Recent Reader Reviews

The Cuckoo’s Calling is the first book in the Cormoran Strike series by best-selling British author, J K Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith. The author gathers together two interesting protagonists: an intelligent, if irreverent, ex-Army Special Investigations Branch RMP, Cormoran Strike, an Afghanistan war amputee who has set up a not-very-successful Private Detective business; and Robin Ellacott, the young woman who is, initially, his temporary secretary, resourceful, smart, enthusiastic, and showing plenty of initiative.

Their investigation into what has been deemed a celebrity suicide by the police introduces a cast of characters who are often not what they first seem.

Initially feeling a little guilty for accepting a fee for a foregone conclusion in what looks like a fairly straight-forward case, Strike nonetheless goes diligently through the motions, being quite thorough. He manages to get access to everyone who was even tangentially connected to the case, uncovers a few turns and soon enough believes his client is right: Lula Landry didn’t throw herself off her balcony. Getting the police to agree…

Galbraith paints a very realistic picture of the fashion industry, show business, and the attendant paparazzi common to both. Private adoption, inheritance, grief and consuming greed also feature. There is a lot more humour, some of it quite black, than might be expected from the blurb, with the inner monologues contributing significantly, and an excellent twist at the end. To date, there are seven further instalments, some quite hefty tomes, for readers who enjoy this cast and setting. Page-turner crime fiction.

This is a profound book, albeit highly disturbing, about the love and conflict, addictions and deceptions that bind together families who are struggling to survive on very little money, very little education, and very few community resources. These are people who are truly on the forgotten fringes of society.

Written by American Book Award winner Ocean Vuong, this is the story of Hai (pronounced "Hi"), a 19-year-old Vietnamese-American living in the dying, post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut. It's September 2009. Hai is lost. He has lost his sense of self and rightness. His short life has been built on lies and drugs. And now he has seemingly come to the end after telling his beloved mother a whopper of a lie that is so big, so glorious that she has found real happiness for the first time in a long time. But what he told her isn't true. So Hai does the only thing he can think to do: Kill himself.

Just as he is about to jump off a railroad bridge into a swirling, powerful river, an 82-year-old woman living in deep poverty and neglect in the shadow of that bridge, screams at him to stop. Miraculously, he hears her and obeys her. And then she takes him in…for good. Her name is Grazina Vitkus, a widow of Lithuanian descent and the mother of two adult children from whom she is quite distant. She is suffering from advanced dementia. Because her house is so dilapidated and in such a run-down and chemically toxic area, no live-in nurse will stay long. Hai takes on that role. But money is scarce, so he gets a job at a fast-food restaurant called HomeMarket, thanks to his autistic cousin Sony who also works there. It is here in a restaurant that serves Thanksgiving dinner foods year round that Hai is fully embraced into a caring community for the first time. It is also here that he finds order, consistency, and discipline for the first time. But the big lie he told his mother and his continued dependence on drugs taints his new life with desperation and despondency as he desperately searches for a second chance.

This is a provocative and haunting work of literary fiction that is not only unsettling, but also emotionally searing. It is a dark and difficult book to read because the characters' lives are so devastating. Even though there is a small sense of redemption and hope, the ending is just as sad and shattering as the rest of the book. Still, it's an important novel with a profound and relevant message.

Anne Tyler is one of my all-time favorite authors. If she writes it, I read it. There is just something magical about every book she has written, and this latest book—No. 25, which is just as special as those that precede it—was published when she was 83 years old. The girl's still got it!

The book opens when the lead character, Gail Baines, a 61-year-old assistant headmistress at a posh private school in Baltimore, is summarily let go instead of being promoted after her boss, the headmistress, decides to retire. This just happens to be the day before Gail's only daughter, Debbie, is getting married. Gail flees the school building in confusion and embarrassment and soon after arriving home, her ex-husband, Max, who is a kind of human hurricane, unexpectedly appears on her doorstep from his home in Delaware. He is asking to spend the wedding weekend in her house, along with an elderly foster cat for which he is caring. And even though he is the father of the bride, he has no suit—only a rumpled sport coat. As they are preparing for the imminent rehearsal and rehearsal dinner, Debbie drops in with shocking news—news that could very well derail the wedding the next day.

The novel is told in three parts—the day before the wedding, the day of the wedding, and the day after the wedding. But this is so much more than a wedding story. We find out Gail's complicated backstory and secrets of her past that she has confided to no one, including the real cause of her divorce from Max.

This is a story about love, especially married love, and all that makes it work—or not. Like all Anne Tyler novels, it is brilliantly told through the lives of the quirky, colorful characters. The plot is minimal—just enough to nudge it along bit by bit with a delightfully happy ending. Do pay attention to the mentions of wristwatches and the marvelous symbolism of time—past, present, and future.

