Books Read In December

Hope and Other Dangerous Pursuits
© 2005 Laila Lalami
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Collection of stories all interrelated set in contemporary North Africa. A look at the motivations and hardships of people who hope to change their lives, including escape to the European mainland. Well written and insightful.

Hardboiled & Hard Luck
© 1999 Banana Yoshimoto
2005 Translation, Michael Emmerich
+ + + + +
Two novellas: spare and intriguingly written, with interesting characters in difficult situations.

Down By The Riverside
© 2006 Jackie Lynn
+ + +
A bland mystery, where Rose Franklin Griffith camps along the Mississippi River while her car is under repair. She arrives just as a body is being pulled from the river, and is uncannily drawn to the circumstance. A bit soft, with lots of first-person introspection about the need for family and family history.