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Category: Reviews

Freefall

January 8, 2019 832bookreview

Happy Publication Day to Freefall! I thought this was a solid debut thriller by Jessica Barry! It was fast paced, and highlighted a difficult mother-daughter

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The Girl with Seven Names

November 15, 2018 832bookreview

The Girl with Seven Names by Hyeonseo Lee is a fascinating memoir of her defection from North Korea. She left North Korean shortly before her

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Unbroken Threads

October 29, 2018 832bookreview

Jennifer Klepper did a great job in her debut novel Unbroken Threads. This is a complex story about immigration, family, identity, and relationships with very

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The Subway Girls

October 23, 2018 832bookreview

The Subway Girls by Susie Orman Schnall was a great book! Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre so this was right up my alley!

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Party Girls Die in Pearls by Plum Sykes

September 11, 2018 832bookreview

Party Girls Die in Pearls was a fun, cozy mystery set at an Oxford College (Christminster) in the middle 1980’s with two new students, sensible

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The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis

September 5, 2018 832bookreview

The Masterpiece by Fiona Davis is very well-written and researched. This is her third book and in each she uses a dual timeline to tell her

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The term “Southern Gothic” was used in the blurb I read about American Pop by Snowden Wright. I have to admit, I did not know what that meant so I went to the Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Literature and found the definition - "Southern Gothic is a mode or genre prevalent in literature from the early 19th century to this day. Characteristics of Southern Gothic include the presence of irrational, horrific, and transgressive thoughts, desires, and impulses; grotesque characters; dark humor, and an overall angst-ridden sense of alienation.” Based on that definition I did not think this would be my kind of book, but the author is from Mississippi, the book is set in Mississippi and I am from Mississippi so I thought I’d give it a go! I would say that while this definition does not describe this book exactly, there are definitely Southern Gothic characteristics! American Pop is story about a very Southern family whose fortunes rose in the late 1800’s with the invention and popularity of a Panola Cola and fell due to a combination of family dysfunction (mainly) and market forces. The tales of the family dysfunction are the main storylines but I appreciated that through it all they always managed to find a way to love each other even if it was hard to show it. I think this is sometimes the essence of southern families! American Pop covers about a century but is not told in a linear time format - it jumps around which sometimes made it hard to follow but the author did a good job of making sure I knew where I was in the timeline. While this is not going on my top 10 books of the year list, I am very glad I read it! Now I get to add another fun genre to to my list! #southerngothic #americanpop #snowdenwright #williammorrow #mississippiauthor #mississippi

#bookmail on #valentinesday ! This doesn’t look like a love story but Too Close by Natalie Daniels looks like a really good psychological thriller! Seems like we might compare it to The Silent Patient because the description says it’s about a woman who has been institutionalized for a heinous crime and the psychiatrist assigned to her case....I’ll let you know what I think! It’s out July 2019! Happy Valentine’s Day everyone! Thank you to @harpercollinsus and @harperperennial for this copy! #psychologicalthriller #nataliedaniels #tbr #bookstagram

New “cheaters” from @peepers_readers and my next book up! I think I’ll use the blue glasses first😀! As soon as I finish American Pop (tonight?) by Snowden Wright and Bittersweet Brooklyn (Friday) by Thelma Adams I’m heading straight into No Exit by Taylor Adams for the weekend! What is your next book up!! #americanpop #bookblogger #nextbook #noexit #readingglasses #bittersweetbrooklyn

The Silent Patient is Alex Michaelides’ debut novel and he did a great job! While this was a quick read for me, it seemed like a slow burn kind of story. It kept me guessing until very late in the book while the author did a great job developing the characters and the intriguing story around them. There are two main voices in this psychological thriller The first is Alicia Berenson who is now in a mental institution after being convicted of killing her husband. She has not spoken a word since his death, but we hear from her through her diary. The second voice is Theo Faber’s who has joined the staff at the hospital, has become Alicia’s psychotherapist, and hopes to get her talking again. But what will she say about her husband’s death if she does speak?? That’s about all I can say!! This was one of my @bookofthemonth picks for January and I chose wisely! Today is officially its publication day! #celadonbooks #thesilentpatient #psychologicalthriller #bookofthemonth

I really enjoyed The Beantown Girls by Jane Healey! I have read a lot of historical fiction and I keep returning to it because fabulous authors keep finding amazing people or events that I have never heard of to weave their story around! This is no exception! The Beantown Girls is a fictional story based around the real-life Red Cross Clubmobiles during WWII. Fiona, Dottie, and Viv are college friends from Boston who volunteer to be Clubmobile Girls in the war in Europe. Yes, they want to serve the troops by trying to boost morale with doughnuts and coffee but Fiona is also searching for information about her fiancé who has been declared MIA. What transpires is a beautiful story of incredibly strong women and men making their way through a terrible war. The friendships gained and lost are heartwarming and heartbreaking and I loved every minute of it! Thank you @getredpr for introducing me to this book!

The Weight of a Piano by Chris Cander is a beautiful story told from two viewpoints from two different times. One voice is from Katya, a young Russian in the 1960's who receives a Blüthner piano from a elderly man in her apartment building. She loves that piano, but does she love it too much? The other voice is from Clara, a young American in the 2010's who has a piano she received from her father after he died in a house fire when she was very young. She is now in her 20's and has kept the piano for years even though she doesn't play it. By why? This is a beautifully written story that explores many aspects of relationships - parents, spouses, children, friendships, etc. I thought it was clever to use a piano to signify the “weights” we all carry around and how we may sometimes carry those weights because we think we are supposed to or just don’t know how to let them go. Happy publication day to @chriscander and @aaknopf and congratulations!

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