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

We Begin at the End

July 28, 2021

we begin

Somehow, in the past two weeks I stumbled into two novels that were antithetical to my usual, lighter summer reading. Both are standouts, but require the right head space. Monday was The Paper Palace and today it’s We Begin at the End—the story of Walk, a small-town chief of police, and Duchess, a teenage girl who’s developed a tough persona to deal with the bad hand that is ... Read More...

4 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction

The Startup Wife: A Novel

July 19, 2021

startup

Asha has her life figured out. She’s a brilliant coder and has just landed a spot in a highly coveted tech lab at MIT, where she’s working on developing the holy grail of algorithms—instilling artificial intelligence with empathy. It’s her sole focus in life until she runs into Cyrus, her high school crush and everything changes. They fall in love, marry, and inadvertently ... Read More...

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, marriage

Dear Miss Metropolitan

July 6, 2021

dear miss

I was a prisoner for so, so long. Years. How was that humanly possible? Why didn’t anyone find me? How had my page been torn out the book for so long?   Sometimes, when I finish a book, the review flies right out of my mind onto the page. Then there are the books that need to marinate, where putting words and thoughts together cohesively takes more time. This is where ... Read More...

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: crime, debut, literary, social issues

Love and Fury: A Novel

June 9, 2021

fury

It’s a sunny morning in 1797 London when Mrs. Blankinsop, a midwife, arrives at a home to assist with a birth. The mother-to-be greets her at the door, cheerful and excited about welcoming her second child. The two women settle in and spend the ensuing hours before the birth talking about all manner of things. After the birth there are complications and Mrs. B spends extra days ... Read More...

Leave a Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical fiction, literary, women

The First Day of Spring

May 17, 2021

first day

“I am here. I am here. I am here. You will not forget me.” These are the words painted on a wall by 8-year-old Chrissie, a girl so desperate for attention in a world that gives her none that she commits a reprehensible act. She lives alone with her mother and everything, including love, is in short supply. She is starving for the things a child needs to thrive, powerless to ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, childhood, debut, literary

What Comes After

May 10, 2021

what comes

When a novel begins with a shocking act of violence it often indicates more dramatics, more action, to come. In the case of What Comes After, author Joanne Tompkins opts to go a different route, turning the novel inward to the lives of the characters left behind. A small Washington town is rocked when childhood best friends are found dead in a murder-suicide. The murdered ... Read More...

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

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 16
  • 17
  • 18
  • 19
  • 20
  • …
  • 68
  • 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