Novels Now

Hillary Jordan has written a very good debut novel that speaks on war, racism, marriage, and living off the land. The story is told by various narrators throughout the book. Henry and Laura are a white married couple who move to the Mississippi delta to raise cotton. Henry loves the land, but […]

Popularity: 61% [?]

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My Name is Number 4: A True Story from the Cultural Revolution by Ting-Xing Ye
Pages: 230
Finished: Oct. 26, 2008
First Published: September 2008
Genre: YA, memoir
Rating: 4/5
Reason for Reading: Received a Review Copy from the publisher. Also qualifies for the Canadian Challenge.
First sentence:
The morning of my exile to the prison farm arrived, a characteristic November day in […]

Popularity: 28% [?]

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These were adults with too much time on their hands. And didn’t they know that the projector, sound system, and speakers were all Japanese? Their dancing shoes were probably from Mexico or China. America’s jobs were going elsewhere and Americans were just dressing up and playing like kids. Gas prices were high. General Motors […]

Popularity: 26% [?]

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Resistance: A Woman’s Journal of Struggle and Defiance in Occupied France by Agnes Humbert
Translated by Barbara Mellor
Pages: 270 + 100pgs of extraneous material (Afterward, index, etc.)
First Published: 1946, 1st English translation Sept. 2, 2008
Genre: memoir, WWII
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
Rumours are flying, all flatly contradictory, but it seems clear that the Germans are advancing on all fronts.
Comments: […]

Popularity: 26% [?]

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Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
Pages: 324
First Published: March, 2008
Genre: southern fiction, historical fictionRating: 5/5
First sentence:
Henry and I dug the hole seven feet deep.
Comments: A story of 1940s Mississippi. A tale of two families; one black, the other white. Henry McAllen moves from the city with his wife, two young daughters and his cantankerous, racist father to […]

Popularity: 28% [?]

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Wonderful Southern Fiction
In 1939, at 31 years old, spinster, Laura meets Henry McAllen. After a bit of dating, they get married and start a family. Henry works for the Army Corps of Engineers, they’re in the city. This is great, because Laura is a city woman through and through.
One day Henry comes home with news, […]

Popularity: 27% [?]

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Rich Details and Decadence of 17th-Century Court
This is the story of real life Louise de la Vallière, mistress to France’s King Louis XIV, also known as the Sun King. At a young age, Louise, lovingly nicknamed Petite by her father, uses bone magic to tame a wild stallion.
Though of minor nobility, her family doesn’t have […]

Popularity: 27% [?]

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Written for Young Adults, but Just as Engaging for Adults
The year is 1925 in small town Tennessee. The school year is winding down and the children are excited about having a laid back summer. However, when it comes to the towns peoples attention that the science teacher, J. T. Scopes taught Darwin’s theory of evolution […]

Popularity: 26% [?]

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The Road Home
By Rose Tremain
Completed September 27, 2008
The Road Home was the Orange Prize winning novel by Rose Tremain – a story of Lev, a Russian immigrant living in London. Lev immigrated to Britain after the mill in his village closed, leaving him without a means to support his mother and daughter. The decision to […]

Popularity: 22% [?]

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Night Runner by Max Turner
Pages: 261
First Published: Sept. 8, 2008 (Canada only)
Genre: YA, paranormal
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
My name is Daniel Zachariah Thomson.
Comments: Zack is an orphan. His father died in an accident when Zack was four. Zach was there as well and was sent to the hospital in a coma. After awakening from the coma it […]

Popularity: 23% [?]

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