Category Archives: Literary Fiction

The Weight of a Moment, by Michael Bowe

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With an excellent premise and various great messages, I enjoyed the novel. The characters are an expression of redemption, new starts, and self-acceptance.

The main characters, Tom and Nick, battle their past missteps and the consequences they have rendered. Together, the men excavate the memories of their major fault in order to find the road to atonement. They explore how their past will fit into their future while trying to reclaim their present.

“The ultimate competition in life is with yourself…”

Nick and Tom’s story that caused their major downfall is tragic and completely conceivable. I liked both of the characters, but felt little depth related to my connection with them because of the narration style. The story is told in first person, but reads like it is told in third person. The main characters are telling the story, but I felt like I was watching the story rather than being there in the story with them in their heads. Because of this, I felt like I could relate to the characters but I didn’t feel a personal connection with the characters that deeply resonated with me.

There were several stories within the stories. The subplots caused the novel to jump around a lot. I felt like I was a school bus on my way home from school–excited to get home, but there are a lot of stops you have to make before you get there.

For an independent book, it was quite good. I really enjoyed the message about the consequences of our actions on social media. I would describe the main message as thought-provoking and relevant to our current society. With editing, it could have easily been a book that I really enjoyed and loved.

I read this with Mitchell who really enjoyed it! I will say, it did make an excellent buddy read and naturally prompted great discussions. This book provides a lot of topics for a group or book club read.

Thank you Michael Bowe for the copy! I have a lot of notes and highlights throughout this one. Opinions are my own and unbiased.


The Weight of a Moment is Michael Bowe’s second novel. His first novel is Skyscraper of a Man was published in 2017.

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The Weddings, by Alexander Chee

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How do we measure the value of marriage? What is the purpose of the marriage ceremony, and what should a wedding reflect? Does the ceremony echo the vows of the couple, or does it mirror something else? How has it changed and why has it changed?

Jack and Caleb have enthusiastically returned from their first gay wedding when Jack is invited to Scott’s wedding. Though he has not heard from Scott in years, his invitation to Scott and Soon-mi’s wedding causes old memories in Jack to resurface. What is Jack hiding in his past? Jack worries about attending Scott’s wedding because of the past, but Jack’s boyfriend Caleb ensures that everything will turn out fine. When they attend the wedding, both Jack and Caleb are met with a surprises.

“Jack wasn’t used to weddings. His friends were mostly people who didn’t, wouldn’t, or couldn’t- until this year- marry.”

The layers shaped underneath the weddings were intricately scaled and finely calculated. I really enjoyed the irony of relationships, purposeful characterizations, and cultural significance presented in this short story. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Visit Alexander chee’s website to learn more.

Read The New Yorker’s article on Alexander Chee.



The Weddings by Alexander Chee is part of a 5 story Amazon series called Inheritance. Each story can be read alone and in any order.

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Can You Feel This? by Julie Orringer

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“If a baby is dead, is it said to have been born?”

The main character suffers from placenta previa during her pregnancy. Both her and her husband, Ky, are worried about the survival of the baby. While prepping for her C-section to avoid complications, she remembers her painful childhood and the complications with her own mother. How will she mother her child when she wasn’t mothered herself? Is she prepared? She worries about the challenges she will face after the baby is born and is concerned about mental illness. Will she be like her mother? The secrets she has kept about her own mother and the death of her mother haunt her during and after birth.

“And now the baby lives out in the world, his cord cut: a newborn with a mother whose mother came undone.”

Part of the Inheritance series from Amazon Original Stories, this short story projects an eerie image of a past mother-daughter relationship. Will the cycle between mother and child now be broken?

(Note–This story is told in second person POV. The narrator addresses the reader as “you”.) Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy. Opinions are my own.

Taken from her author’s website, visit here.

Read Publisher’s Weekly article about Julie Orringer’s novel The Flight Portfolio.

20 Question Interview with Julie Orringer for Oprah readers.

Julie Orrinder discusses how she writes with WriterMag.

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The Lion’s Den, by Anthony Marra

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The Lion’s Den is an expression of irony and intentions, and an austere reflection of familial forgiveness that tests the boundaries of protection and love.
A fragrant display of a complicated father-son relationship is epitomized in this 28 page short story. Do two wrongs make a right?

