Trust Exercise is ostensibly the story of artistic, talented high school students and the performing arts school where they all come together, Citywide Academy for the Performing Arts (CAPA). We do not know exactly where the school is located, other than in a hot southern city. The group of students that is the focus of
Fleishman Is In Trouble – by Taffy Brodesser-Akner
“And in our laughter we heard our youth, and it is not not a dangerous thing to be at the doorstep of middle age and at an impasse in your life and to suddenly be hearing sounds from your youth.” This passage summarizes the 373 pages of Fleishman Is In Trouble.
Toby Fleishman is a
The Dutch House – by Ann Patchett
The Dutch House is a marvelously moving novel about a house, its inhabitants, their lives and the impact of the house on everything. “The Dutch House, as it came to be known in Elkins Park and Jenkintown and Glenside and all the way to Philadelphia, referred not to the house’s architecture but to its inhabitants.
The Most Fun We Ever Had – by Claire Lombardo
The Most Fun We Ever had is a family saga, moving back and forth from 1975 to 2017. The story chronicles the ever growing Sorenson family.
Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson meet in 1975 at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), where Marilyn is an undergraduate and David is a medical student. Marilyn is
The Testaments – by Margaret Atwood
“There’s been a coup, here in the United States, just as in times past in so many other countries. Any forced change of leadership is always followed by a move to crush the opposition. The opposition is led by the educated, so the educated are the first to be eliminated.”
The Testaments is Margaret Atwood’s
Akin – by Emma Donoghue
Akin is the story of an 80 year old widower’s travels through the past and into the future.
Noah Selvaggio has decided to celebrate his upcoming 80th birthday by taking a trip to his place of birth, Nice France. Noah’s wife, Joan, who had died nine years earlier, continues to talk to Noah. Noah and
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous – by Ocean Vuong
“I am thinking of beauty again, how some things are hunted because we have deemed them beautiful…To be gorgeous, you must first be seen, but to be seen allows you to be hunted.”
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a haunting letter from a son to his illiterate mother written in a dark, poetic stream
Where The Crawdads Sing – by Delia Owens
“Go as far as you can—way out yonder where the Crawdads sing…in the bush where critters are wild, still behaving like critters.”
Catherine Danielle Clark—“Kya”—the Marsh Girl—was 6 years old, when her mother walked out of the shack in the marsh, leaving her five children and abusive husband to fend for themselves. Slowly, each of
Celestial Bodies – by Jokha Alharthi
“Celestial Bodies” takes place in Oman and is a story of family life, love and change. The story revolves around three sisters, Mayya, Asma and Khawla, and their families past and future.
Mayya is a seamstress, quiet and secretly in love with Ali bin Khallaf, when Abdallah, the son of Merchant Sulayman asks for her
Inland – by Tea Obreht
Inland is the alternating stories of Lurie Mattie and Nora Lark and the ultimate intersection of those stories. Nora’s story takes place in 1893 in Amargo, Arizona Territory and Lurie’s story takes place throughout his life in a variety of places in the 1800s.
Lurie has been on the run since he was six years old, initially with his father until his father’s death, at which point he is sold to a Mr. Saurelle as labor. Lurie ends up living with two other boys, Hobbs and Donovan while working for Mr. Saurelle. Hobbs has a tendency towards theft and the three together become thieves and murderers. After a particularly gruesome murder, Lurie, who speaks to and sees the dead, is on the run. Ultimately, he finds himself traveling with a military group that has a number of camels, making them a peculiarity everywhere they go.
While traveling he befriends Ali Mostafa (Jolly), who helps Lurie throughout his story. Lurie’s camel, Burke, becomes a significant part of his life and we learn Lurie’s life story through his conversations with Burke. Lurie is being hunted by Marshall John Berger and is unable to stay in any one place for long. He abandons his traveling group and takes Burke with him. Later, he reunites with Jolly and they engage in business together, with their camels.
Continue Reading Inland – by Tea Obreht