Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Most Anticipated Books of 2025!

Reviews by Vicki O. (Boston, MA)

Order Reviews by:
This Strange Eventful History: A Novel
by Claire Messud
Not for me (4/26/2024)
I loved Claire Messud's other books but not this one. This is a very slow moving family saga. I found that the fine storytelling got lost or bogged down in description minutia. As a result, i lost interest in the characters and the narrative. I know that much of the storymore
Afterlife
by Julia Alvarez
Enjoyable Read (3/9/2020)
I was delighted to be selected to get a copy of this novel as I'd never read anything by Julia Alvarez. Although she won't become one of my "go to" authors, I did enjoy reading AFTERLIFE. It took me a while to get used to her style and into the book. When I appreciated themore
More News Tomorrow: A Novel
by Susan Richards Shreve
A Good Read! (4/22/2019)
This is a most enjoyable and quick that can not be easily classified. The focus is definitely on family relationships, but there is a dash of mystery and a pinch of history to make the story more exciting, The characters were convincing and the author's use of dialoguemore
Paris Echo
by Sebastian Faulks
Disappointed (10/2/2018)
I was very excited to read a book by this author, but Paris Echo proved to be a let down. I appreciate the superb writing style, the wonderful details and the clever intertwined story. But the main characters left me cold and I didn't really care what happened to them.
Sometimes I Lie
by Alice Feeney
An Amazing Debut (12/9/2017)
The book didn't grab me from page 1, but Amber, the main character, intrigued me and the superb writing style kept me going. I'm certainly glad I did. "Sometimes I Lie" turned out to be a masterful thriller with a brilliant narrative that goes back and forth in time verymore
Love and Other Consolation Prizes: A Novel
by Jamie Ford
A Little Disappointing (7/25/2017)
"The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet" was one of my favorite novels. Naturally I had high expectations for this novel. Unfortunately, "Love and other Consolation Prizes" did not move me in the same way. While I did appreciate the novel's back and forth structure,more
Cruel Beautiful World
by Caroline Leavitt
Cruel Beautiful World (8/21/2016)
Reading a novel like Cruel Beautiful World that evokes an array of emotions in a subtle way is a pleasure. At various times during the story, I felt like shaking Lucy, comforting Iris and Charlotte, crying with Patrick and yelling at Michael. All these characters steppedmore
Hunters in the Dark
by Lawrence Osborne
It was all about the writing! (11/15/2015)
I had a very time hard getting into this book. And even when I finally did, I didn't really care very much about the collection of characters. But, I was almost mesmerized by Osborne's precise and elegant writing style. He captures Cambodia's atmosphere so well that I couldmore
The Good Neighbor
by Amy Sue Nathan
Learning from a Lie (8/27/2015)
Divorced, single mom, Izzy, moves back to her childhood home with her son, Noah where the only person left is her elderly neighbor, Mrs. Feldman. Izzy's ex annoys her because he has moved on and so Izzy decides to start a personal blog as a way of keeping herself amused.more
Between the Tides
by Susannah Marren
Fine First Novel (4/18/2015)
An impressive first novel, "Beneath the Tides" follows the intertwined lives of two women: Lainie Smith Morris, content with a enviable life in New York, who is forced to give up New York and move to Elliot, New Jersey for her husband's job; Jess, the would-be star of the "more
The Silver Witch
by Paula Brackston
Fantasy is not for me (2/17/2015)
My review is a little biased because I am not a fantasy/magic novel fan and reading "The Silver Witch" did not change my mind even though I found it very well written and easy enough to read. It was interesting the way the story alternated between the women in the presentmore
The Secrets of Midwives
by Sally Hepworth
Secrets, Secrets (12/23/2014)
I really enjoyed this poignant novel about three generations of midwives, each of whom carries a secret that is revealed during the course of the narrative, told through the eyes of each character. I found that structure quite effective as it helped to paint a picture ofmore
Small Blessings
by Martha Woodroof
A Solid Debut (5/20/2014)
Thanks to Martha Woodroof for crafting such an entertaining novel about love and second chances. She created a cast of quirky characters and gave them a plot with enough clever twists and plenty of soul. The crisp dialogue and succinct descriptions help keep the novelmore
Last Train to Istanbul
by Ayse Kulin
Now I Know More about Turkey (9/27/2013)
One of the reasons I requested this book was that I didn't know much about Turkey's role in World War II. I did come away from the novel with a much better sense of how Turkey worked to protect its citizens, including Jews, from the Nazis, by jumping through hoops to getmore
A Man of His Own
by Susan Wilson
Let there be Pax (8/23/2013)
I requested this book because I enjoy books in which dogs play a major role and that was certainly the case with this engrossing and sensitive novel. When, in the Prologue we meet the Pax, puppy abandoned by his mother, it is pretty clear that he is a survivor and is suremore
Three Things You Need to Know About Rockets: A Memoir
by Jessica A. Fox
You Won't Learn about Rockets (6/26/2013)
This engaging memoir is NOT about a dysfunctional family. It is Jessica Fox's story about how instinct led her to leave a job as a filmmaker at NASA and Google helped her find her destination – a second hand bookstore in Wigtown, Scotland. Waiting for her is Euan, bookstoremore
The Caretaker
by A .X. Ahmad
What an Impressive Debut! (5/4/2013)
A.X. Ahmad has crafted a riveting mystery with a highly unlikely but engaging hero, Ranjit Singh and he is one of the reasons I enjoyed this so much. Singh has fled his past in the Indian military and now lives on Martha's Vineyard where he labors as a caretaker. When hemore
Children of the Jacaranda Tree
by Sahar Delijani
Better than average - a 3.5 (2/28/2013)
Set in Post Revolutionary Iran, "Children of the Jacaranda Tree," presents an extraordinary though disturbing picture of the interconnected lives of a group of characters. The more I read, the more I wondered whether the material would have been better suited to amore
With or Without You: A Memoir
by Domenica Ruta
Without Me...... (11/24/2012)
If you enjoy reading memoirs about dysfunctional families, then this book is for you. The author is both eloquent and honest. Most readers are sure to empathize with the story she weaves about her childhood and toxic relationship with her mother. I appreciate the author'smore
The Forgetting Tree: A Novel
by Tatjana Soli
On The Fence (8/13/2012)
The Forgetting Tree has a bit of a saga quality as it follows the journey of Claire, the head of a California ranch family, through tragedy, divorce, cancer and survival. It’s a lot to tackle and it succeeded on several levels, but failed on others. It was very well writtenmore
  • Page
  • 1
  • 2

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    The Wager
    by David Grann
    From the bestselling author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a gripping story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Harlem Rhapsody
    by Victoria Christopher Murray

    The extraordinary story of the woman who ignited the Harlem Renaissance.

  • Book Jacket

    Three Days in June
    by Anne Tyler

    A new Anne Tyler novel destined to be an instant classic: a socially awkward mother of the bride navigates the days before and after her daughter's wedding.

Who Said...

When men are not regretting that life is so short, they are doing something to kill time.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

D to T N

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.