name: Sean
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2007
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/05/18
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A Conflict of Interest 10493217
At his father's funeral, Alex meets Michael Ohlig—a mysterious and nearly mythic figure in Miller family history—who presents Alex with a surprising request: to represent him in a high-profile criminal investigation . . . an alleged brokerage scam that has lost hundreds of millions of dollars for investors. Wealthy beyond words, Ohlig insists he's done nothing wrong, and Alex, who's experienced enough to know that clients always lie, uncharacteristically believes him.

As the facts come out, shocking secrets are revealed that threaten everything Alex believes in–about the law, his family, and himself. Yet Alex's desperate need for the truth propels him to unscrupulous depths, and to confront a past defined by deception and a future in jeopardy . . . with the realization that one false step could destroy everything Alex holds dear.

In an electrifying debut the likes of which legal thriller fans have not seen since Scott Turow's pulse-pounding thriller Presumed Innocent, Adam Mitzner tells a shocking story of suspense that heralds a bold new voice in fiction.]]>
384 Adam Mitzner 1439157510 Sean 0 to-read 3.78 2011 A Conflict of Interest
author: Adam Mitzner
name: Sean
average rating: 3.78
book published: 2011
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/04/29
shelves: to-read
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To Refrain from Embracing 126017918 438 Jeffrey Luscombe 1590217489 Sean 5 Buffetted by personal tragedies, whether from without or self-imposed, the mother of the family, Gloria emerges as the heroine, steadfastly carrying them through the rough hand life has dealt them. Much of the book is also seen through the eyes of a unique and fascinating child who sees far more than anyone else suspects.
If you are interested in family stories, working class struggles and returning to an earlier, but not a simpler, time, I highly recommend this novel.]]>
4.20 To Refrain from Embracing
author: Jeffrey Luscombe
name: Sean
average rating: 4.20
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2023/04/21
date added: 2023/04/24
shelves:
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This is a story of a working class family set in 1977 in Canada’s hardscrabble “Steeltown�. Some of The characters in the book are the same as Luscombe’s earlier work, Shirts and Skins, but in my view this is an even stronger work.
Buffetted by personal tragedies, whether from without or self-imposed, the mother of the family, Gloria emerges as the heroine, steadfastly carrying them through the rough hand life has dealt them. Much of the book is also seen through the eyes of a unique and fascinating child who sees far more than anyone else suspects.
If you are interested in family stories, working class struggles and returning to an earlier, but not a simpler, time, I highly recommend this novel.
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To Refrain From Embracing 117658865 From the backdrop of an impoverished steel-working community in working class Hamilton Ontario in the 1970s, To Refrain From Embracing follows the trials faced by a small family after a suicide attempt results in 38-year-old veteran Ted being checked into the Hamilton Psychiatric Hospital. His wife Gloria struggles with family finances and growing worries related to the well-being of their 10-year old son Josh while also re-embracing of her Indigenous identity begins to grow through encounters with a local steelworker and remembrances of her mother.



Josh meanwhile, struggles with his nascent sexuality, lack of acceptance from his peers, and fears about his father's mental health, all while entering into a friendship with a troubled neighbourhood teen.

To Refrain From Embracing is an immersive, naturalistic, and at times darkly comedic exploration of a family pushed up against personal and societal precepts of class, race, and sexuality.

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344 Luscombe Jeffrey 1927886392 Sean 5 5.00 To Refrain From Embracing
author: Luscombe Jeffrey
name: Sean
average rating: 5.00
book published:
rating: 5
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date added: 2023/03/02
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The Recent East 56997597
Moving seamlessly through decades and between the thoughts and lives of several unforgettable characters, Thomas Grattan's spellbinding novel is a multigenerational epic that illuminates what it means to leave home, and what it means to return. Masterfully crafted with humor, gorgeous prose, and a powerful understanding of history and heritage, The Recent East is the profoundly affecting story of a family upended by displacement and loss, and the extraordinary debut of an empathetic and ambitious storyteller.]]>
368 Thomas Grattan 0374722234 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.80 2021 The Recent East
author: Thomas Grattan
name: Sean
average rating: 3.80
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/02/13
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[An Irish Country Village (Irish Country #2)]]> 2270950 An Irish Country Doctor, a warm and enchanting novel in the tradition of James Herriot and Jan Karon. Now Taylor returns to the colorful Northern Ireland community of Ballybucklebo, where there's always something brewing beneath the village's deceptively sleepy surface.

Young Doctor Barry Laverty has only just begun his assistantship under his eccentric mentor, Dr. Fingal Flahertie O'Reilly, but he already feels right at home in Ballybucklebo. When the sudden death of a patient casts a cloud over Barry's reputation, his chances of establishing himself in the village are endangered, especially since the grieving widow is threatening a lawsuit.

While he anxiously waits for the postmortem results that he prays will exonerate him, Barry must regain the trust of the gossipy Ulster village, one patient at a time. From a put-upon shop girl with a mysterious rash to the troubled pregnancy of a winsome young lass who's not quite married yet, Ballybucklebo provides plenty of cases to keep the two country G.P.s busy.

Not all their challenges are medical in nature. When a greedy developer sets his sights on the very heart of the community, the village pub, it's up to the doctors to save the Black Swan (affectionately known to the locals as the "Mucky Duck") from being turned into an overpriced tourist trap. After all, the good citizens of Ballybucklebo need some place to drink to each other's health. . . .

