Category Archives: Year

One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich, by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

Posted on May 11, 2009 by Thistle

This book is exactly what the title suggests: a look at one day in Ivan Denisovich (Shukhov)’s life. Shukhov was arrested on baseless charges – fairly common at that time – and was sentenced to ten years in a Siberian … Continue reading →

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Liza of Lambeth, by William Somerset Maugham

Posted on May 10, 2009 by Thistle

Liza of Lambeth takes a look at life in Lambeth – a poor, working class section of London. Liza is an 18-year-old beauty who attracts a lot of suitors, but she doesn’t get smitten herself until Jim Blakestone moves onto … Continue reading →

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The Diary of Anne Frank, by Anne Frank

Posted on May 9, 2009 by Thistle

Anne Frank began this diary on her 13th birthday, June 14, 1942. A couple months later, her family went into hiding in Amsterdam with two other families. For two years, they lived in tense conditions. The diary closes on August … Continue reading →

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We Are On Our Own, by Miriam Katin

Posted on May 8, 2009 by Thistle

Random note: This was my first review on The Zen Leaf (original) instead of 5-Squared. And God said: Let there be light, and there was light…and it was good. And then one day, God replaced the light with darkness. We … Continue reading →

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The Meaning of Consuelo, by Judith Ortiz Cofer

Posted on May 1, 2009 by Thistle

Set in the 1950s in rapidly-modernizing Puerto Rico, this is a coming of age story similar to A Tree Grows in Brooklyn. Consuelo Signe is growing up in a four-person home, with parents who cannot get along and a younger … Continue reading →

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Mansfield Park: Revisited, by Joan Aiken

Posted on April 30, 2009 by Thistle

Mansfield Park Revisited picks up four years after Mansfield Park ends. The plot primarily revolves around Fanny Price’s younger sister, Susan, who comes to Mansfield at the end of Austen’s book. As you’d imagine for an Austenesque sequel, there is … Continue reading →

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I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, by Joanne Greenberg

Posted on April 29, 2009 by Thistle

This book is a fictionalized autobiography (along the same lines as The Bell Jar) of Greenberg’s years in a mental hospital as a teen. Greenberg’s character is called Deborah Blau, and is diagnosed with schizophrenia. In those days (late 50s), … Continue reading →

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Fathers and Sons, by Ivan Turgenev

Posted on April 27, 2009 by Thistle

I have never been a big fan of Russian literature. Granted, I’ve never read Dostoevsky or Solzhenitsyn. Either of them might turn out to be quite good when I finally get around to their books. As for now, though, I’ve … Continue reading →

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The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak

Posted on April 23, 2009 by Thistle

The Book Thief is about WWII Germany. A girl named Liesel arrives at her foster parents’ home when she’s nine years old. On the trip there, she lost a brother to tuberculosis and gained a book, The Gravedigger’s Handbook, stolen … Continue reading →

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Readathon: Fun Home, by Alison Bechdel

Posted on April 19, 2009 by Thistle

This is a graphic novel memoir. Alison Bechdel’s father was a hands-off sort of person, the type of dad who favored his restoration furniture over his kids. He was also a closet homosexual who had multiple affairs (sometimes with teenage … Continue reading →

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