Heat and Light: A Novel | 
so-soGreat writing and character building. Some really good lines in it but I found she dropped each character at the end and not in a suspense filled way but like I over them each life sucks. Lol still not a bad read
We lost power for about four hours. Now that the sun is setting, the power has returned!
Bakerton became a #timebombtown after all the coal mines that sustained it closed. Now they may get a reprieve from the nearby natural gas deposits.
I read the prequel to this book, Baker Town, so when I saw this was an old BOTM selection, obviously it ended up in one of my boxes. 🤷🏼♀️ #soaringscores
This book is covering a little bit of everything - fracking, domestic abuse, religion, Three Mile Island, drug abuse ... I like the writing and observations.
Starting this for a postal book club.... never heard of it or the author so excited to try something new!
pickBeen meaning to get to this one for a while, and I really, really liked it. So many characters, but they‘re well crafted and connected to each other in interesting ways, so I didn‘t find it hard to keep track of who‘s who. Goodreads reminds me that I‘ve read two other Jennifer Haigh books and really liked them as well. :)
#coffeeandbooks #morningcoffee #lackingmotivation
Maybe coffee will help. At home today. Much needed respite.
#bitmoji
Was busy after early morning- just checked in to see all the bitmoji posts.!When we need a break, we teachers get crazy with these at work😍good night Littens! @SilversReviews
so-soFantastic writing. Haigh has so completely envisioned the small town of Bakerton. I feel like I could drive there. There were passages in this book that were deeply moving and resonant. Still, I think overall there was too much going on, like Haigh just couldn't leave some of her ideas on the table. Too many characters and diversionary chapters distracted from the core narratives and left me a bit frustrated.
It's #BOTM Day! My favorite holiday. 😃 I will be celebrating later with a nice bubble bath. I still have NO IDEA what I'm getting. Definitely Evelyn Hugo, definitely Heat & Light. Possibly The Sister Chase, Chemistry, and White Fur. Or do I need the add on Arundahti Roy? Looks like we get a complimentary luggage tag this month but it appears that you need to physically add it to your box, so make sure to do so! And tell me what you're getting!
pickThis falls into one of the top books I've read this year. A story of fracking from all sides - the little guy, the big businessman, the townspeople. Really puts human faces on the story.
Perfect Friday night reading. Didn't even cook; just ordered Chinese food and read. But now, *sigh* I've finished this one (review to come later), and I finished Serafina and the Black Cloak earlier this week. So now I've got to choose a new fiction and middle grade book. Decisions, decisions.
Enjoying a pleasant evening reading. Really waiting for the sun to go down so I can walk the dogs. (I walk them after sundown or Evie is tempted to chase them all) 🐶
Been on the #TBR for a while. My reading companions have been banished to the kitchen because they keep leaving me and climbing all over my son and his girlfriend who are trying to watch a movie. Yes, Evie loves to be the center of attention.
#THISISTHEEND This was definitely the best book I read last year, and I'm still thinking about it. It was so well-written, and the topic just continues to be more timely.
It has been raining steadily most of the day here so while my sweet son is at school for the last time before Spring Break, I'm cracking a window and reading to the best, most relaxing of nature's soundtracks. 🌧☔️📖
pickAn emotionally moving story about how the introduction of fracking in a community can deeply affect the lives of its small-town residents. Behind a backdrop of economic depravity, the fracking gold rush & grassroot politics, Haigh's well-developed characters encompass all the hopes & challenges of Americans today struggling with their lives being pulled on by seen & unforeseen public & finanical decisions which weigh on their future. -Casey
pickNormally I avoid "issue" fiction (I go to nonfiction for that), but a review prompted me to pick up this novel about the consequences of fracking for one small PA town. It's a composite portrait--lots of point-of-view characters--that becomes more than the sum of its parts while offering small satisfactions in each part. Strengths are character specification and authorial control/vision.
Second #24in48 read is a novel about fracking in Pennsylvania. The first couple chapters are focused on the frackers but it's changed perspectives now. This also counts as a #TopicIdLikeToKnowMoreAbout @24in48
pickAn intimate epic-lite, what I'd hoped City on Fire had been, but wasn't. Topical plot, interesting (and unpredictable) characters, and a Forster-esque quality of 'always connect'. I love that! Another great author I'd never heard of before. Story underscores the extent to which 'what lies beneath' - literally and figuratively - matters far more than we give it credit for. I'd lived in this area a while so people and places felt very familiar.
"Rural Pennsylvania doesn't fascinate the world, not generally. But cyclically, periodically, its innards are of interest. Bore it, strip it, set it on fire, a burnt offering to the collective need."
Loved this NPR piece. A great quote within from Jennifer Haigh about reading fiction: "It's really the best technology we have to get inside another person's mind...So I think in a moment like right now, after we've just experienced this very divisive election, which seems to me like the ultimate failure of empathy, that now more than ever it's important for us to read searchingly, to read about people who are nothing like ourselves." ❤️
pickI don't think this book got enough attention this year. Haigh is a fantastic writer and this social novel manages to offer much more than commentary on environmental issues. Some may say it's heavy handed, but I didn't think so. ⭐⭐⭐⭐
The election is and was much on my mind. I read hillbilly elegy and started white trash. Nonfiction is powerful of course. But this quote and this book are reminding me that fiction is transformative #botm
is there anything better than a book and a blanket on the couch?
panI don't know what I was expecting, but it wasn't this. I felt really let down by the end, because it didn't really seem to have an end. Well I guess it did, but it left me like "Huh. So that was it."
This is today's @bookriot daily book deal. I've looked at it a few times and picked it up because $1.99 is hard to beat. The storyline is compelling, particularly given my academic background (environmental policy). To be honest, a lot of people have had to make choices like those presented and I suspect many more of us will be in this position as easily accessible oil/gas reserves dwindle.
Fine I'll listen to my book while doing data entry, if you insist... 😉😋🔥🏭
Next up this #biblioweekend next to the yellow tomato bookmark from Food Network Magazine that will be keeping my place. By the by, I love finding bookmarks in unexpected places. That these come with recipes on the back makes me really happy.
Her novel "Faith" was one of my favorite books of 2011. I'm excited for this one.
picki love Jennifer Haigh because she takes on big topics in a thought-provoking way. In this novel she takes us back to her fictional Bakertown, which has been swarmed by frackers. I enjoyed it, though there were a few too many storylines to manage.
next up...seems appropriate for a sweltering weekend? #24in48 #readathon
so-soThe references to Mousetrap in this book were spot on, as I find that game overly complicated with too many pieces. There is so much going on in this novel about fracking, community, addiction, loneliness, family, marriage...I had trouble keeping the pieces straight. Haigh is a talented writer and brought it together in the end, but it just felt unfocused.
pickEnjoyed this novel about fracking. It's jam-packed with fully drawn characters, which reminded me a bit of Richard Russo's Empire Falls.
pickNo one can tackle issues with ordinary, every day characters like Jennifer Haigh. She explores fracking in her latest book and I was hooked from the start.
Whoo-Hoo! A new stack from the library!!!
