Author: allison burris
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Every once in a while, you’ll read a book and be extremely grateful for the things you have. Meg Vandermerwe’s book is a heartbreaking look at what it means to be poor in South Africa, as well as what it means to be an outcast in your own hometown. The protagonist is an albino, and…
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I’ve read a lot of books with a similar premise to Alice McDermott’s (like Cynthia Ozick’s The Puttermesser Papers and Mary Costello’s Academy Street). The focus on a single life gives an author room to show how each of our lives are significant, and how they are interesting in all of their distinct particulars. What…
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Frances Mayes’ memoir takes the reader on a culinary journey. So much so in fact, that she includes dozens of recipes within the book. Here is one of them, which celebrates two of my favorite things: dessert and fruit (and thus it should be no surprise that tarts are some of my favorite dishes) The…
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Hemingway has become more myth than man to modern readers, but Paula McLain’s book offers an intriguing glance into the man and the (first) woman who married him. McLain manages to capture Hemingway’s charm as well as his rougher, more cruel traits, as well as what it’s like for his wife, who doesn’t consider herself…
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There’s a week of peace and relaxation ahead of you. Nothing can get between you and your book, except your choices about which books to bring… This guide will help you bring books that you will actually read and enjoy. How Many Books To Bring While the above photo may be slightly misleading there was…
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There is just something about fashion, and the culture of the 70s, and battles between the French and the Americans that I just find endlessly fascinating. I have to admit that as far as political history goes, anything that happened after the 1960s feels much to recent and much too boring. But socially and culturally,…
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Every so often, you come across a book that you’re excited for, but when you actually come to read it, you’re a bit disappointed. That’s how I felt reading this updated version of Jane Austen’s Northanger Abbey. Now I’ve never read Val McDermid, though I know she’s a well-known mystery writer who has sold a…
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I’ve been doing a lot of work for a very special project, which I thought I’d share with you. On August 22, my grandparents will have been married for 50 years. To celebrate, they’re taking the family on a cruise to the Caribbean where they will renew their vows and celebrate being together. For the…
Allison Burris 