Entangled Histories: Knowledge, Authority, and Jewish Culture in the Thirteenth Century
Ruth Mazo Karras, Elisheva Baumgarten and Katelyn Mesler
Book
From Halakhic innovation to blood libels, from the establishment of new mendicant orders to the...
The Evangelicals: The Struggle to Shape America
Book
This groundbreaking book from Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Frances FitzGerald is the first...
History Religion
Assume Nothing: A Story of Intimate Violence
Book
Award-winning filmmaker Tanya Selvaratnam bravely recounts the intimate abuse she suffered from...
Much Ado About Nauticaling
Book
The bubbly fun of a rom-com meets the irresistible quirkiness of a cozy mystery in this buoyant new...
Carcassonne
Tabletop Game
Carcassonne is a tile-placement game in which the players draw and place a tile with a piece of...
GatewayBoardgames
Heather Cranmer (2721 KP) created a post
Dec 7, 2021
Light From The Grave
Book
I’m what nightmares are made of, but I’m not sure who’s more dangerous: him or me. In the...
MM Urban Fantasy Romance
Kristy H (1252 KP) rated Commonwealth in Books
Feb 8, 2018
This is an expansive book, covering the lives of the intertwined Cousins and Keating families in a series of almost interconnected stories. They are linked, of course, and form the framework of Packer's novel, but almost seem as if they could stand on their own. They are also set against the backdrop of another <i>Commonwealth</i>: when Franny, then in her twenties, meets famous author Leon Posen, she tells him the many stories of her misguided family. He spins them into the tale of his novel, <i>Commonwealth</i>, forcing the family to face up to some of their most awful losses and decisions in the starkness of print.
Some of the chapters of COMMONWEALTH aren't always particularly exciting, but they are poignant, and there is a deepness to them. They offer an amazing insight into these families-- an almost "behind the scenes" look at five or so decades of their lives. The varying viewpoints of the narrators helps as well, and you can watch a Cousin or Keating child age in just a couple of chapters. It's also interesting to watch the spouses--so changed by the affair--and how it's affected their lives.
Overall, this is a lovely book, tender in many ways, and a little heartbreaking. It's not a page-turner, but it's beautiful and leaves you thinking.
I received a copy of this novel from the publisher and Edelweiss (thank you!); it is available everywhere on 9/13/2016.
Tippu Tip: Ivory, Slavery and Discovery in the Scramble for Africa
Book
Tippu Tip was chiefly an ivory trader, who pioneered for new sources through present day Tanzania...