The Best Recent Reader Reviews posted at Bookbrowse

Give it time by Labmom55 (12/19/24)
The Lion Women of Tehran was an engaging historical fiction, set in Iran. The story starts in the 1950s, when Ellie’s father dies and she and her mother are forced to relocate from the wealthy suburbs to a much lower class neighborhood. There, she meets Homa and they become best friends. But Ellie’s situation soon improves and she moves away, losing touch with Homa. They reconnect as seniors in high school. The story continues as they move forward into their young adulthood.

The story does a good job of providing a sense of Iran under the Shah. It highlights the difference in the classes and the roles of women during the changing times. There was a big emphasis on the food which did help give a feel for their everyday life. Kamali does an equally good job of showing how things changed under the religious regime and the war with Iraq.

I didn’t initially take to Ellie. She berates her mother for being too status conscious, but yet she was just as much. And her lack of thought at a crucial time weighed on me. (I struggled with the blurb calling this an act of betrayal.) But she grew on me and was the perfect foil for Homa.

The book starts slow and it did take a while before I was truly invested in the story. But I loved what it had to say about being willing to fight for human rights, and how it’s the rare person who is willing to be a true activist. The character of Homa is very loosely based on a friend from Kamali’s youth, who still lives in Iran and works for a human rights organization. The book also has a lot to say about friendship and how our early friendships truly shape us.

I listened to this and was less than impressed by Mozhan Novabi. Her voice often seemed flat. I was happier with Nikki Massoud.

Read No Spoilers! by Anthony Conty (12/15/24)
In "Clear" by Carys Davies, we are drawn into the unique story of an impoverished preacher assigned to 'clear' the last inhabitant of a remote Scottish island. As a language teacher, I found the interaction between the two men during the Scottish Clearances fascinating.

I've often noticed that flap summaries can sometimes reveal too much. In the case of "Clear," the listed genre inadvertently spoils the book's ambitious conclusion. I longed for the thrill of discovering the story's twists and turns in real time.

The concept of two men brought together by tragic circumstances is timeless. A person who has lived in isolation for so long will undoubtedly benefit from another's presence. The setting, focused on the Scottish Clearances, is the novel's most substantial aspect, as I needed more prior knowledge about this historical event.

Despite my reservations about the ending, I was captivated by Carys Davies' masterful use of imagery and her skillful character development. This is a challenging art form, especially when the characters barely speak to each other and do not share a common language. Here, I recognize my areas for improvement in a novel. I realize I could never have written myself. She has four other books that I need to find soon.

If you are a reader who can enjoy the journey without fixating on a predictable destination, this book is for you. Most authors could only dream of painting such vivid word pictures. If you are a reader who can enjoy the journey without dwelling on a predictable destination, this book is for you. Most authors could only dream of painting such word pictures.

So, you will enjoy this unique book more if you know little about it. I ended up satisfied with the outcome since it still had surprises for those who persevered.

Riveting and Compelling: A Haunting, Provocative Account of One Family's Survival After Hurricane Katrina by Cathryn Conroy (12/14/24)
Wow! Wow! Wow! This is a tale that everyone should read. It is important, but it's also so riveting and compelling that I could barely stop reading. Oh, and it's nonfiction.

Written by Dave Eggers, this is the astounding, heartbreaking, and rage-inducing story of one family's life in New Orleans before and after Hurricane Katrina.

It's 2005. Abdulrahman Zeitoun (pronounced Zay-toon), a Muslim from Syria, owns and operates a highly successful painting and contracting business in New Orleans. Everyone calls him Zeitoun—even his wife, American-born Kathy. The couple have four children, Zachary, who is 15 and is Kathy's son from her first marriage, and three girls, Nademah, 10; Aafiya, 7; and Aisha, 5. Kathy helps Zeitoun run the business. They are happy. The business is financially sound. All is well. That is, until Hurricane Katrina hits New Orleans on August 29, 2005. And then their safe, secure, happy world cracks wide open.

Two days before Katrina made landfall in New Orleans, Kathy packed up the four kids and their dog in their minivan and escaped to Baton Rouge, along with her sisters and their families. Ever since she converted to Islam before she met Zeitoun, her family of born-again Christians could not understand or fathom her religious choice. It was so difficult staying in Baton Rouge with her family's frequent verbal scorn that Kathy fled to Phoenix where her best friend from childhood, Yuko, lived with her husband and four children. They welcomed Kathy and her children.

Meanwhile, Zeitoun refused to leave New Orleans, no matter how much Kathy hammered him. He wanted to stay and look after their home, their rental properties, and their business. A resourceful man, Zeitoun weathered the storm and the aftermath, helping to rescue people in his small canoe, feeding abandoned dogs trapped inside homes, and assisting others in any way he could—from bringing food and water to alerting authorities of special needs. He thought he was doing God's work. Happily, the landline in one of his rental properties still worked so after his cell phone battery ran out, he called Kathy every day at noon—until one day he didn't call. Or the next day. Or the next.

