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Reviews by Sandi W.

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The Stars Are Fire
by Anita Shreve
Not only surviving but prospering... (6/14/2017)
4.5 stars

Few people can write like Anita Shreve. Once she determines a topic she takes control.
This is the story of a woman not only surviving but prospering.
Due to a fast moving wild fire following a drought in Maine in 1947, many towns and cities were totally wiped out.more
House of Names
by Colm Toibin
Greek Tragedy (6/14/2017)
I tell you this man can take a muddy puddle and make you think it is a fresh spring shower!!
I thought I was done with mythology back in college. I had two literature classes devoted to mythology and thought I had read and reviewed it all. However, with all the authorsmore
No One Is Coming to Save Us
by Stephanie Powell Watts
No connection... (4/30/2017)
Sorry to say I found no connection to this book. I did not connect with the characters or the story. I saw little to no resemblance to the classic The Great Gatsby. I was however able to make each character's association to this book title. They all had varying problems andmore
The Nest
by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Dysfunctional... (4/23/2017)
2.5 stars
The story line in this novel was a great idea. It started out with a lot of potential. The authors prose was easy to read and I felt overall her words moved well. The problem stemmed from all the unneeded characters and extras that were thrown into this story. Theymore
Slade House
by David Mitchell
Every Nine Years (4/3/2017)
Slade House was built in 1930. It was razed in 1940. But...life went on in Slade House - at least for one night every nine years.

I felt I was confused during the first 50 pages or so of this book. Then it all fell together. However, nothing was as I expected. The words Imore
Mischling
by Affinity Konar
A Sad and Difficult Story (4/3/2017)
Twist on a WWII theme. This book spoke to the Holocaust in 1944 and the imprisoning of twins, triplets and children with unusual defects into the pet project of Josef Mengele - Mengeles Zoo at Auschwitz. It focuses on one set of twins, Pearl and Sasha. How they survived,more
Mischling
by Affinity Konar
A Sad and Difficult Story (4/3/2017)
Twist on a WWII theme. This book spoke to the Holocaust in 1944 and the imprisoning of twins, triplets and children with unusual defects into the pet project of Josef Mengele - Mengeles Zoo at Auschwitz. It focuses on one set of twins, Pearl and Sasha. How they survived,more
A Gentleman in Moscow
by Amor Towles
Lifetime Exile (4/3/2017)
Count Alexander Ilyich Rostov is sentenced to life, a life lived in the Hotel Metropol - never to leave its doors. Then taken from his elegant suite and relegated to an attic room to spend his life.

It is through his various friends and acquaintances, Nina, Sophia, Anna,more
The Mothers
by Brit Bennett
Plethora of Human Issues (4/3/2017)
A debut book that hits on a plethora of human issues - teen pregnancy, suicide, and abortion among others. It was the intertwined stories of Aubrey, Nadia, and Luke, three black teens in San Diego, and how the choices they made, the secrets they kept and the regrets theymore
Girl in Disguise
by Greer Macallister
First Female Pinkerton (4/3/2017)
This novel was inspired by the real life of Kate Warne.
In the style of Amy Stewart's Girl Waits with Gun series or Emily McCabe's I Shall Be Near to You, Greer Macallister does a fine job of making you visualize the first female Pinkerton agent in 1856. Not only Allanmore
The Opposite of Everyone
by Joshilyn Jackson
Karma (4/3/2017)
This novel grabbed me in the first few pages and I had trouble putting it down. Not only is Joshilyn Jackson an accomplished writer, she is entertaining and imaginative.

Written in first person, Attorney Paula Vauss, aka Kali Jai, leads us down a winding lane of chaos,more
Underground Airlines
by Ben Winters
The Day of Difference (4/3/2017)
Victor/Jim/Brother is a contracted, owned bounty hunter, a tracker, by any and all names. He is a black man, forced into hunting black men. This is set in the present day. The catch is that our present day is not as we know it to be. The Civil War never took place, and evenmore
The One-in-a-Million Boy
by Monica Wood
Age is only a number.... (3/15/2017)
A fantastic and heartwarming story about an unlikely friendship between an 104-year-old Lithuanian immigrant and a 11-year-old Boy Scout. The bond they share is uniquely special, and will definitely touch your heart.
It really was best not knowing too much of this storymore
The Underground Railroad: A Novel
by Colson Whitehead
Unconventional slant (3/15/2017)
An escape through the underground railroad. We may have read many novels in relation to this historical event, but none like Colson Whiteheads version.
During this pre-civil war saga, our protagonist Cora is determined to escape her owner and make it north to freedom. Thismore
Underground Airlines
by Ben Winters
Suspend reality and just read.... (3/15/2017)
Victor/Jim/Brother is a contracted, owned bounty hunter, a tracker, by any and all names. He is a black man, forced into hunting black men. This is set in the present day. The catch is that our present day is not as we know it to be. The Civil War never took place, and evenmore
The Opposite of Everyone
by Joshilyn Jackson
How Karma Works... (3/15/2017)
This novel grabbed me in the first few pages and I had trouble putting it down. Not only is Joshilyn Jackson an accomplished writer, she is entertaining and imaginative.
Written in first person, Attorney Paula Vauss, aka Kali Jai, leads us down a winding lane of chaos,more
Girl in Disguise
by Greer Macallister
Fiction based on Fact (3/15/2017)
This novel was inspired by the real life of Kate Warne.
In the style of Amy Stewart's Girl Waits with Gun series or Emily McCabe's I Shall Be Near to You, Greer Macallister does a fine job of making you visualize the first female Pinkerton agent in 1856. Not only Allanmore
Circling the Sun: A Novel
by Paula McLain
Circling the Sun (9/12/2016)
I really liked this book. The characters were well written and came to life easily. Not having read anything else about Beryl Markham - however knowing who she was - this book did a great job of starting her life at a very young age and traversing all the changes she had tomore
Lady Cop Makes Trouble: Girl Waits with Gun #2
by Amy Stewart
Lady Cop Makes Trouble (5/15/2016)
In this second book about Constance Kopp, following Girl Waits With Gun, we again are greeted with not only Constance, but her sisters, Norma and Fleurette, and the rugged Sheriff Robert Heath - Constance's boss. Constance has been unofficially named as the first femalemore
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper
by Phaedra Patrick
The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper (5/15/2016)
As Arthur Pepper tackles sorting through his deceased wife's belongings he comes across a hidden charm bracelet. A bracelet that he believes he has never seen or heard about, but definitely stirs his curiosity. And so the transformation begins...
This odyssey takes Arthur tomore

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