This is a charming summer read filled with solid life advice and remarkable insight into the our human foibles and fears, while parts of it are laugh-out-loud funny. It is witty, wise, and wonderful.

I will admit to grabbing an advance copy of The Uproar because of that wonderful cover and understanding it was about trying to temporarily rehome a dog. Not just any dog, Judy is a 150# Bull Mastiff with numerous health concerns. Sharif and his wife Adjoua are expecting their first child who has been diagnosed with leukemia in utero. The dog can’t be in their cramped apartment while the baby is treated. Needless to say, no one agrees to take the dog. Dog parents can absolutely understand the dilemma Sharif is faced with. And he ends up making a bad decision about who to trust.
The stress that Sharif is under is palpable. On top of the cascading problems resulting from that one poor decision, his marriage begins to show stress fractures. But he’s also totally obtuse.

Dimechkie’s writing was masterful. It was easy to envision each scene and feel each character’s emotions. My thoughts were ricocheting all over the place in how I felt about all the characters - sympathy, frustration and at times, despair.
The story would be a great book club selection. There are multiple meaty themes - sacrifice, what makes someone a good person, advantage, marriage, emotional affairs, cyber bullying. I highly recommend at least reading this with a buddy because you are going to want to discuss it!

The ending totally caught me by surprise. In fact, I’m still a bit in shock at how it played out.

Warning - there was one scene that had me squirming on behalf of poor Judy.
My thanks to Netgalley and Little, Brown for an advance copy of this book.

The White Crow is the second book in the Philomena McCarthy series by award-winning, bestselling Australian author, Michael Robotham. A home invasion with a hostage held while a jeweller is forced to open his shop and safe, nets the thieves over four million pounds. Unaware of this, PC Philomena McCarthy, now four years out of Hendon and a year married to firefighter, Henry, is on a 3am food run for her colleagues at Kentish Town police station when she spots a child in pyjamas wandering the street. Five-year-old Daisy Kemp-Lowe says she can’t wake her mother, and Philomena soon learns why this is tragically true.

DCI Brendan Keegan is on the Kemp-Lowe Jewel robbery, but he considers his priority is finding Caitlin Kemp-Lowe’s murderer. Investigations, interviews and CCTV soon has him suspecting slippery career criminal Eddie McCarthy, and his brothers, but pinning this on him is a challenge. Ignorant of any connection, when Phil asks to be part of the case, he allows it, impressed by her observational skills. When it becomes apparent just who her father is, Keegan is livid, and her career is on the line.

Under interrogation, Eddie McCarthy denies all knowledge of the home invasion and robbery, although he does secretly have a stake in the case. But Eddie has bigger problems: the bank is ready to call in their loans because his Hope Island development is behind schedule, delayed by lockdowns, skills shortages, supply disruptions and the like, but lately plagued by vandalism on an unprecedented scale. It’s clear someone wants his turf.

Before matters are resolved, there will be more deaths, extortion and blackmail, an abduction, quite a bit of gunplay, a tunnel escape, and a fire. By halfway, the astute reader might well discern the identity of the perpetrator of one of the crimes, but the journey to the nail-biting climax and the very satisfying resolution is worth every page.

Robotham gives the reader a wonderful cast of characters, of whom Phil’s uncles are a particular delight, and it’s soon apparent he had a lot of fun with their dialogue, and whatnot. Twists, turns and the odd red herring make this another dose of brilliant crime fiction from a master of the genre.

This unbiased review is from an uncorrected proof copy provided by NetGalley and Hachette Australia.

A VIP's kid turns up missing for her bunk early in the morning. The Counselor panics, and the Counselor-In-Training apparently "experimented" the night before. "The God of the Woods" by Liz Moore wastes no time introducing its conflict. She has various characters as the foci for the story and jumps around from the '50s to the '60s to the '70s to get us up to speed.

Quentin Tarantino has taught me that nonlinear storytelling will eventually run its course, so the multiple viewpoints, though many, did not distract me from enjoyment. The chapters end with cliffhangers, which makes you want to check in on the other timelines. A missing persons case like this lends itself well to the slow burn.

Pan was the God of the woods, and his name gives us the word "panic" due to the fear he put on people. Mourning families and the wrongfully accused in this novel embody that. Since I have watched a lot of SVU in the past 21 years, I studied the novel's language, place, and time to see which suspects did not qualify as sketchy.

The book's characters keep your interest, and you do not know what they will do next. Each struggling one appears broken or from a broken home. From the grieving mother to the confused camp counselor, everyone is experiencing trauma in an inspiring way. Any family that watches two children disappear will self-medicate and develop trust issues.

As a regular mystery reader, I kept obsessing over new plot points and analyzing their likelihood based on when the author introduced them in the novel. There are just enough suspects to make it interesting but digestible. The less you know, the better, so skip reading the flap. Enjoy the suspense and speculate. I never guess correctly, but you might.