Whether you've visited in the past, or are discovering Ballybucklebo for the first time, An Irish Country Village is an ideal location for anyone looking for wit, warmth, and just a touch of blarney.]]>
432 Patrick Taylor 0765316242 Sean 4 4.05 2008 An Irish Country Village (Irish Country #2)
author: Patrick Taylor
name: Sean
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2008
rating: 4
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date added: 2023/01/22
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<![CDATA[An Irish Country Family: An Irish Country Novel (Irish Country Books Book 14)]]> 43378228 The instant USA Today bestselller! An Irish Country Family is a charming entry in Patrick Taylor's beloved internationally bestselling Irish Country series.Before Doctor Barry Laverty joined Doctor Fingal O’Reilly's practice in the colorful Irish village of Ballybucklebo, he was an intern, working long hours, practicing new medical techniques, falling in love, and learning what is most important in the medical field for a family physician—the bonds of family, friendships, and human kindness. Years later, Barry practices everything he has learned in Ballybucklebo, a lovely village where neighbor looks after neighbor. And while his own efforts to start a family with his wife Sue have been frustrated, the community around him couldn’t be stronger as they work together to show their solidarity. Shifting effortlessly between the two time periods, bestselling author Patrick Taylor continues the story of these beloved characters while vividly bringing the daily joys and struggles of this delightful Irish village to life.At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 361 Patrick Taylor 0765396866 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.40 2019 An Irish Country Family: An Irish Country Novel (Irish Country Books Book 14)
author: Patrick Taylor
name: Sean
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2019
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/01/22
shelves: currently-reading
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Alec 54785525 William di Canzio's Alec, inspired by Maurice, E. M. Forster's secret novel of a happy same-sex love affair, tells the story of Alec Scudder, the gamekeeper Maurice Hall falls in love with in Forster's classic, published only after the author's death.

Di Canzio follows their story past the end of Maurice to the front lines of battle in World War I and beyond. Forster, who tried to write an epilogue about the future of his characters, was stymied by the radical change that the Great War brought to their world. With the hindsight of a century, di Canzio imagines a future for them and a past for Alec--a young villager possessed of remarkable passion and self-knowledge.

Alec continues Forster's project of telling stories that are part of "a great unrecorded history." Di Canzio's debut novel is a love story of epic proportions, at once classic and boldly new.]]>
340 William di Canzio 0374102600 Sean 0 currently-reading 4.14 2021 Alec
author: William di Canzio
name: Sean
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2023/01/01
shelves: currently-reading
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Doctor in Love 19449924 192 Richard Gordon Sean 5 4.75 1957 Doctor in Love
author: Richard Gordon
name: Sean
average rating: 4.75
book published: 1957
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/23
date added: 2022/12/23
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Behold the Dreamers 35259724
However, the world of great power and privilege conceals troubling secrets, and soon Jende and Neni notice cracks in their employers� façades.

When the financial world is rocked by the collapse of Lehman Brothers, the Jongas are desperate to keep Jende’s job—even as their marriage threatens to fall apart. As all four lives are dramatically upended, Jende and Neni are forced to make an impossible choice.]]>
400 Imbolo Mbue 0525509712 Sean 2 3.92 2016 Behold the Dreamers
author: Imbolo Mbue
name: Sean
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2016
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2022/12/19
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House of Names 29344653
Three years later, he returns home and his murderous action has set the entire family - mother, brother, sister - on a path of intimate violence, as they enter a world of hushed commands and soundless journeys through the palace's dungeons and bedchambers. As his wife seeks his death, his daughter, Electra, is the silent observer to the family's game of innocence while his son, Orestes, is sent into bewildering, frightening exile where survival is far from certain. Out of their desolating loss, Electra and Orestes must find a way to right these wrongs of the past even if it means committing themselves to a terrible, barbarous act.

House of Names is a story of intense longing and shocking betrayal. It is a work of great beauty, and daring, from one of our finest living writers.]]>
272 Colm TĂłibĂ­n 0241264936 Sean 0 to-read, nevermind 3.54 2017 House of Names
author: Colm TĂłibĂ­n
name: Sean
average rating: 3.54
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/12/19
shelves: to-read, nevermind
review:

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Kindle Oasis User's Guide 53991249 Amazon Sean 5 4.50 Kindle Oasis User's Guide
author: Amazon
name: Sean
average rating: 4.50
book published:
rating: 5
read at: 2022/12/19
date added: 2022/12/19
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<![CDATA[The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot, #2)]]> 51132354
Among the plausible suspects are Renauld's wife Eloise, his son Jack, Renauld's immediate neighbor Madame Daubreuil, the mysterious "Cinderella" of Hasting's recent acquaintance, and some unknown visitor of the previous day--all of whom Poirot has reason to suspect. Poirot's powers of investigation ultimately triumph over the wiles of an assailant whose misdirection and motives are nearly--but not quite--impossible to spot.

Contains a character key, a detailed biography, and an illustrated list of notable Poirot portrayals.

Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937. Each novel, play and short story has its own entry on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ.]]>
199 Agatha Christie 1734452552 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.84 1923 The Murder on the Links (Hercule Poirot, #2)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sean
average rating: 3.84
book published: 1923
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/10/28
shelves: currently-reading
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<![CDATA[The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)]]> 16328
The peaceful English village of King’s Abbot is stunned. The widow Ferrars dies from an overdose of Veronal. Not twenty-four hours later, Roger Ackroyd—the man she had planned to marry—is murdered. It is a baffling case involving blackmail and death that taxes Hercule Poirot’s “little grey cells� before he reaches one of the most startling conclusions of his career.

