by Sarah Lindenfeld Hall
Family history was a spark for
Better Luck Next Time, the latest novel by Julia Claiborne Johnson (Col ’81). Set in 1938 Reno, Nevada, then dubbed the world’s divorce capital, the action primarily takes place on the Flying Leap dude ranch, which provided a place for women to stay as they established state residency so they could get divorced. During the Depression, Johnson’s father worked as a cowboy at a Nevada divorce ranch. The similarities between the book and real life mostly end there, Johnson says, but the setting seemed like fertile territory to explore a place where men were the eye candy and women had some control. “A flip of the usual situation,” says Johnson, whose first book,
Bookworm: Sharp characters, humor in ‘Better Luck’
‘Work-from-Home Hacks’ from Aja Frost
Terri Schlichenmeyer
$28.99, $35.99 Canada; 274 pages
It’s always a roll of the dice. You meet someone, hit it off, hang out sometime, and it’s a win or a loose. You either continue and see how it goes, or you can ask for more cards or put your chips elsewhere. No matter who you are, relationships are a gamble but in the new novel “Better Luck Next Time” by Julia Claiborne Johnson, you learn to deal.
At well over 80 years old, Dr. Howard Stovall Bennett III doesn’t get many visitors anymore. That doesn’t surprise him; he never married or had any children.
Book Club Picks for January 2021 By Gilcy Aquino | Jan 21, 2021
It’s finally a new year, and what a year 2020 was. From brushing up on amateur baking skills to spending even more time at the tube, Americans have had more time for their favorite hobbies especially getting through our to-read piles. At the top of many of those piles? Book club picks! It s nice to read with a community you can join while being a responsible socially distant individual or even without leaving the comfort of your own bed. And starting now,
PW will round up each major book club s monthly pick for you in our new column,
“The Ex Talk” by Rachel Lynn Solomon, Berkley, 352 pp.
This satisfying romantic comedy tells of two 20-something radio producers in Seattle. Shay already has 10 years of experience while Dominic, fresh out of grad school, is certain that he knows more. Natural adversaries, they’re assigned to host a program that offers relationship advice from the vantage point of two exes. Of course, they scramble to maintain the ruse when the animosity melts and their romance begins.
4.
by Keisha Bush
Keisha Bush weaves an “Oliver Twist”-like tale of pain and faith drawn partially on her experiences living in Dakar, Senegal. Ibrahimah is a boy living an idyllic life with his family. That all changes one day when he and his cousin are sent to Senegal’s capital to study the Quran. Bush poses essential questions about free will and liberation. Full review here.