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Reviews by Laura P. (Atlanta, GA)

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The Lion in the Lei Shop
by Kaye Starbird

The Lion in the Lei Shop (5/27/2013)

This novel is one of a group of out-of-print books selected for reprinting by NPR's Nancy Pearl.

April and her 5-year-old daughter Marty are living in Hawaii with April's soldier husband Lang on December 7, 1941when the Japanese bomb Pearl Harbor. Lang is of course …more

All You Could Ask For
by Mike Greenberg

Actually, you could ask for more.... (11/14/2012)

Mike Greenberg's story of three Greenwich, CT, women (unconnected in the early part of the story) who link up through a common crisis left me lukewarm. i read all the hype on the back of the book about how surprising it was that a man could understand a woman's perspective …more

A Land More Kind Than Home: A Novel
by Wiley Cash

A Land More Kind Than Home (3/8/2012)

This story, which revolves around a rogue preacher and a faith-healing gone wrong, leaves a number of questions unanswered - but that's it's only weakness. Voiced through three characters - a midwife, a sheriff, and the younger brother of the victim, Cash's tale provides a …more

The Red Book: A Novel
by Deborah Copaken Kogan

The Red Book (2/14/2012)

This 20th college reunion story (Harvard '89) uses the practice of publishing a reunion book ("THe Red Book") as a foil for the story of 4 college roommates whose lives are very different from the images they choose to project. The characters cover the spectrum of racial, …more

Tides of War: A Novel
by Stella Tillyard

Tides of War (11/9/2011)

I really wanted to like this book. It deals with a period of history about which I know little, and Its mix of real and fictional characters seemed intriguing. However, the book suffers from an overabundance of characters (all of whom seem to be primary) and the absence of …more

Defending Jacob: A Novel
by William Landay

Defending Jacob (10/13/2011)

This crime/courtroom drama which tells the story of an Assistant District Attorney whose son is indicted for the murder of a middle-school classmate raises complex questions about the relationships between parents and children, between evidence and proof, between nature and …more

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

The Memory of All that (6/22/2011)

First the good things: There's nothing more fascinating than a good dish on a totally dysfunctional family, and this story of the extramarital affairs of two generations of a very prominent family certainly fills that bill. The writing is excellent - Weber's description of …more

Prophecy: An Historical Thriller
by S.J. Parris

Prophecy (3/13/2011)

S.J. Parris's second book featuring former Dominican monk Giordano Bruno as he navigates the religious upheavals of Elizabethan England does a good job of balancing the "historical" and the "thriller" elements of its story line. Parris does an excellent job of creating her …more

Agent X: A Novel
by Noah Boyd

Light a fire, pour a drink... (12/12/2010)

...and curl up with "Agent X" for an evening of action that leaves bodies scattered all over the Washington, DC, area. Like Lee Child's Jack Reacher and Nelson Demille's John Corry, Steve Vail has never met a weapon he couldn't shoot. Along with erstwhile love interest Kate …more

Gone Tomorrow: A Jack Reacher Novel #13
by Lee Child

Gone Tomorrow (10/4/2010)

The next time you are looking at a long sit in an airport or an afternoon at the beach, Lee Child's "Gone Tomorrow" will provide you with lively entertainment. The book clearly qualifies as a "thriller," with a quirky lead character, a plausible but not too obvious plot …more

After the Fall
by Kylie Ladd

Soap opera on paper (6/6/2010)

Like a good soap opera, Kylie Ladd's After the Fall held my attention - I wanted to know when the adulterous couple would get caught, and how much damage they would do - but gave me no sense of literary satisfaction. I didn't like the characters - even the "victims" were …more

The Girl Who Fell from the Sky
by Heidi W. Durrow

Deserving Prizewinner (3/3/2010)

This Bellweather Prize winner addresses issues of racial identity, class prejudice, substance abuse, and adolescent sexuality through a compact, well-written, and moving story packed with sympathetic and well-defined characters. The story revolves around an unthinkable …more

Under This Unbroken Sky
by Shandi Mitchell

How depressing! (8/31/2009)

This book is a real downer! The central characters, a family of Ukrainian immigrants homesteading on the northern Canadian prairie in 1938/39, are victims of the elements, the government, and each other. Nothing good happens to anyone, I confess I kept reading because I was …more

The Secret Keeper
by Paul Harris

The Secret Keeper (3/6/2009)

While I had a hard time putting this book down, I can't say that I liked it. The story line, which focuses on a reporter's efforts to investigate the murder of his former lover who is caught up in a civil war in Sierra Leone, is compelling, and its tensions are well …more

Cutting For Stone
by Abraham Verghese

Read this one! (1/9/2009)

Cutting for Stone is a family saga that has it all - birth and death, sin and forgiveness, love and hate, politics and medicine - wrapped in a balanced and gripping plot involving compelling characters and exotic locations. Verghese tells a great story with none of the …more

The Sweet In Between: A Novel
by Sheri Reynolds

Not So Sweet (9/2/2008)

I generally enjoy Sheri Reynolds, but The Sweet In Between will not be on my favorites list. This “dysfunctional Southern family” novel is long on dysfunction. Our heroine’s mother died of cancer, her father is in prison, and she has significant problems with OCD and sexual …more

It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time: My Adventures in Life and Food
by Moira Hodgson

A Pretty Good Idea (7/28/2008)

Part travelogue and part food commentary, this memoir by New York Observer restaurant critic Moira Hodgson brings to mind the work of Ruth Reichl but is not quite as satisfying. Hodgson exemplifies her memories with recipes, sometimes easy to follow and sometimes not. She …more

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