BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Kat F. (Palatine, IL)

If you'd like to be able to easily share your reviews with others, please join BookBrowse.

Happiness: The Crooked Little Road to Semi-Ever After
by Heather Harpham

Interesting (7/26/2017)

This memoir was interesting up to a point. Had I been in Heather's situation, I wouldn't have been as forgiving to the father. I also felt like I would have slapped the transplant Doc with the comment they waited longer than they should have. There was no need to plant that …more

Miss Jane
by Brad Watson

A beautiful book (5/19/2016)

Best thing I've read in years. I would give it 20 stars if I could. I can not share any better than the good reviews already expressed. A well written, beautiful and peaceful book.

All Is Not Forgotten
by Wendy Walker

Interesting (11/3/2015)

What I found interesting was the switching back and forth of the narrator. He is a psychologist who helps a rape victim who is a patient. Then he suspects someone he knows. How he plays two these things against each other and what he does is interesting. I even thought that …more

Three Many Cooks: One Mom, Two Daughters: Their Shared Stories of Food, Faith & Family
by Pam Anderson, Maggy Keet & Sharon Damelio

Better blog than book (3/4/2015)

I had never read the blog, so I knew nothing about these ladies. It seemed it could be an interesting read about 3 family members working in the same kitchen, something I couldn't do with my mother or sisters. The format they used -- each taking a chapter, telling a story …more

The Same Sky
by Amanda Eyre Ward

Superficial (11/24/2014)

Once you read the first two chapters you pretty much know how the book is going to end. Having recently been to Austin, I enjoyed remembering the various locations and businesses referenced in the book. Having dealt with infertility and adoption, I expected to be able to …more

The Hollow Ground: A Novel
by Natalie S. Harnett

It pulled me in and didn't let go (4/16/2014)

I started this book when I received it a month or two ago. Life got in the way and I had to put it down. Last week on a cruise I started it again and just couldn't put it down. It is truly an engrossing story on a couple of levels. I had watched a program a year or two ago …more

The Last Enchantments
by Charles Finch

Too old for this (12/16/2013)

At 55 years old, it is quite possible I am simply too old to understand or have any empathy for this character and his friends. I definitely did not care about them in any way. The character goes from the insulated world of Yale to the insulated world of a political …more

Bitter River: A Bell Elkins Novel
by Julia Keller

It was good but... (7/17/2013)

I think it could have been better. The plot was good, the characters were well rounded and the setting worked well for the story. However, I felt the subplots, particularly one, was far fetched and given the small amount of info hard to swallow.

Had I known this was part of …more

The Sisterhood
by Helen Bryan

I was so looking forward to it... (6/3/2013)

I've been mulling over this review for a week or so now. I couldn't figure out what the problem was for me.

There are several interesting story lines and the author did a good job telling each story. I really enjoyed reading each story for its own sake.

I couldn't figure it …more

Palisades Park
by Alan Brennert

Great read (3/14/2013)

I finished reading this book last week while on a cruise. It's a wonderful book for pleasure reading. I think we all have a "Palisades Park" from our youth - for me it was Riverview on the Northwest side of Chicago. I was taken there as a very little girl and have limited …more

With or Without You: A Memoir
by Domenica Ruta

Like looking at a bad accident (1/8/2013)

This was not the book to read over the holidays. While the writing was excellent, the story itself was horrific, kind of like driving past a bloody accident scene. You know you should look away and keep going, but something compels you to slow down and gawk.

With all the …more

Next to Love
by Ellen Feldman

Disappointed (5/1/2012)

I was so looking forward to receiving this book but it didn't deliver on it's promise. As Claude might have put it - it did not live up to it's potential. I felt I was reading book jacket description of any one of the character's lives. Each story would have been a much …more

King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village
by Peggielene Bartels, Eleanor Herman

Nothing short of inspirational (1/3/2012)

What a wonderful book! It shows what one small, insignificant person (as the world might consider them) can do to change the lives of so many people.

King Peggy is my new hero. Long live the King!

The Dressmaker: A Novel
by Kate Alcott

I was surprised (10/12/2011)

I usually don't read historical fiction, so I think I may have checked the wrong book selection when trying to get a First Impression book. However, when I received the book, I felt a responsibility to read it and review. I am so glad I did.

I was pleasantly surprised by …more

Folly Beach: A Lowcountry Tale
by Dorothea Benton Frank

Expected more (6/25/2011)

I've read most of Benton Frank's books and absolutely love this beautiful part of the country, so I was excited when I received this book. Then I started reading. I don't care for reading "plays" although that part isn't really much of a play. I don't like going back and …more

The Discovery of Jeanne Baret: A Story of Science, the High Seas, and the First Woman to Circumnavigate the Globe
by Glynis Ridley

A good textbook (2/1/2011)

I looked forward to receiving this book, as it seemed a good start to expanding my non-fiction reading list. I'm sorry to say I was disappointed. Although well research and well written, unfortunately it was very dry reading and had little to do with the life of Jeanne …more

Losing My Cool: How a Father's Love and 15,000 Books Beat Hip-hop Culture
by Thomas Chatterton Williams

Shattering preconceived notions (5/20/2010)

As a middle-class, middle-aged white woman living now in white bread suburbia, I often (even though I know I shouldn't) look at younger people and make assumptions based on how they speak, what they are wearing, what they are listening to, etc. This book was a needed whack …more

The Wives of Henry Oades: A Novel
by Johanna Moran

Pleasant surprise after all (12/27/2009)

The reason I asked to review this book was because the description was so intriguing. Then I received the book and based on the cover alone, thought I was in for a big disappointment. Turns out I was wrong. This is a great first novel. Taking historical facts, the author …more

The Private Papers of Eastern Jewel
by Maureen Lindley

Unbelieveable and tiresome (8/31/2009)

I was looking forward to an interesting read about a strong woman living on the edge in an oppressive time and culture. What I got was a salacious book littered with the stereotypical ideas of Asian culture; geisha, opium, mysterious dreams, etc.

It was a disappointment …more

Valeria's Last Stand
by Marc Fitten

Oddly complex and entertaining (3/25/2009)

I started out not really liking this book, though I could empathize with the curmudgeon Valeria and found myself admiring her, even cheering her on on occasion. Surprisingly, the more I read, the more I identified with some characteristics in each of the main players. So, …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Becoming Madam Secretary
by Stephanie Dray

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating novel about an American heroine France Perkins—now in paperback!

About Discuss
The Husbands
by Holly Gramazio

The Husbands delights in asking: how do we navigate life, love, and choice in a world of never-ending options?

About Discuss
The River Knows Your Name
by Kelly Mustian

A haunting Southern novel about memory and love, from the author of The Girls in the Stilt House.

About Discuss
The Devil Finds Work
by James Baldwin

A book-length essay on racism in American films, by "the best essayist in this country" (The New York Times Book Review).

About Discuss
A Map to Paradise
by Susan Meissner

From the USA Today bestselling author of Only the Beautiful. 1956, Malibu, California: Something is not right on Paradise Circle.

About Discuss

Members Recommend

Girl Falling
by Hayley Scrivenor

The USA Today bestselling author of Dirt Creek returns with a story of grief and truth.

Read the Reviews
Jane and Dan at the End of the World
by Colleen Oakley

Date Night meets Bel Canto in this hilarious tale.

Read the Reviews
The Antidote
by Karen Russell

A gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.

Read the Reviews