The Yellow Bird Sings... About the Book: Poland, 1941. After the Jews in their town are rounded up, Róza and her five-year-old daughter, Shira, spend day and night hidden in a farmer's barn. Forbidden from making a sound, only the yellow bird from her mother's stories can sing the melodies Shira composes in her head. … Continue reading Book Review: The Yellow Bird Sings by Jennifer Rosner
American Literature
The Classics Eight: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
The Scarlet Letter... About the Book: In The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne takes readers back to the puritan days of the American colonies, into a society as unforgiving as its harsh New England winters. The story of Hester Prynne, who bears a scarlet “A” upon her breast as a symbol of her adultery, and that … Continue reading The Classics Eight: The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Book A Day: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Day 3: The Goldfinch Clearly, my book a day challenge is not an everyday thing like it's probably intended, but I'm a big fan of making challenges work in with your own needs and what I need right now is a challenge that I can post on the days when I don't have any other … Continue reading Book A Day: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt
Book A Day: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Over on Facebook, I'm seeing a lot of 'book a day' posts whereby you post the cover of a book you have loved everyday for however many days it suits you. I've been thinking recently about all the books I've loved but never reviewed and how I could share these. This seems like a good … Continue reading Book A Day: The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver
Bingo! Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig
It’s bingo Saturday once again – that rolled around fast! The square I’ve filled for this entry is: A Book with Themes of Culture As soon as I read Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig, I knew this was going to be my next bingo title. This novel follows one prominent Burmese family struggling to … Continue reading Bingo! Miss Burma by Charmaine Craig
My Reading Life: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Little Women is a novel that repeatedly shows up as a favourite for so many readers and writers. In fact, in my own interview series, Behind the Pen, many interviewees have cited Little Women as a childhood favourite. Likewise, in the Australian Women Writers historical fiction Sunday Spotlight interviews, a standard question I ask is … Continue reading My Reading Life: Little Women by Louisa May Alcott
Quick Shots Book Review: Chasing Windmills by Catherine Ryan Hyde
Chasing Windmills... About: A modern-day rendering of West Side Story born on a New York City subway car and nurtured under the windmills of the Mojave Desert. Both Sebastian and Maria live in a world ruled by fear. Sebastian, a lonely seventeen-year-old, is suffocating under his dominant father’s control. In the ten years since his mother passed … Continue reading Quick Shots Book Review: Chasing Windmills by Catherine Ryan Hyde
My Reading Life: Jodi Picoult
Welcome to My Reading Life, a series where I revisit the authors and novels that have shaped me into the reader I am today. It’s hard to believe now, but there was period of time that stretched into several years when I didn’t read at all. Or at least, I didn’t read for pleasure, … Continue reading My Reading Life: Jodi Picoult
Book Review: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
It Ends with Us... About: SOMETIMES THE ONE WHO LOVES YOU IS THE ONE WHO HURTS YOU THE MOST Lily hasn't always had it easy, but that's never stopped her from working hard for the life she wants. She's come a long way from the small town in Maine where she grew up - she … Continue reading Book Review: It Ends with Us by Colleen Hoover
New Release Book Review: The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman
The Summer of Impossible Things... Book Description: If you could change the past, would you? Thirty years ago, something terrible happened to Luna’s mother. Something she’s only prepared to reveal after her death. Now Luna and her sister have a chance to go back to their mother’s birthplace and settle her affairs. But in Brooklyn … Continue reading New Release Book Review: The Summer of Impossible Things by Rowan Coleman
Theresa Smith Writes 