Get The BookBrowse Anthology, our 880 page collection of our past decade of Best of Year reviews, now available in hardcover!

Reviews by Chris H. (Wauwatosa, WI)

If you'd like to be able to easily share your reviews with others, please join BookBrowse.
Order Reviews by:
Still Life Las Vegas
by James Sie
Still Life Las Vegas (6/19/2015)
Very interesting characters who play off each other well. That is my main reason for liking the book.
He Wanted the Moon: The Madness and Medical Genius of Dr. Perry Baird, and His Daughter's Quest to Know Him
by Mimi Baird with Eve Claxton
He Wanted the Moon (3/11/2015)
I thank the author of this book for sharing her story. It is told in a wonderfully honest, true, and brave way. I would recommend it to anyone who is touched by any mental disease and especially bipolar disorder. The first part of the book which tells her father's story ismore
The Book of Strange New Things: A Novel
by Michel Faber
Strange New Things (9/1/2014)
I don't know how to begin to review this book except to say it's thrilling, frightening, and compelling. I would recommend it as a "must read" on anyone's book list.
Brutal Youth
by Anthony Breznican
Brutal Youth (6/29/2014)
This book was certainly a page turner, but nothing more. I could not connect with the characters, the storyline was all over the place and the story in itself overdone.
How to Be a Good Wife
by Emma Chapman
How To Be a Good Wife (9/12/2013)
I found this book a bit confusing right from the title. There was not even one character I felt especially interested in. It wasn't a bad book, but just a book. Not memorable for me.
Rage Against the Dying
by Becky Masterman
Rage Against the Dying (1/28/2013)
I was looking forward to reading this book as it is not typically the type of book I read a lot. However, I do love a good thriller/murder mystery! Rage Against the Dying fell far below what I hoped for. I found it to be unmemorable. The characters were not ones that seemedmore
Sharp: A Memoir
by David Fitzpatrick
Sharp (8/4/2012)
I found this book to be a compelling and insightful look into the life of someone who self-mutilates by cutting. As this is not a topic that is not talked or written about as much as other addictions, I thank and applaud the author for the courageous telling of his personal story.
The Voluntourist: A Six-Country Tale of Love, Loss, Fatherhood, Fate, and Singing Bon Jovi in Bethlehem
by Ken Budd
Full Circle (5/25/2012)
The life of Ken Budd as a "Voluntourist" is compelling and and while being his own personal journey I found it really resonated with me. He came to a time in his life when he felt a need for something more. This need led him around the world where he was filling needs ofmore
The Starboard Sea: A Novel
by Amber Dermont
Starboard Sea (2/21/2012)
I found this novel to be a cookie cutter story of prep school boys from rich families gone bad. The story revolves around an individual who was kicked out of the "good" prep school and now attends the prep school for "bad" and troubled kids. Decisions are made, some aremore
The Night Circus: A Novel
by Erin Morgenstern
The Night Circus (8/20/2011)
This was a book I could not put down! The characters are fascinating and so memorable. The settings, interactions, and conversations are fantastically described. I could see it all and imagine being there.

The overall setting of a circus is irresistible and a circus that'smore
Radio Shangri-La: What I Learned in Bhutan, the Happiest Kingdom on Earth
by Lisa Napoli
Radio Shangri-La (4/10/2011)
When I had the chance to get this book as an Advanced Reader's Copy, I couldn't wait for it to come. As the author described of herself, I have been feeling much the same "itch" to go somewhere very different and have my eyes opened to what life could really be. This bookmore
City of Tranquil Light: A Novel
by Bo Caldwell
City of Tranquil Light (9/13/2010)
This is a beautifully written book and one that I found captivating. I was captivated by the love of the missionary couple for each other, by their unrelenting belief and faith in what they were doing, and by their interest and selfless compassion for the people they camemore
Daughters of the Witching Hill: A Novel
by Mary Sharratt
Daughters of the Witching Hill (4/2/2010)
I found this to be a very captivating book of historical fiction. It was difficult to put down right from the beginning as the author drew me into the life of Bess Southerns and her family. It's fascinating to think of the times of the witch trials and read an account, evenmore
Making Toast: A Family Story
by Roger Rosenblatt
Making Toast (12/17/2009)
A wonderfully written account of how one family handles a very painful event. This is a memoir of parents whose daughter dies leaving behind a husband and three young children. The author and his wife leave behind the life they have to join the lives of their grandchildrenmore
The Possibility of Everything
by Hope Edelman
More like a travelogue (8/15/2009)
I enjoy Hope Edelman's writing style and based on the title and book description was looking forward to her views on the "leap of faith" that transformed her life. For me, that is where the book was lacking. What I wanted and what kept me reading was for her to tell moremore
The Earth Hums in B Flat
by Mari Strachan
The Earth Hums in B Flat (5/16/2009)
This is a book written with a lot of freshness. Definitely not the same old, same old. It is written from the perspective of 12-year-old Gwenni. She hears about things in her small village in Wales she wants to understand and no matter how many times she is told to mind hermore
Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing
by Jeffrey Tayler
Murderers In Mausoleums (10/4/2008)
Get out your Atlas as you follow Jeffrey Tayler's travels in Murderers In Mausoleums. The author takes you on a sometimes too detailed trip describing history at great length and spending too much time talking about the landscape as he traveled. While I found thatmore
  • Page
  • 1
  • 2

BookBrowse Book Club

  • Book Jacket
    Real Americans
    by Rachel Khong
    From the author of Goodbye, Vitamin, a novel exploring family, identity, and the shaping of destiny.

Members Recommend

  • Book Jacket

    The Fairbanks Four
    by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue

    One murder, four guilty convictions, and a community determined to find justice.

  • Book Jacket

    The Seven O'Clock Club
    by Amelia Ireland

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

  • Book Jacket

    One Death at a Time
    by Abbi Waxman

    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.

  • Book Jacket

    Happy Land
    by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

    From the New York Times bestselling author, a novel about a family's secret ties to a vanished American Kingdom.

Who Said...

Discovery consists of seeing what everybody has seen and thinking what nobody has thought.

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

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

J of A T, M of N

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.