in the margin: book picks
Here are all the books we’ve read. Click on the link to read the full book review and discussion questions.
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai: a book review and discussion questions
The Great Believers, the Pulitzer Prize winning novel by Rebecca Makkai, is the story of a group of mostly male gay friends living in 1985 Chicago during the rapid growth of the AIDS epidemic. The novel follows Yale and his friend Fiona from those first years of the...
My Name is Lucy Barton by Elizabeth Strout: a book review and discussion questions
On the surface, "My Name is Lucy Barton" is the story about a complicated relationship between a writer and her mother. The novel opens when Lucy is in the hospital recovering from a mysterious complication following what should have been a simple surgery. One day...
Beautiful World, Where Are You by Sally Rooney: a book review
Sally Rooney’s third novel, Beautiful World, Where Are You, follows best friends Alice Kelleher and Eileen Lydon as they navigate careers and relationships in their early thirties. Alice, a novelist, has found unexpected success after the publication of her first two...
Human Acts by Han Kang: a book review with discussion questions
Human Acts, a novel by South Korean writer Han Kang, is a beautifully written story about how the South Korean government’s violent reaction to the pro-democracy uprising in May 1980 in Gwangju impacted individual people’s lives. The novel first introduces us to...
There There by Tommy Orange: a book review
There There follows a large cast of Native American characters, all of whom are determined—for reasons ranging from the artistic to the criminal—to attend to the Big Oakland Powwow, a gathering for Native American people to honor their culture and tradition. The cast...
In the Distance by Hernan Diaz: a book review
In the Distance by Hernan Diaz is as much a coming-of-age story as it is a literary western. It is the story of Håkan, a boy trying to find his place in a foreign country. Like the protagonist, I also emigrated from my home country on the cusp of adulthood, so this...
Transcendent Kingdom by Yaa Gyasi: a book review with discussion questions
Yaa Gyasi’s second novel, Transcendent Kingdom, is the story of a young scientist named Gifty, who looks to religion, science and writing to find meaning for the pain she experienced growing up. Gifty is a sixth-year candidate in neuroscience at the Stanford School of...