Reviews by Frances N. (San Francisco, CA)

Order Reviews by:
Panther Gap
Panther Gap: A Novel
by James A. McLaughlin
Crime and Ecology (3/23/2023)
This is a big book; not particularly long (about 350 pages) but big in scope. It involves a strange family, living well, off the grid and the bond between a brother and sister, both familial and psychically. The crime involves a long-time feud and then the Mexican drug …more
The Family Izquierdo
The Family Izquierdo: A Novel
by Rubén Degollado
Anguish below the surface (8/21/2022)
On the surface, the Izquierdo family looks like the perfect border-crossing success story. The family has grown and prospered, but the individual stories are filled with tragedy and heartbreak. While not a fun read, the stories are real and compelling and relatable.
Fruiting Bodies
Fruiting Bodies: Stories
by Kathryn Harlan
Sad, but short (6/5/2022)
I had a hard time getting into these stories. There is a dream-like malaise to them. The angst of growing up, deciding who one is not a welcome revisit at this time in my life, I guess.
Her Hidden Genius
Her Hidden Genius: A Novel
by Marie Benedict
Rosalind Franklin (1/24/2022)
I first became aware of Rosalind Franklin, during college studying for a degree in Biology, with a special interest in genetics. Because of that, I read James Watson's The Double Helix and became incensed with his portrayal of Dr. Franklin. Subsequently, I read Ann Sayre's …more
The Lighthouse
The Lighthouse
by Christopher Parker
Teenage Angst and Ghosts (10/28/2021)
This is really not my kind of book - teenage angst and ghosts - but I have to admit that the story succeeded on some levels. However, I felt that I was reading a young adult fiction, which (at times) I am a big fan; but I don't think this is how 'The Lighthouse' is being …more
Never Saw Me Coming
Never Saw Me Coming: A Novel
by Vera Kurian
unsettling (6/25/2021)
A college campus, a program for teenage psychopaths and a serial killer .. a most unsettling melange of characters. Charles is working to understand his disorder, Chloe is letting her freak flag fly and Andre is trying to blend in; but somehow maybe they are all …more
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman
The Funny Thing About Norman Foreman: A Novel
by Julietta Henderson
Absolutely Charming (2/14/2021)
This is the sweetest, funniest and often times saddest book I have read in a long time. I loved every minute I spent with the characters. It may not be great literature, but I felt really good (as I am sure anyone would) when I finished and who can ask for more in a …more
Ruthie Fear
Ruthie Fear: A Novel
by Maxim Loskutoff
Lyrical Read of Nature and Change (6/5/2020)
This is a hard book to review, because it is so many things. The lyrical writing takes you into the beauty of nature that is the wilds of Montana but is being encroached upon by people, progress and pollution. It has a surreal feel at all times and especially so at the …more
Miracle Creek
Miracle Creek
by Angie Kim
Guilt and Lies (4/15/2020)
This is a well-written, but very sad book about the aftermath of an explosion with deaths at a hyperbaric clinic. All of the characters are suffering and dissembling in some form and the reader feels their pain and sympathizes.
While this book deserves more praise than I am …more
The Sun Down Motel
The Sun Down Motel
by Simone St. James
Motel with ghosts and links to murders (11/12/2019)
I really enjoyed this book. It was perfectly creepy and kept me guessing for 300 pages. I liked the premise of not knowing who (or what) people/events really were. Thankfully, the chapter titles helped to remind me if I was in 1982 or 2017, since Carly and her Aunt Viv were …more
Creatures
Creatures
by Crissy Van Meter
A floating timeline (10/18/2019)
I had a hard time, at first, with this book; but settled into it once I realized that the episode with the dead whale (which bookends the story) is a seminal event in the narrator's life, but is in the somewhat distant past. So much of the rest of the book jumps around in …more
Nothing to See Here
Nothing to See Here
by Kevin Wilson
Perfect summer read (6/12/2019)
This is a little gem. A heart-warming story with likable, quirky characters who grow on each other and on the reader. The book ends on a positive note that leaves a warm, but not flaming smile on everyone.
The Lost Man
The Lost Man
by Jane Harper
Even better than her first two books (11/3/2018)
I think this book will end up being one of my year's favorites. It is a complex, tension-filled tale of a family and the Australian Outback. The land is unforgiving and so are the people; both are oppressive. The ranchers live insular lives, far from neighbors, often rarely …more
America for Beginners
America for Beginners
by Leah Franqui
A charmer (4/13/2018)
This is a sweet story of a widow coming to America to discover what lured her son there. She is accompanied by a guide and a chaperone and despite (and because of) their differences, they all change and form new bonds and new lives. Only a heartless person would not shed a …more
Force of Nature
Force of Nature: Aaron Falk Mystery #2
by Jane Harper
Five women on a corporate retreat in Australian bush (10/10/2017)
I was given this ARC by the publisher through BookBrowse. However, I had an interest in the author because a friend had raved about Harper's first book, The Dry, and I had meant to put it on my library request list. Now I am even more eager to read that one.

This is the …more
The Story of Arthur Truluv
The Story of Arthur Truluv: A Novel
by Elizabeth Berg
Three lonely people find each other and I re-find Elizabeth Berg (6/16/2017)
I used to read Elizabeth Berg a lot and really loved her but drifted away into mainly mysteries. This charming, wonderful book reminded me of what I have been missing. It is an incredibly sweet story of three lonely, disparate people who find each other and make a family. …more
If We Were Villains
If We Were Villains
by M. L. Rio
Really didn't think I was going to like this book (3/13/2017)
A third of the way into this book I was still struggling and sure I was never going to finish it and really hate it; but all of a sudden, I was captured.

The story of a group of fourth year Shakespearean actor-in-training students, wearing their art, love, sex, drama, hate …more
  • Page
  • 1

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    A Map to Paradise
    by Susan Meissner
    From the USA Today bestselling author of Only the Beautiful. 1956, Malibu, California: Something is not right on Paradise Circle.
1
2
3
4
5
PrevNext

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    Girl Falling
    by Hayley Scrivenor

    The USA Today bestselling author of Dirt Creek returns with a story of grief and truth.

    Read the Reviews
  • Book Jacket

    Jane and Dan at the End of the World
    by Colleen Oakley

    Date Night meets Bel Canto in this hilarious tale.

    Read the Reviews
  • Book Jacket

    The Antidote
    by Karen Russell

    A gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.

    Read the Reviews
1
2
3
PrevNext
Who Said...

No pleasure is worth giving up for the sake of two more years in a geriatric home.

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

T B S of T F

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional          books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.