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Reviews by Ann B. (Kernville, CA)

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The September House
The September House
by Carissa Orlando
Brilliant haunted house novel with excellently twisted humor (6/6/2023)
It's "a house with heavy bones," a place where Margaret can sink her roots into the ground. The gorgeous Victorian with cobalt paint, neat white trim, and a wrap-around porch is going for a price so low, she and Hal triple-check it. So what if, once they move in, they …more
The Gifts
The Gifts: A Novel
by Liz Hyder
A feminist story wherein hard-pressed Victorian women must find their wings (4/12/2023)
This novel melds historical fiction with magical realism to tell the stories of four women straining against the limitations imposed on them in Victorian England. The patriarchy very much pins them down, like specimens. In fact, when two of the women, Etta and Natalya, …more
Bad Cree
Bad Cree: A Novel
by Jessica Johns
A supernatural horror thriller that explores generational trauma (2/13/2023)
In this debut supernatural thriller, a young Cree woman's dreams lead her back home, where a wheetigo (windigo) preys on the family's grief for her grandmother and her sister. Mackenzie has tried to run away from her family and their losses, but her nightmares have started …more
The Light Pirate
The Light Pirate
by Lily Brooks-Dalton
Hope is light in the darkness (12/14/2022)
Resilience, survival, adaptability. These are all themes of this novel told in four parts -- power, water, light, time. Wanda Lowe is named for the catastrophic storm that opens this memorable novel. She is born in a not-too-distant future Florida, with its power grid and …more
The God of Endings
The God of Endings: A Novel
by Jacqueline Holland
A marvel of a debut novel (11/27/2022)
"Everyone must decide for themselves whether this world and life in it is a kindness or an unkindness, a blessing or a curse." This novel is a marvel, difficult to classify, easy to admire. Told in alternating chapters, switching from the past to the novel's present time of …more
Natural History
Natural History: Stories
by Andrea Barrett
Interlinked stories invoking generational memory, scientific wonder, ties that bind (8/11/2022)
These six linked short stories, including the novelette-length (50 pages) title story, call upon characters from Andrea Barrett's past collections, with the ground zero story being "The Marburg Sisters" from the author's National Book Award-winning Ship Fever. Set in the …more
One's Company
One's Company: A Novel
by Ashley Hutson
Beyond the comfort of fantasy lies the unknowable fourth wall (6/13/2022)
Bonnie Lincoln has survived horrific trauma. Barely survived. When she wins the mother of all lotteries, Bonnie decides that she can indeed escape her pain, her trauma, and her past. All she needs is to trade her story for that of her favorite TV show characters. "My …more
Two Nights in Lisbon
Two Nights in Lisbon: A Novel
by Chris Pavone
As twisty as the cobbled streets of Lisbon (5/25/2022)
Lisbon provides the perfect backdrop for this international thriller. From the moment Ariel Pryce wakes alone in her hotel room, her husband gone without warning, the action throttles without cease. Author Chris Pavone uses well the winding streets of this hilly Portuguese …more
Fencing with the King
Fencing with the King: A Novel
by Diana Abu-Jaber
As if we've been transported to Jordan  (1/14/2022)
This deliberately paced, sensuously written novel is the story of a lost woman regaining her self. It's the story of a poet finding her voice. And it's the story of a "true Jordanian" family, in the sense that this family represents many facets of Jordan, those on display …more
Beasts of a Little Land
Beasts of a Little Land: A Novel
by Juhea Kim
Inyeon in the time of Korea's epic struggle for independence (12/7/2021)
In this excellent debut novel, we go from the wilds of mountainous North Korea to the grit and gloss of Seoul. This historical fiction novel takes us from 1917 through 1965, during Korea's fight to crawl out from under Japanese occupation. It's 416 pages of love in the time …more
Housebreaking
Housebreaking
by Colleen Hubbard
Deconstructing as a means of building self (11/23/2021)
A bildungsroman with a twist, this "new adult" coming-of-age novel's premise is both fascinating and multifaceted. Young, rude, aimless, loner Del challenges herself to demolish her childhood home, and in the process of deconstructing the house and her family's stuff, she …more
A Million Things
A Million Things
by Emily Spurr
tugs at the heartstrings (6/9/2021)
I devoured this debut novel by Australian author Emily Spurr. Remarkable for its theme, its characters, and its humanity, the book is written from the second-person point of view, the 'you' directed at the narrator's mother. I won't soon forget narrator Rae, her neighbor …more
The Prophets
The Prophets
by Robert Jones Jr.
An epic novel giving clear voice & vivid characters to a buried past (11/27/2020)
I'll start with the cover of this remarkable debut novel. Its design is on trend, for sure, but it's also perfect for The Prophets, a book that will transcend trend. Look at the silhouettes and the layers and the shades of color. The silhouetted faces …more
Piranesi
Piranesi
by Susanna Clarke
Enter this strange but enthralling labyrinth (8/16/2020)
Imagine waking in the middle of a 3D labyrinth populated by only statues, neoclassical architecture, the sea and clouds. It would be confusing at first, certainly, just as the first chapters of Susanna Clarke's new speculative fiction novel are. But as you wander this …more
Migrations
Migrations: A Novel
by Charlotte McConaghy
An enthralling debut novel set in a breathtaking future (5/5/2020)
This book, like the birds the protagonist is so determined to follow, soars. Reading it in the midst of an actual pandemic gives it that much more gravity. But it needed no help in that, with or without the hovering of coronavirus. The prose is achingly gorgeous: 'I …more
The Big Finish
The Big Finish
by Brooke Fossey
The Big Finish deserves big kudos (11/15/2019)
Brooke Fossey had me at 9am Sit and Be Fit. I swear I've seen those exact activities on the board at my aunt's assisted living facility. I love that the novel is broken into bulletin board calendar days as well as numbered chapters. Time and its rate and manner of passing …more
Nothing to See Here
Nothing to See Here
by Kevin Wilson
How do you prep for the possibility of fire children? (6/15/2019)
As a fan of weird fiction, I devoured this book. Main character Lillian, like most of us, feels like whatever she does, it's the wrong thing. She's not prepared for the children she's tasked to care for. Who would be prepared for children who catch fire at will? What Kevin …more
House of Stone
House of Stone
by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma
A layered novel in which history commands center stage (12/29/2018)
This sprawling novel set in Zimbabwe during Robert Mugabe's brutal government marks the impressive debut of Novuyo Rosa Tshuma. The book will appeal to readers seeking a layered, twist-filled #ownvoices story of oppressed and haunted people seeking to transcend the past.
The Lost Man
The Lost Man
by Jane Harper
Character-driven mystery braided into Outback family saga (12/15/2018)
This crime novel set in the Australian outback has elements of a typical mystery, but it's the conventions it lacks that make it so satisfying. Our protagonist, for example, is not a PI, cop, or otherwise typical gumshoe character. Rather, he is a member of the family. …more
Fly Girls
Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History
by Keith O'Brien
A well grounded account of women pioneers of the air (6/24/2018)
Veteran NPR journalist Keith O'Brien succeeds in bringing these female (and feminist) aviation pioneers to life. I very much enjoyed following the arc of narrative that O'Brien constructed using primary and secondary source materials, such as journals, news clips, letters, …more
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