Outside A Dog

Over the weekend I read Zoe Lucky and the Green Gables Mystery by M. Carol Coffey. It’s a sweet little young adult story in which our heroine, Zoe, pieces together the clues in order to catch a persistent — and dangerous — burglar.
Zoe and her mom have moved to Pittsburgh after Zoe’s father, a [...]

Every so often I come across books like Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson that make me wish I was back in school while reading it so that I could have that “Aha!” moment when someone explains everything that I’m obviously missing. Don’t get me wrong, this is a beautifully written book, but maybe I just [...]

Having adored her earlier novel, Snow Flower and the Secret Fan [which was given to me by my dear Rachael], I was pretty eager to pick up Peony In Love by Lisa See. Peony is the coddled daughter of a wealthy seventeenth-century Hangzhou family, and shortly before her arranged marriage, she sneaks off to [...]

Finally getting around to finishing up my January-based stuff. Must be that procrastination gene rearing its ugly head.
So, here’s the book pile:

Even with all of those books that I read — the ones on the smaller pile in the front — it doesn’t look like the main stack is any smaller.
That’s because [...]

Woo! Last book for January is Promise Not To Tell by Jennifer McMahon. Kate Cypher narrates this ghost story set in two whens: in 1971, Kate’s best friend in fifth grade is murdered, and in 2002 — on the night Kate returns to her hometown after years away — another young girl is killed in [...]