Count Alexander Rostov is lucky to escape the tumultuous Russian Civil War with his life. When a Soviet tribunal sentences him to, essentially, house arrest in the Moscow luxury hotel he’s been living in, Rostov knows he’s been spared, but life as he knows it is still over. That is, until he meets an unusual little friend. . . .
Continue reading “Amor Towles’s A Gentleman in Moscow”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For February, we’re looking at four different romances (right in time for Valentine’s Day!), historical fiction that spans from the Civil War to World War II, a true crime memoir from a cold case specialist, and audiobook novels about turn-of-the-twentieth-century labor strikes in Colorado and the intersection of secrets and stories.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Romances Galore, Dual-Timeline Historical Fiction, WWII Nurses, Serial Killers, Mining Mayhem, and Storytellers”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For December, we’re looking at a family saga set on the cusp of WWII, a suspense novel about mysterious disappearances in an Appalachian resort town, a short story collection about veterans, a Western from Geronimo’s perspective, a history centered on Crazy Horse and Sitting Bull, and an audiobook about a Chinese woman’s saga in the 19th century American West.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: 20th Century Family Sagas, Mysterious Disappearances, Short Story Collections, Native American Nonfiction, and Westerns Galore”When left to my own devices, I tend to binge-read about subjects or to binge-read authors and/or series. That works well for me, but it’s something I try to avoid inflicting on the readers of this blog because I seriously doubt anyone else is as interested in some of these literary rabbit trails as I am. (You’re welcome.)
Lately, however, I’ve been exploring some mystery and espionage thriller series I’ve been meaning to read for a while, and I did want to share those.
Continue reading “What Have You Been Reading? Detective, Detective, Spy Edition”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For November, we’re looking at Barbara Kingsolver’s latest acclaimed novel, a Rebecca-esque romance set during WWII, a throwback to summer, the real-life story of a modern mythical figure, and an audiobook set in medieval Ireland.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Modern-Day David Copperfields, WWII Romances, Vacations, Rivers, and Journeys”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For October, we’re looking at gothic horror inspired by The Island of Dr. Moreau, science fiction by a local author, historical fiction about WWII and the Haitian Revolution, a cute romance between two very different people, a swashbuckling nonfiction tale about Golden Age piracy, and an audiobook of Dean Koontz’s latest.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Mad Scientists, Dystopian YA, Librarian Spies, the Haitian Revolution, Opposites Attract Romances, Pirates, and Horror on the Range”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For September, we’re looking at historical fiction about one of America’s most infamous families, a sweet tale of food-based friendship, a magical realism family saga, an atmospheric Victorian gothic fantasy, a well-researched chronicle of legal battles over agricultural pollution, and a suspense novel on audiobook.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Problematic Siblings, Foodie Friends, Intergenerational Trauma, Talented Monsters, Courtroom Drama, and Derailed Safaris”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For June, we’re looking at historical fiction set during the Great Depression, the Russian Revolution, and World War II; Emily St. John Mandel’s newest book; a cookbook solely devoted to this month’s spice; and a rom com that pairs an astronaut with a movie star.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Historical Fiction, Once, Twice, Thrice; Literary Science Fiction; Turmeric; and Space Race Rom Coms”
When Sunja is born in the 1910s in Yeongdo, a small fishing village, in what is now South Korea, she has no expectation of ever leaving her hometown. Her parents, including her kindly but disabled father Hoonie, run a boardinghouse that largely caters to local fishermen. It seems inevitable that Sunja, as her parents’ only surviving child, will also spend her entire life in Yeongdo running the family boardinghouse.
However, as a teenager, Sunja migrates to Japan to start a new life, as many Koreans did during this time when Korea was a Japanese colony. This decision, made largely to avoid the intense shame she will face in her hometown for her out-of-wedlock pregnancy and connected to marriage to a virtual stranger to save face, touches off a family saga spanning decades that examines the experiences of Zainichi, Japan’s Korean population. As with many Zainichi, Sunja and her family find themselves experiencing intense discrimination in Japan and must navigate finding their way in a country that is technically home but doesn’t feel like it.
Continue reading “Min Jin Lee’s Pachinko”Every month, we’re profiling new-ish releases that are getting critical and commercial buzz. For May, we’re looking at a coming-of-age story set in the 90s, a WWII story with an Italian setting, a new-ish series of Danish procedural mysteries, a Holocaust memoir, and historical fiction about the Mexican War.
Continue reading “Book Buzz: Coming-of-Age Tales, Florence, Danish Mysteries, Survival Memoirs, and the Mexican War”
Berryville Book Buzz 