Eleanor Oliphant is not your typical literary heroine. She is socially incompetent and never mingles with other people. Her office mates find her odd and make fun of her weirdness and odd appearance. When she is not at her office job, she hangs out in her shabby apartment, eating the same meal and drinking copious…
In this book, Peter Heller has created one of my favorite literary heroines. Celine Watkins is a 69-year-old private investigator, born into East Coast money, fluent in French, educated at prep school and Sarah Lawrence College. Still reeling from the loss of both of her sisters and the destruction of the Twin Towers, she is…
“An Indian Affairs agent said,’The question will suggest itself, which of these people are the savages?’” ― David Grann, Killers of the Flower Moon After oil was discovered on their lands in the 1920s, the Osage people of Oklahoma became some of the wealthiest in the United States. And then the killings…
In June I had the privilege of attending the American Library Association Annual Conference. Over 16,000 librarians all in one place! I loved it. One of the fantastic speakers I heard was Gene Luen Yang, award-winning graphic novelist, MacArthur Fellow, and the Library of Congress’s National Ambassador for Young People’s Literature. Yang has created the…
“The Marsh King’s Daughter’’ is a gripping story about a girl who slowly realizes that the father she worships is a monster. Growing up, Helena is a shadow to her Native American father, who trains her how to live off the land of their marsh home. She learns how to track, hunt and fish, while…
