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Posted on: January 4, 2022

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

Caste

by Isabel Wilkerson

One of the most important books to appear in years. The author, who also wrote The Warmth of Other Suns, looks at how an unspoken caste system has shaped America and compares it to caste systems in India and in Nazi Germany. There are a...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous

On Earth We re Briefly Gorgeous

by Ocean Vuong

Reviewed by Linda:A faculty member in the UMass MFA Program and recently named a 2019 MacArthur Fellow, Ocean Vuong earned comparisons to Emily Dickinson with his first book, a collection of poetry. For his second, he turned to autobiographi...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

Station Eleven

Station Eleven

by Emily St. John Mandel

Reviewed by Linda:Outstanding writing is the hallmark of this bestseller about the lives of people before, during, and after a plague wipes out much of human life on earth, and the remaining humans live in tight communities without...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

Little Fires Everywhere

Little Fires Everywhere

by Celeste Ng

Reviewed by Janet:When things don’t go to plan in the planned community of Shaker Heights, Elena Richardson finds herself struggling to make sense of it all. The secrets she uncovers about her tenants Mia and Pearl threaten to disrupt her own...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

Where the Crawdads Sing

Where the Crawdads Sing

by Delia Owens

Reviewed by Janet:Just in case you haven’t read this one yet, add it to your list! This evocative novel creates a wonderful sense of place in the marshes of the North Carolina coast, where Kya lives as one with the nature that surrounds her....

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

The Dutch House

Dutch House

by Ann Patchett

Reviewed by Linda:A stunning Pennsylvania mansion called the “Dutch House” is more than just the setting in this novel by beloved author Ann Patchett. It remains vivid in the minds of family and staff who have lived and worked there. Danny ...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

Educated: A Memoir

Educated

by Tara Westover

Reviewed by Linda:The author of this remarkable book was raised by survivalists in the mountains of Idaho, where she and her six siblings prepared for the end of the world by stockpiling food. Born at home, Tara had no birth certificate; n...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

The Overstory

Overstory

by Richard Powers

Reviewed by Linda:This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel, although perhaps overly long, is a profound and insightful look at our understanding of trees. Joining The Secret Lives of Trees and other recent works, it causes the reader to re-evalu...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

The Great Alone

Great Alone

by Kristin Hannah

Reviewed by Janet:When Ernt Allbright, who has been scarred physically and psychologically by his time in Vietnam, learns he has inherited land in Alaska, he sees it as a place to begin again. Cora and Leni, his wife and daughter, soon co...

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Posted on: January 4, 2022

The Vanishing Half

Vanishing Half

by Brit Bennett

Reviewed by Linda:This literary bestseller tells a fictional tale that has occurred unknown numbers of times throughout American history. Start with an African-American family and a member of that family who discovers he or she can pass as ...

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