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The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts

April 7, 2025

wildes

Coming from a family where wit (largely sarcasm, but still) is a love language I’ve always been intrigued by Oscar Wilde. I’ve read his works, seen movie adaptations of his plays, and even read about his tumultuous and ultimately tragic life. Now comes The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard, an inventive take on the impact on his family of Wilde’s personal life. In ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: England, historical

March Reading Recap

March 31, 2025

march reading

Hello, fellow readers! I’m not sure I’ll get to say this again, but despite a completely miserable and toxic month in the news, my March reading was calmly solid. I only had one book I didn't finish, am fully immersed in a fabulous fantasy series, and read six books that were successful (3.5 stars or above).   I have a bit of an unusual situation with this book. ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: book clubs, mini-reviews, vacation reading

Kate & Frida: A Novel of Friendship, Food, and Books

March 24, 2025

kate

It begins with a letter sent from Paris to Seattle. Nothing romantic or between friends, but business because in 1991 that’s how these things were done. Frida writes to the Puget Sound Book Store looking for a book. Kate is the employee delegated with filling this customer request. Neither could know that this brief correspondence would grow into an intense and wonderful ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1990s, book clubs, friendship, historical, women

Let’s Call Her Barbie

March 20, 2025

barbie

  As a child of the 60s/70s I was one of the numerous little girls clamoring for a Barbie doll. Much like the opening for the movie Barbie (fabulous, a must see) I’d loved my baby doll to death, but needed something more and Barbie was the dream, but it was not to be for me. My personal trauma aside,  Renée Rosen now takes readers on an in-depth journey of how the ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1950s, 1960s, historical fiction, pop culture

The Stolen Queen by Fiona Davis

February 13, 2025

stolen queen

A novel that includes the Egyptian wing of the Metropolitan Museum, Vogue editor Diana Vreeland, and ancient Egypt is not one I’m likely to miss out on. Fiona Davis’s The Stolen Queen follows two women and two timelines right up until they intersect on the night of the Met Gala in 1978 when a priceless Egyptian heirloom is stolen. Charlotte Cross is a young woman who refuses ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: fashion, historical, mystery, vacation reading

Behind the Scenes at the Museum

February 7, 2025

behind the scenes

Ruby Lennox has no intention of waiting to be noticed. She is the front and center, the axis in the familial wheel that is Kate Atkinson’s Behind the Scenes at the Museum. The novel begins with her announcing her own conception when her father drunkenly impregnates her mother. From this instant on we journey with Ruby through a family saga that sifts and shifts from the late ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: childhood, coming-of-age, England, family saga, historical

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