Recently in Fiction Category

Welcome to the very March late edition of the Novel Book Club. I must admit that writing about this selection, The Dinner, by Herman Koch has been a bit difficult. Mainly, this is because my feelings about it are mixed. After some consideration, though, I realize that this is part of the goal of the novel. Most good novels make you think, cause you to relate to the subject matter in a personal way. The Dinner is perplexing though. And I think it's because when you read it, when you relate to it, you don't want to...

If I were married to Gillian Flynn, I might be concerned. Scratch that, I would absolutely be concerned. Well...let me just say that I might be very careful Gone Girl is not only a fantastic mystery that I was barely able to put down, it is also a portrait of a marriage. A very twisted, very troubled, and in many ways, a very normal marriage.

Welcome to the first virtual meeting of the Novel Book Club on Book Bound Saratoga. If you've read our first selection, A Novel Bookstore, fantastic! If not, no worries--read the review and discussion questions and maybe it will be your next read. For those of you who are true bibliophiles, I hope that A Novel Bookstore managed to feed your love of books and inspire you to read even more.

We've travelled a bumpy road this year at Book Bound. After consideration, I've decided that the best way to ensure that next year is smoother sailing, is to establish a monthly Novel Book Club post. 

I'm going to start out by selecting the first book for the first post, which will be in January. [With the holidays upon us and so much going on, I know many of us will be pressed for time to read a new book, but I'll put it out there.] 

Parts coming-of-age story, love story, family drama, and mystery, The Drowning People has been one of my favorite books for over a decade now. It will pique your curiosity from it's first page and give you food for thought to last long after its final one.

 

It must be wonderful to know what you want to do with your life at a young age--at least I've always thought so. Certainly the kind of self-assurance which inspires an early career choice must be lasting. Well, not necessarily. Sometimes seeing your whole life laid out before you can be as frightening as not knowing what you want to do at all. Just ask Alex in Natalie Keller Reinert's The Head and Not the Heart . . . 

When she accepted the teaching position a the Arcadia School in Arcadia Falls, New York, Meg Rosenthal just wanted to make a fresh start for herself and her daughter after the sudden death of her husband. In the process she learned more about the past and her own choices than she could ever have expected. 

 There are few people who haven't experienced the feeling of everything around them falling apart. As far as I can tell, there are three basic ways to deal with this situation.