BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Crossing the River: Seven Stories That Saved My Life, A Memoir
by Carol Smith

Crossing the river (2/2/2021)

This book will not be for everyone but it definitely met a need for me. The author loses her son to a condition that he was born with...She is an author by trade and she begins writing about children parents and adults facing in most tremendous odds with diseases and conditions that don't offer much hope .She does this as she copes this with the lost of her son. She is an excellent writer and I wondered so many times how she could take these issues she was writing about for such long periods of time. You will shed some tears and feel the pain of those stories. I highly recommend for those who are grieving.

Travelers: A Novel
by Helon Habila

Travelers (7/6/2019)

I enjoyed the premise of the book. Travelers meaning those that have left their countries to escape, find a better life, to be in a different place. I think it had an excellent message but there were times when the language of the writer and the reader caused confusion. I did like the concept.

Courting Mr. Lincoln
by Louis Bayard

Lincoln review (3/13/2019)

This is a delightful book about the other side of Lincoln. Having grown up in Illinois Lincoln was an especially important character in our history. The relationship with Mary Todd was always portrayed less favorably and I really liked the detail the author went to to give us another side.

The Days When Birds Come Back
by Deborah Reed

the day when birds come home....... (11/18/2017)

I felt the language and writing was superb...but felt that in some ways that took away from the storyline...the depth of feelings was there, but the connections were too weak for me.

The Fifth Petal: A Novel
by Brunonia Barry

Witchcraft at its best! (2/13/2017)

This is not a genre I usually read but it was well done and keep me reading when I should have been sleeping. The setting is Salem, Massachusetts, and we revisit the Salem witch trials of 1692 and follow them to modern day descendants. Many twists and turns weave a good mystery and sets us up for book three.

Edgar and Lucy
by Victor Lodato

I loved this book! (12/2/2016)

I truly enjoyed this book. It is wonderfully written and while it may not be for everyone; it grabbed me. The subject of death and love and how we deal with it is so well done. Edgar is an albino and and is a young boy for most of the story. Secrets of his fathers death lead him to many questions that stay unspoken by the others in his family. Conrad comes on the scene with his own issues and a very unusual relationship. The author does a great job of dealing with how all people deal with sadness, grief and love in different ways. You are actually in the minds of the different main characters which makes the book especially clear on the feelings and thoughts of the characters. This book is a thought-provoking one for sure.

The Bone Tree: A Penn Cage Novel, Natchez Burning Trilogy #2
by Greg Iles

Humm (10/31/2016)

This book had great potential but was too long and too many impossible events to keep one's mind on the important parts of the story.

Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
by Anne Sebba

Tough read (7/17/2016)

This book is about Paris women and how they faced WWII. It is not an easy read. There are a multitude of characters that come from many backgrounds. It is a definitely a well researched piece of work, which would appeal to a history buff rather than a reader of historical fiction which is my choice. I think the main difficulties is the number of characters. The cast of characters would have been better placed at the beginning of the book rather than the end where you could easily access it and you would know it was there in the beginning. It was not a book I would recommend to the average reader. I would actually give it two ratings, 2 for readability and 5 for detail and research.

Lady Cop Makes Trouble: Girl Waits with Gun #2
by Amy Stewart

Fun Read (5/16/2016)

This was light mystery based on a lady detective in 1915, there actually was a Constance Kopp and the story is a combination of fact and fiction. It was a delightful story which held the readers interest throughout the book. It is a second Constance Kopp book and I am sure the readers will want another. I probably would not have picked up the book, but I would have missed a good story about Constance and her equally interesting sisters. It is a book that you would read when you want to smile and just relax.

Ashes of Fiery Weather
by Kathleen Donohoe

Interesting read (3/21/2016)

I enjoyed the theme of this book about wives of Irish firefighters and their families. She had very good insight into the various women that were part of this story. I was able to identify with the feelings and actions that were depicted. I wanted to keep reading which is a good sign for me. I wished she had formatted the book better. It was hard to jump to a future date or back to a former time in the same chapters. A better transition would have been easier for the readers. It is also possible that there could have been fewer characters covered. I did like the book and hope she writes a sequel.

