The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender


The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake is a luminous tale about the enormous difficulty of loving someone fully when you know too much about them. It is heartbreaking and funny, wise and sad, and confirms Aimee Bender’s place as “a writer who makes you grateful for the very existence of language” (San Francisco Chronicle). I attended Ms. Bender's recent reading at Elliot Bay Books and it made me want to listen to the audio version of TPSOLC. Bender's voice is pure velvet and the depth to which she knows her characters resounds in each sentence as she reads. This book is the perfect literary summer read.

Popular posts from this blog

the game of love and death by martha brockenbrough

Image
A brilliant, beguiling and beautiful book set in Depression-era Seattle in the 1930s, TGOLAD tells the at once heartbreaking and hopeful love story of African American chanteuse Flora Saudade and adopted wealthy white boy Henry Bishop. Forever foes Love and Death are playing a game: Flora and Henry are their unknowing pawns. A pitch-perfect Seattle setting, an indelible ensemble cast of characters, and a hefty dose of high-stakes legerdemain all come together in a mesmerizing cacophony that will keep you turning the pages well into the night. I had the distinct pleasure of listening to Ms. Brockenbrough read at the Washington State Book Awards; the notes of her voice floating through the air were every bit as gorgeous as her words on the page. Not to be missed! Click here for a trailer and here for a full review . Grade 8+
Read more

my friend dahmer by derf backderf

Image
A haunting look at what happens when a kid slips through the cracks (which happened to be gaping wide throughout the ubiquitous 'hands-off-I'm-too-busy-having-a-breakdown/affair/addiction/vision" parenting style of the 70s and 80s). Most of us remember Jeffrey Dahmer as the guy who ate people, but Derf Backderf knew him as the guy who entertained his classmates with an ongoing and entertaining schtick (imitating his mother's seizures), the guy who didn't quite fit in yet maintained a bizarre celebrity status (including his own club), and, eventually, the guy who could finish a six-pack in mere seconds and always had a bottle at the ready to drown out the darkness at home and in his head. Backderf masterfully crafts a thoroughly researched cautionary and poignant tale of a lost young man without glossing over details or over sympathizing. Don't miss it - and pair it with Jeff Jensen's Green River Killer for more graphic serial killer memoir. Click here fo
Read more

all the bright places by jennifer niven

Image
If you only read one ya novel this year, All The Bright Places should be it. Theodore, suffering from bipolar disorder, and Violet, griefstruck after her beloved sister's untimely death, meet on top of a tower: he's about to jump off and she's considering it. He pulls her back from the edge, beginning a friendship that turns into a sweet, sad, intense romance as the two of them pair up on a class project that involves tooling around their home state of Indiana. Is there anything better than two broken misfits finding happiness, albeit temporarily, in each other? Ms. Niven masterfully, authentically, and mindfully depicts teen suicide (she is a survivor herself) without over-dramatizing or alienating her readers. The perfect match for fans of Eleanor & Park and The Fault in Our Stars. View all my reviews
Read more