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The Poet Empress

February 2, 2026

poet empress

The Poet Empress is a debut by Shen Tao, set in 650AD China in the kingdom of Tensha. The current emperor is dying and two of his sons are vying for the throne.  One of them, Terren, needs a bride and concubines, so a nationwide search is begun. During the approval process he randomly chooses the daughter of a rice farmer, a nobody from a poor famine-stricken village. Even more ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: China, debut, fantasy

The English Masterpiece

January 21, 2026

english masterpiece

I don’t listen to a lot of audiobooks so it’s a delight when I take the time and it works out. The English Masterpiece is set in 1970s London and Lily is the assistant to Diana Gilden, the director of the modern art collection at the Tate Museum. This job is Lily’s chance to prove herself in the art world and hopefully, to become known as an artist herself. As the novel begins ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1970s, art, London, mystery

Twenty Years Later

January 19, 2026

twenty years

Twenty Years Later by Charlie Donlea combines true crime television, celebrities, and 9/11. The story begins with the salacious murder of a famous author. The circumstantial evidence at the scene leads to a suspect, Victoria Ford, being indicted. Before the case can proceed to trial she disappears. Twenty years later her DNA is identified from a tiny bone fragment preserved ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: mystery, suspense, vacation reading

Skylark by Paula McClain

January 16, 2026

skylark

A young woman is imprisoned in an insane asylum in the 1600s. A psychiatric medical student in Paris in the 1940s is faced with the realities of the Nazi invasion. These two unrelated characters sit at the center of Paula McLain’s latest novel, Skylark, because both are forced to venture into the darkest parts of Paris in order to find freedom. Alouette comes from a family ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: France, historical, Holocaust, WWII

Spinning Silver

January 14, 2026

spinning silver

In Spinning Silver author Naomi Novak takes the components of the fairytale Rumpelstiltskin and separates them in the same way the heroine in that story had to separate the straw to weave into gold. From seemingly unimportant, innocuous bits of chaff, Novak spins an entire storyline and then brings it all together for mesmerizing reading. The kind that jumps between characters ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: fantasy

Workhorse: A Novel

January 12, 2026

workhorse

Clo Harmon is a 25-year-old assistant at a fashion magazine. She’s a workhorse—eager, bright, hardworking, but with no fashion pedigree. Meaning she will never achieve her dream of being an editor because those jobs only go to the show horses—wealthy, skinny girls with Ivy League degrees and all the right connections.  What’s an ambitious, but unconnected woman to do? In ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 21st century, fashion, historical fiction, Manhattan

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