Book Reviews
Book Review: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

Book Review: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill by Abbi Waxman

I was intrigued by the book cover and the blurb about The Bookish Life of Nina Hill released by Berkley on July 9, 2019. Nina is an introvert who suffers from situational anxiety. To compensate, she tends to stick to a well-documented routine. She has good friends and...

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Book Review: Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

Book Review: Miracle Creek by Angie Kim

Angie Kim’s debut novel is a genre-breaking combination of courtroom drama, thriller, mystery, and family drama. Kim deftly blends these myriad elements, a cast of complex characters, and a fascinating plot.  Miracle Creek starts—literally—with a bang as a...

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Book Review: De-Extinction: A Quick Immersion

Book Review: De-Extinction: A Quick Immersion

De-Extinction: A Quick Immersion by Carles Lalueza-Fox is a short book but packed with fascinating facts and tidbits. There are few better placed to discuss de-extinction than Lalueza-Fox as he is one of the pioneers of the field of ancient DNA and has seen the field...

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Book Review: Her Daughter’s Mother by Daniela Petrova

Book Review: Her Daughter’s Mother by Daniela Petrova

As a woman and a physician who’s undergone a fertility work-up, I was very interested in reading Her Daughter’s Mother by Daniela Petrova. Little did I know I was getting myself into a psychological thriller. Entranced, I stayed up until four a.m. to finish the book...

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Book Review: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Book Review: Ayesha at Last by Uzma Jalaluddin

Released by June 4, 2019 by Harper, Ayesha at Last is a Muslim own-voices retelling of Pride and Prejudice, and begins with a clever restatement of Austen’s famous opening line: "Because while it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single Muslim man must be in...

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Book Review: Unbroken Threads by Jennifer Klepper

Book Review: Unbroken Threads by Jennifer Klepper

Jennifer Klepper's debut Unbroken Threads is a lovely, thoughtful book about the intersection between two women’s lives. The protagonist is a former securities lawyer who’s been a stay-at-home-mother, Jessica. She’s trying to re-enter the work force by doing pro bono...

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Book Review: The Risk of Us by Rachel Howard

Book Review: The Risk of Us by Rachel Howard

Author Rachel Howard writes of a couple’s struggle to adopt a foster child. It comes as no surprise that the child the narrator and her husband Sebastian choose to foster is a troubled child, Marisa. Having worked with such damaged children, I fully understand the...

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Book Review: Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler

Book Review: Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler

Having recently finished Mike Chen’s Here and Now and Then, I undertook another sci-fi novel—and was blown away by Light from Other Stars. Wow!!!—exquisite prose in an ambitious novel told in two timelines, the present (with the protagonist, Nedda Pappas, on a space...

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Book Review: The Ones We Choose by Julie Clark

Book Review: The Ones We Choose by Julie Clark

Julie Clark's The Ones We Choose was released by Gallery Books on May 8, 2019. As a family practice doctor and the mother of an adopted son, I loved this book. The scientific aspects of DNA and genetics appealed to me as did the fact that the protagonist, Paige,...

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Book Review: Every Last Breath by Juno Rushdan

Book Review: Every Last Breath by Juno Rushdan

Juno Rushdan’s debut novel, Every Last Breath, is intense. Suspense, action, and explicit sex scenes are roughly equally dispersed through the book. What is missing are the quiet sequels after the action to allow the reader to recuperate. Protagonist Maddox moves in...

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Book Review: Material Value by Julia L F Goldstein

Book Review: Material Value by Julia L F Goldstein

To celebrate Earth Day, I am sneaking in a book review on Monday rather than Thursday. The release of Julia Goldstein's Material Value: More Sustainable, Less Wasteful Manufacturing of Everything from Cell Phones to Cleaning Products is being timed with Earth Day, so...

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Book Review: Pickle’s Progress by Marcia Butler

Book Review: Pickle’s Progress by Marcia Butler

Pickle's Progress is the debut novel of Marcia Butler, retired world-famous oboist. The title drew me in as I could only think of one other novel with “Pickle” in the title, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle. The latter is an 18th century satire in which a young,...

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Book Review: The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr

Book Review: The Lost History of Dreams by Kris Waldherr

The Lost History of Dreams is an accomplished debut novel which reminded me of classics such as Wuthering Heights and the more contemporary Possession by A.S. Byatt. Set in Victorian England, the book, rich with Gothic creepiness, layers several love stories into a...

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Book Review: The Parisian by Isabella Hammad

Book Review: The Parisian by Isabella Hammad

In her debut novel, Isabella Hammad uses richly-textured prose to invoke the turbulence of the Middle East right after World War I. I recently read Kurt Seyt and Shura by Nermin Bezmen and The Carpet Weaver of Usak by Kathryn Gauci, both of which deal roughly with the...

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