Jennifer Blankfein

Fiction

A Very Human Story: Review of ‘One Station Away’ by Olaf Olaffson

Knowing the author of One Station Away: A Novel, Olaf Olafsson, is a successful businessman, the Executive Vice President of Time Warner and responsible for introducing Sony PlayStation, this book was not what I had expected, but I was pleasantly surprised how well written and engaging it was. One Station…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 16, 2018

Nonfiction

Tragic, Praiseworthy and Monumental: Review of Tara Westover’s ‘Educated’

Tara Westover's coming-of-age story in her memoir Educated, is incredible, tragic, praiseworthy and monumental. From a young girl loving and believing everything her parents tell her, to questioning their logic and actively pursuing different answers and other ways of thinking, Westover has always had the inherent desire to know more. Reminiscent of…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 11, 2018

Fiction

‘The Last Suppers’ by Mandy Mikulencak Weaves a Complicated Story about Food and Sacrifice

Set in a 1950s Louisiana penitentiary, The Last Suppers is a captivating novel. Ginny, the young daughter of a murdered prison guard, is now all grown up and cooking for the inmates at the jail. She meets with the prisoners on death row to find out what they want for their last meal…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 8, 2018

Fiction

Dirty Little Secrets Between Friends Revealed in Rebecca Drake’s ‘Just Between Us’

Suspense/thriller author Rebecca Drake takes us to a suburban town, where four close friends each hide dirty secrets that are slowly revealed as the fast-paced Just Between Us unfolds. This domestic drama, similar in some ways to Big Little Lies, showcases their perfect, small town existence, but behind the public facade there is…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 5, 2018

Fiction

‘Green’ by Sam Graham-Felsen Explores Friendship and Diversity in 1990s Boston

It is the 1990s and Dave, son of Harvard educated hippies, is one of only a few white kids in his Boston middle school. Having a difficult time connecting with the other students, he becomes drawn to Marlon, a black kid from the projects who seems to have similar interests:…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 5, 2018

Fiction

Review: ‘Hum If You Don’t Know the Words,’ is a Powerful Expression of Love and Hope in the Midst of Tragedy

Hum If You Don’t Know the Words is one of my favorite debut novels in the last year. Bianca Marais has created a rich story line that is unique in how the well developed characters navigate very sensitive issues of the time: racism and apartheid in South Africa. In 1976,…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 3, 2018

Book Club Network Fiction

Family Conflicts Ignite in Celeste Ng’s ‘Little Fires Everywhere’

In Little Fires Everywhere, Author Celeste Ng skillfully weaves together two unlikely families as they hide secrets to pursue a good life. Elena Richardson, born and bred in Shaker Heights, is a buttoned up, mother of four. The relationships she has with her husband and children seem typical and normal,…

Jennifer BlankfeinDecember 18, 2017

Fiction

Jewish History is Revisited in Martha Hall Kelly’s ‘Lilac Girls’

If you missed the release of Lilac Girls, now is the time to buy the paperback. It is historical fiction based on true and harrowing events during World War II. For me, the Holocaust has always been mostly about how the Jews were prosecuted; a devastating time in our history…

Jennifer BlankfeinNovember 25, 2017

Fiction

A ‘Red-Haired Woman’ Turns Lives Upside Down in Pamuk’s New Book

I really enjoyed this short but dense book, The Red-Haired Woman written by Turkish Nobel Prize winning author Orhan Pamuk. In the 1980s, a teenage, fatherless boy is an apprentice to Master Mahmut, a well digger. They dig for water in the hot sun, and tell stories to pass the time.…

Jennifer BlankfeinNovember 20, 2017

Fiction Romance

Chaos Hits Home for the Holidays in ‘The Boyfriend Swap’

If you are looking for an escape this holiday season, The Boyfriend Swap by Meredith Schorr is just what you need! We step in on an unforgettable character, Robyn, who is a teacher dating an actor. Her family would like for her to meet a guy with ambition and some success but…

