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Mirrorland: A Novel

April 28, 2021

mirrorland

Cat and El are identical twins raised by their mother in their grandfather’s old, sprawling mess of a house. Their only friend was the boy next door. Both couldn’t wait to grow up and get away which is why when Mirrorland begins Cat lives in L.A. She hasn’t seen or spoken to El since they had a falling out over a decade ago. El, however, never left and Ross, the boy, is now her ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, mystery, suspense

February Reading Wrap-Up

February 28, 2020

february

The roller coaster that was my January reading ground to a halt in February. I can’t even blame the weather because Michigan has had one of its most mild winters (so far!) in years. Instead, it seems as if it’s something larger in the air because most of the readers and bloggers I know reported the same thing. Sadly, this means I’m going to sound crankier than ever in this ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: contemporary life, historical fiction, mini-reviews, thriller

A Different Viewpoint: Amnesty

February 26, 2020

amnesty

Last week I reviewed a light, bright novel set in 1950s Sydney, Australia. Today I’m back with another novel set in Sydney, but in recent times and with a much darker tone. Amnesty by Aravind Adiga is about Danny, an illegal immigrant from Sri Lanka. His visa expired three years ago when he dropped out from a for-profit college. He’s been living in the shadows as a cash-only ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, cultural, literary, Scribner, social issues

The Women in Black

February 19, 2020

women in black

Somehow February has become a dreary month, both for my reading…and well, everything. Bad news and toxicity all around. We’ve been fortunate not to get much snow here in Ann Arbor, but where we live there’s nothing but brown and gray for miles, with a sullen sky overhead. I’m grateful we’ve had very little snow and only a few days with temperatures in the teens, but these ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, historical fiction, Scribner

Ten Best Books of 2019

December 20, 2019

ten

  Well, what do you know. Rather than being my usual contrarian self, I actually have ten books I consider to be the best of 2019. Of course, that doesn’t include the eight debut novels I wrote about on Wednesday, but let’s not split hairs. The point is: ALL of these books are marvelous. Even better, you still have time to get any one of them before Christmas for your ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: book clubs, favorite books, lists, literary

Small Books, Quick Thoughts

November 29, 2019

This post may include Amazon links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I was going to call this post Short and Sweet, but the title is not quite right for these three novels. Sweet implies a bit of passivity and isn’t often a trait I like in my fiction. Instead, each of these small books belied their size with the force of their stories. Because they’re ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Feature Tagged: book clubs, contemporary life, literary, mini-reviews, social issues, women

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