Makkai tackles difficult subject matter like sexuality and identity with warmth and humor, and deftly avoids veering into overly saccharine territory. Sep 08, 2012 the borrower by rebecca makkai published by random house on 2012 genres. It was a booklist top ten debut, an indie next pick, an o magazine selection, and one of chicago magazine s choices for best fiction of 2011. Librarything is a cataloging and social networking site for booklovers. Get your kindle here, or download a free kindle reading app. Click and collect from your local waterstones or get free uk delivery on orders over. I wanted a book that was more about books and got one about the evils of certain christian groups and lucy hulls personal problems. Her short stories have appeared in four consecutive issues of the best american short stories 20082011.
Rebecca makkais the borrower is full of books, libraries, crosscountry hijinks, accidental. Makkai teaches elementary school and lives north of chicago with her husband and two daughters. Rarely is a first novel as smart and engaging and learned and funny and moving as the borrower. Her short fiction will appear this fall for the fourth consecutive year in the best american short stories series. This post contains affiliate links which you can use to purchase the book.
Reading questions for the borrower by rebecca makkai. Of all the characters in the book, darren might be the most real, although hes an amalgam of several different people i knew in high school and college. The first novel from the acclaimed author of the great believers rarely is a first novel as smart and engaging and learned and funny and moving as the. A novel rebecca makkai viking press 2018 432 pages. In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy. In rebecca makkai s debut novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road. How could any reader of any age resist rebecca makkai s charming the borrower viking, a novel that tracks the relationship between a 20something librarian and a 10yearold boy with punitive parents. Jan 01, 2011 rebecca makkai is the author of the short story collection music for waritime viking, 2015 and the novels the hundredyear house and the borrower. I just dont feel that author rebecca makkai was expecting us to believe that any 26 yearold librarian would go on a weeklong. Dec 29, 2012 the borrower, i am sure, does have an audience, but the audience simply does not include me.
Then one day arrietty meets the boy, and the familys incredible adventure begins. Signin to download and listen to this audiobook today. Rebecca makkai is the chicagobased author of the story collection music for wartime, as well as the novels the hundredyear house a bookpage best book of 2014 and winner of the chicago writers association award and the borrower a booklist more about rebecca makkai. I believed that books might save him because i knew they had so far, and because i knew the people books had saved. The borrower ebook by rebecca makkai 9781101516089. Bump it up your own library queue, because this is one book you wont. Get this book free when you sign up for a 30day trial. How to craft a novel pitch in 10 steps, by rebecca makkai. Part caper the two take off on a road trip that has moments of danger but never turns dark, part comingofage and not just for the kid. This is what i felt after reading the borrower by rebecca makkai.
The borrower is a wonderful celebration of books and friendship, brimming with literary references and plenty of laughs. Written by rebecca makkai, audiobook narrated by emily bauer. The acclaimed author of the borrower returns with a dazzlingly original, mordantly witty novel about the secrets of an oldmoney family and their turnofthecentury estate, laurelfield. The borrower by rebecca makkai goodreads share book. If this book appeals then you might like to try songs for the butchers daughter by peter manseau. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read music for wartime. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the great believers. Richard russo, author of pulitzer prizewinning empire. Her work has appeared in the best american short stories, harpers, and tin house, among others. If you buy the book using that link, i will receive a small commission from the sale. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading the borrower. The borrower the borrower, book by makkai, rebecca. Rebecca makkai s first story, at the age of three, was printed on the side of a cardboard box and told from the. Place a hold the hundredyear house, book by makkai, rebecca.
The borrower by rebecca makkai unabridged audiobook. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. O, the oprah magazine makkai is clearly a lover of the public booklending institution. Read the borrower a novel by rebecca makkai available from rakuten kobo. Her careful, attentive approach seamlessly weaves literary lore into her unusual and touching story of a librarian fighting for social liberty and freedom of. I didnt until a lovely reader named sharon cox actually went through the whole book and wrote down all the ones she could find. Rebecca makkais the borrower is full of books, libraries, crosscountry hijinks, accidental parenting, love gone wrong and friendships gone right. In rebecca makkais debut novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road. Makkai will have you cheering for her librarian heroine, who has all the history and darkness of a russian novel in her veins, mixed with the humor and spirit of bridget jones. Buy the borrower by rebecca makkai from waterstones today. The plot was a little slow, the message a little forced, and the conclusions a little depressing. Request this download the borrower, ebook by makkai, rebecca. And while i felt that rebecca makkai made lucys russian family and friends seem a bit stereotypical, i felt that the rest of the characters in this book were unique, complex and fallibleyou wanted to know their story and you grew to care about them even if you didnt like them 100 percent.
It focuses on the magic of reading in some books this can become quite twee, as the writer idealises the act of reading, but here it is handled in a more imaginative way as rebecca makkai uses well known books and poems, such as wheres wally. Writers association award and the borrower a booklist top ten debut. Rebecca makkai is the author of the borrower, the hundredyear house, which won the novel of the year award from the chicago writers association, and music for wartime. Rebecca makkai born april 20, 1978 is an american novelist and shortstory writer. Some of their stories ended well, and some ended very badly. How could any one of any age resist rebecca makkais charming the borrower. The great believers ebook written by rebecca makkai. Rebecca makkai is a chicagobased writer whose first novel, the borrower viking, june 2011, is a booklist top ten debut, an indie next pick, an o magazine selection, and one of chicago magazines choices for best fiction of 2011. Rebecca makkai is the author of the short story collection music for waritime viking, 2015 and the novels the hundredyear house and the borrower. Her first novel, the borrower, was released in june 2011.
Deep beneath the floorboards lives the tiny borrower family pod, homily and arrietty clock. Rebecca makkai s the borrower is full of books, libraries, crosscountry hijinks, accidental parenting, love gone wrong and friendships gone right. Little house in the big woods laura ingalls wilder. Rebecca makkai is a writer to watch, as sneakily ambitious as she is unpretentious. The borrower, rebecca makkai girl with her head in. In this delightful, funny, and moving first novel, a librarian and a young boy obsessed with reading take to the road. Everything they have is borrowed from the humans above them, even their names are not quite their own. Since the borrower appeared in 2011, ive had a number of people ask if i have a list of all the books lucy gives ian. Rebecca makkai s debut novel, the borrower, is a charming and poignant romp through memory, childhood, and literature that will utterly bewitch anyone whos ever found salvation between the covers of a book.