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Reviews by Diane S.

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Purgatory
Purgatory
by Ken Bruen
Purgatory (10/15/2013)
Jack Taylor is one of the most original characters in fiction. He is an ex-guard, a crusty and dark and cynical individual, a good friend to a few, bad news to those who cross him or the ones he loves, he loves to read and a friend keeps his apartment stocked with novels. …more
The Lowland
The Lowland
by Jhumpa Lahiri
The Lowland (10/2/2013)
Two brothers, born fifteen months apart in Calcutta, India, inseparable until the 1960's when they are both in their mid twenties and their interests begin to diverge. Udayar becomes a follower of Mao's revolutionary politics and joins the Naxalite movement. Which I had to …more
The Impersonator
The Impersonator: A Mystery
by Mary Miley
The Impersonator (9/25/2013)
Leah/Jesse is such a fun, quirky and lovable character. First person narrations are sometimes hard to pull off but it works so well in this story. Just pure fun, a romp through the twenties and vaudeville. We even get to meet a young Jack Benny, and a few others who at the …more
Henry and Rachel
Henry and Rachel
by Laurel Saville
Henry and Rachel (9/20/2013)
I feel that books that are written based on an actual person, in this case the author's family members, are more appealing to me because they are based on reality. In this case I felt the strongest character was the island of Jamaica, the history and the descriptions were …more
The Returned
The Returned
by Jason Mott
The Returned (9/19/2013)
This book is being heavily promoted and is now in production for a television series. It is a book that raises so many questions. The dead start appearing, (not a vampire or Zombie in the bunch, thank you Jason Mott) an eight year old boy who drowned at the age of eight, …more
Burial Rites
Burial Rites
by Hannah Kent
Burial rites (9/4/2013)
It is very hard to describe the atmosphere of this novel. The coldness, the loneliness, the lives hard lived permeate this book, as the story of Agnes is told. Well researched accounting of the last woman beheaded and the last case of capitol punishment in Iceland in 1830. …more
Claire of the Sea Light
Claire of the Sea Light
by Edwidge Danticat
Claire of the Sea Light (8/29/2013)
Love the title of this book and the cover, even though I read it on my kindle I can see the cover on this site. This book was like a circular maze, where the prize is in the middle and you just follow in circular movements. It starts with a young seven yr. old Claire going …more
Just What Kind of Mother Are You?
Just What Kind of Mother Are You?
by Paula Daly
What Kind of Mother are you (8/20/2013)
So many of us are overloaded, trying to get to our jobs, taking care of the house, husband, children and pets, just trying to make it through the day. It is so easy to identify with the character of Lisa, a woman trying to do it all and who occasionally slips up. In her …more
Night Film
Night Film
by Marisha Pessl
Night Film (8/19/2013)
This book is so many different things, but all of them are exceedingly well done and well thought out. I usually do not read books that are over 400 pgs. because by then I am bored with the book and wishing it was over. Yet, I now may have to revise because I have just read …more
The Panopticon
The Panopticon: A Novel
by Jenni Fagan
The Panopticon (8/19/2013)
Anais is an amazing character, she is now 15 and has been shuffled from one foster home to another, she arrives at the Panopticon because of her suspected part in the severe injury done to a policewoman. At the prison she will meet other youth, just like herself. There is …more
Visitation Street
Visitation Street
by Ivy Pochoda
Visitation Street (7/14/2013)
This book was chosen by Dennis Lehane to be published under his imprint and after reading this I can certainly see why. The Red Hook area in Brooklyn, an area that contains middle class families, pushing against the tenements, a diverse grouping of people that have made …more
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
by Karen Joy Fowler
We are all completely besides ourselves (7/14/2013)
This was a very different type of novel for this author, a novel that was not easy to write because at any time it could have easily crossed over into the absurd and it did not. It was humorous at times but always at the core there was an element of seriousness.

This is a …more
The Other Typist
The Other Typist: A Novel
by Suzanne Rindell
The Other Typist (7/7/2013)
I am not quite sure why but I seem to have read a few novels lately that have a naive young woman and another manipulative one. This one is very well written, a psychological tour de force, with an unreliable narrator and different revelations that keep you guessing. It is …more
To the Moon and Timbuktu
To the Moon and Timbuktu: A Trek through the Heart of Africa
by Nina Sovich
To the Moon and Timbuktu (7/1/2013)
I really enjoyed reading about her travels, all the different cultures and her journey both internal and outward. I do think her writing strength is when she is describes the people she meets of the dialogue between herself and others. I did find the journey itself a bit …more
The Light in the Ruins
The Light in the Ruins
by Chris Bohjalian
the light in the ruins (7/1/2013)
Set in the early 1940's and alternating in the 1950's, this is about the Rosatis, a wealthy family with Etruscan paintings in a hidden spot in their groves, become tangled up in Hitler's crazy art scheme and war itself. Living in Florence they felt they were safe until they …more
Dream with Little Angels
Dream with Little Angels
by Michael Hiebert
Dream with Little Angels (6/24/2013)
A small southern town in Alabama in the fifties, a town still reeling from the loss and death of a child twelve years ago, is the setting for this novel. It is being compared with "To Kill a Mockingbird" which I have read but so long ago I do not feel comfortable commenting …more
Until She Comes Home
Until She Comes Home
by Lori Roy
When she comes home (6/16/2013)
Alder Street in Detroit is your typical middle class street of the 1950's. The factory in town is the main employer and the women wait for their men to come home after a hard day at work, looking their best and ready to put food on the table. Things are changing, however, …more
The Fever Tree
The Fever Tree
by Jennifer McVeigh
Fever Tree (6/12/2013)
Set in the latter part of Queen Victoria's reign, this is the story of Francis a young woman ill equipped to handle the circumstances in which she finds herself. I actually found this part of the story rather cliched, and although I had some sympathy for her I found the …more
TransAtlantic
TransAtlantic: A Novel
by Colum McCann
Transatlantic (6/12/2013)
Trite but true, all good things must come to an end. I so wanted to keep reading the wonderful prose, the settings that let one think they are part of the story, and the wonderful characters that this novel contains. McCann has the knack of illuminating the everyday things …more
The Silver Star
The Silver Star
by Jeannette Walls
Silver Star (6/9/2013)
If ever an author is able to write a wonderfully poignant novel about two young girls and an unstable mother, Wallis is the one. She has a such a fluent way of storytelling and a compassionate treatment of her characters. Bean is twelve, her sister fifteen and though it is …more

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