Friday, October 21, 2016

The Woman in Cabin 10

Lo is a travel writer on the maiden voyage of a luxury cruiser. She is struggling with her own demons when she’s convinced a crime has been committed on board.

I struggled to get into Ruth Ware’s The Woman in Cabin 10. As seems to be the trend in popular fiction, the main character isn’t exactly likable, perpetuates stereotypes about women, and makes cringe-worthy choices. However, after about 200 pages, I was hooked and needed to see what happened. This book should please fans of The Girl on the Train and Gone Girl.

Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Lena Finkle's Magic Barrel: A Graphic Novel

As a fan of both graphic and post-Soviet novels, I eagerly dove into Anya Ulinich’s Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel. Lena immigrated to the United States from Russia as a young woman. She is now a mom and author—and new to the online dating world. I appreciated the frankness of the Ulinich’s depiction of Lena’s struggles as a mother, writer, woman, and immigrant (this is definitely a graphic novel for adults). Her experiences resonated with me and gave me an interesting perspective on the expectations we place on ourselves.