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Reviews by Chris D.

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The Little Italian Hotel
The Little Italian Hotel: A Novel
by Phaedra Patrick
The Little Italian Hotel (4/26/2023)
Ginny Splinter was determined to spend the vacation she had planned to celebrate her 25th wedding anniversary in Italy, even though her husband told her he couldn’t take the time off from work and wanted a divorce. She found four other people who were also dealing with a …more
Margot
Margot: A Novel
by Wendell Steavenson
Margot (12/28/2022)
I found Margot interesting because I grew up during the same time period as she did, although my life experiences were very different from hers. It was interesting to see how the events that shaped my life affected her. I enjoyed the book and think it would be a good book …more
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
The Mostly True Story of Tanner & Louise
by Colleen Oakley
Road trip! (10/27/2022)
I really enjoyed Tanner and Louise's story. At the beginning, it was hard to imagine that they would get along with each other at all. When they were forced to hit the road together, however, they made a very good team. This was a fun, light-hearted read, although there …more
Metropolis
Metropolis: A Novel
by B. A. Shapiro
Unusual setting (3/27/2022)
This was a first for me! I am quite sure that I have never yet read a book that was set in a series of storage units. Metropolis is a very creative and unusual book and I enjoyed reading it. The characters were varied and interesting, and they may have led very separate …more
The Fields
The Fields: A Novel
by Erin Young
Lots of atmosphere (11/11/2021)
The Fields is very atmospheric. You can almost hear the insects buzzing, feel the heat and humidity, and watch the corn growing in that heat. There is a lot going on, besides the investigation into the murders of three women—big business trying to run out family farms, …more
A Theater for Dreamers
A Theater for Dreamers
by Polly Samson
Escape to a Greek island (3/19/2021)
I had a hard time getting into this book. I was confused by all the characters, and couldn't keep them straight. The author's descriptions of the island itself are beautiful, and it seemed like a lovely place, but I don't think I would have wanted to live there in 1960.
Stories from Suffragette City
Stories from Suffragette City
by M.J. Rose, Fiona Davis
Votes for Women (11/2/2020)
I don't read short stories very often, but I really enjoyed this collection. There was a lot of variety in the people who were included in them, but they were tied together very well by the focus of the suffragette's parade. I also enjoyed the appearance of Grace, Miss …more
The Last Train to Key West
The Last Train to Key West
by Chanel Cleeton
Last Train to Key West (4/6/2020)
This is the third book by Chanel Cleeton that I have read, and I have enjoyed all of them. Each time I have felt that I am learning something about history at the same time that I am enjoying a great read about people that I would like to know. Her characters are well …more
Cartier's Hope
Cartier's Hope: A Novel
by M. J. Rose
Luck may not be real, but hope is. (9/19/2019)
I enjoyed this book very much. There was so much to it! The story line was entertaining, but there was also information about the plight of women journalists and women in general in the early 20th century, the history of the Hope Diamond and the stories of other precious …more
The Last Romantics
The Last Romantics
by Tara Conklin
The Last Romantics (1/1/2019)
The Last Romantics spans the years from 1981 when the narrator, Fiona Skinner, was four years old until 2079. Fiona and her siblings survived a traumatic childhood after the death of their father, when their mother virtually ignored them for several years. This is the story …more
Clock Dance
Clock Dance: A Novel
by Anne Tyler
Vintage Anne Tyler (7/31/2018)
Like the other books by Anne Tyler that I've read, Clock Dance is a story about ordinary people living mostly very ordinary lives, but told in a way that makes them interesting enough for the reader to keep turning pages and then not wanting the book to end. I enjoyed Willa' …more
The Summer Wives
The Summer Wives
by Beatriz Williams
Summer on Winthrop Island (5/1/2018)
I have read several of Beatriz Williams' books and enjoyed them all. I enjoyed this one as well, although it took a while to get into it, with the jumps from one time period to another and the number of characters that were introduced. Eventually, things came together and …more
Other People's Houses
Other People's Houses
by Abbi Waxman
Behind closed doors (12/20/2017)
We never really know what goes on behind the closed doors of our friends and neighbors. This book allows us a glimpse into the lives of four families who live on the same street and whose children all ride in the carpool that Frances drives every day, because she has a kid …more
Next Year in Havana
Next Year in Havana
by Chanel Cleeton
A Toast to Next Year in Havana (10/19/2017)
I had a hard time putting this book down. The interwoven stories of Elisa and her granddaughter kept me enthralled and yet I felt as if I was learning a great deal of history about the lives of the Cuban people over the decades. It is a beautiful book, and I enjoyed it very much.
Young Jane Young
Young Jane Young
by Gabrielle Zevin
Fresh, Unusual (7/10/2017)
This story is told from several different viewpoints, and uses unusual formats—one section is composed of a teenager's emails to her pen pal in Indonesia. That provides a fresh feel to a plot that might seem to have been used too often recently—a young woman has an affair …more
The Book of Summer
The Book of Summer
by Michelle Gable
Not just a beach read (3/11/2017)
The cover of this books calls it a "perfect escape," but I think it is more than that. It is set on Nantucket, where Cliff House, which has been the summer home for Bess Codman's family for almost 100 years, is about to slide into the ocean. Bess's mother, Cissy, refuses to …more
Home Sweet Home
Home Sweet Home
by April Smith
Disturbing, But Very Worthwhile (12/28/2016)
This book is a fictionalized retelling of events in the lives of a family who moved from the East Coast to the State of Washington during the 1950s, when the fear of Communism was rampant in the United States. The author has written her own version of the story, but it is a …more
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
Lillian Boxfish Takes a Walk
by Kathleen Rooney
A Very Long Walk (9/20/2016)
I enjoyed this book very much. Lillian Boxfish is based on Margaret Fishback, who was the highest-paid female advertising copywriter in the 1930s. The entire book takes place on New Year's Eve in 1984 when Lillian sets out to walk from her apartment to the restaurant where …more
The Children
The Children
by Ann Leary
Summer at the Lake (5/11/2016)
I enjoyed this book. The setting seemed idyllic--a cottage on a lake in Connecticut just as summer was beginning. The characters were interesting, and kept me reading because I wanted to learn what would happen to them. I could not have guessed or anticipated what that …more
A Certain Age
A Certain Age: A Novel
by Beatriz Williams
A Bygone Age (3/18/2016)
I enjoyed this book very much. I thought it portrayed the lifestyle of the wealthy in New York City in the early 1920s vividly, with their summer homes on Long Island, the speakeasies where they drank bootleg gin and danced to the new jazz, and the lavish parties where the …more
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