Jennifer BlankfeinNovember 17, 2017

Fiction

Danzy Senna’s ‘New People’ Explores Race, Identity and More

I really enjoyed New People and was intrigued by who the description, “new people”, referred to. Maria and Khalil are a seemingly happy, engaged couple living in Brooklyn, both light skinned, mixed race. Khalil, a technology consultant, comes from a solid, intact family unit and is close with his parents and…

Jennifer BlankfeinNovember 13, 2017

Nonfiction

‘The Best of Us’: Joyce Maynard’s Memoir on Love, Loss and Life

I highly recommend reading Joyce Maynard's The Best of Us, but just make sure you have a box of tissues. Maynard finds the love of her life in her 50s, many years after being divorced and raising her children as a single mother. She and Jim, her new love, had a…

Jennifer BlankfeinNovember 8, 2017

Fiction

‘White Fur’: Is Love Really More Powerful Than Money?

The more I think about this novel, the more I love White Fur by Jardine Libaire. It’s the 1980s and Elise, a school dropout and recently homeless young girl is living in New Haven with a friend she met on the street. Jamey is one of the white, privileged and wealthy guys…

Jennifer BlankfeinNovember 7, 2017

Fiction

Review: A Favorite ‘Sourdough’ Recipe Changes Everything

Sourdough by Robin Sloan is the perfect blend of culinary secrets and technological experiments, filled with excitement and drama. Lois is a programmer who spends her endless days writing code and programming a robot arm. She resorts to drinking a Slurry (an unappealing nutritional concoction) for lunch during the day, and…

Jennifer BlankfeinNovember 6, 2017

Fiction

Gabriel Tallent’s Literary Debut is an ‘Absolute Darling’

Wow! My Absolute Darling is literary fiction at its finest! This vividly written debut is rich in language with full descriptive prose and incredibly complex characters. Turtle, a motherless teenager living with her reclusive and resourceful survivalist dad, has an unusual existence. Some of her days begin with raw eggs and a…

Jennifer BlankfeinSeptember 29, 2017

Nonfiction

Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, a Life-Changing Friendship

Heartbreaking, inspiring and a tribute to dedication, Reading With Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, and a Life-Changing Friendship is the memoir of an Asian American 'Teach For America' teacher and her friendship with a poor black student in Helena, Arkansas. Their special relationship is in the forefront of the story with race relations, education…

Jennifer BlankfeinSeptember 29, 2017

Jennifer Blankfein

A Very Human Story: Review of ‘One Station Away’ by Olaf Olaffson

Tragic, Praiseworthy and Monumental: Review of Tara Westover’s ‘Educated’

‘The Last Suppers’ by Mandy Mikulencak Weaves a Complicated Story about Food and Sacrifice

Dirty Little Secrets Between Friends Revealed in Rebecca Drake’s ‘Just Between Us’

‘Green’ by Sam Graham-Felsen Explores Friendship and Diversity in 1990s Boston

Review: ‘Hum If You Don’t Know the Words,’ is a Powerful Expression of Love and Hope in the Midst of Tragedy

Family Conflicts Ignite in Celeste Ng’s ‘Little Fires Everywhere’

Jewish History is Revisited in Martha Hall Kelly’s ‘Lilac Girls’

A ‘Red-Haired Woman’ Turns Lives Upside Down in Pamuk’s New Book

Chaos Hits Home for the Holidays in ‘The Boyfriend Swap’

Danzy Senna’s ‘New People’ Explores Race, Identity and More

‘The Best of Us’: Joyce Maynard’s Memoir on Love, Loss and Life

‘White Fur’: Is Love Really More Powerful Than Money?

Review: A Favorite ‘Sourdough’ Recipe Changes Everything

Gabriel Tallent’s Literary Debut is an ‘Absolute Darling’

Reading with Patrick: A Teacher, a Student, a Life-Changing Friendship

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