Librarian's note: the first fifteen novels in the Hercule Poirot series are 1) The Mysterious Affair at Styles, 1920; 2) The Murder on the Links, 1923; 3) The Murder of Roger Ackroyd, 1926; 4) The Big Four, 1927; 5) The Mystery of the Blue Train, 1928; 6) Peril at End House, 1932; 7) Lord Edgware Dies, 1933; 8) Murder on the Orient Express, 1934; 9) Three Act Tragedy, 1935; 10) Death in the Clouds, 1935; 11) The A.B.C. Murders, 1936; 12) Murder in Mesopotamia, 1936; 13) Cards on the Table, 1936; 14) Dumb Witness, 1937; and 15) Death on the Nile, 1937. These are just the novels; Poirot also appears in this period in a play, Black Coffee, 1930, and two collections of short stories, Poirot Investigates, 1924, and Murder in the Mews, 1937. Each novel, play and short story has its own entry on Ĺ·±¦ÓéŔÖ.]]>
288 Agatha Christie 1579126278 Sean 5 One of Her Best

This one was particularly well written and I think that it was with this book (it was an early one) that Ms. Christie really hit her stride.
It took me longer than usual to finish it because, about a third of the way through, I thought I knew whodunnit and it seemed as I continued to read nothing really showed me that I was wrong as alibis and motives for the various suspects rose and fell.
I am a bit surprised that this is one that people tend not to figure out themselves. To me it seemed plain - and I never figure out whodunnit in her novels! I think this was the first time.]]>
4.26 1926 The Murder of Roger Ackroyd (Hercule Poirot, #4)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sean
average rating: 4.26
book published: 1926
rating: 5
read at: 2022/10/27
date added: 2022/10/27
shelves:
review:
One of Her Best

This one was particularly well written and I think that it was with this book (it was an early one) that Ms. Christie really hit her stride.
It took me longer than usual to finish it because, about a third of the way through, I thought I knew whodunnit and it seemed as I continued to read nothing really showed me that I was wrong as alibis and motives for the various suspects rose and fell.
I am a bit surprised that this is one that people tend not to figure out themselves. To me it seemed plain - and I never figure out whodunnit in her novels! I think this was the first time.
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<![CDATA[Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot, #41)]]> 32758320 When a Halloween Party turns deadly, it falls to Hercule Poirots to unmask a murderer in Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery, Hallowe’en Party.

At a Halloween party, Joyce—a hostile thirteen-year-old—boasts that she once witnessed a murder. When no one believes her, she storms off home. But within hours her body is found, still in the house, drowned in an apple-bobbing tub.

That night, Hercule Poirot is called in to find the `evil presence'. But first he must establish whether he is looking for a murderer or a double-murderer...]]>
268 Agatha Christie Sean 4 3.87 1969 Hallowe'en Party (Hercule Poirot, #41)
author: Agatha Christie
name: Sean
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1969
rating: 4
read at: 2022/10/08
date added: 2022/10/09
shelves:
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Oh William! (Amgash, #3) 56294820
So Lucy is both surprised and not surprised when William asks her to join him on a trip to investigate a recently uncovered family secret—one of those secrets that rearrange everything we think we know about the people closest to us. What happens next is nothing less than another example of what Hilary Mantel has called Elizabeth Strout’s “perfect attunement to the human condition.� There are fears and insecurities, simple joys and acts of tenderness, and revelations about affairs and other spouses, parents and their children. On every page of this exquisite novel we learn more about the quiet forces that hold us together—even after we’ve grown apart.

At the heart of this story is the indomitable voice of Lucy Barton, who offers a profound, lasting reflection on the very nature of existence. “This is the way of life,� Lucy says: “the many things we do not know until it is too late.”]]>
240 Elizabeth Strout 0812989430 Sean 0 currently-reading 3.79 2021 Oh William! (Amgash, #3)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Sean
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2021
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/09/21
shelves: currently-reading
review:

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The Paris Apartment 58468990 From the New York Times bestselling author of The Guest List comes a new locked room mystery, set in a Paris apartment building in which every resident has something to hide�

Jess needs a fresh start. She’s broke and alone, and she’s just left her job under less than ideal circumstances. Her half-brother Ben didn’t sound thrilled when she asked if she could crash with him for a bit, but he didn’t say no, and surely everything will look better from Paris. Only when she shows up � to find a very nice apartment, could Ben really have afforded this? � he’s not there.

The longer Ben stays missing, the more Jess starts to dig into her brother’s situation, and the more questions she has. Ben’s neighbors are an eclectic bunch, and not particularly friendly. Jess may have come to Paris to escape her past, but it’s starting to look like it’s Ben’s future that’s in question.

The socialite � The nice guy � The alcoholic � The girl on the verge � The concierge

Everyone’s a neighbor. Everyone’s a suspect. And everyone knows something they’re not telling.]]>
360 Lucy Foley 0063003058 Sean 2 3.63 2022 The Paris Apartment
author: Lucy Foley
name: Sean
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2022
rating: 2
read at: 2022/09/20
date added: 2022/09/20
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The Writing Class 2226289 Kill Me Now, she is a loner afraid to be alone. Her only bright spot each week is the writing class that she teaches at the university extension.

This semester's class is full of the usual suspects: the doctor who wants to be the next Robin Cook, the overly enthusiastic repeat student, the slacker, the unassuming student with the hidden talent, the prankster, the know-it-all... Amy's seen them all before. But something is very different about this class—and the clues begin with a scary phone call in the middle of the night and obscene threats instead of peer evaluations on student writing assignments. Amy soon realizes that one of her students is a very sick puppy, and when a member of the class is murdered, everyone becomes a suspect. As she dissects each student's writing for clues, Amy must enlist the help of everyone in her class, including the murderer, to find the killer among them.

Suspenseful, extremely witty, brilliantly written, unexpectedly hilarious, and a joy from start to finish, The Writing Class is a one-of-a-kind novel that rivals Jincy Willett's previous masterpieces.]]>
326 Jincy Willett 0312330669 Sean 0 to-read 3.48 2008 The Writing Class
author: Jincy Willett
name: Sean
average rating: 3.48
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/23
shelves: to-read
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Midnight’s Children 14836 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here.

Saleem Sinai is born at the stroke of midnight on August 15, 1947, the very moment of India’s independence. Greeted by fireworks displays, cheering crowds, and Prime Minister Nehru himself, Saleem grows up to learn the ominous consequences of this coincidence. His every act is mirrored and magnified in events that sway the course of national affairs; his health and well-being are inextricably bound to those of his nation; his life is inseparable, at times indistinguishable, from the history of his country. Perhaps most remarkable are the telepathic powers linking him with India’s 1,000 other “midnight’s children,� all born in that initial hour and endowed with magical gifts.

