The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

More Books!

 

I don’t want to get into age issues here but I’ve been reading A LOT for a very long time. What you see below are books I’ve read but for which I didn’t write a review because, really, I did have a full-time job for most of my life and it didn’t leave me time to write about books the way I wanted to. The list also includes books that, for whatever reason, didn’t inspire a lot of words from me but were still good and might become your favorite! Browse away, you’ll find the good, the bad, and the ugly (yes, I’m a bit more opinionated in this page).

There is a method to the madness. Books are sorted by genre. Click on the genre name to go directly to that list of books. Otherwise, the eye strain from reading all the titles in all the genres will make you go blind. Well, OK, you can browse if you want.

Chick Lit
Fiction
Contemporary
Historical Fiction
Memoir/Biography
Mystery/Thriller
Classics
Non-Fiction

Most have a very brief ‘reaction’ from me. In addition, I am using a star rating system for this page because I haven’t written reviews. And because I am so incredibly helpful and I know how hard it can be to find something good to read I’ve also included my favorite authors in most of the genres. These are people whose books I read, almost no-matter-what. I count on them.

And while commerce is crass and Amazon is the evil empire, they throw a few pennies my way if you buy a book from my site. So, if you’re going to buy a book from any of these lists, please do it here so I can get another bowl of gruel. Just click the title and away you go.

As for the stars, they largely follow my rating of each book on Goodreads. However, their 5 star means it’s “amazing” and that’s a bit too much for me. So, here are Gilmore the ratings defined:

1 Star       No

2 Stars     All right

 3 Stars    Liked it

4 Stars     Loved it

5 Stars     Amazing

 

Chick Lit

Go-to Authors: Sophie Kinsella/Madeline Wickham, Holly McQueen, Plum Sykes

  • What Nora Knew by Linda Yellin- a woman basing her life on what Nora Ephron would do? Should be easy gold but did not even medal 2 stars
  • The Widow Waltz by Sally Koslow- Koslow doing what she does- a bit of mystery, emotion all neatly wrapped up at the end. 3 stars 
  • A Desirable Residence: A Novel of Love and Real Estate by Madeline Wickham   2 stars
  • Last Night at Chateau Marmont: A Novel by Lauren Weisberger 3 stars
  • Fabulously Fashionable: A Novel by Holly McQueen 3 stars
  • The Glamorous (Double) Life of Isabel Bookbinder: A Novel by Holly McQueen- pretty much sums up (with hilarious humor) my take on how to become a best selling author- except that she did it and I never will. 4 stars
  • Trading Up: A Novel by Candace Bushnell- do you really need me to say anything? It’s exactly what you think but she does it well. 3 stars
  • Holly’s Inbox: Scandal in the City by Holly Denham- meh. One of those books that makes me think I really ought to write a book 2 stars
  • 4 Blondes by Candace Bushnell-Candace being Candace but I need sorbet after making it through Freedom 2 stars
  • Feminista by Erica Kennedy- OK, not great 2 stars
  • Little Pink Slips by Sally Koslow4 stars
  • Confetti Confidential: A Novel by Holly McQueen- fun fluff 4 stars
  • Room For Improvement by Stacey Ballis- Funny 3 stars
  • The Bake-Off by Beth Kendrick- fun frothy 3 stars
  • The Social Climber’s Handbook by Molly Jong-Fast- amusing 3 stars
  • The Gatecrasher by Madeleine Wickham- funny 3 stars
  • Welcome to Temptation by Jennifer Crusie- good escape read 3 stars
  • 40 Love: A Novel by Madeleine Wickham- fast paced and funny 4 stars
  • The Debutante Divorcee by Plum Sykes 3 stars
  • I’ve Got Your Number: A Novelby Sophie Kinsella 3 stars
  • Faking Itby Jennifer Crusie- great characters, lots of plot. A fun read. 4 stars
  • If You Were Here by Jen Lancaster- funny first attempt at fiction 3 stars
  • Bergdorf Blondesby Plum Sykes 4 stars

Fiction

Go-to Authors: Thrity Umrigar, Lisa See, Richard Ford, David Mitchell, Tom Wolfe, Chris Bohjalian

