Sign up for our newsletters to receive our Most Anticipated Books of 2025!

Reviews by Gary R. (Bolingbrook, IL)

Order Reviews by:
Beast of the North Woods: Monster Hunter Mysteries #3
by Annelise Ryan
Cryptozoology in wisconsin (11/6/2024)
I must admit I'm familiar with the authors other two books, having read both, so I was looking forward to Beast of the north woods, when I saw Bookbrowse and the publisher were offering this for review. Well I jumped at the chance to try for a copy and lucked out, and itmore
Help Wanted: A Novel
by Adelle Waldman
Blue light special aisle six (1/18/2024)
I really enjoyed this book,it's been awhile that I've laughed while reading,great cast of characters that you can relate to,especially if you're ever worked in retail.just a real fun read,thanks bookbrowse for another author that's new to me. I've put her on my watchlist.ifmore
Digging Stars: A Novel
by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
All the stars in the sky (7/22/2023)
So, where do I start? I apologize for being such a slow reader, but with this book I caught myself rereading passages to savor the language, the sentences, the paragraphs, such great writing! The book itself is about Rosa and her life spent in the "program" continuing hermore
The Montevideo Brief: A Thomas Grey Novel
by J. H. Gelernter
Ahoy Matey! (4/22/2023)
Shades of Patrick O'Brian, there's nothing better than a good read about the age of sail. Thomas Grey is tasked with saving the British Empire by stopping the Spanish from delivering their plunder to Madrid and declaring war on the British by allying themselves with themore
Homestead: A Novel
by Melinda Moustakis
150 acres! (1/31/2023)
I found this to be a really enjoyable read. Set in Alaska in the 1950s from an American territory to statehood, this is the story of one man, Lawrence, trying to make a home for himself, and one woman from Texas who is visiting her sister and brother-in-law and happens tomore
The God of Endings: A Novel
by Jacqueline Holland
Vampires! (10/25/2022)
I must say that I really enjoyed this book, quite a pleasant surprise. A new take on a vampire tale; the story of Collette, how she was turned, her life of eternity, her story unlike any vamp tale you've ever read. Take your time with this story, the author's prose ismore
Fruiting Bodies: Stories
by Kathryn Harlan
Stories to tell (6/4/2022)
I don't know if it's just me but the older I get the more I cherish short story collections. I can pick it up when I have some time and read a story in a short amount of time. The author of Fruiting Bodies has provided a great collection of stories to read, to think about,more
Some of It Was Real
by Nan Fischer
I can read your mind? (4/4/2022)
This was not my typical choice to read but the synopsis sounded interesting, so I took a chance and it was a very pleasant surprise. I really liked the way it was told in alternating chapters by the two main characters, Sylvie, the psychic, or is she just a scam? And Thomas,more
Appleseed
by Matt Bell
The beginning,what's to come,the end! (2/26/2021)
Well this really wasn't an easy read and probably not for everyone. That said i enjoyed this book. In my opinion it was three stories in one. The beginning is about nature vs.man the what's to come is corporate greed and misguided beliefs and what they lead to,the end ismore
Ruthie Fear: A Novel
by Maxim Loskutoff
An ode to the Bitterroot Valley (6/12/2020)
I don't now where to start! Such a good read, the story of Ruthie Fear and also the Bitterroot Valley of Montana! We get to watch the life of Ruthie Fear and her father Rutherford as they live their lives in the shadow of the Montana mountains. A tough life for sure butmore
Migrations: A Novel
by Charlotte McConaghy
We are a plague on the world! (4/16/2020)
Wow! What a good read. At first I thought it would be a little bit depressing for these days: Mass extinction, climate disruption, the end of the wild. But no, not at all! The story of Franny and her search for the last of the arctic terns was engrossing. Had me hooked andmore
The Sun Down Motel
by Simone St. James
Why I love bookbrowse! (11/18/2019)
Why? Because I get to read new, to me, authors that are just so good! This is one of them. Without giving anything away, Carly moves to Fell, New York to look into her aunt Viv's disappearance while she was working the night shift at the Sun Down Hotel! A creepy mysterymore
More News Tomorrow: A Novel
by Susan Richards Shreve
The river (4/10/2019)
What a great read,having never read the author before I took a chance on reading someone new to me and very glad l did! Without giving anything away this is the story of Georgie, who at 70 years old received a letter from the only person still alive that was present whenmore
My Lovely Wife
by Samantha Downing
So-so (10/10/2018)
I tried to like this book but been there done that, really couldn't get into the characters, even though they were well developed. A tennis instructor and his wife and their kids in a affluent community who also kill! Not for me. Really was a struggle getting to the end,more
The Devoted
by Blair Hurley
The price of being free (5/21/2018)
An interesting read about a woman searching for something, something maybe unattainable. The story of Nicole, raised in a catholic family in Boston and looking for something more, turning to Zen Buddhism, getting involved with her "master", and running away to start over inmore
The House of Broken Angels
by Luis Alberto Urrea
The power of family (3/1/2018)
Growing up, when I was in high school I had good friends of Hispanic descent, and this book brought back memories of the strength of their family. This is a great read about Big Angel's clan, the trials and travails they faced head on, and lives lead and lost. By the way, Imore
Wonder Valley
by Ivy Pochoda
Only in California! (7/21/2017)
Quite an interesting read; follow along with the SoCal adventures of the characters as they try to survive. You can feel the heat, you can smell the desert, and it all starts with a traffic jam and a naked jogger. A good read, give it a try!
The Fifth Petal: A Novel
by Brunonia Barry
Real good read (3/4/2017)
Salem,witches,a murder mystery, I'll admit I didn't know what to expect from this book,having not read the lace reader,and was pleasantly surprised. Kept my interest and was fun to read.The town of Salem,the characters,the mystery of the murders of the past and the presentmore
The Alaskan Laundry
by Brendan Jones
Memories (2/17/2016)
1980ish I made my way to Seattle with a backpack and some money for a pass on the Alaska maritime ferry.I met up with a boat carpenter from Boston and a carpenter from Montana,all looking for something else.luckily we were able to get a chair under the heat lamps in themore
Broken Promise: A Thriller
by Linwood Barclay
promise falls! (7/22/2015)
Since I received this advanced copy form BookBrowse, the greatest book site out there, I've survived a flood, a golf ball sized hail storm,and a partially torn retina, and I consider myself lucky, glad I don't live in Promise Falls! I've never experienced such amore
  • Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3

Top Picks

  • Book Jacket: Clear
    Clear
    by Carys Davies
    John Ferguson is a principled man. But when, in 1843, those principles drive him to break from the ...

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket
The Memory Library
by Kate Storey
Journey through the pages of this heartwarming novel, where hope, friendship and second chances are written in the margins.
Book Jacket
Babylonia
by Costanza Casati
From the author of the bestselling Clytemnestra comes another intoxicating excursion into ancient history. When kings fall, queens rise.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Going Home
    by Tom Lamont

    Going Home is a sparkling, funny, bighearted story of family and what happens when three men take charge of a toddler following an unexpected loss.

Book Club Giveaway!
Win My Darling Boy

My Darling Boy by John Dufresne

The story of of a man whose son collapses into addiction and vanishes into the chaotic netherworld of southern Florida.

Enter

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

D T the B O W the B

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.