This novel is at once a fascinating family saga and an astonishing evocation of a vast land and its people–a brilliant incarnation of the universal human comedy. Twenty-five years after its publication, Midnight� s Children stands apart as both an epochal work of fiction and a brilliant performance by one of the great literary voices of our time.]]>
647 Salman Rushdie 0099578514 Sean 0 to-read 3.98 1981 Midnight’s Children
author: Salman Rushdie
name: Sean
average rating: 3.98
book published: 1981
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/08/14
shelves: to-read
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Milkman 36047860
Milkman is a tale of gossip and hearsay, silence and deliberate deafness. It is the story of inaction with enormous consequences.]]>
352 Anna Burns 0571338763 Sean 1 I give it two stars only because its depiction of the sectarian life in Belfast was a portrayal of a community which has not been given much attention in the literary world.]]> 3.51 2018 Milkman
author: Anna Burns
name: Sean
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2018
rating: 1
read at: 2018/09/12
date added: 2022/08/08
shelves:
review:
Well that was a bizarre and painful experience. I really thought it would never end. Someone has compared her writing in this book to In Search of Lost Time and all I can say is that reading one book by this author took as much time and effort as reading that entire work did, except without interesting characters, plot or pay-off at the end.
I give it two stars only because its depiction of the sectarian life in Belfast was a portrayal of a community which has not been given much attention in the literary world.
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Filthy Animals 55801198 A group portrait of young adults enmeshed in desire and violence, a hotly charged, deeply satisfying new work of fiction from the author of Booker Prize finalist Real Life

In the series of linked stories at the heart of Filthy Animals, set among young creatives in the American Midwest, a young man treads delicate emotional waters as he navigates a series of sexually fraught encounters with two dancers in an open relationship, forcing him to weigh his vulnerabilities against his loneliness. In other stories, a young woman battles with the cancers draining her body and her family; menacing undercurrents among a group of teenagers explode in violence on a winter night; a little girl tears through a house like a tornado, driving her babysitter to the brink; and couples feel out the jagged edges of connection, comfort, and cruelty.

One of the breakout literary stars of 2020, Brandon Taylor has been hailed by Roxane Gay as "a writer who wields his craft in absolutely unforgettable ways." With Filthy Animals he renews and expands on the promise made in Real Life, training his precise and unsentimental gaze on the tensions among friends and family, lovers and others. Psychologically taut and quietly devastating, Filthy Animals is a tender portrait of the fierce longing for intimacy, the lingering presence of pain, and the desire for love in a world that seems, more often than not, to withhold it.]]>
288 Brandon Taylor 0525538917 Sean 4 3.65 2021 Filthy Animals
author: Brandon Taylor
name: Sean
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2022/07/25
date added: 2022/07/25
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<![CDATA[A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #4)]]> 4201106 "What happened here last night isn't allowed," said Madame Dubois.
It was such an extraordinary thing to say it stopped the ravenous Inspector Beauvoir from taking another bite of his roast beef on baguette.
"You have a rule against murder?" he asked.
"I do. When my husband and I bought the Bellechasse we made a pact....Everything that stepped foot on this land would be safe."

It is the height of summer, and Armand and Reine-Marie Gamache are celebrating their wedding anniversary at Manoir Bellechasse, an isolated, luxurious inn not far from the village of Three Pines. But they're not alone. The Finney family—rich, cultured, and respectable—has also arrived for a celebration of their own.
The beautiful Manoir Bellechasse might be surrounded by nature, but there is something unnatural looming. As the heat rises and the humidity closes in, some surprising guests turn up at the family reunion, and a terrible summer storm leaves behind a dead body. It is up to Chief Inspector Gamache to unearth secrets long buried and hatreds hidden behind polite smiles. The chase takes him to Three Pines, into the dark corners of his own life, and finally to a harrowing climax.]]>
322 Louise Penny 0312377029 Sean 0 to-read 4.15 2008 A Rule Against Murder (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #4)
author: Louise Penny
name: Sean
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/05/14
shelves: to-read
review:

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Address Book: Hope Lives Here 59544224
Neil says, â€Every place I’ve ever slept in, I’ve always wondered about what went on at that address before I moved in. To write this book, I went back to some significant places in my own life and let the walls talk to me. The result of that listening is this new cycle of stories.’]]>
214 Neil Bartlett 1912620138 Sean 3 4.06 Address Book: Hope Lives Here
author: Neil Bartlett
name: Sean
average rating: 4.06
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2022/04/11
date added: 2022/04/11
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Young Mungo 58596697
As they fall in love, they dream of finding somewhere they belong, while Mungo works hard to hide his true self from all those around him, especially from his big brother Hamish, a local gang leader with a brutal reputation to uphold. And when several months later Mungo's mother sends him on a fishing trip to a loch in Western Scotland with two strange men whose drunken banter belies murky pasts, he will need to summon all his inner strength and courage to try to get back to a place of safety, a place where he and James might still have a future.

Imbuing the everyday world of its characters with rich lyricism and giving full voice to people rarely acknowledged in the literary world, Young Mungo is a gripping and revealing story about the bounds of masculinity, the divisions of sectarianism, the violence faced by many queer people, and the dangers of loving someone too much.]]>
391 Douglas Stuart 1529068762 Sean 4 4.45 2022 Young Mungo
author: Douglas Stuart
name: Sean
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/04/10
date added: 2022/04/10
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Mother's Boy 58417247 One of the joys of Gale's writing is how even the smallest of characters can appear fully formed, due to a charming wickedness alongside deeper observations. Irish Times

Laura, an impoverished Cornish girl, meets her husband when they are both in service in Teignmouth in 1916. They have a baby, Charles, but Laura's husband returns home from the trenches a damaged man, already ill with the tuberculosis that will soon leave her a widow. In a small, class-obsessed town she raises her boy alone, working as a laundress, and gradually becomes aware that he is some kind of genius.

