For our August book club, the NYC Ladies of Fine Dining and Fiction read The Vegetarian by Han Kang. We held our discussion at Blossom on Columbus, a popular vegan destination on the Upper West Side. As for the book, I will say that I was in the minority, but not alone, in simply not liking it. Truth be told, I hadn't even finished it in time. Though it was a very short book, I found myself ...
great book club read
Throwback Thursday: The Crimson Petal and the White
Throwback Thursday is a weekly meme hosted by Renee at It’s Book Talk. Throwback Thursday is an awesome opportunity to share old favorites as well as older books in our TBR. I love this idea as I only started blogging about a year and a half ago. Therefore, I have lots of old favorites to talk about. While I may not remember all of the details needed to write a complete review, I’m happy to share ...
Review of We Were the Lucky Ones by Georgia Hunter
We Were the Lucky Ones is the fictionalized account of the true story of the Kurc family and their experiences during WWII beginning in their home town of Radom, Poland in 1939. The book spans eight years as we follow the Kurc family members to several countries and continents including Austria, Italy, Argentina, South America, and Siberia, Russia as the war continues and finally ends. As many ...
Review of Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker
My Review I was really looking forward to this book, based not only on the description, but the outstanding reviews; many of which came from trusted fellow bloggers and Goodreads friends. I'm always a little insecure when my opinion is so different but I suppose it's bound to happen now and then. After all, we can't be expected to agree on every book, right?? Tall Oakes started out well ...
Review of A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
My Review "Some years later, the Count would come to understand that he had been looking at the matter upside down. The pace of evolution was not something to be frightened by. For while nature doesn't have a stake in whether the wings of a peppered moth are black or white, it genuinely hopes that the peppered moth will persist." A Gentleman in Moscow is the story of Count Alexander Ilyich ...
Review “His Bloody Project” by Graeme Macrae Burnet
Is young Roddy insane? The answer to this question will determine whether he lives or dies. You see, he has taken three lives in the small farming village of Culdie, Scotland in the year 1869. There is no doubt that he is the murder. He has freely admitted to being responsible for the killings upon showing up at a neighbor's house. He's covered head to foot in blood. He carries with him the murder ...
Review of “History of Wolves” by Emily Fridlund
History of Wolves is one of those novels that I couldn't put down but, in the end, I have mixed feelings about. Linda is a socially awkward 14 year old girl living in Minnesota with her family. Her parents, especially her mother, are somewhat strange and detached. When the Gardener family moves in across the lake, Linda begins babysitting for their four year old son,Paul, while Paul's mother, ...
Review of “The Orphan Mother” by Robert Hicks
Having not read The Widow of the South, I was concerned that I may have difficulty following along with The Orphan Mother. Thankfully, it is easily read as a stand-alone novel and I'm now inspired to read The Widow of the South. Mariah Reddick is the former slave to Carrie McGavock. Since becoming a free woman, she has established herself as a competent and respected midwife to the women of ...
Review of Framed: Why Michael Skakel Spent Over a Decade in Prison For a Murder He Didn’t Commit by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
That it is better 100 guilty Persons should escape than that one innocent Person should suffer, is a Maxim that has been long and generally approved. - Benjamin Franklin, letter to Benjamin Vaughn dated March 14, 1785 On the evening of October 30, 1975, Martha Moxley, a beautiful fifteen-year-old girl residing in the prestigious Belle Haven enclave of the very affluent town of Greenwich ...
May Book Club “Madamoiselle Chanel” and Circo
A couple of weeks ago, (I am waaay behind on posting), the NYC Ladies Fine Dining and Fiction Book Club got together at Circo to discuss Mademoiselle Chanel, which was selected for the group by one of our regular members. It was a book I'd been excited about reading for a long time so I was quite happy with the choice. I really enjoyed the book and it's quite evident that the author did an ...