Reviews by Betty B. (Irving, TX)

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The Little Italian Hotel
The Little Italian Hotel: A Novel
by Phaedra Patrick
Good Book to Take On Vacation (4/25/2023)
This is a light hearted book that you can read on the beach or during your flights this summer. Ginny Splinter, acclaimed radio advice expert, invites four of her listeners to join her on an Italian three week vacation. She believes she will "heal" her guests, but she finds …more
Exiles
Exiles: Aaron Falk Mystery #3
by Jane Harper
Jane Harper Is Back (8/26/2022)
I've enjoyed Jane Harper's books, especially her first book The Dry, which introduced us to Federal Investigator Aaron Falk so I was looking forward to The Exiles. I received the book on a Saturday afternoon, started it that evening, and read almost non-stop until I …more
The Blind Light
The Blind Light: A Novel
by Stuart Evers
Two Families...Sixty Years (10/26/2020)
I've read many historical novels set in Britain (particularly WWI and II), but this story of two families, one well-to-do and one working class, over 6 decades still affected by post-nuclear security concerns is quite different to any other book I've read. I found the story …more
Migrations
Migrations: A Novel
by Charlotte McConaghy
Such An Amazing Book (3/30/2020)
Once I began reading Migrations I found it very difficult to put down, and the day after I started it I finished it. The writing is so beautiful, poetic and melancholic. In this desolated world of Migrations, there is still love...love of birds, adventure, and those special …more
The Secrets We Kept
The Secrets We Kept: A novel
by Lara Prescott
Such A Great Book (7/3/2019)
I wish I could rate The Secrets We Kept even higher than 5 stars. Once I started reading, I just could not put down this literary love story set during the Cold War with Russia. Secrets has everything...spies, romance, history, and a captivating story. It is beautifully …more
Ellie and the Harpmaker
Ellie and the Harpmaker
by Hazel Prior
Harps and Hearts (4/5/2019)
I found Ellie and the Harpmaker to be an unexpected gift, heartwarming and touching. I liked the characters...I could both visualize them and hear them (and almost hear the beautiful music the harps made). And I was deeply touched by Ellie and Dan as they alternately told …more
Gone So Long
Gone So Long
by Andre Dubus III
Gone So Long - A Really Long Book (9/24/2018)
Three people are still suffering from a 40-year-old trauma...David Ahearn whose impulsive act of violence causes him to lose his daughter; his daughter, Susan, who has never gotten over that night she can't remember; and Susan's maternal grandmother whose life has never …more
The Devoted
The Devoted
by Blair Hurley
Finding Enlightenment (5/23/2018)
This book asks what one will sacrifice to find enlightenment. I'm sure many readers will find this book itself enlightening, but for me I grew weary of the Buddhist stories and writings. I did finish the book because I was interested in Nicole Hennessy's journey and wanted …more
A Place for Us
A Place for Us
by Fatima Farheen Mirza
Finding Our Own Place (3/27/2018)
Beautifully written, A Place for Us introduces us to an Indian Muslim family finding their own place in California. It covers love, family, faith, betrayal, contrition, absolution as we follow the family and watch the the two sisters and their brother grow from young …more
Force of Nature
Force of Nature: Aaron Falk Mystery #2
by Jane Harper
Lost in Australian Bushland (10/23/2017)
Force of Nature author, Jane Harper, reintroduces us to Federal Police Agent Aaron Falk, the main character in her first novel, The Dry, one of my favorite books. Falk is drawn into the investigation of a woman who fails to return from a three day wilderness hike with four …more
The Story of Arthur Truluv
The Story of Arthur Truluv: A Novel
by Elizabeth Berg
Seeing Beyond Simple Words (6/10/2017)
In her acknowledgments, author Elizabeth Berg says "...you can only hope that readers see beyond the simple words on the page to the more complex meanings behind them." At first I did only see the simple words, but I soon was drawn into this story and the transition of …more
The Weight of Ink
The Weight of Ink
by Rachel Kadish
The Weight of Ink - A Weighty Book (2/20/2017)
At 560 pages long, The Weight of Ink tells the story of two different women, a woman scribe for a Rabbi in 1660s London, and an ailing historian in love with Jewish history in 2000 London. Helen has discovered a cache of 17th century Jewish documents and with the assistance …more
The Girl Before
The Girl Before
by JP Delaney
Psychological Mystery That Won't Disappoint (11/12/2016)
Just know that when you start this book you will not want to put it down until you read the last page. The format, alternating chapters between Emma, the girl before, and Jane, the girl after, allows the story to move forward so that we quickly learn that One Folgate Street, …more
The Comet Seekers
The Comet Seekers
by Helen Sedgwick
Comets Through Time (8/27/2016)
I anticipated that this book would be set in Antarctica and was somewhat disappointed that very little of the story happens there. Chapters move back and forth in time, not sequentially, from 1066 to 2017, with the first and last chapters set in 2017 and in Antarctica. And …more
The Book That Matters Most
The Book That Matters Most: A Novel
by Ann Hood
A Story About Books and Bookstores (6/13/2016)
First, I really enjoyed the organization of this book... Ava, recently divorced after a 25 year marriage, joins a book club where each of the 10 members chooses a book for the club to read and discuss during 10 months of the year. Their theme this year is The Book That …more
Amour Provence
Amour Provence
by Constance Leisure
Vignettes of Provence (3/17/2016)
I've never been to southern France, but have always enjoyed books set in Provence so I had high expectations for this book. The book is beautifully written, each chapter introducing us to the interesting inhabitants of two tiny villages. I would have liked a little more …more
I'll See You in Paris
I'll See You in Paris
by Michelle Gable
Larger-Than-Life Duchess' Story (12/29/2015)
Annie, young, newly engaged, unemployed discovers an old biography of Gladys Spencer-Churchill, the Duchess of Marlborough among her mother's things as they pack to travel to England. Annie becomes fascinated with the larger-than-life Duchess' story, and in the small …more
All Is Not Forgotten
All Is Not Forgotten
by Wendy Walker
What Happened That Night in the Woods (10/6/2015)
From the first page we know what happened that night in the woods. What we don't know is who the perpetrator is, and who the narrator is. You will hate to put this book down until the final page and it should make a great movie. I would have given it 5 stars except I was so …more
Maybe in Another Life
Maybe in Another Life
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Endless Possibilities (5/27/2015)
At first I wasn't sure I was going to like this book and I found some of the dialogue a little annoying. But, then the story took over and I was quite fascinated by the contrast between the two possibilities. I began to like Hannah, Gabby, Ethan and Henry and didn't want to …more
Letters to the Lost
Letters to the Lost
by Iona Grey
Love in WWII England (3/18/2015)
Letters to the Lost (I don't particularly like this title) tells the story of two people who fall deeply in love in England during the Second World War, and of a young woman who in 2011 discovers their letters and decides to reunite them. With the English setting, a mystery …more
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