Baltimore

Read It Here First

Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

April 1, 2019 by Jake Leave a Comment

I won a free ARC from Goodreads in exchange for this review. Thanks Goodreads! Laura Lippman’s been on a bit of a roll with her standalone novels. Wilde Lake was really good and Sunburn is, in my estimation, the best thing she’s ever done. Most of what I loved about reading Lippman’s Tess Monaghan novels growing up was the Baltimore tourism. Being a native of the city, it’s fun to see a bestselling author talk about places I know like they’re real. But her standalone works show how she has evolved as a writer, forsaking the familiar private eye tropes and Baltimore fetishism of […]

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Lady in the Lake by Laura Lippman

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4/1/2019 | Jake's CBR11 Review No:35 |

You Come at the King, You Best Not Miss

All the Pieces Matter: The Inside Story of the Wire by Jonathan Abrams

August 26, 2018 by Ellesfena Leave a Comment

If you’ve seen The Wire, you should read this book. If you haven’t seen The Wire, you should go watch it and then read this book. What are you doing with your life?! For All the Pieces Matter, author Jonathan Abrams spoke to almost every person involved in creating The Wire, from David Simon and Ed Burns to directors, casting agents, and writers, to almost every actor you could think of. It’s fantastic. There is so much information in here, it could have been five times as long and still have been interesting. The book starts with Simon’s struggles to […]

8/26/2018 Ellesfena's CBR10 Review No:36 |

Keeping an Eye on Her Abandoned Former Self

Ladder of Years by Anne Tyler

June 19, 2018 by Ellesfena 4 Comments

I am the resident Anne Tyler apologist here at CBR. I know she’s rather unpopular in these parts, but I love many of her books. Her prose and her characters’ inner lives often resonate with me. Her books comfort me, and I find them great company during difficult times. BUT–all that being said, I cannot and will not stand up for Ladder of Years and the truly despicable actions of the main character, Delia Grinstead. Delia, mother of three children (2 college aged and one in high school), gets up and walks out on her family during a beach vacation. […]

6/19/2018 Ellesfena's CBR10 Review No:27 |

How to Fight Loneliness

Digging to America by Anne Tyler

October 22, 2017 by Ellesfena Leave a Comment

Digging to America is the story of two Baltimore families who meet each other in an airport, pre-9/11, when they come to pick up their infant daughters they have adopted from South Korea. It’s similar to other Tyler novels, in that it’s an intimate examination of family dynamics, but it’s different than all the others, too–it’s bigger, as it also examines what it means to be an American. I know that makes it sound terrible and tiresome, but trust me, it is anything but. It’s one of my favorite Tyler novels, because it is such a skillful look at belonging, […]

10/22/2017 Ellesfena's CBR9 Review No:49 |

Slight but Engaging

The Beginner's Goodbye by Anne Tyler

September 19, 2017 by Ellesfena Leave a Comment

The other day my mom texted me and asked, “Which Anne Tyler novel is the one about the strange family?” Easy, Mom–literally all of them. Tyler’s specialty is lovable eccentrics. In The Beginner’s Goodbye, Aaron Woolcott joins that list, although he’s not as memorable as some others. Aaron works for a publishing firm owned by his family, and is married to a doctor, Dorothy. After they’ve been married about 8 years, Dorothy is killed by a tree falling through the roof into their sunroom. Shortly after, she begins to appear to him in various places. Tyler’s books are always grounded […]

9/19/2017 Ellesfena's CBR9 Review No:39 |

This Will Be Our Year, Took a Long Time to Come

Breathing Lessons by Anne Tyler

March 20, 2017 by Ellesfena 1 Comment

Breathing Lessons is the story of a single afternoon in the marriage of Ira and Maggie, as they take a road trip to attend an old friend’s funeral. Along the way, they encounter some unique characters, reminisce about their lives together and take a detour to attempt to mend their relationships with their ex-daughter-in-law and granddaughter. There. That’s the plot summary for this book, but it tells you absolutely nothing about what really happens. Breathing Lessons is a case study of a marriage. I could write this review to be full of the usual platitudes that are on the back […]

3/20/2017 Ellesfena's CBR9 Review No:12 |

Once Upon a Time. . .

Back When We Were Grownups by Anne Tyler

October 29, 2016 by Ellesfena 1 Comment

I don’t specifically remember the first time I read this book, but that could be because I’ve read it at least once a year since then–at this point, that’s ten or more rereads. This is my favorite book. It’s the story of Rebecca, a fifty-something widow, who at a family picnic one day sort of “wakes up” and realizes she has no idea how she turned into the person that she’s become. She runs a party planning business out of her home, attempts to corral her large family (I’ve read reviews that complain about how selfish and unpleasant her adult […]

10/29/2016 Ellesfena's CBR8 Review No:47 |

I could be happy the rest of my life with a vinegar girl

Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

October 23, 2016 by Ellesfena 1 Comment

Anne Tyler is one of my favorite authors (this is the third book of hers I’ve reviewed this year), and that is the only reason I was willing to read Vinegar Girl, a modern retelling of The Taming of the Shrew. I was surprised to find that I actually enjoyed reading this. The modern twist in Vinegar Girl is that the “shrew” character, Katherine, is the daughter of an eccentric scientist, Louis Battista. Louis’s lab assistant, Pyotr, is in the U.S. on a visa which is about to expire, and Louis is desperate not to lose him. He convinces Kate […]

10/23/2016 Ellesfena's CBR8 Review No:46 |

Caitlin_D on The SonThanks for the heads up!
Caitlin_D on What Stands in a StormIt's amazing how different our storm experiences are just being 15 miles apart from one another...
sistercoyote on Feelings are Good (and other Truths)Absolutely! A lot in this book resonated, but that most of all. :)
badkittyuno on Being brave isn’t the same as being okay.Ooh ooh I just finished this one and LOVED it
emmalita on Bland and WateryIt was delicious and folks are still bringing it up.