BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Janet S. (Woodmere, NY)

The Trouble with You: A Novel
by Ellen Feldman

1950s Soap Opera Writer During The Red Scare (1/22/2024)

In Ellen Feldman’s timely new novel The Trouble With You, Fanny Fabricant has barely had a chance to welcome her beloved and happily-returned WWII veteran husband home when a sudden event radically alters her anticipated life course. Raised to be an excellent suburban …more

If I Forget You
by Thomas Christopher Greene

Lasting Love, Long-Held Secrets (5/29/2016)

If I Forget You is a lovely, well-written novel of reunited former loves which will take the reader on a sentimental journey to a time in the recent past when socioeconomic and religious differences were still major roadblocks in a relationship. Filled with flashbacks to …more

The War Reporter
by Martin Fletcher

Bosnian Conflict from a Reporter's POV (9/6/2015)

A well-told story from a unique perspective; especially recommended for fans of Girl at War. The reader is quickly drawn into Tom's world.

The War Reporter is a fascinating look at the very real dangers faced in reporting from the front lines, while also telescoping the war' …more

The Well
by Catherine Chanter

Thought-provoking look at a future with no water (3/18/2015)

The Well is a well-written dystopian novel which unfolds in a style reminiscent of Girl on The Train, in two sets of flashbacks, one recent and one further in the past. Set in a water-scarce England of the future, The Well focuses on Ruth, an ordinary woman who finds …more

The Memory of All That: George Gershwin, Kay Swift, and My Family's Legacy of Infidelities
by Katharine Weber

Riveting and Sad Memoir (7/15/2011)

The rich and famous truly ARE different. In this charmingly told, evocative page-turner, Weber recounts the complex truth-is-stranger-than-fiction tale of her parents' and grandparents' marriages and extra-marital relationships. The author unblinkingly examines both the …more

A Lesson in Secrets: A Maisie Dobbs Novel
by Jacqueline Winspear

Pacifists and the Gathering Storm (3/16/2011)

In this moderately good between-the-wars series installment, it's now the summer of 1932, and intrepid psychologist and investigator Maisie Dobbs has just been recruited by the British Secret Service. On assignment at Cambridge University, Maisie continues to filter and …more

The False Friend
by Myla Goldberg

The Consequences of Bullying (8/29/2010)

In 'The False Friend', one morning on the way to her Chicago job Celia Dunst has a flashback to a tragic event 21 years earlier which resulted in the disappearance of her best friend Djuna Pearson. Galvanized by the need to confirm her long-repressed memories of the …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Real Americans
by Rachel Khong

From the author of Goodbye, Vitamin, a novel exploring family, identity, and the shaping of destiny.

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The Mysterious Bakery on Rue de Paris
by Evie Woods

From the million-copy bestselling author of The Lost Bookshop.

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The Devil Finds Work
by James Baldwin

A book-length essay on racism in American films, by "the best essayist in this country" (The New York Times Book Review).

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The River Knows Your Name
by Kelly Mustian

A haunting Southern novel about memory and love, from the author of The Girls in the Stilt House.

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Four strangers join an experimental treatment to heal broken hearts in Amelia Ireland's heartfelt debut novel.

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One Death at a Time
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A cranky ex-actress and her Gen Z sobriety sponsor team up to solve a murder that could send her back to prison in this dazzling mystery.

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