What happened to Zeitoun borders on the unbelievable, but it's all true. He was arrested inside his own rental property and eventually charged with petty theft, but it was assumed that because he is Middle Eastern he was a terrorist. What he endured for 23 days is the stuff of nightmares. It is the story of a third world country—but it was the United States.

Ingeniously plotted with the story told from both Zeitoun and Kathy's points of view, this is a highly readable, provocative, and haunting account of what happens when society and our legal system break down. Masterfully written with razor-sharp prose, this gritty and brutal story is spellbinding. And it's all true.

Update: Published in 2009, the book was received to great acclaim, winning a number of prizes, including the American Book Award. Zeitoun is portrayed as a hero in this book, and his actions deserve that designation. But his life disintegrated from there. In 2012, he and Kathy divorced, and Zeitoun was found not guilty of plotting to murder her and her son. In 2016 he was convicted of felony stalking his ex-wife, and Zeitoun went to prison for two years.

Love and Loss by SusanR (12/13/24)
I missed this book when it published last year and after reading all of the great reviews, I knew that I had to read it. I loved it. The writing is beautiful and the characters are well written. This is a book that needs to be read slowly so that you don't miss any of the beautiful writing but you want to read it fast to find out how it ends. It's hard to believe that this was a debut novel for this author. I know it's a book that I won't soon forget.

In July, 1962, a Mi’kmaw family travelled from Nova Scotia to Maine to pick blueberries. This is a trip that they made every year - parents, three sons and two daughters - but this season will have a tragic ending. Ruthie, the 4 year old and the youngest in the family goes missing. The family searched for her and finally called the police who aren't at all interested in the disappearance. Joe, the closest in age to Ruthie is the last person to see her sitting on a rock at the end of the field. Joe blames himself and the loss of his sister affected him for the rest of his life.

This book is told in alternating chapters by Joe from 1962 to the present. He discusses the loss of his sister and the subsequent problems that he has in his life. The alternating chapters are told by Norma - a young girl who lives in Maine. Her chapters mostly take place in present time. As a young girl she felt that he mother was over-protective. she wasn't allowed to play with the children from school and was barely allowed to leave the house. When she got older she was given a bit more freedom but her mother always kept her on a short leash. When she was a child, Norma had vivid dreams about a cabin and a large family. They were so real yet her mother insisted that they were just dreams. as she grows to adult hood, she continued to feel like she doesn't really fit in with her parents. Once her parents die, it's up to her aunt to tell Norma the truth about her past. Norma is over 50 when she finally learns the secrets that her family kept from her.

This novel is about love and loss, families both good and bad and the endearing love between siblings. I highly recommend it if you enjoy well written family sagas full of both sadness and love.

David Copperfield-Damon Fields-Demon Copperhead by wincheryl (12/11/24)
This book is set in rural Appalachia where poverty, crime, drugs and death are everyday life. Demon Copperhead lives with his mother in a trailer, father deceased. When his mother dies he becomes part of the foster system. Most people become foster "parents" for the money. They would not survive without it. Kingsolver tells his story through school, many foster families, drug use, being a football star and his marriage to a drug addict while being a drug addict.

She captures the opiate world in a way that you may agree these people did not have a choice, it was an escape for them. The characters are deep and so believable. What a heart wrenching, thought provoking story.

a mother's love by Becky H (12/10/24)
THE MEMORY LIBRARY by Kate Storey
A mother and daughter who once loved to read together and discuss the books they had read are now estranged for no apparent reason. When the daughter, who now lives in Australia, learns her mother has fallen and needs help, Ella grudgingly flies to England to assist her mom.

Secrets and old wounds are gradually revealed. Ella increasingly discovers her mom’s life before and after Ella left in anger 20 years ago was very different from the way she remembers it. Storey reveals both mother and daughter in bits and pieces as this heart-warming tale unfolds.

Readers who look for books that slowly reveal the characters and what makes them who they are will revel in this tale of love, heartbreak, friendship, the value of books and the ties that bind a mother to her children. Lots here for book groups to discuss. A good choice for mother/daughter book group.
4 stars for a slow start.

I recommend this book for a teenager by Techeditor (12/5/24)
Most reviews will tell you that REMARKABLY BRIGHT CREATURES is a good book. And it is. After all the hype about it, though, I was a little disappointed.

As you probably already know, a woman, Tova, who mops floors every night at an aquarium talks to the fish. And she finds that the remarkably bright octopus there reacts to her greetings. It really is quite a sweet story. But great literature it is not.

Too much irritated me, especially the parts that had to do with Cameron, the 30-year-old man who comes to town. Tova refers to him as a boy. Plus, although the book says over and over that he is remarkably smart, he sure doesn't act like it.

Again, the story is so sweet. I've read stories this sweet before. So I found every bit of it to be predictable, lots of predictable coincidences.

I recommend this book for a teenager. That's when I would have loved it.