BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

As Bright as Heaven
by Susan Meissner

Life, Death and Love (10/7/2017)

This story follows the lives of four women in a family starting in 1918 and ending in 1926. It takes place in Philadelphia and, while it is during the Great War, it is also and chiefly about the Spanish Flu epidemic, which killed 12 million worldwide. The story is told by a mother and her three daughters in alternating chapters by each character. I felt like I knew the characters and became enmeshed in their lives and wanted to get back to the story every day. The family in the story are undertakers, but there is nothing ghoulish about it. It just seems like a necessary thing that someone has to do, and provides perspective about the amount of deaths there were from the epidemic.

The Almost Sisters
by Joshilyn Jackson

Quirky and fun (5/16/2017)

Joshilyn Jackson's books are a joy to read with her intelligent writing. This book is full of quirky family members, like most of us have, and follows a free spirited graphic book writer and artist's life. The references to all the super hero comic book characters were lost on me and may be hard for some to read around, but her handling of her grandmother's Lewy body sickness and black prejudice in a small southern town are great and written with much humor.

The Stars Are Fire
by Anita Shreve

Absorbing story (3/21/2017)

I became engrossed in this novel and read it in two days. I wonder what would have happened to this women and her children if she hadn't had the advantage of her mother-in-law's house to live in and her mother to babysit while she got a job? Would she have appeared to be so strong? I thought her husband's character was one-dimensional, pure evil, and the ending was a bit fanciful for me, but it was a good read.

North of Crazy: A Memoir
by Neltje

Plodding Memoir (6/9/2016)

I thought the first half of the book was so boring I actually quit reading it and read another book before I could make myself get back to this book. Her plodding on and on about day to day events just don't seem interesting to me. Her time in Wyoming was much more interesting, and while it reminded me of the way women were treated back in the 60s and 70s (your husband signed to buy a house) it still wasn't a page turner. I found it almost whining, and she did make a lot of stupid choices, but I guess her upbringing made her naïve. It did make me want to look up some of her artwork along with works from other artists she mentioned in the book.

If I Forget You
by Thomas Christopher Greene

Engrossing Love Story (4/5/2016)

This is a well written love story, not a romance novel. I became engrossed in this novel right from the beginning and finished it the second day. It is one of those novels I wished would go on and on. The writing is so good it overcomes some of the flaws, one of which is that it is the familiar story of a rich kid falling in love with a poor kid, the clichéd rich kid's family not wanting their kid to throw her life away rather than be happy with someone she truly loves. I also didn't appreciate that the main character felt that sons are more important that daughters, but it did help make the story. It is a very absorbing, emotional book.

Trust No One: A Thriller
by Paul Cleave

Write What You Know (5/26/2015)

At age 49, Early Onset Alzheimer's victim, Jerry Grey is a popular crime writer, but has forgotten most of his 13 novels and much of his life is a confusing blur. Paul Cleave does a good job of illustrating the frustration and sadness of this disease while making a "unputdownable" thriller. I couldn't help but feel sorry for the members of his family who have to live through this tragedy and for Jerry himself, who forgets things daily, but remembers parts of his novels as though they are real life and confesses to some of the fictional crimes he made up. This a is great book for this genre, for people who like twists and turns. It gets only a little too unbelievable toward the end (as most thrillers do) but is still a great read.

He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him
by Mimi Baird with Eve Claxton

Manic depression - a first-person account (3/15/2015)

This is a sad, heartwarming description of manic depression as described by a manic depressive patient, who was himself a renowned doctor. I have never seen so vividly and coherently explained the actual feelings and perceptions of a person while in a manic state. This book goes into the treatments, which were actually a type of torture, of patients in psychiatric hospitals in the 40s. It is also a very sad story of a man isolated from his family and the pain it caused him and his daughter, who grew up wondering about her father all her life. It makes me wish for a cure or at least more help for the poor individuals inflicted with this disease. It could be any one of us.

The Last Flight of Poxl West
by Daniel Torday

Love, Guilt, and WWII (12/24/2014)

This book is full of emotion, mostly love, remorse and guilt. It's not so much about WWII as it is about people living during the war. As I got further into the book, I couldn't put it down, wondering if the pilot was going to find his lover again, if Eli would see Poxl again, if it was true what the papers said about Poxl. The book has what the author calls "Interludes", where the present day boy reminds us that we are reading a book written by his "uncle". The interludes are very important to read, even though it feels like they are taking us away from the story. An interesting book.

The Last Good Paradise
by Tatjana Soli

Disappointing paradise (11/4/2014)

If you have read "The Lotus Eaters" by this author, you will be expecting a great book. It isn't even particularly interesting, but the dumb affairs and relationships of the people on this island are silly and unlikely and the whole story wraps up too neatly.

Enduring Courage: Ace Pilot Eddie Rickenbacker and the Dawn of the Age of Speed
by John F. Ross

Mechanics: Read and Enjoy!! (4/16/2014)

The good part of this book is the amount of detail the author went into while telling about the life of Eddie Rickenbacker. A lot or work and research went into it and it reveals a genius at mechanics and a person unbelievably unafraid to try new machines at heretofore unheard of speeds and heights (planes). I didn't know that he had been a driver in the Indy 500 before becoming a pilot.
The part I didn't care for is all the detail that went into explaining every mechanical problem he had and how he solved it. That would be great for a person who loves to work on cars and engines and understands all of it, but I had a hard time staying interested in all of that since I don't have much knowledge about engines.
That doesn't take away from the amazing exploits of this ambitious, adventurous pilot. I would have liked a little more continuity to the story instead of it reading like a collection of short stories.

Safe with Me
by Amy Hatvany

Safe With Me (11/19/2013)

I believe that this should be categorized as Young Adult fiction. It examines both sides, the giving and receiving, of a donor liver, but it is more about a woman staying with an abusive husband for reasons an outsider wouldn't understand, like really having no place to go and no means of support, of losing custody of your children because he's too powerful and rich, like feeling that it's your own fault, that he will change. The book is told through the eyes of a teenaged organ transplant recipient and also in third person about her abused mother and the donor's mother.
This book might try to cover too much, like the teenaged liver recipient trying to fit in in high school, her feelings about her abusive father, the mother's emotions, the mother of the liver donor's emotions, but it is a good book for young adults.

Last Train to Istanbul
by Ayse Kulin

Saving Turkish Jews (9/11/2013)

The historical part of this book is very interesting. I had never read anything about Turkey's involvement in saving Jews during WWII. Parts of the book were filled with suspense and I had no trouble finishing the book. The only thing that kept it from being a 4 star book is that the characters were rather one dimensional and too good to be true. If you like historical fiction, this one would be good, it being a step up from a romance novel.

With or Without You: A Memoir
by Domenica Ruta

White Trash Opera (11/18/2012)

Sometimes it's hard to read about the life of a woman who was raised by an unfit mother. This book has chapter after chapter of the author relating repulsive things her mother said and did, like leaving her 10 year old daughter with a known pedophile, wanting her teenaged daughter to get pregnant and starting her daughter out on alcohol and snorting Oxycontin. Her mother is the kind of person I don't want to be around, and spending a whole book reading about her was almost more than I could take. Maybe the author wanted us to understand why she is "through" with her mother. Don't worry. I forgive the author. Even with a lot of rambling, aimless jumping about throughout her past and present life, the last few chapters of the book about her recovery make the book worth reading. The book can best be summed up with a quote from the author,"It starts out as a girlish whisper, grows louder with each passing year, until that faint promise we traced in the sand becomes a declarative, then an imperative: I WILL NOT BECOME BY MOTHER."

The Mark Inside: A Perfect Swindle, a Cunning Revenge, and a Small History of the Big Con
by Amy Reading

TMI - Too Much Information (6/10/2012)

This book tells you everything you wanted to know, a lots you didn't, about the "big con". This could have been a real interesting book. It is a non-fiction story about a rancher in 1919 who got swindled in a "big con" (think THE STING), then spent years tracking down the swindlers. We were sidelined with just TOO MUCH INFORMATION and details about every person in the sting and all the details about other cons they had pulled. The book plodded along and became so tedious to read that I skimmed the last half of the book just to find out whatever happened. I was struck by how crooked everyone seemed to be, from the victims, the swindlers to the police departments. If you had faith in your fellow man before you read this, you won't after. I think this would make a good movie and would be interesting to real history nuts who like to delve into subjects completely.

The First Warm Evening of the Year: A Novel
by Jamie M. Saul

Unromantic love story (4/11/2012)

This book is about love at first sight, but it is not a sappy romance novel nor is it action-filled. It is more about characters who have settled for their lives and resist change. It is a sensitive, moving, character driven story about a middle aged man who is called on to be the executor for the estate of an old friend and finds that the departed friend had, before her death, arranged for him to meet a widowed friend of hers. It is very analytical story filled with inner turmoil and it flows along smoothly, even though some people may find the situations sad and depressing. Great writing.

Losing Clementine: A Novel
by Ashley Ream

A humorous look at preparing for suicide. (2/5/2012)

At the beginning of the book I didn't care for Clementine, an artist who has a mental condition and decides to end it all rather than spend the rest of her life on drugs. As the story carries on, she seems more likable and I was interested to see if she ever finds her father. Lots of humor, even in the fairly graphic sex scenes.

That Deadman Dance: A Novel
by Kim Scott

That slow, tedious dance (11/4/2011)

While this book was filled with passion and emotion, it was just too disjointed for me. The very good writing was eclipsed by the meandering thru past and future and repetitious words by the older Bobby. The story moved slowly and became tedious, even though I could feel the despair on the part of the aborigines and the fear the early settlers had of them. The older Bobby said "Who knew that being friendly to them would cost us everything?" Very Poignant.

Loose Diamonds: ...and other things I've lost (and found) along the way
by Amy Ephron

Loose Diamonds (8/1/2011)

This book is a collection of stories and musings from the author's life. It is like reading a bunch of newspaper columns that have a little humor and not much feeling or intrigue. I would rather read one of them a day with the morning newspaper than try to read them all at once since I hardly remember any one of them. They are not terribly interesting, but they are filled with name dropping. It is definitely not like reading a collection of quality short stories. I would recommend this book to anyone trying to get to sleep.

Ten Thousand Saints: A Novel
by Eleanor Henderson

Parents beware (5/5/2011)

This book is very well written, but it would be more interesting to someone who is interested in learning about the punk-rock era of the 80s, or re-living it. It would be a very scary book for parents of kids soon to be the age of the characters in the book, late high schoolers. Peer pressure leads to indiscriminate sexual experiments and drugs abound, as do any other means of getting high, like sniffing glue, paint cans, etc. It is about more than that, though. It is about young people learning about love and doing what they think is the right thing. It is about family relationships, parent to kids, brother to brother. It wasn't really my cup of tea, (I am 60) but a good book anyway, hence the 4 stars.

Jamrach's Menagerie: A Novel
by Carol Birch

Sea Sickness (2/8/2011)

While the writing was great, very descriptive and made me feel like I was there, it is something I don't want to relive. The first half of the book was a wonderfully adventurous sea voyage, but I can't recommend this book to anyone I can think of since it is too unsettling and too detailed. I finished it a few hours ago and I am still sad, thirsty and feel dehydrated, but have no appetite. I wish it had ended differently.

Reviews by Bea C. (Liberty Lake, WA)

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