A Separate Peace is one of the more unusual books about World War II that I've ever read. Set in 1942, it begins in the summer term at Devon, an upscale boys' prep school in New England. Our narrator is Gene Forrester. Quiet, smart, a little awkward. Summer term at Devon is a lull in… Continue reading Book Review: A Separate Peace by John Knowles
Flanagan's novel of Australian soldiers in World War Two is well-written. I wouldn't say too well-written but the detail of certain horrors it describes is hard to take. I don't know that I've ever felt so physically ill while reading a novel before. Reading this was often like someone - Flanagan, I suppose - holding… Continue reading Book Review: The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan
Life After Life was probably my favourite read of 2014 so I was excited and nervous to find that Kate Atkinson had written a sequel to the novel. Excited because Life After Life was so rich and unique and enjoyable. Nervous because I wondered if a sequel was necessary and if Atkinson could recapture the… Continue reading Book Review: A God in Ruins by Kate Atkinson
This book was dangerously over-hyped for me. When I start to hear over and over again how great a book is (or anything really) my stubborn heels begin to dig in and I am ready to dislike it. Which is a silly reaction, I know, but a difficult habit to shake. Fortunately, I still enjoyed… Continue reading Book Review: All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr
Remembrance is a short book, more of an essay, really than maybe even a story. I read it in one middle-of-the-night baby-feeding session. It's the story of three David MacDonalds; father and son and grandfather. The focus is primarily the first David MacDonald, who left his pregnant wife and young daughter to serve with the… Continue reading Book Review: Remembrance by Alistair MacLeod
Hans Fallada might not be a name many people know. Even less likely know the name Rudolf Wilhelm Adolf Ditzen. Fallada (the nom de plume of Ditzen) died in Berlin in 1947, shortly after he finished writing his final novel, Every Man Dies Alone. The book was published after his death. It was not translated… Continue reading Book Review – Every Man Dies Alone
Karissa Reads Books 