Explore our new BookBrowse Community Forum!

Reviews by Linda W. (Walnut Creek, CA)

If you'd like to be able to easily share your reviews with others, please join BookBrowse.
Order Reviews by:
A Hundred Flowers: A Novel
by Gail Tsukiyama
A Hundred Flowers (7/18/2012)
The first word that comes to mind is quiet. The story centers around a family coming to terms with the new reality that is Communist China under Mao. At the heart of the story is a family.
Three generations of the Lee family live in what used to be the family's villa. Sheng is the husband of Kay Ying, father of Tao and son of Wei. He has been arrested and sent off for reeducation because of a letter sent to Chairman Mao critical of the regime. Dealing with the effects of this arrest, is the plot that drives this story.

While all of the characters are appealing, I would not recommend this title for a book club choice because I don't see much to discuss.
A Trick of the Light: Armand Gamache Series #7
by Louise Penny
A Trick of Light (7/10/2011)
Louise Penny does an outstanding job on her character development. Her recurring characters seem like old friends, people you might like to meet. This time Clara is celebrated at a successful art show. A murder at the party afterwards dampens her spirits--especially when the victim is identified as someone Clara felt had betrayed her. as the story unfolds, we learn that this woman had harmed many others in her earlier life. At the time of her death she was trying to right things with those she'd harmed. With so many suspects, this mystery kept me guessing right to the end.
Bury Your Dead: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, #6
by Louise Penny
Bury Your Dead (9/7/2010)
The latest entry in Louise Penny's Three Pines mystery series finds Inspector Gamache in Quebec City recovering from serious injuries. I found this to be a highly compelling story. Previously Gamache has been like Poirot--a man who notices everything and uses his mind to puzzle out the truth in each situation. This time he doubts himself. He is more vulnerable and so much more human.

He works alone trying to forget the recent past by delving into the long ago past. His research brings him in contact with the staff of the English Literary and Historical Society. They soon ask for his help in uncovering the truth about the death of a man found buried in a shallow grave in their basement.

The story is set in the depth of the brutal Canadian winter. The backdrop for the story is the conflict between the English minority hanging on to a life style that is slowly being eroded and the separatists in this French province.

Inspector Jean Guy Beauvoir is recovering in Three Pines. Gamache has him quietly looking into the results of their last case in the isolated village. The inspector soon learns what his chief has known all along. Three Pines is no ordinary place. Here he too, finds peace of mind and a sense of belonging sorely missing in his life.

I highly recommend Bury Your Dead to mystery fans. The series is well written and has engaging characters. I would not choose this for my book club because I don't see a lot to discuss. Read it and enjoy!
  • Page
  • 1

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Our Evenings
    Our Evenings
    by Alan Hollinghurst
    Alan Hollinghurst's novel Our Evenings is the fictional autobiography of Dave Win, a British ...
  • Book Jacket: Graveyard Shift
    Graveyard Shift
    by M. L. Rio
    Following the success of her debut novel, If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio's latest book is the quasi-...
  • Book Jacket: The Sisters K
    The Sisters K
    by Maureen Sun
    The Kim sisters—Minah, Sarah, and Esther—have just learned their father is dying of ...
  • Book Jacket: Linguaphile
    Linguaphile
    by Julie Sedivy
    From an infant's first attempts to connect with the world around them to the final words shared with...

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Pony Confidential
    by Christina Lynch

    In this whimsical mystery, a grumpy pony must clear his beloved human's name from a murder accusation.

Who Said...

It is among the commonplaces of education that we often first cut off the living root and then try to replace its ...

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

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

F the M

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.