Category Archives: 2011

Readathon: Chopin and George Sand in Majorca, by Bartolome Ferra

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Thistle

In the 1830s, Chopin and George Sand spent a winter in Majorca for Sand’s son’s health. Neither liked it very much. This is one account of their time there. When I originally got this book from a library book sale, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Protected: Readathon: The Pearl, by John Steinbeck (audio)

Posted on February 3, 2011 by Thistle

There is no excerpt because this is a protected post.

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , , | Enter your password to view comments.

Lady’s Maid, by Margaret Forster (audio)

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Thistle

Elizabeth Barrett Browning was attended to for many years by a maid named Elizabeth (Lily) Wilson. This is a (very) fictional narrative of Wilson’s life. I originally wrote up a very long review for this book. I decided to delete … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Hope in Patience, by Beth Fehlbaum

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Thistle

For years, Ashley was molested by her stepfather, but after she has the courage to tell someone what has happened to her, the worst happens: her mother and grandparents abandon her, claiming she is lying. She is placed with her … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Prose, Young Adult | Leave a comment

La Bête Humaine, by Émile Zola

Posted on February 1, 2011 by Thistle

When Roubaud discovers his wife, Séverine, was sexually molested in adolescence by her guardian, Grandmorin, he flies into a rage at both of them, beating his wife nearly to death (he’s a real catch, isn’t he?) before forcing her to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Lilacs and Other Stories, by Kate Chopin

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Thistle

This is the second collection I’ve read in my informal short story project this year. For 24 days, I read one story every morning to complete this collection. Originally, I thought this collection contained all of Chopin’s short stories, but … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Fourth Bear, by Jasper Fforde (audio)

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Thistle

The Fourth Bear is the second title in the Nursery Crime series by Jasper Fforde, following The Big Over Easy. Jack Spratt and Mary Mary of the Nursery Crime Division of Reading’s police department are back for another mystery, this … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

If You Follow Me, by Malena Watrous

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Thistle

Marina and Carolyn, both twenty-two and just out of college, decide to teach English in Japan for a year. Marina is, in a way, running away from her father’s suicide the previous year, and Carolyn simply doesn’t know what to … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

A Raisin in the Sun, by Lorraine Hansberry

Posted on January 25, 2011 by Thistle

The Younger family lives in a tiny, cockroach-infested apartment with a shared bathroom in the hall. They split two rooms between the five of them: Mama, her two children Walter and Beneatha, Walter’s wife Ruth, and Walter and Ruth’s son, … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Drama | Tagged , | Leave a comment

West With the Night, by Beryl Markham (audio)

Posted on January 24, 2011 by Thistle

Beryl Markham grew up in Kenya. In her adulthood, she first worked with race horses and later became a pilot. At one point, she crossed the Atlantic from Europe to North America solo, one of the first people to do … Continue reading →

Posted in 2011, Adult, Prose | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment