Summertime is thriller time. There’s something about the pacing, when it’s done right, that matches the weather to my brain—overheated and a bit frenetic. The Perfect Mother by Aimee Molloy is my most recent venture into twisted turn thriller territory. Molloy doesn’t go for subtle in choosing a plot guaranteed to ratchet up the tension: an infant disappears from his mother’s ... Read More...
Quirky Women: Mini-Reviews
I am a huge fan of quirky characters, but when they fly by the eccentric train station heading full speed to weird I start applying the reading brakes. Today’s reviews are about two women who are quirky and then some. In one case it worked beautifully and led to a novel I loved. In the other, it was almost enough to overshadow a good book. As mentioned, I always ... Read More...
A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out
Let’s not beat around the bush: I’m a sucker for a clever book cover and when I saw A Lady’s Guide to Selling Out I knew I wanted to read the book, even if the title didn’t wow me. I mean, please…her skirt is a book! I want it. Add to that this is a novel about a young woman who got an English degree because she loved books and reading so much, only to discover that ... Read More...
I’ll Be Gone in the Dark
I finally joined the hordes of readers I know who have been held hostage by Michelle McNamara’s I’ll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer, a true crime thriller. And I won’t bury the lede: If you haven’t read it you should, especially given the recent news. But not alone at night. Despite taking place in the days before smart phones, ... Read More...
Only Child by Rhiannon Navin
How lovely would it be if the idea of a school shooting was only known as science fiction? Instead, in America, it is a subject ripe with fictional opportunities, thanks to the power of the NRA, who believe the Second Amendment, written to apply to muskets, should also apply to assault weapons so people can have access to as many guns as they want. An important subject, but not ... Read More...
Girls Burn Brighter
One of the reasons I love to read is that it offers me a chance to see places on the page (and in my mind) that I’m not likely to see in real life. Just as importantly it exposes me to experiences and lives utterly different from my own. Last month my first five-star book of the year was Song of a Captive Bird, a novel about an Iranian poet, and, while aspects of a ... Read More...
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