As an intensely privately young man, Charles signs up for the navy with the new rank of coder. His escape from the tight, gossipy confines of Launceston to the colour and violence of war sees him blossom as he experiences not only the possibility of death, but the constant danger of a love that is as clandestine as his work.

MOTHER'S BOY is the story of a man who is among, yet apart from his fellows, in thrall to, yet at a distance from his own mother; a man being shaped for a long, remarkable and revered life spent hiding in plain sight. But it is equally the story of the dauntless mother who will continue to shield him long after the dangers of war are past.

A writer with heart, soul, and a dark and naughty wit, one whose company you relish and trust. Observer]]>
416 Patrick Gale 1472257413 Sean 5 4.03 2022 Mother's Boy
author: Patrick Gale
name: Sean
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2022
rating: 5
read at: 2022/04/02
date added: 2022/04/02
shelves:
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A captivating novel about the real-life poet Charles Causley. Set in Cornwall between the wars and during the Second World War, it follows the story of an awkward young Cornish boy who becomes a poet and teacher. He serves during the Second World War in the Royal Navy, where he finds excitement and terror and forbidden love. Based on the bare autobiographical facts known about Causley, the author has “filled in the blanks� through a careful study of his poetry. I urge you to give this novel and Patrick Gale’s other works a try.
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The Slap 5396496
This event has a shocking ricochet effect on a group of people, mostly friends, who are directly or indirectly influenced by the slap.

In this remarkable novel, Christos Tsiolkas turns his unflinching and all-seeing eye onto that which connects us all: the modern family and domestic life in the twenty-first century. The Slap is told from the points of view of eight people who were present at the barbecue. The slap and its consequences force them all to question their own families and the way they live, their expectations, beliefs and desires.

What unfolds is a powerful, haunting novel about love, sex and marriage, parenting and children, and the fury and intensity - all the passions and conflicting beliefs - that family can arouse. In its clear-eyed and forensic dissection of the ever-growing middle class and its aspirations and fears, The Slap is also a poignant, provocative novel about the nature of commitment and happiness, compromise and truth.]]>
485 Christos Tsiolkas Sean 0 3.26 2008 The Slap
author: Christos Tsiolkas
name: Sean
average rating: 3.26
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2022/04/01
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The Remains of the Day 28921 Librarian's note: See alternate cover edition of ISBN 0571225381 here.

In the summer of 1956, Stevens, a long-serving butler at Darlington Hall, decides to take a motoring trip through the West Country. The six-day excursion becomes a journey into the past of Stevens and England, a past that takes in fascism, two world wars, and an unrealised love between the butler and his housekeeper.]]>
258 Kazuo Ishiguro Sean 5 4.14 1989 The Remains of the Day
author: Kazuo Ishiguro
name: Sean
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1989
rating: 5
read at: 2022/03/09
date added: 2022/03/09
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Joan Is Okay 57677144
Joan is a thirtysomething ICU doctor at a busy New York City hospital. The daughter of Chinese parents who came to the United States to secure the American dream for their children, Joan is intensely devoted to her work, happily solitary, successful. She does look up sometimes and wonder where her true roots lie: at the hospital, where her white coat makes her feel needed, or with her family, who try to shape her life by their own cultural and social expectations.

Once Joan and her brother, Fang, were established in their careers, her parents moved back to China, hoping to spend the rest of their lives in their homeland. But when Joan’s father suddenly dies and her mother returns to America to reconnect with her children, a series of events sends Joan spiraling out of her comfort zone just as her hospital, her city, and the world are forced to reckon with a health crisis more devastating than anyone could have imagined.

Deceptively spare yet quietly powerful, laced with sharp humor, Joan Is Okay touches on matters that feel deeply resonant: being Chinese-American right now; working in medicine at a high-stakes time; finding one’s voice within a dominant culture; being a woman in a male-dominated workplace; and staying independent within a tight-knit family. But above all, it’s a portrait of one remarkable woman so surprising that you can’t get her out of your head.]]>
240 Weike Wang 0525654844 Sean 4 3.86 2022 Joan Is Okay
author: Weike Wang
name: Sean
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2022
rating: 4
read at: 2022/02/27
date added: 2022/02/27
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By Nightfall 8100015
Like his legendary, Pulitzer Prize–winning novel, The Hours, Michael Cunningham’s masterly new novel is a heartbreaking look at the way we live now. Full of shocks and aftershocks, it makes us think and feel deeply about the uses and meaning of beauty and the place of love in our lives.<]]>
238 Michael Cunningham 0374299080 Sean 4 3.44 2010 By Nightfall
author: Michael Cunningham
name: Sean
average rating: 3.44
book published: 2010
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2022/02/16
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Deacon King Kong 51045613 The funny, sharp, and surprising story of the shooting of a Brooklyn drug dealer and the people who witnessed it—from James McBride, author of the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird

In September 1969, a fumbling, cranky old church deacon known in the neighborhood as Sportcoat shuffles into the courtyard of the Causeway Housing project in south Brooklyn, pulls a .38 from his pocket, and in front of everybody shoots the project's drug dealer at point-blank range.

The reasons for this desperate burst of violence and the consequences that spring from it lie at the heart of Deacon King Kong, James McBride's novel and his first since his National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird. In McBride brings to vivid life the people affected by the shooting: the victim, the African-American and Latinx residents who witnessed it, the white neighbors, the local NYPD cops assigned to investigate what happened, the members of the Five Ends Baptist Church where Sportcoat was deacon, the neighborhood's Italian mobsters, and Sportcoat himself.

