The Gilmore Guide to Books

Connecting Books and Readers One Review at a Time

  • Home
  • About Me
  • Reviews
    • Reviews by Author
    • Reviews by Title
    • Reviews by Genre
  • Podcast
  • Policies
    • Review Policy
    • Cookie Policy
    • Privacy Policy

If I Had Your Face

April 29, 2020

face

  I would live your life so much better than you if I had your face. Last week, I visited historical Korea when I read Pachinko. I learned so much about the country, but once again, fiction is taking me into an aspect of Korea I had no idea existed. I know about the South Korean beauty business. It’s highly innovative with yummy products. What I didn’t know is the ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: cultural, debut, literary, Riverhead Books, Southeast Asia

The Knockout Queen

April 27, 2020

knockout

Michael and Bunny are the unlikeliest of friends. Polar opposites in almost every way: his mother is in prison so he lives with his aunt, while she lives in a mansion with her father. He is less of a young man than he is supposed to be with long hair, a pierced nose, small and slender. He likes other boys, but no one knows. She is literally too much of a girl. Growing and ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, coming-of-age, contemporary life, literary

Pachinko: A Novel

April 20, 2020

pachinko

Historical fiction seems to be the safest bet for my reading right now. Novels that put me in another place, in a different century or even a different decade, all seem to work at distracting my scrabbling brain. Most recently, I fell into the world of Korea from the 1930s to the 1980s in Min Jin Lee’s expansive family saga, Pachinko. It’s four generations of one family as they ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: cultural, family saga, historical fiction, Southeast Asia

The Beauty of Your Face

April 15, 2020

beauty

All of her career Afaf has been a teacher. Now, she is the principal of a Muslim school for girls in a Chicago suburb. She’s also face-to-face with the man who has gone through her school shooting her students.  As the minutes between life and possible death tick by in The Beauty of Your Face, her mind travels to her past and the event that tore her family apart—the ... Read More...

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, debut, literary, racism

Valentine: A Novel by Elizabeth Wetmore

April 6, 2020

five best

When you encounter a scene like the one that opens Elizabeth Wetmore’s novel, Valentine, and the words …she imagines him facedown in the dust, lips and cheeks scoured by sand, his thirst relieved by only the blood in his mouth. sear themselves on your brain you know you are in for high-intensity reading and immersion in a heartbreaking world. A world where a 14-year-old girl ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, debut, Harper, literary

Darling Rose Gold

March 25, 2020

rose

I’m hearing from a lot of bloggers and friends that they’re having trouble focusing enough to enjoy reading. Not surprising given what we’re all facing. I’m struggling with it as well and finding that mindless TV is the only distraction that seems to work (more on that in another post). However, I have a recommendation today that might fit the bill for fiction that will grab on ... Read More...

2 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Berkley, book clubs, debut, mystery, suspense

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 37
  • 38
  • 39
  • 40
  • 41
  • …
  • 62
  • Next Page »
  • Bluesky
  • Email
  • Goodreads
  • Instagram
  • Substack

Save time and subscribe via email

No time to keep checking for new reviews? Enter your email address to subscribe and receive notifications of new posts by email. No spam!

Bookshop

Currently Reading

Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
Burnout: The Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle
by Emily Nagoski
The Dutch House
The Dutch House
by Ann Patchett
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
Wild Game: My Mother, Her Lover, and Me
by Adrienne Brodeur

goodreads.com

Affiliate Disclosure

I’m an affiliate for Bookshop. If you click on a link that takes you to their site and make a purchase I’ll earn a small fee, which goes towards the costs of maintaining this site. Your support is appreciated. Thank you!

Archives

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United States License.

Theme Design By Studio Mommy · Copyright © 2026

Copyright © 2026 · Beyond Madison Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in