Michael returns home to live with his parents after losing his job and becoming evicted, though to those around it seems an act of familial love since his dad is in his last stages of cancer. Michael is asked to speak at his former school, and after he accepts he reflects on his school days and the stages of his development into an adult. He recalls his fathers arrest during this time and the strain it had on their family for many years after. As a desperate and angry twenty-two year old, Michael had written and published a memoir about his father that exposed his fathers poor choices. Now, in the last stage of his life, Michael’s dad has one last unexpected arrangement waiting for Michael.

Has time and experience healed their relationship? Will Michael always see his dad as a felon? Is Michael any different than his father, Michael having exposed his dad through a memoir while his dad illegally exposed private NSA documents? How do we measure immorality and crime?

The Lion’s Den is part of the Amazon Original Series, Inheritance. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

Taken from the Lyceum Agency website.

Visit the Lyceum Agency page to view more about author Anthony Marra.

Visit Penguin Random House to view Anthony Marra’s author page.

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Where the World Ends, by Geraldine McCaughrean

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CILIP Carnegie Medal Winner

This book is true to the blurb. Set in 1727, a group of boys from Hirta go hunting on a sea stac in St. Kilda. No one comes to pick them up as they normally do and they become stranded for many months.

Most of the time, the story dragged. It’s mostly about their day-to-day mundane happenings and a lot of birds. Here and there something of interest happens though. For the most part though, I felt bored and disengaged. Though the dark atmosphere and setting were painted remarkably, the story itself was tedious. There were 2-3 points where I was wanting to know what was going to happen, but they were short-lived moments.

I think middle grade students would find this uninteresting and I think they would also get confused. This is quite possible true for upper grade levels as well. It says this is for ages 10 & up. I do not agree that this is on a 10 year old reading level. This should say 13-14 year old & up because of the vernacular and literary skills necessary.

The novel is very loosely based on a true story. Revealed in the end by the author, the only true part of the story is that in the 1700’s a group of young men did get stranded for 9 months and survive. That is literally all that is known. No other details survive about the true account as to how they survived, etc. The premise for this book, because of the true story, is interesting. But this novel, which details their time being stranded on the sea stac, left me feeling bored except for a a few parts.

I didn’t like the story, but I didn’t completely hate it. It was okay. I received an advanced copy from Netgalley and the publisher. Opinions are my own.

Sea stac at Armin. Visit The Guardian’s photo gallery to view more photos of St. Kilda.

Read praise for Where the World Ends is by Undiscovered Scotland.

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Everything My Mother Taught Me, by Alice Hoffman

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More than a tale about mother and daughter, this short story dives into questions of nature vs. nurture. Having grown up with shameless and unethical mother, the main character, 12 year old Adeline, comes to face the reality of her inheritance: an inheritance of genetics. Revenge falls into her hands, and Adeline must then confront her own principles.

The story begins shortly after Adeline’s caring father passes away. She is left under the care of her nefarious mother, who continues a pattern of dishonorable behavior. In 1908 her mother then moves her to a lighthouse, where her mother begins working as a housekeeper for the lighthouse keepers. Adeline is treated poorly and wickedly by her mother during this time. Not long after beginning work, her mom begins an affair with one of the lighthouse keepers. Then, Adeline decides to take things into her own hands. But, will extracting revenge make her any better than her mom?

This short story is 28 pages. It is appropriate for the secondary classroom and post-secondary classroom, and would serve a meaningful purpose since it has many literary elements and tools. There is no foul language and there are no vulgar details about the mother’s affair. I really enjoyed the atmosphere and setting created by the author.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

This image was taken from Simon & Schuster.

To view all of Alice Hoffman’s books, click here.

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Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

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The main character, Olive, picks up shortly after where she left off in the previous novel, Olive Kitteridge. While this is the second novel in the series, it can easily be read as a standalone because she recaps the main events that happened in the first novel. However, I recommend reading the first novel in order to appreciate some of the returning characters.

Life’s transitions, juxtapositions, and troubles are celebrated through Olive and the other characters. I found the last half of the novel to be extremely emotional. Olive is reaching a fragile point in her life and begins to calculate its significance and purpose. What makes a full life? As Olive ages, she continues to engage in the boulevard of life while trying to amount her existence.

“But here was the world, screeching its beauty at her day after day, and she felt grateful for it.”

In Olive, Again there are thirteen short stories. Out of the 13 short stories, 5 of those are Olive’s direct story. In the remaining 8 stories, Olive makes an appearance in some shape or form. Each short story relates to the central theme of the novel to some degree and occur near or in the setting of Maine.
Topics include suicide, sexual freedom, family, adultery, and aging.

