The BookBrowse Review

Published December 4, 2024

ISSN: 1930-0018

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Contents

In This Edition of
The BookBrowse Review

Highlighting indicates debut books

Editor's Introduction
Reviews
Hardcovers
Recommended for Book Clubs
Book Discussions

Discussions are open to all members to read and post. Click to view the books currently being discussed.

Publishing Soon

Literary Fiction


Historical Fiction


Essays


Poetry & Novels in Verse


Mysteries


Thrillers


Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History


Biography/Memoir


History, Current Affairs and Religion


True Crime


Travel & Adventure


Young Adults

Literary Fiction


Historical Fiction


Mysteries


Thrillers


Fantasy, Sci-Fi, Speculative, Alt. History


Graphic Novels


History, Current Affairs and Religion


Science, Health and the Environment


Extras
  • Blog:
    First Impressions Favorites: 2024’s Best Reader-Reviewed Books
  • Holiday Wordplay:
    Solve all 15!
Dear BookBrowsers,

As we near the end of 2024, we feature the Top 20 Books of the Year chosen by our subscribers, and announce our Award Winners. Plus, our reviewers cover four books voted in by write-in nomination especially for this issue. We're grateful to everyone who participated for contributing to a fantastic annual roundup.

The winner of our Top Debut award is Eve J. Chung's sweeping Daughters of Shandong, which follows a mother and her daughters escaping from China to Taiwan during the Communist revolution. This book is on our list of favorite First Impressions reads of the year, also in this issue.

The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon, an intriguing fictionalized drama of the real-life midwife Martha Ballard, takes the Top Fiction prize.

The Demon of Unrest, Erik Larson's absorbing exploration of pre-Civil War tensions, comes out ahead of the pack for our Top Nonfiction distinction.

And this year's Top YA ranking goes to one of our write-in nominees, Everything We Never Had, Randy Ribay's compact but moving tale of the complicated and shifting relationships between four generations of Filipino men.

Besides Ribay's novel, the newly reviewed books in this issue are Hisham Matar's Booker-longlisted and National Book Award finalist My Friends, the expansive but quietly reflective story of a Libyan exile living in London; Marjan Kamali's compelling The Lion Women of Tehran, centered on the friendship of two girls coming of age during a tumultuous period of contemporary Iranian history; and Lynda Cohen Loigman's The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern, a cozy literary romance that may just offer the perfect winter escape. Other Top 20 books include Percival Everett's James, winner of this year's National Book Award for Fiction; Elizabeth Strout's latest character-driven marvel Tell Me Everything; and The Mighty Red by Louise Erdrich, a finalist for the Kirkus Prize for Fiction.

Big Holiday Wordplay fans, you'll be pleased to know that this year's mammoth conundrum is bigger and better than ever. Solve as many of our whopping 15 (yes, 15) clues as you can and enter for a chance to win a free one-year membership.

Thank you again to everyone who voted, and thank you for subscribing to BookBrowse — we couldn't do this without your support!

Davina & Nick
Founder & Publisher

About BookBrowse
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The Frozen River The Demon of Unrest Daughters of Shandong Everything We Never Had James The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern My Friends There Are Rivers in the Sky The Women Clear Tell Me Everything Model Home Small Rain Becoming Madam Secretary The God of the Woods The Mighty Red Prophet Song The Lion Women of Tehran The Wide Wide Sea The Missing Thread

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