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Reviews by Catherine O. (Altavista, VA)

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The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
by Anissa Gray

Fate, Choices and Consequences (10/1/2018)

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls was so readable, it grabs you from the very start and takes you on a journey with some unforgettable characters. The early death of Mama Butler thrusts Althea into the role of caregiver and shifts the family dynamics. The way …more

The Winter Soldier
by Daniel Mason

Get Lost in The Winter Soldier (10/1/2018)

The Winter Soldier transports the reader back one hundred years to war torn Eastern Europe. We see events through the eyes of a young medical student being trained in Vienna who is suddenly delivered to a field hospital in the Carpathian Mountains as their only 'doctor'. …more

A Place for Us
by Fatima Farheen Mirza

Unique Voice (3/16/2018)

The characters in A Place For Us are so compelling and rich that they pull you along through a deep and complicated family history. The young author has a very strong voice that unfortunately became lost for me at times as she switched narrators and timelines.
What kept me …more

The Girl Who Smiled Beads: A Story of War and What Comes After
by Elizabeth Weil, Clemantine Wamariya

A Story of Survival (2/6/2018)

Clemantine Wamariya's book is haunting. At the age of six when our children are enjoying Kindergarten this girl and her sister enter the world of refugees. The beauty of this book is in the simple way she tells her unbelievable journey. She reminds us that millions of …more

Anatomy of a Miracle
by Jonathan Miles

Unique Idea (1/7/2018)

Anatomy of a Miracle starts with such an instant hook that I was hoping for a thrilling read. Instead I found the narration clumsy and repetitive. There were a few memorable characters, but too many side characters that took away from the plot and point of the story. …more

Eternal Life
by Dara Horn

The Downside to Immortality (11/9/2017)

Immortality is certainly not a new theme in literature, yet Dara Horn puts an interesting spin on the theme in Eternal Life. The main characters of Rachel and Elazar did not choose immortality because they wanted to live forever, but rather accepted immortality as the price …more

Wonder Valley
by Ivy Pochoda

Wonder Valley (7/28/2017)

Life often takes turns based on small actions that have large consequences. The characters in this novel seem to have all ended up in unfortunate circumstances. The way they come together and either survive or not makes for a very entertaining read. I would recommend this …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Daughters of Shandong
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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Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

Praised by Parade and The New York Times Book Review, this debut features a 1960s scientist turned TV cooking star.

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The Lilac People
by Milo Todd

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, a poignant tale of a trans man’s survival in Nazi Germany and postwar Berlin.

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A dazzling debut by Jemimah Wei about ambition, sisterhood, and family bonds in turn-of-the-millennium Singapore.

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