book nation by jen

Injustice for the Accused in Literary Thriller “A Burning”

"Majumdar excels at depicting the workings of power on the powerless... Fate has rarely been so many-faced, so muscular, so mercurial, or so mesmerizing." —The New York Times Book Review “This all-consuming story rages along, bright and scalding… The effect is transporting, often thrilling, finally harrowing… A damning critique of a…

Jennifer BlankfeinJune 29, 2020

Book Club Network Fiction

This “Trust Exercise” Crosses Student/Teacher Boundaries

Trust Exercise (Henry Holt & Co.) by Susan Choi is a challenge when it comes to making sense of it all, but I highly recommend it for book groups as it allows for interesting discussion. The book is in three distinct parts, similar to Assymetry by Lisa Halliday. Part One is…

Jennifer BlankfeinMay 6, 2020

Book Club Network Fiction

“Writers & Lovers:” Food for the Creative Spirit and Dreamers

I loved her 2014 release Euphoria and author Lily King has written another great one, although quite different, Writers & Lovers (Grove Press). We follow Casey Peabody, a writer, on a journey to find herself. “I am 31, and $73,000 in debt. I’ve moved 11 times, had 17 jobs and…

Jennifer BlankfeinMay 7, 2020

Book Club Network Fiction

Class, Race and Privilege Collide in “A Good Neighborhood”

Oak Knoll, the quaint North Carolina community in A Good Neighborhood by Therese Anne Fowler (St. Martin's Press), is slowly turning over and older homes are being built into mansions. Wealthy, charming and successful Brad Whitman, his wife Julia and their daughters, Lily and Juniper move in next-door to single…

Jennifer BlankfeinApril 6, 2020

Book Club Network Fiction

Young Nigerian Girl Fights for the Right to Be Heard in “The Girl With the Louding Voice”

The Girl With the Louding Voice by Abi Daré (Dutton) is a special book; a powerful story of a young girl with hopes and dreams and bravery beyond her years. Adunni is an optimistic, kind-hearted 14-year-old. Before her mother died, she instilled in her the importance of education and Adunni took…

Jennifer BlankfeinApril 28, 2020

Book Club Network Fiction

Sole Survivor Finds His Way Back to Living in “Dear Edward”

Reconnecting with life after loss can be a struggle, and Ann Napolitano’s Dear Edward, uplifting and hopeful, is a story of a young boy’s journey to overcome challenges, pick up the pieces and begin to dream again following a deadly plane crash. An unthinkable tragedy leaves a young boy devoid…

Jennifer BlankfeinJanuary 9, 2020

Book Club Network Fiction

“A Woman is No Man:” Divulging the Secret Struggles of Palestinian Immigrants

Fareeda, a Palestinian woman, may have moved to America with her grandchildren, but she keeps her tradition intact. Fareeda believes in arranged marriages, that sons are more valuable than daughters and women should do all the housework and raise the children. In A Woman Is No Man, (Harper) Etaf Rum follows…

Jennifer BlankfeinOctober 23, 2019

Book Club Network Fiction

“Searching for Sylvie Lee:” A Maze of Love and Heartbreak

Searching for Sylvie Lee (William Morrow) is the perfect combination of literary fiction and suspense. Jean Kwok lets us inside the minds of Chinese immigrant sisters Sylvie, Amy and their Ma. Smart, pretty and accomplished Sylvie is the golden child in the family. Having grown up with her grandmother in…

Jennifer BlankfeinAugust 1, 2019

Book Club Network Fiction

“Where the Crawdads Sing” Examines Isolation

Isolation can change a person, as readers can clearly see in Kya, the protagonist in Delia Owens’ first fiction work, Where the Crawdads Sing (G.P Putnam's Sons). The character is based on many women the author knows, and we can see how being alone can have major impact on an individual…

Jennifer BlankfeinSeptember 26, 2018

Book Club Network

This Month’s Pick: Jesmyn Ward’s “Sing, Unburied, Sing”

For the month of September, all chapters of the Girly Book Club are reading Jesmyn Ward's Sing, Buried, Sing (Scribner). Here's the review that BookTrib filed shortly after the title was published late last year: Sing, Unburied, Sing is a beautifully written, character-driven, heartfelt novel that takes place in the…