  • Oleander Girl by Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni- a lot of story but not much else. 3 stars
  • Peony in Love: A Novel by Lisa See- a great tale of love, loss, culture, the after life and redemption. Prose you could visualize as if watching a grand opera. 4 stars
  • Before You Know Kindness by Chris Bohjalian- wonderfully drawn characters and a plot that may not go the way you think it will 4 stars
  • Dreams of Joy: A Novel by Lisa See- great continuation of Shanghai Girls. Well done 4 stars
  • The Cookbook Collector: A Novel by Allegra Goodman- very good story; especially loved the antique cookbooks aspect 4 stars
  • Bread and Dreams by Jonatha Ceely- what a lovely surprise! Beautifully written and a good story. 5 stars
  • The Life and Opinions of Maf the Dog, and of his Friend Marilyn Monroe by Andrew O’Hagan- book all right except I don’t like dogs and so can’t believe they have any thoughts remotely this complex.3 stars
  • Skeletons at the Feast by Chris Bohjalian- gorgeous, profound 5 stars
  • Blame by Michelle Huneven- interesting premise but the writing did not grab me 2 stars
  • Maine by J. Courtney Sullivan- Irish Catholic intergenerational drama, drama, drama 4 stars
  • Gourmet Rhapsody by Muriel Barbery- prequel to Hedgehog. Lyrical writing about food and life. 3 stars
  • The Piano Man’s Daughter by Timothy Findley- fascinating story 4 stars
  • The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar- beautiful look at the lives of a wealthy Parsi woman and her poor Hindu maid. 5 stars
  • The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar- deep sigh when this one ended. Grief spirals out of control for this man and begets more grief. 4 stars
  • Anthropology of an American Girl by Hilary Hamann- horribly overworked 1 star
  • The Night Strangers by Chris Bohjalian- creepy ghost story 3 stars
  • David Golder, The Ball, Snow in Autumn by Irene Nemirovsky- wonderful short stories 4 stars
  • The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian- disturbing with an ending I had to reread- 4 stars
  • Gods Behaving Badly: A Novel by Marie Phillips- another funny Brit. Loved this 4 stars
  • The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman- overworked, felt like it was trying too hard to make point 2 stars
  • The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay- the plot became one of the lost things. 1 star
  • The Distant Hours by Kate Morton- great storytelling- lots of twists and turns neatly tied up w/ a bow at the end. Loved it! 4 stars
  • Bombay Time by Thrity Umrigar 3 stars
  • Canada by Richard Ford- a masterful writer but this was not my favorite 3 stars
  • Snobs by Julian Fellowes- creator of Downton Abbey and a great portraitist of British high society 4 stars
  • If Today Be Sweet by Thrity Umrigar- one of my favorite go-to authors. Always does a beautiful job 4 stars
  • The Lady Matador’s Hotel: A Novel by Cristina Garcia- poetical and political, very nicely done 4 stars

