The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

Brooklyn Girls

  You’re twenty-two, living in Brooklyn (Manhattan's scruffy-but-cool cousin), and have just lost your job for drunkenly Facebooking an indiscreet photo of yourself on top of a bar. Yes, it was a rockin’ good party but your bosses have no sense of humor so what to do now? If you’re Pia Keller, the narrator in Brooklyn Girls, you borrow ten thousand dollars from a loan shark, ... Read More...

Note to Self

While it seems to be a contradiction in terms to describe a novel as both sharp and sluggish, it applies (in the best way) to Alina Simone’s debut, Note to Self. She melds the jagged edge anxiety of an unemployed woman in NYC with the ennui that means getting out of bed is a Herculean task. She woke up in the mornings already exhausted by the possibilities.   The woman is ... Read More...

Beautiful Day

  Beautiful Day is Elin Hilderbrand’s newest novel and for her fans it’s another job well done. Jenna Carmichael is getting married but her happiest day is marred by her mother’s absence. Beth Carmichael died seven years ago and was known as a wise and gracious woman, widely loved by her family and friends. She was also, it seems, preternaturally prepared—she left behind a ... Read More...

Sisterland: A Novel

  Violet and Kate are identical twins but they share an even more unusual connection, both are psychic (or as they prefer to call it “having the senses”). They realize their gift at a young age but when it gets out, becoming taunting and being called witches in school, Kate hides her abilities. Violet revels in them and grows up to use them as a source of income after her ... Read More...

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