BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Christine B. (Lilydale, MN)

If you'd like to be able to easily share your reviews with others, please join BookBrowse.

The Language of Secrets
by Ausma Zehanat Khan

The Language of Islam (11/10/2015)

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel (mystery) but I think I did get much more from it because I had just finished reading "Infidel" by Ayaan Hirsi Ali for my book club. The two protagonist detectives lead totally diverse personal lives but are able to connect while trying to …more

We That Are Left
by Clare Clark

Don't Miss This Book! (7/6/2015)

I absolutely loved this book. The prose is beautiful and so lovingly captures the Melville family. Their lives are so intertwined in ways they could hardly imagine. I found myself rooting for one character- then another- then another. Each alone was rather uncomplicated and …more

A Good Family
by Erik Fassnacht

Superb Debut Novel (5/26/2015)

I so thoroughly enjoyed this book. Each member of the Brunson family is undergoing their own personal crisis; a theme generated in many novels. However the format of this novel and the interactions (or non-interactions) among the family members is what makes this book stand …more

Everybody Rise
by Stephanie Clifford

Everybody Rise (and quickly fall) (3/12/2015)

I truly enjoyed this book. Our protagonist Evelyn is trying SO hard to "fit" in with the group of people she thinks she needs to be a part of. I had sympathy for her position because she went to school and somewhat lived on the fringes of this privileged life she desired. …more

He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him
by Mimi Baird with Eve Claxton

He Wanted the Moon (2/10/2015)

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I was a psychiatric nurse in the late 1960's at a large University hospital and I was lucky enough to be head nurse on the floor where we did all the Lithium testing for our manic depressive patients. Needless to say the results were …more

A Fireproof Home for the Bride
by Amy Scheibe

Secrets Abound (12/18/2014)

I enjoyed this book but I found myself becoming annoyed at the naivete of the main protagonist. It almost seemed incongruous that she would join the world of journalism considering her extremely sheltered life and all the family secrets she became aware of. That being said, …more

The Quick
by Lauren Owen

Quick with Detours (4/22/2014)

I actually enjoyed the last third of the book most of all. It takes that amount of time to incorporate all of the characters and how they interact with each other. Part of the problem is that sometimes 200 pages ensues in-between the names being mentioned. This book should …more

The Last Enchantments
by Charles Finch

Last Enchantments (11/14/2013)

Unfortunately although this was a coming of age story I don't think the protagonist ever came to age. The epilogue still kept him at loose ends. Although there weren't that many characters I felt we never really understood any of them and Will"s superficial attachments to …more

Lost Luggage
by Jordi Punti

Lost Luggage (8/19/2013)

I absolutely loved the four "Christophers". This novel dissects the unusual and enigmatic relationship between Gabriel Delacruz and his four sons and their four respective mothers. I thought that all the secondary characters totally added to the overall charm of the story. …more

Close My Eyes
by Sophie McKenzie

Close Your Eyes (4/15/2013)

I really would give this book 4 1/2 stars. Even though it was a bit unbelievable the story sure held your interest. I thought I was doing really well figuring it out and then would be proved wrong time after time - almost too many twists and turns. The most fun and …more

Where You Can Find Me: A Novel
by Sheri Joseph

Where You Can Find Me (2/13/2013)

This book although about young Caleb who is reunited with his family after 3 years, is really also the story of his sister Lark who is gone "missing" in another sense. Her brother's abduction has left her lost and alone amid her family's struggles. I found this aspect of …more

With or Without You: A Memoir
by Domenica Ruta

With or Without You (11/27/2012)

I enjoyed this memoir, but of all that I have read I would place this in the middle. Domenica's accounting of her childhood and abuse in some places is left somewhat ambiguous. She also jumps around a lot from one part of her life to another without logical transition. I …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

Praised by Parade and The New York Times Book Review, this debut features a 1960s scientist turned TV cooking star.

About Discuss
The Lilac People
by Milo Todd

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, a poignant tale of a trans man’s survival in Nazi Germany and postwar Berlin.

About Discuss
Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung

Based on the author’s family story, comes an extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ escape from Taiwan.

About Discuss

Members Recommend

Ginseng Roots
by Craig Thompson

A new graphic memoir from the author of Blankets and Habibi about class, childhood labor, and Wisconsin’s ginseng industry.

Read the Reviews
Serial Killer Games
by Kate Posey

A morbidly funny and emotionally resonant novel about the ways life—and love—can sneak up on us (no matter how much pepper spray we carry).

Read the Reviews
The Original Daughter
by Jemimah Wei

A dazzling debut by Jemimah Wei about ambition, sisterhood, and family bonds in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore.

Read the Reviews