Contemporary

Go-To Authors: Mona Simpson, Aimee Bender, Julia Glass, Sally Koslow

  • Still Life with Bread Crumbs by Anna Quindlen- another quiet, lovely look at life through Quindlen’s talented pen. 4 stars
  • The Slippage by Ben Greenman- Depressing look at long term marriage. 2 stars
  • The Pink Hotel by Anna Stothard- Reckless and impulsive journey of young woman to find out more about mother who abandoned her. Stylish 3 stars
  • A Thousand Pardons by Jonathan Dee- plot became unbelievable which may have been the point but didn’t work for me. 1 star
  • The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III- brilliant, could not put down 5 stars
  • The Story of My Assassins by Tarun Tejpal- May be acclaimed but too crude and misogynistic for me. 1 star
  • Room: A Novel by Emily Donoghue- Wow. So odd and foreign and at moments beyond imagining but ultimately human. 3 stars
  • Every Last One: A Novel by Anna Quindlen- Beautiful. Powerful 5 stars
  • Sunset Park by Paul Auster- it’s Auster, it’s  NYC, it’s angst 3 stars
  • My Hollywood by Mona Simpson- I’ve never been a nanny, mother or lived the Hollywood life but her writing is so real you are sucked completely into each characters life. Beautifully written. 4 stars
  • Fragile by Lisa Unger 2 stars
  • The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake by Aimee Bender- magical, softly sad 5 stars
  • How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson- intelligent author but a bit too tied up in the prose which may just be a device as one of her characters has the same problem. Meh 2 stars
  • Adam & Eve by Sena Jeter Neslund- Ahab’s Wife is still my favorite but this is an interesting take on Genesis and all that the creation story evokes. 2 stars
  • Freedom by Jonathan Franzen- better than expected. 3 stars
  • Momzillas by Jill Kargman- I get the whole rich hip NYC thing but do they really say ‘convo’ instead of conversation? Not interesting.1 star
  • Strangers at the Feast: A Novel by Jennifer Vanderbes- 3rd great book in a row! Wonderfully insightful take on family dynamics 4 stars
  • Secrets to Happiness: A Novel by Sarah Dunn- humorous but made me think- loved it 5 stars
  • Pounding the Pavement by Jennifer van der Kwast- her name is longer than the book. The job search stuff is funny but the rest doesn’t quite add up. 2 stars
  • Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok- one of those works of fiction that hurts because even knowing that it is so wrong it does go on every day in America. 4 stars
  • An Object of Beauty: A Novel by Steve Martin- erudite and funny 4 stars
  • A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan- amazing and I’m not just saying that because she won the Pulitzer. I read it before then.5 stars
  • The Pale King by David Foster Wallace- borderline excruciating 1 star
  • The Whole World Over: A Novel by Julia Glass- complex, beautiful, life
  • The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer- fell flat for me 2 stars
  • Rise and Shine: A Novel by Anna Quindlen- regardless of subject this is one of my go-to authors; never fails to deliver. 4 stars
  • Straight Man by Richard Russo- contemporary academia, fabulous 5 stars
  • Three Stages of Amazement by Carol Edgarian- all right but prose tried too hard 2 stars
  • The First Husband by Laura Dave- good not great. If there was a deeper message re: relationships, I missed it. 2 stars
  • With Friends Like These by Sally Koslow- witty insightful novel about friends 4 stars
  • The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides- good read 3 stars
  • Secrets of Eden by Chris Bohjalian- all right but not one of my favorites 2 stars
  • Rich Boy by Sharon Pomerantz- good up until the end then unsatisfying 2 stars
  • Birds of Paradise: A Novel by Diana Abu-Jaber- gorgeous 5 stars
  • Social Lives by Wendy Walker- ugh. Tiny plot twist at end did not make this worth reading; badly written throughout 1 star
  • The Language of Flowers: A Novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh- painful beautiful debut novel 4 stars
  • This Beautiful Life by Helen Schulman- slice of modern family life 4 stars
  • Glaciers by Alexis Smith- OK. More of a short story than a novel. 2 stars
  • Silver Girl: A Novel by Erin Hilderbrand- ficitionalized look at what Bernie Madoff’s life is doing now 3 stars
  • Mink River by Brian Doyle- unusual and beautiful, one of the most unique books I’ve ever read 5 stars
  • Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close- almost there but ultimately a miss 2 stars
  • The Taste of Salt by Martha Southgate- OK.  Biggest take-away is that you can’t help a junkie. Never. 2 stars
  • The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard- no. Didn’t work for me at all 1 star
  • Girl Unmoored by Jennifer Hummer- beautiful story mired in too much prose. 2 stars
  • Between You and Me by Emily McLaughlin- Britney Spears-esque story but so much more 4 stars
  • Inside: A Novel by Alix Ohlin- unusual but I found the ending improbable 2 stars
  • What Happened to Sophie Wilder by Chris Beha- love and religion, talented author 3 stars
  • Gilded Age: A Novel by Claire McMillan- retelling of The House of Mirth, still holds up 4 stars
  • The Vanishers by Heidi Julavits- still feel like I need someone to explain this one to me. 3 stars
  • The Art of Fielding: A Novel by Chad Harbach- loved this 4 stars
  • Another Woman by Penny Vincenzi- British women’s writer somewhere between fluff and substance. Love her books, great plots 3 stars

Historical Fiction

Go-to Authors: Penny Vincenzi, Philippa Gregory, Ken Follett, Margaret George

  • The House of Special Purpose by John Boyne- marvelous story about the last days of Tsarist Russia 4 stars
  • A Stolen Tongue by Sheri Holman- too much work 2 stars
  • The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell- one of my favorite authors but not my favorite work (my problem, I’m not sure anything tops Cloud Atlas) 4 stars
  • Girl in a Blue Dress by Gaynor Arnold- fiction but reminds me once again that male creative talent is often accompanied by a complete lack of moral compass. 4 stars
  • Tom Jones by Henry Fielding- I tried I really did but this is one 18th century author who could not keep my attention. Gave up halfway through. Sorry. 1 star
  • Fall of Giants: Book One of the Century Trilogy by Ken Follett- another really good story, could not stop reading and am ready for book 2 4 stars
  • Lily of the Nile by Stephanie Dray- fictional perspective on what happens to Cleopatra’s children. OK 2 stars
  • Elizabeth I: The Novel by Margaret George- well written historical fiction of Elizabeth’s later years 4 stars
  • The True Memoirs of Little K: A Novel by Adrienne Sharp- I’m not surprised to see that Sharp was a ballerina as her prose floats over the page with the same grace and elegance a dancer does on the stage. 4 stars
  • Buddha: A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra- rounds out my spiritual leader reading and was my favorite. Beautifully done. 4 stars
  • Jesus: A Story of Enlightenment by Deepak Chopra- fictional accounting of the missing years. Thought provoking 3 stars
  • Muhammad: A Story of the Last Prophet by Deepak Chopra- fascinating as I knew nothing about his life or the beginnings of Islam. 4 stars
  • The Paris Wife by Paula McLain- fictional look at life with Hemingway in Paris. Nice way with words. 3 stars
  • Clara and Mr. Tiffany: A Novel by Susan Vreeland- always wonderful to read good fiction AND learn something 4 stars
  • Before Versailles by Karleen Koen- loved this! Historical fiction at its best. 4 stars
  • Slammerkin by Emma Donoghue- realistic fiction on life for young women in England in the 1700s 3 stars
  • The American Heiress: A Novel by Daisy Goodwin- Henry Jamesian look at what happens to wealthy Americans who want to marry royalty 3 stars
  • The Lady of the Rivers: (The Cousins’ War) by Philippa Gregory- Book 3 in the Cousins War 4 stars
  • Sarah’s Key byTatiana de Rosnay- meh. Strong plot premise weak execution 1 star
  • Bright Young Things by Anna Godbersen- Book 1 of her second series. So far not as good as the first one 2 stars
  • The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet  by Jamie Ford- couldn’t live up to the title 2 stars
  • The Shoemaker’s Wife: A Novel by Adriana Trigiani- very good multi-generational tale but ending fell flat. 3 stars
  • The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak- new series about Catherine the Great 3 stars
  • Sky of Red Poppies by Zohren Ghahremani- nicely written story of two girls in 1960s Iran. 3 stars
  • Enchantments by Kathryn Harrison- Strong start then meanders 2 stars
  • Rodin’s Debutante by Ward Just- disjointed, flat, and distant. Couldn’t connect with the theme or characters 1 star

