[239] Surprising Myself – Christopher Bram

“It frightened me because Corey was a guy. I wanted to protect it because such a love was so ridiculous and fragile. Love was for marriage, and I couldn’t marry Corey . . . I couldn’t distinguish the excitement of my fear from the excitement of love.” [61]
Joel Scherzenlieb grows up at a time given [...]

[237] Fixer Chao – Han Ong

“I had entered this world of privilege where the people had taken me in as one of their own, and had been entirely comfortable divesting themselves of ugly things in my presence. These people, in my imagination, lived in a glass bubble filled with money, aerated and sent flying in all directions.” [100]
Never say never. [...]

[235] Sing Them Home – Stephanie Kallos

When he asked Larken what was going on and did it seem like the kids at school were avoiding them, she snorted darkly and said, Are you kidding? Nobody wants to see us or have anything to do with us because they all feel guilty about not looking for Mom anymore. I just wish somebody [...]

Sing Them Home Teaser

I usually don’t do teaser, but this one really resonates. Between brother and sister, now grown up, but are still traumatized by their mother’s disappearance. (She was swept away by a tornado.)
“Gaelan, what are you thinking?”
“I’m not thinking anything,” he replies.
“I just don’t see the point of having sex if you’re not trying to have [...]

Recent Sadness

What’s the saddest book you’ve read recently?
Judging by the title alone, The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers does not spell an upbeat mood. The loneliness of the characters pervades the entire narrative that makes me sore. Each of the characters struggles in their social position, ambition, civil justice, and racial inequality. The [...]

[227] Gossip – Christopher Bram

“There’s got to be something else. What are other people for? Something besides sex and money and votes. Or we wouldn’t constantly talk about each other. Are we just entertainment? Distractions? Are we just burying our own shit in other people’s shit?” [305]
Christopher Bram delves into the adage “the personal is political” and wages war [...]

[224] Exiles in America – Christopher Bram

“You have to trust yourself and the other person. There are no guarantees here. The world is an unreal place. You want someone with you to make it feel less unreal. You want to keep them there, and you think you can do it with a few magic words, a marriage contract, a wedding. But [...]

[222] The Heart is a Lonely Hunter – Carson McCullers

“How Singer had been before was not important. The thing that mattered was the way Blount and Mick made of him a sort of home-made God. Owing to the fact that he was a mute they were able to give him all the qualities they wanted him to have.” [232]
In was 1938. In a Georgia [...]

[219] Tender is the Night – F. Scott Fitzgerald

“So you understand my relations with Nicole are complicated. She’s not very strong—she looks strong but she isn’t. And this makes rather a mess.” [75]
While The Great Gatsby, with its tragic and monetary allure, is wildly popular with critics and public alike, Tender is the Night is in my opinion more substantial in the extent [...]

[213] The Joy Luck Club – Amy Tan

It’s hard to keep your Chinese face in America. At the beginning, before I even arrived, I had to hide my true self.” [294]
Through the stories of four immigrant women in the first half of 20th century, Amy Tan weaves a myopic tapestry that details their struggle to preserve the Chinese heritage while gingerly assimilating [...]