Reviews by Erica M. (Chicago, IL)

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Going Home
Going Home: A Novel
by Tom Lamont
Maturing characters (12/17/2024)
Just as children mature at exponential rates during early childhood, those who an entrusted with their care mature as they embrace the role of guardian or parent. This novel gives full value to the roles adults play in the lives of children.

After a tragedy, 2 or 3 year-old …more
Becoming Madam Secretary
Becoming Madam Secretary
by Stephanie Dray
An Intelligent woman of the 1920s and 30s (12/8/2023)
At first, I thought that the author was a good storyteller but not a great writer. As the book went on, I became so engrossed in the story, that I began to truly appreciate her writing style. Women in the 1920s and 30s were expected to fulfill their roles as wives and …more
The Personal Librarian
The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
Secrets can color our lives (3/19/2021)
As someone who has lived with a family secret for almost 40 years, Belle's hiding the fact that she was fair enough to pass as white, despite the fact that she was "colored" resonated with me. I felt that the characters were well-drawn, but thought that the book moved very …more
I Want You to Know We're Still Here
I Want You to Know We're Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Memoir
by Esther Safran Foer
Remembering the past, assuring the future (12/17/2019)
"I Want You to Know We're Still Here" by Ester Safran Foer was a well-written love note from a mother to her children. The story felt like a fairy tale retelling, where you recognize the story in bits and pieces, but the names have changed and the details are different. I, …more
D-Day Girls
D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II
by Sarah Rose
Another take on WWII stories (4/7/2019)
Since my pre-teens, I have been drawn to stories about World War II. My father fought in it, as a young Jewish woman, it was part of my heritage and history. I often feel like there isn't another story that can be told that I haven't read. But there is - and that is D-Day …more
The Affairs of the Falcóns
The Affairs of the Falcóns
by Melissa Rivero
A Story with Truth (12/23/2018)
If I could, I would give this book a 4.5. It was well-written and had good charagcter development. It told the story of an undocumented family living in NYC. I felt as though I could easily have been reading a biography. It is both hopeful and sad. Never mentioned, but …more
A Ladder to the Sky
A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel
by John Boyne
A totally fresh take on the art of writing (9/9/2018)
I have never read a book quite like this. A completely fresh plot. The main character reminded me of a sociopath/narcissist I once had to deal with. Awful, but too fascinating to turn away from. The use of various narrators and first, second and third person narrators kept …more
A Place for Us
A Place for Us
by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Authentic view of life of the first and second generation immigrants (7/15/2018)
If you, your parents, your grandparents or people you know are immigrants to this country, this book will touch you on so many levels. The first generation to the country, holding on to the beliefs that make them the people they are, even if they are the "old ways"; their …more
The Kennedy Debutante
The Kennedy Debutante
by Kerri Maher
Kick Kennedy - American Princess/British Marchioness (6/6/2018)
Oh how I loved this book! Full disclosure: I am an absolute fan of historical fiction and absolutely cannot get enough of all things Kennedy. If you are not a fan of either, you might not feel the way I did about this book.

Yes, Kick Kennedy was a privileged, pampered, …more
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
The Travelling Cat Chronicles
by Hiro Arikawa, Philip Gabriel
Not what I was expecting (5/4/2018)
Having lived with dogs and cats for the past 35 years, and read most of the best selling novels about various pets over those years, I started the Traveling Cat Chronicles with different expectations than how I found the book to begin with. First of all, there was a …more
French Exit
French Exit
by Patrick deWitt
Good writing, fair story (1/27/2018)
I enjoyed the writing better than I enjoyed the story. I was looking for something quirky, which by the description of the book, I was sure I would find. Quirky is certainly one way to describe the book. As the story unfolded, I found myself less and less enchanted, but the …more
Sometimes I Lie
Sometimes I Lie
by Alice Feeney
A book that requires two readings (11/21/2017)
You know from the title and the opening of the book, that there is something you will need to figure out beyond the story line itself. The story line is good. It keeps moving forward, told in different time periods. Not unlike Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl" there is a trick - …more
Stay with Me
Stay with Me
by Ayobami Adebayo
A Hearbreaking Story (8/25/2017)
This story reminded me of The Gift of the Magi in the way in which each spouse selfishly gives their love to the other in such a way that the gift becomes, somehow, meaningless - and yet the love of each other is so overriding that in the end, that is all you see. The first …more
The Weight of Ink
The Weight of Ink
by Rachel Kadish
The Weight of Ink is an intellectual challenge of the best sort (3/4/2017)
My initial response as I closed the book was "Wow! Just Wow!" Two stories are interwoven with each other - one from 2000 and one from 1659. A cache of papers is found and sold to a university for study. The stories are the analysis of those pages and the backstory to how …more
Victoria
Victoria
by Daisy Goodwin
A queen's growth from childhood to adulthood (10/22/2016)
This is the story of the first two years of Queen Victoria's reign starting as a sheltered 18-year-old and ending with her clearly on the verge of adulthood two years later. Godwin drew a good balance between the person she wanted to be and the monarch that she needed - and …more
The Midnight Watch
The Midnight Watch: A Novel of the Titanic and the Californian
by David Dyer
A story that hit close to home (2/11/2016)
I have a family history with the Titanic. My grandmother was supposed to have come to America on the Titanic, but her father, having forgotten that his sons had become adults while he worked in America to earn their passage, did not send enough money. They literally missed …more
All Is Not Forgotten
All Is Not Forgotten
by Wendy Walker
All is Not Forgotten (10/10/2015)
The well-constructed ending - one I found difficult to anticipate - was preceded by an overlong setting of the stage. At 100 pages in, I would have given up, but for the fact that I had a review to write. I am glad that I stuck with it. The tension between family loyalty …more
The Book of Speculation
The Book of Speculation
by Erika Swyler
A struggle to decide my opinion of the book (4/15/2015)
I felt the book was well-written from the perspective of the different story lines developing and connecting with one another, but I never really found myself enjoying the book. I think it was because I never connected with any of the characters, so I never cared what …more
The Last Flight of Poxl West
The Last Flight of Poxl West
by Daniel Torday
A Mixed Bag (1/15/2015)
I had some real struggles with the author's writing - specifically the "voice" of the narrator Poxl is the same "voice" as the narrator Eli, the allegories were often so strange they called up no useful visualization but merely felt like a device the author felt compelled …more
A Kim Jong-Il Production
A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power
by Paul Fischer
Shrimp among whales (12/16/2014)
I have long been fascinated by North Korea. The suppression that has occurred to millions of people, the manipulation by the government and the alternate universe created by those in power is hard for me to wrap my head around (in the same manner as trying to understand how …more
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