As the story deepens, it becomes clear that the lives of the characters—caught in the tumultuous swirl of New York in the late 1960s—overlap in unexpected ways. When the truth finally emerges, McBride shows us that not all secrets can be hidden, that the best way to grow is to face change without fear, and that the seeds of love lie in compassion and hope.]]>
370 James McBride 073521672X Sean 0 to-read 4.11 2020 Deacon King Kong
author: James McBride
name: Sean
average rating: 4.11
book published: 2020
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/12/08
shelves: to-read
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Memorial 56176842 A funny, sexy, profound dramedy about two young people at a crossroads in their relationship and the limits of love.

Benson and Mike are two young guys who live together in Houston. Mike is a Japanese American chef at a Mexican restaurant and Benson's a Black day care teacher, and they've been together for a few years -- good years -- but now they're not sure why they're still a couple. There's the sex, sure, and the meals Mike cooks for Benson, and, well, they love each other.

But when Mike finds out his estranged father is dying in Osaka just as his acerbic Japanese mother, Mitsuko, arrives in Texas for a visit, Mike picks up and flies across the world to say goodbye. In Japan he undergoes an extraordinary transformation, discovering the truth about his family and his past. Back home, Mitsuko and Benson are stuck living together as unconventional roommates, an absurd domestic situation that ends up meaning more to each of them than they ever could have predicted. Without Mike's immediate pull, Benson begins to push outwards, realizing he might just know what he wants out of life and have the goods to get it.

Both men will change in ways that will either make them stronger together, or fracture everything they've ever known. And just maybe they'll all be okay in the end. Memorial is a funny and profound story about family in all its strange forms, joyful and hard-won vulnerability, becoming who you're supposed to be, and the limits of love.]]>
303 Bryan Washington Sean 3 3.55 2020 Memorial
author: Bryan Washington
name: Sean
average rating: 3.55
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at: 2021/11/18
date added: 2021/11/18
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Crossroads 55881796 Jonathan Franzen's gift for wedding depth and vividness of character with breadth of social vision has never been more dazzlingly evident than in Crossroads.

It's December 23, 1971, and heavy weather is forecast for Chicago. Russ Hildebrandt, the associate pastor of a liberal suburban church, is on the brink of breaking free of a marriage he finds joyless--unless his wife, Marion, who has her own secret life, beats him to it. Their eldest child, Clem, is coming home from college on fire with moral absolutism, having taken an action that will shatter his father. Clem's sister, Becky, long the social queen of her high-school class, has sharply veered into the counterculture, while their brilliant younger brother Perry, who's been selling drugs to seventh graders, has resolved to be a better person. Each of the Hildebrandts seeks a freedom that each of the others threatens to complicate.

Jonathan Franzen's novels are celebrated for their unforgettably vivid characters and for their keen-eyed take on contemporary America. Now, in Crossroads, Franzen ventures back into the past and explores the history of two generations. With characteristic humor and complexity, and with even greater warmth, he conjures a world that resonates powerfully with our own.

A tour de force of interwoven perspectives and sustained suspense, its action largely unfolding on a single winter day, Crossroads is the story of a Midwestern family at a pivotal moment of moral crisis. Jonathan Franzen's gift for melding the small picture and the big picture has never been more dazzlingly evident.]]>
592 Jonathan Franzen 0374181179 Sean 5 If family dramas are your cup of tea this is definitely the novel for you.]]> 4.05 2021 Crossroads
author: Jonathan Franzen
name: Sean
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2021
rating: 5
read at: 2021/10/19
date added: 2021/10/23
shelves:
review:
This novel, almost 600 pages in length, is the story of a family of four in Illinois in the early 1970s. Each character is carefully and thoroughly drawn, and one finds oneself both loving and hating them as their stories unfold. Rich characterization has always been a major strength in Franzen’s writing and this no less true in Crossroads.
If family dramas are your cup of tea this is definitely the novel for you.
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<![CDATA[Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)]]> 1736739
At times stern, at other times patient, at times perceptive, at other times in sad denial, Olive Kitteridge, a retired schoolteacher, deplores the changes in her little town of Crosby, Maine, and in the world at large, but she doesn’t always recognize the changes in those around her: a lounge musician haunted by a past romance; a former student who has lost the will to live; Olive’s own adult child, who feels tyrannized by her irrational sensitivities; and her husband, Henry, who finds his loyalty to his marriage both a blessing and a curse.

As the townspeople grapple with their problems, mild and dire, Olive is brought to a deeper understanding of herself and her life � sometimes painfully, but always with ruthless honesty.]]>
270 Elizabeth Strout Sean 0 to-read 3.85 2008 Olive Kitteridge (Olive Kitteridge, #1)
author: Elizabeth Strout
name: Sean
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2021/10/21
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Harlem Shuffle (Ray Carney, #1)]]> 54626223 From the two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Underground Railroad and The Nickel Boys, a gloriously entertaining novel of heists, shakedowns, and rip-offs set in Harlem in the 1960s.

“Ray Carney was only slightly bent when it came to being crooked…� To his customers and neighbors on 125th street, Carney is an upstanding salesman of reasonably priced furniture, making a decent life for himself and his family. He and his wife Elizabeth are expecting their second child, and if her parents on Striver’s Row don’t approve of him or their cramped apartment across from the subway tracks, it’s still home.

Few people know he descends from a line of uptown hoods and crooks, and that his façade of normalcy has more than a few cracks in it. Cracks that are getting bigger all the time.

Cash is tight, especially with all those installment-plan sofas, so if his cousin Freddie occasionally drops off the odd ring or necklace, Ray doesn’t ask where it comes from. He knows a discreet jeweler downtown who doesn’t ask questions, either.

Then Freddie falls in with a crew who plan to rob the Hotel Theresa—the “Waldorf of Harlem”—and volunteers Ray’s services as the fence. The heist doesn’t go as planned; they rarely do. Now Ray has a new clientele, one made up of shady cops, vicious local gangsters, two-bit pornographers, and other assorted Harlem lowlifes.

