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Writer's pictureFriendswood Reads

Short on time ... or attention span?

Updated: Jul 24, 2020




Here are some book recommendations for those periods in your reading life - and we all have them - when you are looking for something that is quick to get through, but still strikes a chord.

 

The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes

Winner of the 2011 Man Booker Prize. Follows a middle-aged man as he reflects on a past he thought was behind him, until he is presented with a legacy that forces him to reconsider different decisions, and to revise his place in the world. - Provided by publisher.



What I Saw and How I Lied, Judy Blundell

In 1947, with her jovial stepfather Joe back from the war and family life returning to normal, teenage Evie, smitten by the handsome young ex-GI who seems to have a secret hold on Joe, finds herself caught in a complicated web of lies whose devastating outcome changes her life and that of her family forever. - Provided by publisher.



The Devil and Miss Prym, Paulo Coelho

A stranger arrives at the remote village of Viscos, carrying with him a backpack containing a notebook and eleven gold bars. He comes searching for the answer to a question that torments him: Are human beings, in essence, good or evil? In welcoming the mysterious foreigner, the whole village becomes an accomplice to his sophisticated plot, which will forever mark their lives. - Provided by publisher.



We Have Always Lived in the Castle, Shirley Jackson

Shirley Jackson's beloved gothic tale of a peculiar girl named Merricat and her family's dark secret. Taking readers deep into a labyrinth of dark neurosis, We Have Always Lived in the Castle is a deliciously unsettling novel about an isolated, and possibly murderous family and the struggle that ensues when a cousin arrives at their estate. - Provided by publisher.



Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Maruta

The English-language debut of one of Japan's most talented contemporary writers, Convenience Store Woman is the heartwarming and surprising story of thirty-six-year-old Tokyo resident Keiko Furukura. A brilliant depiction of an unusual psyche and a world hidden from view, Convenience Store Woman is an ironic and sharp-eyed look at contemporary work culture and the pressures to conform, as well as a charming and completely fresh portrait of an unforgettable heroine. - Provided by publisher.




Every Heart a Doorway (Wayward Children Book 1), Seanan McGuire

2017 Hugo Award Winner, 2017 Alex Award Winner, 2017 Locus Award Winner. Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else. Nancy's arrival marks a change at the Home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things.

No matter the cost. - Provided by publisher.



Last Night at the Lobster, Stewart O'Nan

Managing a failed seafood restaurant in a run-down New England mall just before Christmas, Manny DeLeon coordinates a challenging final shift of mutinous staff members, an effort that is complicated by his love for a waitress, a pregnant girlfriend, and an elusive holiday gift. - Provided by publisher.



Frankenstein, Mary Shelley

Obsessed with the secret of creation, Swiss scientist Dr. Victor Frankenstein cobbles together a body he’s determined to bring to life. And one fateful night, he does. When the creature opens his eyes, the doctor is repulsed: his vision of perfection is, in fact, a hideous monster. Mary Shelley’sFrankenstein, a gripping story about the ethics of creation and the consequences of trauma, is one of the most influential Gothic novels in British literature. - Provided by publisher.



The Deep, Rivers Solomon

The water-breathing descendants of African slave women tossed overboard have built their own underwater society—and must reclaim the memories of their past to shape their future. - Provided by publisher.



Another Brooklyn, Jacqueline Woodson

Long-listed for the National Book Award. For August, running into a long-ago friend sets in motion resonant memories and transports her to a time and a place she thought she had mislaid: 1970's Brooklyn, where friendship was everything. Woodson heartbreakingly illuminates the formative period when a child meets adulthood -- when precious innocence meets the all-too-real perils of growing up. - Provided by publisher.







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