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Reviews by Elizabeth L. (Salem, OR)

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Sentinel: A Spycatcher Novel
by Matthew Dunn

A Big Disappointment (5/30/2012)

The author may have the skills needed to write a report for one of his 70 successful missions (per the back cover) but he does not have the ones needed to write a novel. I found myself wincing at his phrasing and sentence construction on nearly every page and thus found it …more

The Age of Miracles: A Novel
by Karen Thompson Walker

Special (5/19/2012)

This wonderful novel is a great addition to similarly themed books ("Children of Men"), movies ("Last Night" of 1998), and TV (Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Inner Light"). Told (freshly) from the perspective of a child, it tells of a difficult coming of age …more

The Land of Decoration: A Novel
by Grace McCleen

Beautiful and Strange (4/11/2012)

The book is well paced and well-written, full of lovely imagery and clever wording without being pretentious. But the subject matter is hard - poverty, bullying, mental illness. Still I would recommend it.

A Partial History of Lost Causes: A Novel
by Jennifer duBois

Slow Going (1/20/2012)

Perhaps it was the short days and ensuing light deprivation (like Russia!), but I had a very hard time finishing this book. The main problem is that the two major characters do not meet until 200 pages in and even then they exist in parallel more than together. And they are …more

The Dressmaker: A Novel
by Kate Alcott

Disaster of a Book (11/1/2011)

This book was disappointing. First and foremost, the writing itself was poor. Secondly, the characters acted oddly and while their motivations were eventually explained (clumsily), it was definitely too little, too late. And sadly the plot relied on instant relationships of …more

The Borgia Betrayal: A Poisoner Mystery Novel
by Sara Poole

Enjoyable WIth Vivid Characters (6/17/2011)

This is the second in a series, and while I read the first book, Poison, in anticipation of this one, it was not necessary to do so. In fact, this book was blessedly free of the clunky exposition so common in sequels!

Minor quibbles with the book are: on more than one …more

The Tudor Secret: The Elizabeth I Spymaster Chronicles
by C. W. Gortner

Not His Best (3/21/2011)

The premise of the book - behind the scenes Tudor England between Henry VIII and Elizabeth I - is very promising and the book is well written. However I found it off putting that the main character - a squire - would be introduced to so many luminaries and become part of …more

BookBrowse Book Club

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.

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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.

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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.

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

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