Classic (doesn’t mean old, just timeless)

  • Remembering Laughter by Wallace Stegner- his first novel. Spare, stark, stripped of all extraneous prose. Gorgeous and a clear forecast of the work that lay ahead. 4 stars
  • Elena by Thomas Cook- read for the second time after 10 years. Very well written fictional look at the life of an author. The kind of book where you often want to underline sentences even if you don’t love the book as a whole. 3 stars
  • The Bostonians by Henry James- interesting and frustrating from the perspective of today’s women 3 stars
  • War & Peace by Leo Tolstoy- groan. I did it but will not deny that I skipped an est. 100 pages about war because I forgot I don’t like reading about war. 2 stars
  • The Silence in the Garden by William Trevor- greatest Irish writer out there. Prose as poetry. 4 stars
  • Cousin Bette by Honore de Balzac- great trashy novel masquerading as literature 4 stars
  • The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery- stunningly wonderful 5 stars
  • The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie- one of the greatest storytellers of our time 4 stars
  • The Buccaneers by Edith Wharton- more wealthy Americans marrying Brits at the turn of the century. 3 stars
  • Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad- there’s a reason why it’s a classic. Read it. 4 stars
  • Death in Summer by William Trevor- love everything he writes- this is no exception 4 stars
  • Bleak House by Charles Dickens- this is one big heavy convoluted book but if you can keep the characters straight it’s a fine story 4 stars
  • The Spectator Bird by Wallace Stegner- exquisite, quiet story of a man looking back on his life 5 stars
  • The Story of Lucy Gault: A Novel by William Trevor- somber, lyrical look at action and consequence in one girl’s life 5 stars

Mystery/Suspense/Thriller

Go-To Authors: Stephen White, Elizabeth George

  • The Preservationist by Justin Kramon- close but not quite. Author tips his hand early on, leaving little suspense. 2 stars
  • Hush by Kate White- thriller suspense but not that well done. Found typos and grammatical errors which I really hate. 1 star
  • The Last Dickens: A Novelby Matthew Pearl- great mystery, well written 4 stars
  • The Last Talk with Lola Faye by Thomas Cook- OK but not one of his best. 2 stars
  • The Forgotten Garden: A Novelby Kate Morton- spooky, eerie, well done 4 stars
  • As Husbands Go: A Novel by Susan Isaacs- seems odd to use murder and hilarious in the same sentence but that sums up this book! 4 stars
  • Perfect by Marne Kellogg- still loving her!  Pure enjoyment 4 stars
  • Brilliant by Marne Davis Kellogg- fabulous, I’m a new fan 4 stars
  • The Last Lie by Stephen White- most recent Alan Gregory novel. As good as always. 4 stars
  • Friends in High Places by Marne Kellogg- more Kick Keswick and I’m still loving every minute 3 stars
  • Priceless by Marne Kellogg- still loving her, great plot and luxury 4 stars
  • Close Your Eyes: A Novel by Amanda Ward- murder mystery but so much more 4 stars
  • Believing the Lie by Elizabeth George- love Inspector Lynley but this was not one of the best 3 stars
  • Heartbreak Hill by Thomas Cook- heartbreaking indeed and will keep you guessing until the last page 4 stars

Memoir/Biography

Non-Fiction

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