Book of the Week: ‘Women Talking’ by Miriam Toews
Women TalkingMiriam Toews2019, 216 pagesFiction Between 2005 and 2009, women and girls in Manitoba Colony, a remote Mennonite colony in Bolivia, would wake in the morning feeling drowsy and in pain, bruised and bleeding, having been attacked in the night. These attacks were attributed to ghosts and demons. Some members of the colony thought the suffering was brought on as punishment for the women’s sins; many accused the women of...
Book of the Week: ‘The Water Cure’ by Sophie Mackintosh
The Water Cure Sophie Mackintosh 2018, 266 Fiction The Water Cure is a story of familial ties, what strengthens them and what causes them to fray. The book complicates its investigation of nuclear family dynamics by placing the narrative in a time when men have been deemed “toxic” and “poisonous” and are a threat to all – as NPR’s Annalisa Quin points out, “The Water Cure makes toxic masculinity literal.” Set on a secluded island, The...
Book of the Week: ‘American Sutra’
American Sutra: A story of Faith and Freedom in the Second World WarDuncan Ryuken Williams2019, 258 pages text; 136 pages notes and end materialsAdult non-fiction American Sutra begins with the traditional opening words of Buddhist religious texts, or sutras: “Thus have I heard.” This opening dates from the time when these texts were passed down as an oral tradition. Duncan Ryuken Williams passes down to us the story of what happened...
Book of the Week: ‘The Cairo Brief’
The Cairo Brief: Poppy Denby InvestigatesFiona Veitch Smith2018, 340 pagesHistorical Mystery Poppy Denby is an enthusiastic young reporter for The Daily Globe in London. It is December, 1921. She and her editor are invited to the auction of the “death mask” of Nefertiti at the grand country estate of Sir James Maddox. Representatives from great museums of the world in America, Germany, England and Egypt are all interested in it. The...
Book of the Week: ‘Save Me the Plums’
Save Me the PlumsRuth Reichl2019, 288 pagesNonfiction Ruth Reichl was a restaurant reviewer for the Los Angeles Times and The New York Times and an author. She knew nothing about running a magazine. So she was floored when Condé Nast asked if she would like to be editor in chief of Gourmet magazine.Ruth’s love affair with Gourmet started when she was 8 years old and she visited a used book shop with her father. On the floor were some...
