Posts Tagged ‘Novel’
Book Review: The Hunger Games Trilogy
Posted by: revjmk on: May 5, 2012
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press, 2008, 384 pp. Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press, 2009, 391 pp. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins, Scholastic Press, 2010, 400 pp. I needed escape reading during the last month’s intensity of Holy Week, tornado recovery and moving into our newly renovated church building. I wanted a [...]
Book Review: Middlesex
Posted by: revjmk on: March 25, 2012
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2002, 529 pp. Middlesex is just the kind of epic, multi-generational novel I love. It had rich characters who experience strange relationships and personal transformation. It offered a window into other communities and cultures outside my experience. And it told a compelling story about fascinating characters I [...]
Book Review: Ruby
Posted by: revjmk on: February 17, 2012
Ruby, by Ann Hood, Picador USA, 1998, 225 pp. This book was passed along to me by a family member in a big stack of books, and I brought it along on my trip to be an easy read for the 12-hour flight back from the Holy Land trip. It passed the time just like [...]
Book Review: To the End of the Land
Posted by: revjmk on: January 6, 2012
To the End of the Land by David Grossman, translated by Jessica Cohen, Alfred A. Knopf, 2010, 577 pp. This novel is absolutely stunning in its depth, beauty, profound characters, emotional contours, and intricate portrayal of the personal impact of war. It feels almost like a betrayal of its thick interweaving of words and images [...]
Book Review: The Pilot’s Wife
Posted by: revjmk on: November 28, 2011
The Pilot’s Wife by Anita Shreve, Little, Brown and Company, 1998, 293 pp. I was hooked on this novel from the first few pages. The story is about the aftermath of a plane crash, and it begins with a knock on the door in the middle of the night, awakening the pilot’s wife with the [...]
Book Review: The Submission
Posted by: revjmk on: October 8, 2011
The Submission, by Amy Waldman, Farrar, Strauss and Giroux (New York), 2011, 299 pp. The Submission is a novel about 9/11. More particularly, it is a novel about the aftermath of 9/11 on the families of the victims, on New York, on Muslims, on politicians and the politics of the nation. It is startling how [...]
Book Review: Fall on Your Knees
Posted by: revjmk on: August 23, 2011
Fall on Your Knees, by Ann-Marie MacDonald, Scribner Paperback Fiction (Simon & Schuster), 1996, 508 pp. This is by far the best novel I have read in a long time. The review on the front cover describes it as a “big, bold, epic shocker of a novel,” and that is a great description. It is [...]
Book Review: Charming Billy
Posted by: revjmk on: August 17, 2011
Charming Billy, by Alice McDermott, Delta Trade Paperbacks, 1998, 243 pp. Charming Billy was not the light, quick vacation read I was looking for when I checked it out from the library. Instead, it was an intense, pain-stakingly constructed look inside the life of an alcoholic, told from the perspective of his closest friends. It [...]
Book Review: Jewel
Posted by: revjmk on: July 8, 2011
Jewel by Bret Lott, Washington Square Press (Simon & Schuster), 1991, 358 pp. This is a novel about a woman of great strength, love and willpower. Exactly my kind of story. Jewel is born in the backwoods of Mississippi in 1904, orphaned at age 11, sent to live with a grandmother who hates her and [...]
Book Review: Saints at the River
Posted by: revjmk on: April 1, 2011
Saints at the River by Ron Rash, Henry Holt and Company, 2004, 239 pp. Ah, escape! I needed a novel to escape from a hectic and challenging time of pastoral care. I went to the library, scanned the shelves and returned with Saints at the River. It fit the bill. The novel tells the story [...]
About Me
I am a full-time pastor in the United Church of Christ, mother of a preschooler (B.), married to an aspiring academic and curmudgeon (J.). I live by faith, intuition and intellect. I follow politics, football and the Boston Red Sox. I like to talk about progressive issues, theological concerns, church life, the impact of technology and media, pop culture and books.
- Aleada SIragusa: I am a member of United Church of Christ also. One of our pastors, Rev Victoria Long is also a woman. I am on the net searching for photographs I may
- Samantha R.: Hello, I work with a publication called The Traveler's Friend. We are a coupon book for hotels. I was wondering if I could get your permission to use
- Marilyn Holt: Thank you for your inspiring comments on the disaster in your neighborhood and the uplifting section from your sermon. This entry in your blog is maki
