Judy Krueger – Litbreak Magazine

The Terranauts by T. C. Boyle

Judy Krueger — Tue, 22 Nov 2016 13:00:17 +0000

T. C. Boyle’s new novel is all about the plot, with the author is at his acerbic best. You would not be blamed for thinking he has no faith at all in humanity until you get to the end. I can’t tell you about that because it would be the final spoiler of all the …

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Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood

Judy Krueger — Tue, 25 Oct 2016 13:45:27 +0000

The fourth in the Hogarth Shakespeare Series turned out to be the best one so far. A retelling of the oft performed and retold The Tempest, this one is laid out like an intricate puzzle and seeing the pieces come together while reading it was pure enjoyment. It is another example of the brilliance that …

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Sweet Lamb of Heaven by Lydia Millet

Judy Krueger — Tue, 27 Sep 2016 13:00:48 +0000

Earlier this year, as soon as I heard news of Lydia Millet’s newest novel, I diligently set about reading the last two novels of her recent trilogy (How the Dead Dream, Ghostlights, Magnificence). Even when this author writes a trilogy, it is more like three loosely connected novels, the way some novels are a collection …

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All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

Judy Krueger — Tue, 30 Aug 2016 13:00:01 +0000

Wavonna Quinn, known as Wavy, born in the backseat of a car to drug addicted and drug dealing parents, is the heroine of Bryn Greenwood’s third novel. That she fell in love at the age of eight with a man who was twenty and pursued him through years of trial and trouble is the (some …

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Vinegar Girl by Anne Tyler

Judy Krueger — Tue, 26 Jul 2016 13:00:59 +0000

Anne Tyler’s opening line: “Kate Battista was gardening out back when she heard the telephone ring in the kitchen.” My opening line: The third book in the Hogarth Shakespeare series is hilarious! Last December when I took on the project to review each retelling for Litbreak, I was innocent but hopeful. I hoped I was …

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LaRose by Louise Erdrich

Judy Krueger — Tue, 14 Jun 2016 13:00:49 +0000

I have been reading Louise Erdrich for over a decade. She has been writing novels for over three decades. She never lets me down. The new novel, set in familiar territory, the remaining Ojibwe lands of North Dakota, is engaged in spanning: generations, cultures, the spiritual world, and the moral universe. If that sounds deep, …

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