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The House in the Cerulean Sea

January 11, 2021

cerulean

Often when it’s time to begin a book review I try and draw from the facts—plot, place, biographical details. Because I read so much (and don’t have the discipline I should) specifics tend to blur by the time I sit down to write so in starting there I bring the book back to me. All of that is moot when it comes to novels like The House in the Cerulean Sea. I can sum up the book ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, children, fantasy, young adult

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

January 8, 2021

wife

I’m a fan of modern retellings of classics. I realize they can risky and there are times they don’t work (I’m looking at you Anna K), but when I saw someone was taking on Jane Eyre I was ready. The Wife Upstairs is set in Birmingham, Alabama not England, and is about Jane, a young woman trying to build a new life for herself. She walks dogs in a wealthy neighborhood, ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: contemporary life, mystery, wealth

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

January 4, 2021

henna

For ten years Lakshmi has worked hard to build her own business. Now, at 30, she hopes to use her connections among the wealthy women of Jaipur to score a financial payout large enough for her to finally finish her own home and bring her parents from their small village to live with her. They’d married her off when she was fifteen, but she’d disgraced them by running away from ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical fiction, India, vacation reading, women

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

December 18, 2020

midnight

Nora Seed is a very unhappy woman. At 35 she feels her life is mainly filled with regrets, that the future holds no hope, and that she contributes nothing to the world. When her beloved cat dies, it’s the last straw. She decides to kill herself with a drug overdose. What happens next is best explained by the book itself: “Between life and death there is a library”, she ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, fantasy

This is My America

December 14, 2020

america

Being 17 is difficult enough, but being that age, Black, in a small Texas town, and with a father on death row feels like a mountain too high. For most it would be, but for Tracy Beaumont in the YA novel This is My America, acceptance and resignation are not traits she possesses. Her mother might say she’s mostly “sass”, but Tracy doesn’t feel the need to keep her beliefs ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, racism, social issues, young adult

Blacktop Wasteland by S.A. Cosby

December 11, 2020

blacktop

Beauregard (“Bug”) is a man dedicated to his work. His work being cars and anything to do with them, especially muscle cars. This means when Blacktop Wasteland begins, he’s also a man torn. He’s gone legit and opened an auto repair shop, but a new competitor in the small town of Red Hill, Virginia is trying to put him out of business. Despite his promise to his wife Kia and his ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Southern life, suspense, thriller

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