As I started reviewing my reading year there was one stat that jumped off the chart at me. Of the 13 five-star books I read this year my favorite 9 were backlist (published before 2024). I’m sure publishing analysts could provide an easy explanation (fewer books published in an election year) or a psychologist something more detailed (possibly around escape and avoidance) but ... Read More...
The Woman on the Ledge
After a woman is found dead on the pavement in front of a London highrise office building, Tate Kinsella is brought in for questioning on suspicion of murder. She tells the police that she had met the as-yet unidentified woman on the building’s rooftop terrace and that the woman was going to kill herself by jumping until Tate had talked her out of it. Either the woman had gone ... Read More...
September Misses: Mini-Reviews
I’m not sure when exactly something can be considered the home stretch, but I think we’re getting there with our move. We have a closing date on our Ann Arbor house and we’ll be moving east at the end of October. However, there is still so much to be done that I’m not able to commit to this blog the way I want to. Bear with me, by November I should be back on track. September ... Read More...
Love is Red
I was 6 pages into Love is Red when I realized my heart was pounding. Pounding enough to notice, which is not normal. Sophie Jaff’s novel opens with a seduction scene—told from the perspective of an unnamed man who woos a woman at a bar. The action inevitably moves to the woman’s apartment, but this is not a crude encounter, Jaff’s writing is as smooth and well-paced as ... Read More...