Crazy Blood
by T. Jefferson Parker

Crazy Blood (1/13/2016)

I would like to be positive about this book, but I found it a difficult book to read. It did not flow and it felt disjointed to me. I didn't care about the characters, there was not enough development of the characters to relate to them. I have had some experience with ski racing, but found the book didn't make me want to know as much as was presented. I think there was some potential to make it a better read.

The Well
by Catherine Chanter

Interesting (3/11/2015)

I found I liked the fact that the author started us in the future and had Ruth take us through the past as she struggles to understand what occurred. I had a little trouble with Ruth's involvement with the "cult". I felt she was a stronger woman. Did this strength emerge after her experiences? I found the girls in the cult unappealing, which might have lead me to not totally accept Ruth's absorption. The author did engage me immediately in the story and I wanted to keep reading. I think it is a well-written book, but not one for everyone.

The Same Sky
by Amanda Eyre Ward

Great title (11/12/2014)

What a wonderful book! Connects a good life with a longing for a child with a young girl who takes her younger brother from Honduras to Texas. Certainly very timely given the recent events on the border. No matter where you stand on immigration it gives you many things on which to reflect. What would you have do if you lived in an extremely poverty stricken country? Is there room in ones heart to do what Alice did? Definitely a book that will stay with you. Amanda Ward is my new addition to authors I must read.

Her
by Harriet Lane

HER (5/4/2014)

I found the book lacking. The characters were well developed and you had a good sense of their feelings and time of life they were experiencing. But there needed to be more substance to the storyline. I did not like the repetition in some of the chapters.
The reader needed a better ending then they received and I didn't find the story as compelling as it could have been.

Doing Harm
by Kelly Parsons

Do not read before surgery! (10/25/2013)

This is an excellent medical thriller. It is a "stay with it until you finish it" kind of book. Many twists and turns. Someone is murdering patients using methods or situations that can happen in a hospital setting and not be discovered. The author is a doctor which brings medical credibility to the story. Well done by a first novel author. Would recommend it to anyone who likes a gripping story.

The Mouse-Proof Kitchen
by Saira Shah

Tough Topic (6/23/2013)

First time parents expecting a child of their dreams and having those dreams dashed with the birth of their extremely disabled little girl. This is not a book I would have picked up to read because of the topic. I think the author did a good job of dealing with the multitude of feelings that parents must go through in this situation, including the joy of love brought to their lives. I think it would provide a good discussion for a book club. I did feel the relationships with the other characters in the book were not developed very well, too many difficult characters handled superficially.

The Lion in the Lei Shop
by Kaye Starbird

good read (5/28/2013)

This was an interesting return to history. We don't often read about the secondary impact of terrific events like Pearl Harbor. I enjoyed the two viewpoints from the five year old daughter, and her mother. The difference in age gives such different responses to any event. It was nice to have an older book brought back to the present. I am sure those who read it when it was originally published had different feelings then those of us who are reading it now. A good read for a book club.

The House Girl
by Tara Conklin

Well-done (11/22/2012)

If you like the Civil War era with an interwoven mystery you will like this book. The author does a good job of moving from modern day to 1850's with parallel stories of a slave girl and a young lawyer. The common threads are the art world and situations that require similar choices to our circumstances in life. The time of the Underground Railroad is a powerful time where each individual had to look at the slavery issue and make some difficult decisions. I didn't feel the modern day issues with Lina's mother was developed as well as it could of been, but the part with Josephine was very well done. It is a book that I think about after reading and want to share it..so that is my best recommendation.

A Simple Murder
by Eleanor Kuhns

An interesting start to a new series (4/12/2012)

I found this to be a light enjoyable mystery with an interesting setting. The story kept my attention and the characters were ones that I found appealing; however, I did think the characters were more modern than historically accurate. In the beginning I felt that some of the writing was not smooth and the dialog somewhat simple. It would not be on my recommended list, but I would like to see a sequel and would read the next book. I think the author's writing will definitely improve.

King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village
by Peggielene Bartels, Eleanor Herman

King Peggy (12/16/2011)

What a delightful story!! I enjoyed the "King" and what she brought to this village in Ghana. It had me smiling many times, and it would be a good book for book clubs allowing them to discuss strong women and look at this part of the world in a way we don't often have the privilege of encountering.

Reviews by Donna N. (sherwood, or)

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Reviews by Donna N. (sherwood, or)

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