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Reviews by Barbara C. (Riverside, CA)

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D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II
by Sarah Rose

History and narrative (3/28/2019)

This is a very good addition to the WWII foundation. Many of us lived at that time and remember some of what occurred. In this book the contributions of women have been well described. I cheered at some of the anecdotes that Rose related. She is a good narrator and appears …more

A People's History of Heaven
by Mathangi Subramanian

I lost some of the threads! (2/13/2019)

I was engaged with the characters for much of the book, but I felt chopped up among the girls and their moms.. I needed to keep a sort of log of who did what with or to whom. I most appreciated Deepa. Just kept herself centered. She made the book worth reading.

My Lovely Wife
by Samantha Downing

The Good Mother (10/7/2018)

Not my taste. Appreciated the convoluted story line, but I could not come to grips with the perception of the narrator as a good person. Learning the "truth" at the end made me fear for the kids. Is therapy enough?

Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
by Keith O'Brien

We Women are Are Amazing! (6/10/2018)

How special these women were. They also had families and everyday lives, but created exciting life-threatening experiences at a time when most men wouldn't dare do what they did. The term comfort zone hadn't been invented yet, thank goodness. I loved the detail and …more

Vox
by Christina Dalcher

Wow! (4/26/2018)

Really woke me up. Good on many levels: technothriller, love story, family tale, suspense . I couldn't put it down. Had to see what would happen next. I like author's writing style. Not many extra words (just like plot itself). I have spent much of my life studying …more

The Days When Birds Come Back
by Deborah Reed

Exercise in tragedies (11/4/2017)

June and Jameson needed to find each other in order for readers to experience with them the sad and wide range of bad happenings they sort of survive: death of parents and children, physical injuries, loss of love, alcoholism, misunderstandings, and more. To me it portrays …more

Extraordinary Adventures
by Daniel Wallace

Sixty years ago, I had a boyfriend sorta like Ed. (2/25/2017)

I found this whimsical story very engaging. I know a lot of socially inept people like Ed. He muddled through and learned a lot in those 95 or so days. There were many glitches in this tale. Ed had great resolution to his problem at the end which he earned. The promise of …more

Edgar and Lucy
by Victor Lodato

Not exactly my style (12/5/2016)

Poor Edgar. I think his life would have been even worse, if he hadn't met Conrad. For those few weeks Edgar had interesting experiences and a pet. Conrad could have finished what he did without Edgar. My favorite character is the butcher. He exemplifies how I want to be, …more

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel
by Bryn Greenwood

Foreshadowing! (5/18/2016)

I don't see this as truly average in any way. Need a rating "not ratable" From the beginning, one could see tragedy brewing! At the end one could see how this would turn into a real story with real people--Wavy and Kellen are great, finally. The middle part of the book was …more

The Alaskan Laundry
by Brendan Jones

I see myself here. (1/30/2016)

When I graduated from college, I took a job in Central America. I couldn't bear living at home again with my dad.I so relate to Tara. The book was very well written and easy to follow, and it was also a book that evokes life in Alaska. This story was multidimensional. The …more

The Two-Family House
by Lynda Cohen Loigman

Way too predictable! (11/22/2015)

One could tell from the beginning, the trajectory of the story to come, Little positive could come from this premise. The main characters were drawn with a broad stroke: negative or positive. The death in the middle was gratuitous to me, Just a way to make the characters …more

Home by Nightfall: A Charles Lenox Mystery
by Charles Finch

Several plots to tie up. (9/10/2015)

I have read all the books in the series. The quality varies, but don't skip any of them. The detail of daily life was very interesting at Lenox House.. The country strand with Edmund and Mr. Hadley was well defined and the solution was satisfying. However, it appears to me …more

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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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