Thus begins the internal tussle between Ray the striver and Ray the crook. As Ray navigates this double life, he begins to see who actually pulls the strings in Harlem. Can Ray avoid getting killed, save his cousin, and grab his share of the big score, all while maintaining his reputation as the go-to source for all your quality home furniture needs?

Harlem Shuffle’s ingenious story plays out in a beautifully recreated New York City of the early 1960s. It’s a family saga masquerading as a crime novel, a hilarious morality play, a social novel about race and power, and ultimately a love letter to Harlem.

But mostly, it’s a joy to read, another dazzling novel from the Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award-winning Colson Whitehead.]]>
318 Colson Whitehead 0385545134 Sean 0 to-read 3.67 2021 Harlem Shuffle (Ray Carney, #1)
author: Colson Whitehead
name: Sean
average rating: 3.67
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/10/03
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Saturday 5015
Later, as Perowne makes his way through London streets filled with hundreds of thousands of anti-war protestors, a minor car accident brings him into a confrontation with Baxter, a fidgety, aggressive young man, on the edge of violence. To Perowne's professional eye, there appears to be something profoundly wrong with him. But it is not until Baxter makes a sudden appearance as the Perowne family gathers for a reunion, that Henry's fears seem about to be realised.]]>
289 Ian McEwan 1400076196 Sean 0 3.64 2005 Saturday
author: Ian McEwan
name: Sean
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2005
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/10/03
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Empire Falls 187020
Miles Roby has been slinging burgers at the Empire Grill for 20 years, a job that cost him his college education and much of his self-respect. What keeps him there? It could be his bright, sensitive daughter Tick, who needs all his help surviving the local high school. Or maybe it’s Janine, Miles� soon-to-be ex-wife, who’s taken up with a noxiously vain health-club proprietor. Or perhaps it’s the imperious Francine Whiting, who owns everything in town–and seems to believe that “everything� includes Miles himself. In Empire Falls Richard Russo delves deep into the blue-collar heart of America in a work that overflows with hilarity, heartache, and grace]]>
483 Richard Russo 0375726403 Sean 0 3.93 2001 Empire Falls
author: Richard Russo
name: Sean
average rating: 3.93
book published: 2001
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/09/23
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A Town Called Solace 56048572 NATIONAL BESTSELLER

New York Times bestselling author Mary Lawson, acclaimed for digging into the "wilderness of the human heart", is back after almost a decade with a fresh and timely novel that is different in subject but just as emotional and atmospheric as her beloved earlier work.

A Town Called Solace—the brilliant and emotionally radiant new novel from Mary Lawson, her first in nearly a decade—opens on a family in rebellious teenager Rose been missing for weeks with no word, and Rose's younger sister, the feisty and fierce Clara, keeps a daily vigil at the living-room window, hoping for her sibling's return.

Enter thirtyish Liam Kane, newly divorced, newly unemployed, newly arrived in this small northern town, where he promptly moves into the house next door—watched suspiciously by astonished and dismayed Clara, whose elderly friend, Mrs. Orchard, owns that home. Around the time of Rose's disappearance, Mrs. Orchard was sent for a short stay in hospital, and Clara promised to keep an eye on the house and its remaining occupant, Mrs. Orchard's cat, Moses. As the novel unfolds, so does the mystery of what has transpired between Mrs. Orchard and the newly arrived stranger.

Told through three distinct, compelling points of view—Clara's, Mrs. Orchard's, and Liam Kane's—the novel cuts back and forth among these unforgettable characters to uncover the layers of grief, remorse, and love that connect families, both the ones we're born into and the ones we choose. A Town Called Solace is a masterful, suspenseful and deeply humane novel by one of our great storytellers.]]>
272 Mary Lawson 0735281289 Sean 4 4.23 2021 A Town Called Solace
author: Mary Lawson
name: Sean
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2021/09/16
date added: 2021/09/16
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The Sweetness of Water 54404602 In the spirit of The Known World and The Underground Railroad, a profound debut about the unlikely bond between two freedmen who are brothers and the Georgia farmer whose alliance will alter their lives, and his, forever.

In the waning days of the Civil War, brothers Prentiss and Landry—freed by the Emancipation Proclamation—seek refuge on the homestead of George Walker and his wife, Isabelle. The Walkers, wracked by the loss of their only son to the war, hire the brothers to work their farm, hoping through an unexpected friendship to stanch their grief. Prentiss and Landry, meanwhile, plan to save money for the journey north and a chance to reunite with their mother, who was sold away when they were boys.

Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two Confederate soldiers. The young men, recently returned from the war to the town of Old Ox, hold their trysts in the woods. But when their secret is discovered, the resulting chaos unleashes convulsive repercussions on the entire community. In the aftermath of so much turmoil, it is Isabelle who emerges as an unlikely leader, proffering a healing vision for the land and for the newly free citizens of Old Ox.

With candor and sympathy, debut novelist Nathan Harris creates an unforgettable cast of characters, depicting Georgia in the violent crucible of Reconstruction. Equal parts beauty and terror, as gripping as it is moving, The Sweetness of Water is an epic whose grandeur locates humanity and love amid the most harrowing circumstances.]]>
368 Nathan Harris 031646127X Sean 0 to-read 4.08 2021 The Sweetness of Water
author: Nathan Harris
name: Sean
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/08/01
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The Prophets 52576333 9780593085684

A novel about the forbidden union between two enslaved young men on a Deep South plantation, the refuge they find in each other, and a betrayal that threatens their existence.

Isaiah was Samuel’s and Samuel was Isaiah’s. That was the way it was since the beginning, and the way it was to be until the end. In the barn they tended to the animals, but also to each other, transforming the hollowed-out shed into a place of human refuge, a source of intimacy and hope in a world ruled by vicious masters. But when an older man—a fellow slave—seeks to gain favor by preaching the master’s gospel on the plantation, the enslaved begin to turn on their own. Isaiah and Samuel’s love, which was once so simple, is seen as sinful and a clear danger to the plantation’s harmony.

