Sarah Laurence > Recent Status Updates

Yet another perfect sentence for the themes of this book: “Water is the consummate immigrant, trapped in transit, never able to settle.”

I wandered into my local bookstore in North London looking for a paperback about London or historical fiction and this was both. Elif Shafak writes sentences that make you reread them:

River Tigris
“Beside them the river flows, fast and furious, rolling its pebbles like dice.” p44

River Thames
“It has been drizzling since the early, clouds hanging over the city the colour of a neglected fish tank.” P66

Great WWII historical fiction inspired by a true story

My British husband picked this out for me at Blackwell’s while we were celebrating our anniversary in Oxford. I’m thoroughly enjoying it!

After reading the enchanting description, I Couldn’t resist searching for Valetto on Google Maps, but alas it only exists in this novel set in an ancient village in Umbria, Italy.

Not his best. I'm no longer listening.

An excellent gift from my son, who is a transportation engineer passionate about public transport The subject of planning cities to be walkable really resonates with me as an environmentalist concerned about climate change. My only criticism is the photos are tiny and poor quality in this paperback edition. I'm reading it slowly as my insomnia book. It's interesting but won't keep me up too late.

A strong opening that pulled me in immediately!

I'm done but still reading the appendixes of this unfinished but marvelous novel about Occupied France. The Jewish author was killed in a concentration camp.

I'm simultaneously reading the translation in English and the original in Spanish, a few pages at a time, and given the 19th century vocabulary, it has been slow going although the story is compelling. I'm thrilled to be able to read one of my favorite authors in her native young after 3 semesters of Spanish class and then another year of meeting a tutor weekly. Maybe I'll finish the novel in 1 1/2 years?

Did not finish. I have no desire to read another book by JK Rowling while she continues to verbally attack the rights of transgender people.

An excellent portrayal of the high psychological/economic cost of Japanese internment during WWII in the USA. I love the period details: ice for the icebox, clothing, hair styling, diet, social and work life, limited air conditioning etc. The mystery itself is of less interest to me. One basic question: why is the dead sister called Rose when all other family members have Japanese names?

Leo en español y una traducción al inglés el mismo tiempo.

I waited until I'd recovered from my second Pfizer shot to read this excellent academic book about the family life of Jewish women in Nazi Germany. I'm reading it to research my novel about Jewish refugees in the Dominican Republic. As a Jew, I'm familiar with this history, but I need more personal day to day details for my historical novel. This author writes so well, she makes history accessible to all.

I'm reading this Galician classic in both Spanish and English translations since I've only been studying Spanish for 1 1/2 years. My trilingual conversational partner in Galicia is reading it in the original Galician/gallego, and in Spanish we discuss the story and compare translations. The Spanish edition is more lyrical than the English one and closer to the original Galician. I also like the footnotes for context.

He estudiado español durante 16 meses, y esta novela corta es divertida y bastante fácil de entender con consultas ocasionales de un diccionario.

I love the set up of a meet-cute romance at the voting polls where the hurdle is voter registration. This topical book explores vote suppression and how race affects voting behavior. It a bit didactic at times but still a quick, fun read. So good to have a novel like this for first time voters!

I read much faster in English than in Spanish! Alvarez writes beautifully. She was born in the DR, but has lived in the USA since she was ten so she writes in English with a few Spanish words for flavor. I'm also enjoying her MG novel translated into Spanish for practice.

Después de un año de español, cada página me cuesta diez minutos para leer. Es difícil para una novata, pero me encanta esta novela.

Gorgeous writing and an original story! I love this author.

The story has become more intriguing after a plot twist.

So far, my favorite story was the one written in a female voice. Diaz writes beautifully, but I dislike how the male characters objectify women.