How well do we ever know our parents? Every parent keeps secrets from children to protect them from pain, sadness or past family horrors. And then our parents are gone, just as we begin to wonder about their lives. In The Visible World, Slouka's American protagonist pulls together the strands of his parents' past in WW II Czechoslovakia where his mother had loved another man, a Czech Resistence fighter responsible for the death of Hitler's annointed successor. Where she had set aside her promises to his father when the thunderbolt of love hit her. Where his father had waited patiently for her and eventually welcomed her back, shattered and never quite the same again.
In this stunning book, both the childhood point of view and then the young adult search are poignant and compelling, the forests of Eastern Europe eerie and the Nazi presence heavy and foreboding. It will leave you in tears. Speak to your parents now.
Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick
In Tom Perrotta's new novel, church and state collide with surprising consequences in a small American suburb.
Ruth Ramsey has been a sex-ed teacher for over a decade but suddenly finds her "pleasure is good" curriculum hijacked and replaced with an abstinence only program. The driving force behind this change is an evangelical Christian church called The Tabernacle which has moved into her neighbourhood and is gaining political power.
Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick
Long a darling of the fashion world, model (and granddaughter of the one, the only Roald Dahl) Sophie Dahl has proven that she is also herself deserving of praise as an author. Playing with the Grown-Ups, her second work of fiction, is a bittersweet coming-of-age story.
Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick
In a city built on lies, Camorr's Locke Lamora reigns supreme. Lamora directs the Gentleman Bastards, a tight-knit family of confidence men, whose elaborate games have cost the nobility their fortunes and their pride. Unfortunately, Locke's latest scam is about to be interrupted by a brutal turf war in Camorr's underground.
Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick, SciFi & Fantasy
There's been a lot of well-deserved hype around The Dangerous Book for Boys, and subsequently The Daring Book for Girls.
Another book that might fall just beneath the radar deserves a good look. Howtoons, published by the creators of the magazines Make and Craft, teaches kids how to make their own cool toys. Using a graphic novel format, the book follows the exploits of Tucker and Celine, a brother and sister pair who decide to make their own fun.
Categories: Reviews, Staff Pick, Fun, websites, New Releases| < Newer - 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 - Earlier > |
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