With a lyricism reminiscent of Toni Morrison, Robert Jones, Jr. fiercely summons the voices of slaver and the enslaved alike to tell the story of these two men; from Amos the preacher to the calculating slave-master himself to the long line of women that surround them, women who have carried the soul of the plantation on their shoulders. As tensions build and the weight of centuries—of ancestors and future generations to come—culminate in a climactic reckoning, The Prophets masterfully reveals the pain and suffering of inheritance, but is also shot through with hope, beauty, and truth, portraying the enormous, heroic power of love.]]>
400 Robert Jones Jr. Sean 0 currently-reading 3.91 2021 The Prophets
author: Robert Jones Jr.
name: Sean
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/07/18
shelves: currently-reading
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The Answer to Everything 57009651
Enter Alathea and Elliott, their new neighbours, and also parents of two young boys. Alathea is intimidatingly confident and beautiful, but also disarmingly open and friendly. And Elliott � Elliott is intriguing. Dishevelled, talented, charming and a little lost, he seems as fascinated by Emily as she is by him, and soon their friendship has reached an intensity neither of them seem able to control.

As riotously funny as it is painfully moving, this is a novel about disappointment and yearning; about parenting and growing up; and the search for love, meaning and connection.]]>
272 Luke Kennard Sean 0 to-read 3.06 2021 The Answer to Everything
author: Luke Kennard
name: Sean
average rating: 3.06
book published: 2021
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/05/22
shelves: to-read
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Dr. Sleep (The Shining, #2) 16092173 568 Stephen King 9024559154 Sean 0 to-read 4.16 2013 Dr. Sleep (The Shining, #2)
author: Stephen King
name: Sean
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2013
rating: 0
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date added: 2021/05/06
shelves: to-read
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<![CDATA[Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York]]> 53317339
The Townhouse Bar, midtown, July 1992: The piano player seems to know every song ever written, the crowd belts out the lyrics to their favorites, and a man standing nearby is drinking a Scotch and water. The man strikes the piano player as forgettable.

He looks bland and inconspicuous. Not at all what you think a serial killer looks like. But that’s what he is, and tonight, he has his sights set on a gray haired man. He will not be his first victim.

Nor will he be his last.

The Last Call Killer preyed upon gay men in New York in the �80s and �90s and had all the hallmarks of the most notorious serial killers. Yet because of the sexuality of his victims, the skyhigh murder rates, and the AIDS epidemic, his murders have been almost entirely forgotten.

This gripping true-crime narrative tells the story of the Last Call Killer and the decades-long chase to find him. And at the same time, it paints a portrait of his victims and a vibrant community navigating threat and resilience.]]>
258 Elon Green 1250224357 Sean 3 3.82 2021 Last Call: A True Story of Love, Lust, and Murder in Queer New York
author: Elon Green
name: Sean
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2021
rating: 3
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date added: 2021/03/17
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Shuggie Bain 52741293 Shuggie Bain is the unforgettable story of young Hugh "Shuggie" Bain, a sweet and lonely boy who spends his 1980s childhood in run-down public housing in Glasgow, Scotland. Thatcher's policies have put husbands and sons out of work, and the city's notorious drugs epidemic is waiting in the wings.

Shuggie's mother Agnes walks a wayward path: she is Shuggie's guiding light but a burden for him and his siblings. She dreams of a house with its own front door while she flicks through the pages of the Freemans catalogue, ordering a little happiness on credit, anything to brighten up her grey life. Married to a philandering taxi-driver husband, Agnes keeps her pride by looking good--her beehive, make-up, and pearly-white false teeth offer a glamourous image of a Glaswegian Elizabeth Taylor. But under the surface, Agnes finds increasing solace in drink, and she drains away the lion's share of each week's benefits--all the family has to live on--on cans of extra-strong lager hidden in handbags and poured into tea mugs.

Agnes's older children find their own ways to get a safe distance from their mother, abandoning Shuggie to care for her as she swings between alcoholic binges and sobriety. Shuggie is meanwhile struggling to somehow become the normal boy he desperately longs to be, but everyone has realized that he is "no right," a boy with a secret that all but him can see. Agnes is supportive of her son, but her addiction has the power to eclipse everyone close to her--even her beloved Shuggie.

A heartbreaking story of addiction, sexuality, and love, Shuggie Bain is an epic portrayal of a working-class family that is rarely seen in fiction. Recalling the work of Edouard Louis, Alan Hollinghurst, Frank McCourt, and Hanya Yanagihara, it is a blistering debut by a brilliant novelist who has a powerful and important story to tell.]]>
430 Douglas Stuart 0802148042 Sean 5 4.29 2020 Shuggie Bain
author: Douglas Stuart
name: Sean
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2020
rating: 5
read at: 2021/03/05
date added: 2021/03/05
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Out Stealing Horses 398323
Trond’s friend Jon often appeared at his doorstep with an adventure in mind for the two of them. But this morning would turn out to be different. What began as a joy ride on “borrowed� horses ends with Jon falling into a strange trance of grief. Trond soon learns what befell Jon earlier that day—an incident that marks the beginning of a series of vital losses for both boys.

Set in the easternmost region of Norway, Out Stealing Horses begins with an ending. Sixty-seven-year-old Trond has settled into a rustic cabin in an isolated area to live the rest of his life with a quiet deliberation. A meeting with his only neighbor, however, forces him to reflect on that fateful summer.]]>
258 Per Petterson Sean 4 3.79 2003 Out Stealing Horses
author: Per Petterson
name: Sean
average rating: 3.79
book published: 2003
rating: 4
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date added: 2021/02/03
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