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Reviews by Arden A. (Longboat Key, FL)

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Paper Names: A Novel
by Susie Luo

Continuity? No. (5/4/2023)

I think I should have enjoyed this book more than I did. The subject was interesting and the story well told by this first time novelist. The characters were well depicted and individualized, as they should be. A Chinese engineer gives up his successful career, by Chinese …more

The All-American: A Novel
by Joe Milan Jr.

How Deep are the Roots (3/3/2023)

There are many books that as you read, you kind of have a sense of where it is all going. Not so with this first novel by a very talented wirier. Bucky is a Korean born high school football player whose perhaps unrealistic goal of college and professional ball are dashed …more

Sisters of the Lost Nation
by Nick Medina

The downside of a then and now format (11/15/2022)

I am half-way through this book, and as much as I appreciate the subject matter, and the writing skill of the author, I'm having a hard time sticking to it. It keeps jumping back and forth in time, and the fact that it is in electronic format makes it difficult to go back …more

In the Time of Our History
by Susanne Pari

Cultural Pitfalls (10/1/2022)

This was an excellent book depicting the trials and tribulations of an Irani family that immigrated to the United states, California and New Jersey, in the late 1990s. The cultural differences that occur in one family when the parents are from one country with strict …more

The Poet's House
by Jean Thompson

Poetry for Non-Poets (6/14/2022)

I wasn't sure I would like this book. I am not a poet, nor do I necessarily enjoy poetry, or understand where it comes from within any poet. But I was wrong. I loved this book. Maybe it was because the main character was a young woman who is the antithesis of a poet, yet …more

The Paris Bookseller
by Kerri Maher

1919 Paris (12/17/2021)

Shakespeare and Company was a renowned Paris bookstore established in 1919 by a woman, Sylvia Beach. It was during a time when Hemingway, Ezra Pound, James Joyce lived and wrote and frequented Sylvia's bookstore, which was an anomaly at that time, since women were not …more

The Latinist: A Novel
by Mark Prins

Another great "ist" book (11/5/2021)

I've always been a sucker for titles that end in "ist"....."The Catastrophist," "The Cellist of Sarajevo," "The Alienist," all books that I ended up loving. And now I've read "The Latinist," a first novel by Mark Prins, and it is every bit as satisfying a read as have been …more

The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

A Secret Well Kept (3/3/2021)

I have not read anything by this author before, but considering how much I enjoyed this book, I will follow her. I enjoy historical fiction that incorporates real people and events, and this book does that. The main character was a fascinating women who kept a difficult …more

Raft of Stars
by Andrew J. Graff

Finn or Fish? (11/27/2020)

I can't find very much information about this author, but it appears that this is his first book, and it's a good one. I think young people would enjoy reading about the two young boys and their adventures when they run away after seemingly having killed the abusive father …more

The Paris Hours: A Novel
by Alex George

An intriguing 24 hours in Paris, 1927 (3/2/2020)

I tend to read more than one book at a time, hence I found it difficult to follow the stories, because each chapter was a different character and I had to go back to re-familiarize myself. That being said, I thought it was a really good book. I enjoyed the way four ordinary …more

The Big Finish
by Brooke Fossey

Wonderful first novel! (10/27/2019)

My husband is 90. Fortunately, he is nowhere near nursing home bound, but I can definitely relate to the curmudgeon angle of this novel. In addition, how on earth the young author of this book can nail the situations and insights, not to mention the dialog of the aged and …more

The Secrets We Kept: A novel
by Lara Prescott

Wonderful first novel! (7/13/2019)

I loved this book. It is a terrific first novel. It takes place during the Cold War and relates a story about Boris Pasternak and his muse (lover) during the writing of Dr. Zhivago, wrapped around the story of the "typists," who are really CIA spies, and their involvement …more

Red, White, Blue
by Lea Carpenter

Not your typical spy novel (7/23/2018)

This is an excellent spy novel, interestingly presented with so much information embedded in each sentence that you tend to reread paragraphs so as not to miss anything. It toggles back and forth between the voice of a spy and the voice of the daughter of a spy, about her …more

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
by Mario Giordano

Auntie Mame in Sicily! (1/13/2018)

Loved this book! Auntie Poldi is a woman of a certain age, reminiscent of an aging flower child, who is headstrong, stubborn, quirky and adventurous, and just a little lustful. Well, maybe not just a little. She shares experiences with her nephew, an aspiring novelist, that …more

Strangers in Budapest
by Jessica Keener

Buda and Pest (10/20/2017)

After the fall of the Communist regime, a young family moves to Budapest to build a new future for them and their newly adopted son. This story takes place in Budapest, where the author lived in the 1990s. The descriptions of the people, of the culture, the little nuances …more

Love and Other Consolation Prizes: A Novel
by Jamie Ford

Another All-Time Favorite (7/18/2017)

I am a huge fan of, "Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet," and that book resides on my all time favorites book list. Jamie Ford's second book, "Songs of Willow Frost," which I also reviewed thanks to BookBrowse, was not up to the standard of its predecessor. This book, …more

The Railwayman's Wife
by Ashley Hay

Poetry in Motion (2/29/2016)

It reads almost like a poem in its eloquence, this novel by Ashley Hay. It's a love story with some interesting twists. The novel takes place in a small coastal Australian town shortly after the end of WWII. When Ani's husband dies in an unexplained railroad accident, she …more

All Is Not Forgotten
by Wendy Walker

The Un-Memory Game (10/14/2015)

She is a teenager, brutally raped at a teenage party, and her parents choose to use a drug treatment to have the memory of the rape erased from her memory bank. But, doesn't that leave a void, an inability to deal with the act or to move forward, not to mention hamper the …more

Trust No One: A Thriller
by Paul Cleave

Write what you know, and fake the rest (5/31/2015)

Write what you know, and fake the rest is Jerry Grey's advice to aspiring writers and is the mantra for this novel. This book needs some editing in the first 75 pages, though. I almost gave up on it; too much time was spent laying the ground work for Alzheimer's victim …more

What Doesn't Kill Her: A Reeve LeClaire Series Novel
by Carla Norton

A Good Beach Read (5/8/2015)

This is the second book by Carla Norman featuring Reeve LeClaire, who had been held captive by an unsavory character for four years. He was subsequently convicted and imprisoned, but when he escapes from the psychiatric facility in which he was held, she finds herself …more

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A Map to Paradise
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The Jackal's Mistress
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From the New York Times bestselling author of Hour of the Witch, a Civil War love story of a Confederate wife and a wounded Yankee.

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