Author: Karissa

“Always, everywhere, in the deepest depths…the highest heights”

Karissa2 Comments

I do not want ever to be indifferent to the joys and beauties of this life. For through these, as through pain, we are enabled to see purpose in randomness, pattern in chaos. We do not have to understand in order to believe that behind the mystery and the fascination there is love. - Madeleine… Continue reading “Always, everywhere, in the deepest depths…the highest heights”

Book Review: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

Karissa5 Comments

The four Garcia sisters - Carla, Sandra, Yolanda, and Sofia - flee the Dominican Republic for New York City after their father is involved in an attempted coup. In the Dominican, they were part of a broad, wealthy, and extended family, abounding in cousins and aunts and uncles, their lives looped and overlapping. In America… Continue reading Book Review: How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents by Julia Alvarez

Book Review: Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

Karissa5 Comments

Memphis - Tara M. Stringfellow (The Dial Press, 2022) In 1995, Joan, her mother Miriam, and her younger sister Mya flee her father's violent temper and return to their family home in Memphis. They move back into the house that Miriam's father built, the house she grew up, and where Joan's aunt August still lives.… Continue reading Book Review: Memphis by Tara M. Stringfellow

Book Review: Blue Hour by Tiffany Clarke Harrison

Karissa6 Comments

Blue Hour - Tiffany Clarke Harrison (Soft Skull Press, 2023) I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book. All opinions are my own. Publication date is April 4, 2023 A narrator - a woman whose name we keep being just on the verge of learning - is a talented photographer, an instructor, a wife.… Continue reading Book Review: Blue Hour by Tiffany Clarke Harrison

Book Review: La Guerre, Yes Sir! by Roch Carrier

Karissa10 Comments

La Guerre, Yes Sir! - Roch Carrier (House of Anansi, 1970) I’ve said it before and I guess I’m saying again, French Canadian fiction is its own entire genre. And it’s not one I really get or can appreciate. I thought I might be on easier footing here because I’ve heard of this book and… Continue reading Book Review: La Guerre, Yes Sir! by Roch Carrier

Spring Break 2023: Oregon Coast

Karissa9 Comments

Back in 2017, our family took a Spring Break road trip down to the Oregon Coast. (You can read about it here.) The trip was a blast and we talk about it quite a bit. The only problem was that, at the time, Pearl had just turned two and Rose was about the size of… Continue reading Spring Break 2023: Oregon Coast

(Audio) Book Review: The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

Karissa8 Comments

We meet Greer Kadetsky in her first year at Ryland College. She was supposed to be at Yale but due to a financial mix-up (and possibly her parents' ineptitude) has settled for what she views as a second-tier school. Greer is smart and quiet, ambitious but unsure of her future. After a traumatic run-in with… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: The Female Persuasion by Meg Wolitzer

2023 Highlights: Farewell Winter

Karissa8 Comments

The sun is shining, flowers are blooming, the days are getting longer. Spring is officially here and we’re on spring break! It’s still March so we definitely have some cold, rainy days ahead of us but it’s lovely to see the light after 5pm. As I said, it’s spring break around here but before I… Continue reading 2023 Highlights: Farewell Winter

Book Review: The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff

Karissa11 Comments

The Bandit Queens - Parini Shroff (Ballantine Books, 2023) Ever since her husband disappeared five years ago, Geeta has been an outcast in her village. Popular opinion says she killed Ramesh but the truth is, Geeta has no idea where he is and she’s happy to never see him again. Geeta sticks to herself, making… Continue reading Book Review: The Bandit Queens by Parini Shroff