I love Olive, Again and recommend to lovers of literary sagas and contemporary fiction . Thank you to Elizabeth Strout, Random House, and NetGalley for a copy. Opinions are my own.

To learn more about Elizabeth’s Strout’s book tour for Olive, Again click here.

More on this:

Boston Globe article says Olive “gets better with age”.

Visit Elizabeth Strout’s website.

Review for Olive Kitteridge (#1)

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Olive Kitteridge, by Elizabeth Strout

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“People mostly did not know enough when they were living life that they were living it.”

I absolutely loved this novel compromised of short stories. Taken from your normal everyday situations, the lush phrases and varied character dimensions created an emotional and heartfelt journey of small-town people experiencing small changes in life that often have the biggest impact. At times, I wanted to eat the words off the page.

An appearance from Olive Kitteridge in each short story is what makes for such an enjoyable read. Her character orbits around her strong personality and unparalleled voice. Each story begs the spirit to rekindle emotions that make us appreciate life, although most stories are sad, melancholy, or starkly realistic.

“…that one of those things getting older was knowing that so many moments weren’t just moments, they were gifts.”

It is deeply expressive to the value of life and how the beauty of the world changes as we do. Respectfully, I do feel like you must be a certain age or experienced certain things in order to truly appreciate this piece of literature to its full capacity.

I recommend this piece of literature for those who enjoy contemporary American fiction, short stories, and psychological literary fiction.

Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout won the 2009 Pulitzer Prize for fiction. To read more about this, click here.

Elizbeth Strout accepting the Pulitzer Prize for her novel Olive Kitteridge. Photo taken from https://www.pulitzer.org
The book was later developed into a miniseries by HBO. A preview can be watched below.

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Marley, by Jon Clinch

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As a huge fan of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, I was very excited to read this and learn more about Jacob Marley. A Christmas Carol left me with many questions about Jacob Marley; and, while this story does answer most of these questions, they aren’t answered until the end of this novel.

The book spans from 1787, during Marley and Scrooge’s time as teens at a boarding school, through 1836, until Marley’s death. For the better part of the first half, the reader gets to know more about Ebenezer Scrooge, Mother Scrooge, Fan, and Belle. I marked on my Kindle that it primarily centered around Scrooge’s family and their relationships until 40%. After that point, the reader does hear more from Marley but it’s more about Marley’s relationship with Scrooge’s family and his illicit business affairs. I wanted more from Marley and his personal internal depths. Perhaps even his childhood? We know nothing of Marley’s family even after reading this novel about Marley.

Most of my questions concerning Marley were not answered until 80% or after. The plot up until that point moved slowly regarding Marley. Some characters from A Christmas Carol do make an entrance in this tale. For example, we see Bob Cratchit make an appearance after halfway through. 

The setting was spot on, and I really liked the ending. I also enjoyed the language use that the author chose to follow. Although it did contain some, I was hoping for more idioms and neologisms that Dickens was so fond of in his literary accounts. Many thanks to Atria Books and NetGalley for this advanced copy. Opinions are my own.

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Night Boat to Tangier, by Kevin Barry

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The format and style for this book was overly confusing. The style reads like a play, but the format is just spacing without any indicators. For example, you frequently must figure out when a character is speaking. It was a lot of work.

The language also created a challenge. While many words were not found on my Kindle, some sentences didn’t even make sense to me. I am not sure if this is due to a cultural difference, but as a Westerner I was lost and confused about the context often. 
The story was also hard to follow because there were pieces left out; it would skip from one topic in a paragraph to something completely different in the next without ever filling in those missing pieces.

The blurb explains the synopsis quite well. The two men, Charlie and Maurice are old drug dealers waiting at the port looking for Maurice’s daughter. While waiting, they reminisce about their dark past. In my opinion, however, I feel like the blurb should be written in the style and format of the book so that the reader gets a taste of what they are getting into. 
I felt like Charlie and Maurice were both interesting characters with interesting backgrounds, but I didn’t feel emotionally attached to them.

Also, a few pages into chapter one I started counting the number of f**k bombs. A few pages into the chapter I counted 13, so that means there are 13+ in chapter one alone. This type of language continues this way for the remainder of the book, if not picking up its pace. There is also a lot of sex and drug usage.

While this wasn’t the book for me, it has received many great reviews that you might check out on Amazon and Goodreads. Thanks to Doubleday Books and Netgalley for this advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

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