BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Elizabeth G. (Cincinnati, OH)

Every Anxious Wave
by Mo Daviau

Nineties Music and Love in the Time of Time Travel (10/14/2015)

I was captivated from the first page. This debut novel by Miss Mo, Mo Daviau, is a fun and creative read for the Generation X and Y crowd (and anyone interested in the alternative/modern music of the 1980s/1990s and the subsequent collapse of the radio and the music …more

Dangerous When Wet: A Memoir
by Jamie Brickhouse

Boring as a Wet Cocktail Napkin (4/14/2015)

I wanted to like this memoir but as I read it, questions came to mind such as: how did this book even get published? I've read a lot of books and watched several films about addiction and find them very interesting. This book is interesting at first, but what do you do when …more the main character has no interests, no character, and one basic goal in life? The author includes more details about the random guys he picks up than about his long-time partner.

Jamie's goals from a young age--(high school) are to drink and boink. Those are his aspirations in life and he sets out to do them in NYC because he always visualized himself drinking there--oh the glamour! We get details on how much he loves fur coats--a lot!. He loves martinis. He adores Joan Crawford. We get a glimpse of a few real people that seem important to him, but one who sounds incredibly interesting and maybe influential is reduced to the angora sweater she wears. And unfortunately is gone too soon.

The author sets out to party because he wants to; and he loves it and continues endlessly. It's a bit backward; and since he's my age, the post-80s sex education makes it counter-intuitive as well. Dangerous is right.

The "drama" about MamaJean is really overdone. She is a Southern woman who lavishes attention on her baby, but I really couldn't see how it was any more co-dependent than a lot of child-parent relationships that don't involve drinking and boinking as your main goals in life. He went off to college and then moved to New York. If she had a tantrum here and there, so what? Parents sometimes get mad and have a little drama. This book is just a love letter to the author. He used her as part of the framework for this book. She was busy with her life during this time as well but always helped him when he needed it. It's possible he thinks her slight eccentricity and his shallow eccentrics make him special somehow, but they don't. I've known plenty of alcoholics, some family members. None have risen to this height of utter disdain.

His contempt for everything from his small hometown to monogamy to 12-step programs to a really nice rehab is off the charts. What does Jamie love? Fur coats, alcohol, sex, and himself. And Mama Jean to some extent. When he can look past himself. This book is a great guide about a full-blown narcissist. He wasn't repressed, oppressed, abused, or harmed in any way. He wanted to drink and boink as much as possible and he did so until he was too sick to do it anymore.

There is no redemption for this spoiled, immature, shallow, irresponsible, egotisitcal brat. He's taken it all for granted. If you want a good memoir about addiction--this is NOT it.

Note: I have no problem with gay writers or addicts at all. The issue here is that this book was a complete chore to read with no redeeming qualities. I'd recommend David Sedaris for great writing on family dynamics and even James Frey's A Million Little Pieces (part fiction or not; it's still a much better story). (less)

The Fortune Hunter
by Daisy Goodwin

Pleasantly Surprised (5/17/2014)

I don't usually like this type of novel--the story or the writing. But I was drawn in from the beginning and couldn't put the book aside for anything else. I liked all the elements of historical fiction, mystery, romance, and a bit of feminism in the main character (I don't …more

Buying In
by Laura Hemphill

Buying in Clueless (10/23/2013)

I have been interested in finance and economics all of my life and was very excited to read this novel (and was a Literature major). Unfortunately it was horrible. There is one protagonist, but the story is told from the POV of a few main characters. The characters are two- …more

One Minus One: Nancy Pearl's Book Lust Rediscoveries
by Ruth Doan MacDougall

A View of a Time (5/17/2013)

One Minus One is a novel examining a woman's life at a very specific time in a very specific place at a very specific time in U.S. history. I couldn't help but think of the tv show Mad Men because of the author's attention to detail and the fact that it is set in the late 60 …more

Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
by Therese Anne Fowler

I'll Take Zelda (5/17/2013)

Z, the novel about the life of Zelda Sayre Fitzgerald is at points charming and; like another reviewer, I kept thinking of the movie, "Midnight in Paris." It was very interesting, having a degree in literature, and learning more about this couple. I'm not one that puts …more

The White Mary: A Novel
by Kira Salak

The White Mary (7/31/2008)

I was so excited to read this book--a journalist who draws from personal experience in some of the most war-torn and unstable places on the planet as well as a personal journey in a place we rarely hear of in the news. I was disappointed to find a novel with few interesting …more

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
by Mary Ann Shaffer, Annie Barrows

Charming and Unique (7/27/2008)

This creative novel has a lot to offer. Formatted in letter-only narrative, a wonderful story unfolds in post-war England. Although the basic history is known, it offers a perspective of how hard hit England was and how difficult it is to recover from the horrors of war and …more

Ancestor Stones: A Novel
by Aminatta Forna

Voices from Africa (2/8/2008)

A beautifully told story of Sierra Leone through the voices of four daughters in the Kholifa clan (same father, all different mothers) spanning from 1926 to 2003. Describes a nearly lost way of life, the tragedy of civil war, and the unbreakable bonds of family, especially …more

Gomorrah: A Personal Journey into the Violent International Empire of Naples' Organized Crime System
by Roberto Saviano, translated by Virginia Jewiss

An Entirely New View on Italy (10/13/2007)

I knew corruption was rampant in the government, but this book rips open the wounds of ongoing and enmeshed organized crime at odds with building a fruitful and strong society. It's a tough read, redundant, and the author is clearly so close to the material it has made him …more

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

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by Evie Woods

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

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Real Americans
by Rachel Khong

From the author of Goodbye, Vitamin, a novel exploring family, identity, and the shaping of destiny.

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