The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo by Paula HuntleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
An excellent first book for 2012. The Hemingway Book Club of Kosovo is a gem. It brought back so many memories of teaching in Syria. The author does a good job of giving life and depth to her experiences in Kosovo without coming off as a privileged, entitled American - well done!
The Storyteller's Daughter: One Woman's Return to Her Lost Homeland by Saira ShahMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
Very beautiful writing and an interesting little mini-memoir. I admit I was a little caught off guard by this book because I thought I was reading THIS The Storyteller's Daughter so it took me a few chapters to realize that I wasn't. Still, it was a happy mistake.
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Ever so slightly sloppy, but super fun to read! This book gets the honor of being the first one I read in its entirety on my new Kindle, and hoo boy was I ever glad to get out of having to tote this cover around in public.
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
How have I never read this book before? It's a little bit The Count of Monte Cristo, a little bit A Pair of Blue Eyes, and a little bit Little House on the Prairie, with a dash of High Noon and (I'm going to say it) Twilight thrown in. It's not a perfect book - the pacing is uneven sometimes and while I liked the way the narrator elbowed himself into the story every few chapters, it wasn't always clear how he knew some things but not others. Is there such a thing as a semiscient narrator?
But it's a lovely member of that category of slow, thoughtful books that read like a love letter to their setting, in this case the American West. Maybe Minerva Teichert should illustrate some future reprinted edition.
But it's a lovely member of that category of slow, thoughtful books that read like a love letter to their setting, in this case the American West. Maybe Minerva Teichert should illustrate some future reprinted edition.