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

Above the East China Sea

June 16, 2014

above the east china sea

How has he not had it drummed into him that brats don’t whine? We don’t plead. We don’t need. We require nothing. Not even real roots. We’re air ferns. In Sarah Bird's new novel Above the East China Sea the island of Okinawa is the centerpiece of a multi-generational drama that plays out during World War II and modern times. Tamiko is a native of the island in the 1940s when ... Read More...

6 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, cultural, historical fiction, Knopf, literary, WWII

May Mini-Reviews

May 30, 2014

If, like me, you’re not overly involved in politics you’ll read the title of Bridget Siegel’s new novel, Domestic Affairs, and think it is some kind of tell-all fiction like The Nanny Diaries or any of Amy Sohn’s looks at life in upper echelon households. You’d be wrong. It is the story of an idealistic fundraiser, Olivia, who gets the chance to manage the fundraising portion ... Read More...

1 Comment
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: debut, historical fiction, mini-reviews, Picador, Putnam

The Pearl that Broke its Shell

May 7, 2014

pearl

Nadia Hashimi merges the past with the present in the story of two women from one family. Rahima has the grave misfortune to be yet another daughter born into her family. In Afghanistan the lack of sons is a social and economic disaster. Her father is addicted to opium and does little or no work. Without a son to go out in the world and shop and work for the family their ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: Afghanistan, book clubs, cultural, historical fiction, William Morrow

The Pink Suit

May 5, 2014

pink suit

The pink suit is both the description of the outfit worn by Jacqueline Kennedy when her husband was assassinated and the name of Nicole Mary Kelby’s new novel, The Pink Suit. The novel traces the history of the infamous suit, but Kelby goes beyond that to seamlessly weave a story behind the facts. Kate is a young Irish immigrant whose sewing is of such high quality that she ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 1960s, book clubs, fashion, historical fiction, Little Brown and Company, New York City, women

Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932

May 2, 2014

It’s a testament to author Francine Prose’s prodigious talent that she can bring together a cross-dressing lesbian Nazi spy, a French baroness, and a Hungarian photographer, and not have it read like a bad joke. Lovers at the Chameleon Club, Paris 1932   takes all of the characters listed, adds an American author, the photographer’s French girlfriend, and the Chameleon Club’s ... Read More...

8 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, Harper, historical fiction, Paris, WWII

A Paris Apartment

April 18, 2014

paris apartment

  Apparently, this is the week for Paris, as it is once again on my reading list as the subject of a new novel. And, again, it is based in fact. A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable takes the ultra-intriguing facts of a Parisian apartment that lay undisturbed from before WII until 2010 and layers it in with the fiction of American furniture specialist, April Vogt, who is called ... Read More...

5 Comments
Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: chick lit, historical fiction, Paris, Thomas Dunne Books

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • …
  • 43
  • 44
  • 45
  • 46
  • 47
  • …
  • 57
  • 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