M.E. Hilliard’s debut novel, The Unkindness of Ravens, grabbed me from the first page. I was hooked by the first person narrator, Greer Hogan, a former New York City high-powered executive who turns into a small town librarian after the death of her husband. Greer’s...
In Times of Rain and War by Camron Wright is a fictionalized World War II historical novel that looks at the British Bomb Disposal Unit and is based, in part, upon diaries written by volunteers. It describes the devastation and destruction of England, particularly...
The Sound between the Notes by Barbara Linn Probst is beautifully-written, engrossing, and emotional journey through a woman’s search for her own identify. Throughout the novel, Susannah’s choices have dramatic effects upon her family. Adopted at birth, the...
Surrender: A Memoir of Nature, Nurture, and Love is beautifully-written, engrossing, and emotional journey through a woman’s search for her own identity. Throughout the memoir, Ms. MacDonald’s choices have rippling effects on herself and her family. Adopted at birth,...
This is another book that has been lingering on my Kindle, and having now read it, I wonder why it took me so long. I would have read this book in one sitting, but my Kindle died at 92%. I raced to my back-up Kindle only to find I’d failed to recharge it. So I had to...
Henry Hayden is a great unreliable, unlikeable character with just enough good within him to be a somewhat likable soul, yet he wreaks a swath of destruction in his wake, from childhood on. Currently he manifests himself as a well-known, prolific writer; but his wife...
The Windsor Knot was an interesting set-up of a mystery, somewhat akin to an Agatha Christie. The switch is that the detective is the Queen of England. As a queen and a nonagenarian, she has limitations on what she can do, both in terms of protocol and her advanced...
Writers seem to be rediscovering the feminist and ace reporter Nellie Bly. A vibrant, stubborn young woman thirsted to become a female journalist during the 1890s when women were relegated to the home. Bly was truly an independent woman, one of the early pioneers of...
It was refreshing to read a beach read in the winter. Though The Newcomer seems a bit long, I read it in one sitting. This is a classic fish-out-of-water story. The Newcomer revolves around Letty, formerly a Southern woman who now lives in NYC. When she finds her...
I’m trying to catch up on books lingering in the depths of my to-be-read pile and pulled this one out. The Gardener of Baghdad opens in a bookstore in Baghdad during modern times. With the current unrest and political fighting, Adnan, the owner of the bookstore, is...
Outlawed is an amazing speculative Western that really shakes up the Western genre by tackling the patriarchy, gender roles/identity, race, religion, fertility, and medicine in a unique way. The protagonist is irresistible: a no-nonsense, determined heroine, who has...
I read In a Town Called Paradox shortly after reading Edward Abbey’s Desert Solitaire, set in the same geographic area. Paradox is, in part, the story of how cowboy movies began to be made in Utah—which is diametrically opposed to Abbey’s vision of the West,...
Strange Deaths of the Last Romantic is a genre-breaking book with elements of thriller, science fiction, New Adult, and even romance. Which may or may not be a good thing. A boy commits suicide, but doesn’t die—he simply is transported to another location—sans...
I read this book because I adored Anita Diamant's earlier novel, The Red Tent. Dogtown, a real community on Cape Ann, Massachusetts, was populated by the downtrodden in early 1800s. When its industry moved elsewhere, those who remained included widows, orphans, freed...
A Question of Betrayal is the second in Anne Perry's spy series set just prior to World War II. I found it worked well as a stand-alone novel. Elena Standish’s grandfather, Lucas, has retired from British Intelligence, MI6. She follows in his footsteps, and on her...
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