Helen, “Lenny”, is ruined; her lifelong best friend, Lou, died after a long battle with cancer a few months ago and she barely drags herself through life. We witness how the awkward, grim, Miles might be able to help her.
I can’t call it a RomCom; it’s more Romance Drama.
How can Lou give up her grief when it is the only thing keeping her connected to Lou. This book hit me hard in the feels and the end has a one-two punch that I just did not see coming; (though maybe I should have).
Continue reading…

My younger self gave his future self a present when he added this book to the library last year.
Identical twins Marion and Shiva – ShivaMarion – have a momentous birth and grow up in an Ethiopian hospital. A rift opens between the brothers sending them on different paths. This long novel brings in themes of history and humanity.
This is a fantastic read.

Margot is a 20 year old college student who has an affair with her professor and ends up pregnant. This dark comedy shows how she surmounts problems of finances, caring for a baby, and lack of support from mother and friends.
A very fun – though adult – read.

The Bee Sting is a beautifully written, tragic novel that follows the four members of an Irish family over a few months. At first it seems as though the tension flows from their failing VW dealership during a downturn in the economy; but slowly, step by step many other fissures appear.

Pigs in Heaven picks up a couple of years after The Bean Trees end. The novel works through the themes of motherhood and community – and their sometimes knotty conflicts between the two.