Jennifer BlankfeinAugust 8, 2018

Better Self Nonfiction

Co-Founder of Melissa & Doug Transforms Darkness Into Light in Memoir “LifeLines”

Melissa Bernstein, the creative genius and co-founder of Melissa & Doug Toy Company, has bared her soul in her upcoming book, LifeLines: An Inspirational Journey From Profound Darkness to Radiant Light. She has been struggling with existential depression and anxiety her entire life. She was denying her despair, hiding it…

Jennifer BlankfeinFebruary 18, 2021

Better Self Nonfiction

Airborne Toxic Event Frontman Chronicles Dysfunctional Childhood in “Hollywood Park”

“A Gen-X This Boy’s Life. ... visceral urge to leave his background behind propels him to excel. ... In the end, Jollett shakes off the past to become the captain of his own soul. Hollywood Park is a triumph." ―O, The Oprah Magazine —∞— "A painstaking emotional accounting of a tortured youth…

Jennifer BlankfeinMay 27, 2020

Better Self Nonfiction

Behind the Closed Doors of a Therapy Session in “Maybe You Should Talk To Someone”

Psychotherapist Lori Gottlieb has always helped patients and provided a safe space in her Los Angeles practice. When she experiences a major crisis in her own life, she decides to seek help of her own. In Maybe You Should Talk to Someone (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), Gottlieb explores the inner chambers…

Jennifer BlankfeinOctober 14, 2019

Better Self Book Club Network Book Club Network - Featured2 Nonfiction

One Woman’s Healing Journey Among a Group of Total Strangers

Group: How One Therapist and a Circle of Strangers Saved My Life (Avid Reader Press) by Christie Tate is an engaging and entertaining memoir of one woman's experiences with the healing power of group therapy. The author goes deep as she brings us with her to her sessions and shows…

Jennifer BlankfeinOctober 27, 2020

Better Self Book Club Network Nonfiction

Doyle’s “Untamed” Rewrites Personal Truths in the Wake of Divorce

This past April, Reese Witherspoon choose Untamed by Glennon Doyle (The Dial Press) as a Reese's Book Club x Hello Sunshine Book Pick. The book has gone on to garner praise from critics, authors and readers alike. Elizabeth Gilbert, author of Eat Pray Love raves that “Untamed will liberate women —…

Jennifer BlankfeinJune 8, 2020

Fiction

New Novel From National Book Award Winner Sigrid Nunez

What Are You Going Through (Riverhead Books) by National Book Award winner Sigrid Nunez is a perfect follow-up to her previous novel, The Friend, where a woman’s friend passes away and she takes on the responsibility of her dog. In Nunez’s latest novel, empathy is the focus when this narrator’s…

Jennifer BlankfeinDecember 10, 2020

Injustice for the Accused in Literary Thriller “A Burning”

This “Trust Exercise” Crosses Student/Teacher Boundaries

“Writers & Lovers:” Food for the Creative Spirit and Dreamers

Class, Race and Privilege Collide in “A Good Neighborhood”

Young Nigerian Girl Fights for the Right to Be Heard in “The Girl With the Louding Voice”

Sole Survivor Finds His Way Back to Living in “Dear Edward”

“A Woman is No Man:” Divulging the Secret Struggles of Palestinian Immigrants

“Searching for Sylvie Lee:” A Maze of Love and Heartbreak

“Where the Crawdads Sing” Examines Isolation

This Month’s Pick: Jesmyn Ward’s “Sing, Unburied, Sing”

Co-Founder of Melissa & Doug Transforms Darkness Into Light in Memoir “LifeLines”

Airborne Toxic Event Frontman Chronicles Dysfunctional Childhood in “Hollywood Park”

Behind the Closed Doors of a Therapy Session in “Maybe You Should Talk To Someone”

One Woman’s Healing Journey Among a Group of Total Strangers

Doyle’s “Untamed” Rewrites Personal Truths in the Wake of Divorce

New Novel From National Book Award Winner Sigrid Nunez

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