We learn of Auntie Em's life with her sister Annie in Chicago and her life in Kansas before and after seven-year-old Dorothy came to live with Em and Henry after Annie passed away.

Em and her sister lived in Chicago until Uncle Henry swept her off her feet and took her to Kansas.

Annie stayed in Chicago and married a man Em wasn't fond of - she wasn't even sure her sister loved him. Her sister had a secret that Em wanted to reveal, and it was something that came between them.

Em loved Kansas and her life on the farm, and when she was called back to Chicago to take her niece Dorothy to live with her, Em wondered how Dorothy would adapt to the rural life.

We go back and forth through both time periods that are filled with love and tenderness, and hope.

We learn of the hardships and the heartaches Auntie Em endured along with taking us through the depression, the stock market crash, and living in the dust bowl? of the 1930s.

If you loved The Wizard of Oz and didn't know Auntie Em's story, BEFORE DOROTHY is a book you won't want to miss.

There are subtle mentions of the characters and scenes in The Wizard of Oz that will make you smile.

You will love how Toto got his name in this book - I'm guessing that is the real story about his name.

Auntie Em is a wonderful person who had a difficult and at times sad life.

I didn't really like her sister Annie - she was cold and only thought of herself.

BEFORE DOROTHY is another gem by Hazel Gaynor that you won't want to miss.

Hazel Gaynor's marvelous, descriptive writing pulls you right in and warms your heart. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own.

"everyone is an unreliable narrator."

Ooooh this one was SO GOOD. It had me hooked from the start. Olivia is in a really tough spot. She's burned some bridges recently in her ghost writing career and the industry has canceled her for it. She's in a bit of a bind, financially, and is wondering if she'll work again.

When a surprise offers is extended. After leaving her father's house years ago, she's never been back, never spoke to him again. As a famous horror author, she felt he'd neglected her and she'd rather having nothing than forgive him for his mistakes. But now he's asking her to ghostwrite a story with him - one that comes with a large advance and additional pages as they work well and turn pages in. She doesn't want to but agrees. She needs the money.

From there, this story is completely addicting. I've spent the whole day relating the whole story to the family in my house. We were all waiting on cliffhangers as the mystery unfolded and each twist turned tighter. I had no guesses and enjoyed kicking around the ideas with my husband and adult child. Can you believe it, we ran out of ideas and I just had to keep reading because I truly didn't know what was coming next. This is a heartbreaking story about 2 siblings, murdered and taken horribly from their family, their friends, and the lives they should have been allowed to lead. It hooked me from the start and was such a great thriller! I loved it!

A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

"There is no saying what horrors might lurk in those black waters."

What a wonderfully, dark, gothic story. A bog, a surfacing body, an autopsy and madness. Lucy's been called to her sister's home by her sister's husband. Her twin sister, Sarah, is very unwell. But it's not a cold, Sarah is prone to bouts of "hysteria" and Lucy comes to help her out. Last time, it was when she'd lost a child. Now she comes because she wants to ensure Sarah doesn't lose her husband and house. Sarah's greatest fear is being committed.

This was a dark read and I loved it. Lucy's love for Sarah is tested again and again. She has to keep deciding if she will keep picking Sarah or, if at some point, she needs to get out from her shadow and live her own life. I loved the conflict, the gross bloody moments, and the confusion on how to define what was going on. The pace was perfect, gross at times then back to wondering what was going on. The story took turns I never saw coming and kept me absolutely glued to the pages. I loved this one! Can't wait for more from this author!

BEFORE DOROTHY
by Hazel Gaynor

I loved Hazel Gaynor’s 2023 release, The Last Lifeboat, so I wanted to read this historical fiction read by her. From only seeing Auntie Em in the movie, The Wizard of Oz, as an older woman, it was nice to see her transformed to Emily Gale — a vibrant young woman who journeyed from Chicago to the Kansas prairie. We see her as a newlywed ready to move where Henry wanted to farm — the Great Plains. Emily had a special bond to her sister, Annie, which became strained by distance, secrets, and the paths that each chose. When tragedy strikes and Dorothy lands on Emily and Henry’s doorstep, Emily struggles with her own limitations. The landscape of the prairie lifestyle that Gaynor portrays is with a deep sense of realism. You can taste and feel the dust and grit. I think she captured the stark beauty of the prairie along with the relentless hardships of life in the Great Plains. The bond with Dorothy shifts from distant, to duty, to something more richer with the shared grief, and quite understanding they form. Gaynor’s blending of historical fiction with literary reimagining of this classic (The Wizard of Oz) worked for me. I enjoyed all the “Easter Eggs” throughout as a nod to The Wizard of Oz.

This is a story of identity, family, the resilience of women, bonds between sisters, mothers, and daughters, and the quiet courage it takes to carry on when everything seems lost.

Thank you to BookBrowse for the book to read.