Archive for the ‘Happiness’ Category
OUTSIDE THE ORDINARY WORLD by Dori Ostermiller
At first I thought this book was not for me as a male reviewer, for its focus is so much upon its central female character and her roles as daughter, wife, and mother. But I soon found Dori Ostermiller gripping me with her writing, and her uncanny ability to plot the emotional seismograph of a woman on the brink of an affair. “I want to ask if she ever felt she was falling through her life, pulled down through dream and memory by a force larger than gravity. I want to know if she felt the splintering pain of it — a terrible, fruitful pain like birth, a pain you can’t stop because you have to know what’s on the other side.”
August 19, 2010
· 
Judi Clark · 
No Comments
Tags: 2010 PB Release, Adultery, Berkshires, Contemporary, Family Matters, Massachusetts · Posted in: Contemporary, Debut Novel, Family Matters, Happiness, Life Choices, Motherhood, NE & New York, Reading Guide
LAST NIGHT IN TWISTED RIVER by John Irving
I had dinner recently with a friend who asked me what I was reading. “The new John Irving book,” I told her. She became instantly animated. “I love John Irving,” she declared. “I’ve read everything he’s written, and watched the movies too.” I was almost finished with the newest Irving book, LAST NIGHT AT TWISTED RIVER, and was exhausted at what I found to be its inherent ups and downs. I needed her enthusiasm. “Tell me why you like him so much,” I asked. “Well,” she began, “his characters are always so interesting. And the stories, they’re usually tragic but still somehow funny. I love how he can do that.” I understood both these comments–and agreed. “He’s just different than all other writers.” I understood that too–I think.
October 26, 2009
· Judi Clark · One Comment
Tags: Contemporary, Literary, New Hampshire · Posted in: Award Winning Author, Canada, Contemporary, Happiness, Literary, NE & New York, Small Town, Writing Life
REAL LIFE & LIARS by Kristina Riggle
In REAL LIFE & LIARS, protagonist Mira Zielinski represents a new demographic for our times: hippie turned senior, at age sixty-five still free-spirited and defiant, who has decided to refuse treatment for her recently diagnosed breast cancer. She’s also decided to withhold the diagnosis from her three grown children, as they converge on the family home for a grand 35th anniversary party. As it turns out, however, the Zielinski children are bringing home a few secrets of their own.
October 19, 2009
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: Family Matters, Michigan · Posted in: Debut Novel, End-of-Life, Family Matters, Happiness, Motherhood, Reading Guide, US Midwest
GENEROSITY: AN ENHANCEMENT by Richard Powers
There are many reasons why Thassadit Amzwar should not be the way she is—always happy. For one thing, she has lost most of her family in the ongoing Algerian civil war. Her father is killed and her mother dies soon after from pancreatic cancer. She has left her home behind and is now a refugee studying in a mediocre college, Mesquakie, in Chicago. It is here that she runs into Russell Stone—who is teaching the creative writing course she is enrolled in…
October 18, 2009
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 2009 Favorites, 21st-Century, Chicago, Contemporary, FSG, Happiness, Literary, Sciences · Posted in: 2009 Favorites, Award Winning Author, Contemporary, Happiness, Literary, US Midwest, Writing Life
