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Babylonia: A Novel

February 5, 2025

babylonia

Orphaned as a baby after her mother killed herself, Semiramis has been believed to be cursed or a witch her entire young life. But she doesn’t care what the ignorant people of her tiny Assyrian village think. She knows she’s destined for greatness and when the opportunity arises, she grabs it. This is Babylonia, historical fiction blended with myth from the ancient world about ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: historical, Middle East, mythology

Instructions for a Heatwave

January 16, 2025

instructions

In 1976 England was in the midst of a terrible drought and heat wave. It’s an inauspicious and unexpected time for a happily married, retired man to go missing, but Robert does, taking only his keys and his passport. His wife Gretta is left in a frazzled state and his adult children have all been called to come home and look for him in Maggie O’Farrell’s novel, Instructions for ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, England, family, historical, literary

More 2024 Reading I Loved

December 30, 2024

more

I’m back with more books I loved in 2024. On Friday I shared the fact that almost all my 5-star favorite books for the year were backlist, but I still wanted to give a shoutout to this wide variety of new releases I thought were wonderful. Each provided me with the escape I wanted in a year that was a lot to handle.   Mysteries and thrillers came on strong for me ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Feature Tagged: book clubs, favorite books, historical, memoir, mystery, thriller, vacation reading

My 9 Favorite Books in 2024

December 27, 2024

favorit

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...

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Filed Under: Feature Tagged: book clubs, fantasy, favorite books, historical, literary, mystery

The Last Days of Night

December 11, 2024

the last days

It’s hard to imagine that an ordinary and ubiquitous household item could be the source of riveting fiction, but in The Last Days of Night it is. Author Graham Moore makes a new, young lawyer the central character in what is an astonishing battle over who invented the light bulb and who would profit from it. For someone who believed Thomas Edison invented the light bulb The ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: 19th century, book clubs, historical

A Wild and Heavenly Place

October 28, 2024

wild

A Wild and Heavenly Place by Robin Oliveira begins in 1870s Glasgow where orphaned, teenage Samuel, is living hand-to-mouth working in a shipyard and taking care of his little sister. He’s in love with Hailey, a wealthy girl he admires from afar. Until circumstances throw them together and they begin to fall in love, only to be pulled apart and separated by half a ... Read More...

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Filed Under: Book Reviews, Fiction Tagged: book clubs, historical, Pacific Northwest

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