I picked up Moon Palace on a whim while perusing a sale rack outside the door at Half-Price Books.  Bookstores…. one of the few places where it’s still a good idea to go home with a stranger.  In this case, an excellent idea. It’s hard for me to summarize the plot because this was such a great read, and I don’t want to spoil any discoveries along the way.  Moon Palace is the memoir of Marco Stanley Fogg – known as “M.S.” or simply “Fogg.” […]

Beloved is the story of Sethe, an escaped slave surviving the transition of freedom after the end of the Civil War, and her community of people moving on after tragedy, abuse, debasement and a life less than human. Beloved is also the story of a stranger who appears at their door, bearing the same name as Sethe’s murdered baby, the same age if she had lived. She, Sethe, and Sethe’s last remaining child, quickly form an intense and dysfunctional bond. I found it utterly heartbreaking, […]