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Reviews by Jean B. (Naples, FL)

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Day
Day: A Novel
by Michael Cunningham
Boring (10/7/2023)
Michael Cunningham, the author of Day, worries that his novel is boring. He worries even though he has a Pulitzer prize for a previous book. I must say that I agreed with his concern. This book is clearly not a story which involves plot and action and drama. Reviewers call …more
Last House Before the Mountain
Last House Before the Mountain
by Monika Helfer
Negative review (2/28/2023)
I could not identify with the people in this novel. It was like reading about a puppet show --the characters don't seem human or real. I kept wondering if that was the intention of the author. I read the glowing reviews written by other authors and it was hard to believe we …more
Once We Were Home
Once We Were Home
by Jennifer Rosner
A novel to treasure (10/31/2022)
Beautiful, beautiful prose...this book is a treasure. The author credits her readers with the ability to follow a complicated plot as she tells the story of children displaced and stolen after WWII. She puts readers into the hearts and minds of children being indoctrinated …more
In the Time of Our History
In the Time of Our History
by Susanne Pari
Excellent Plot and Literary Value (9/9/2022)
A novel may just tell an interesting story or it may also have beautiful literary value. In the Time of our History a fascinating tale is told in elegant language, satisfying the reader who appreciates an excellent story and beautiful writing. Susanne Pari writes …more
The Family Izquierdo
The Family Izquierdo: A Novel
by Rubén Degollado
Difficult read (8/11/2022)
This was not an easy book to read. Consequently it's hard to write a review. I thought that the author wanted to make the Mexican American experience familiar to his readers but I don't think he succeeded.

I understand, from the back cover that this book is a "linked short …more
Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden
Daughters of the Flower Fragrant Garden: Two Sisters Separated by China's Civil War
by Zhuqing Li
Two aunts/two Chinas (5/22/2022)
Zhuqing Li writes about the lives of her two remarkable aunts. She also gives us a picture of two Chinas: communist on the main land and democracy on Taiwan. Her aunts were close during their childhood, living in their beautiful home, the Flower Flagrant Garden. They were …more
Good Husbands
Good Husbands: A Novel
by Cate Ray
Poor premise (3/22/2022)
This is a book that makes you ask yourself what would I do if I were a wife who heard the news of a terrible transgression by my husband long before I knew him. I am impressed by the author's writing skills but I'm not impressed by her premise. She creates adult males who …more
Flesh & Blood
Flesh & Blood: Reflections on Infertility, Family, and Creating a Bountiful Life: A Memoir
by N. West Moss
Flesh and Blood (8/24/2021)
The descriptive phrases written by author N. West Moss ring absolutely true. The reader never thinks the author is deliberately working at being poetic. Example: "Maybe everyone is made up of two rivers, the part on the surface that the sun hits, and the cool part that runs …more
Everybody
Everybody: A Book about Freedom
by Olivia Laing
Everybody (6/2/2021)
What is this book? What does it have to do with it's title? It is thoroughly researched, full of very large words requiring the use of a dictionary, and is described as ambitious and brilliant. I could not understand why the author wrote this book or what she was trying to …more
A Theater for Dreamers
A Theater for Dreamers
by Polly Samson
What is this book (3/12/2021)
This book could be just a beach read, telling a story of people enjoying a dream setting: beaches, inexspensive housing, heat, wine, sex and freedom. It could be a re-creation of a period of time in the lives of real authors and other creative persons. Maybe it's a story …more
Big Girl, Small Town
Big Girl, Small Town
by Michelle Gallen
Big Girl, Small Town (10/20/2020)
When I read the reviews for Bi Girl, Small Town I looked forward to reading it. According to the cover of the book The Guardian called it darkly hilarious and wildly entertaining and the Irish Times labeled it captivating.

However, I found this book profoundly sad. It was …more
Hieroglyphics
Hieroglyphics
by Jill McCorkle
Hieroglyphics (7/3/2020)
I marveled, while reading this book, about the extraordinary talent of Jill McCorkle, the author. Still, it was not an easy book to read during the isolating time of the pandemic. Much of this book is so sad. McCorkle writes about an elderly couple, Lil and Frank, and a …more
The Last Train to Key West
The Last Train to Key West
by Chanel Cleeton
Easy, intriguing read (3/19/2020)
Chanel Cleeton's novel, The Last Train to Key West, is not a literary masterpiece but it's a good read. For anyone looking for an intriguing beach read this book will be perfect. The three heroines, Helen, Mirta, and Elizabeth, all meet their Prince Charmings and the …more
The Yellow Bird Sings
The Yellow Bird Sings: A Novel
by Jennifer Rosner
The Yellow Bird Sings (12/17/2019)
The Yellow Bird Sings is simultaneously heart breaking and hopeful A mother and her child survive the horrors of being Jewish during World War II. The child comforts herself with the imagined yellow bird as she and her mother hide and experience unimaginable horrors. The …more
Red Letter Days
Red Letter Days
by Sarah-Jane Stratford
Red Letter Days (10/9/2019)
When I was reading Red Letter Days I thought many of the scenes were over-dramatized. Surely, in this country, we were never that complicit with a government that completely disregarded the belief of our founding fathers that citizens had the freedom to have diverse …more
Motherhood So White
Motherhood So White: A Memoir of Race, Gender, and Parenting in America
by Nefertiti Austin
Motherhood So White (8/16/2019)
Reading this book makes one aware we cannot live in someone else's skin. My history, background and family is so different from Austin's that it seems it's almost impossible to understand her. She does, however, make it possible, and a reader can grow in empathy and …more
The Guest Book
The Guest Book
by Sarah Blake
The Guest Book (4/11/2019)
If you have ever believed you could write you will feel diminished by this novelist. Sarah Blake is an extraordinary writer. Her prose enables the reader to know the people in her novel and to see and feel the settings. But this novel, The Guest Book, is much more than …more
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
by Anissa Gray
The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls (10/30/2018)
You would think that a title like The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungy Girls would mean you were reading a funny book. Wrong! No humor here.

This is a very serious book about being bulimic, being black and being gay. The author, Anissa Gray, knows what she is writing …more
Paris Echo
Paris Echo
by Sebastian Faulks
Paris Echo (8/10/2018)
Two interesting, diverse characters make Sebastian Faulk's novel Paris Echo a really good read. Moroccan Tariq is young, confident, optimistic, and good looking and American Hannah is middle-aged, obsessed with history, intellectual and plain looking. The reader will enjoy …more
The Garden of Small Beginnings
The Garden of Small Beginnings
by Abbi Waxman
The Garden of Small Beginnings (4/29/2017)
The author handles brilliantly the challenge of telling a story that is simultaneously very funny and very sad. The young mother telling the story has delightful children, a really mother, a loving and equally funny sister, a very dead and much-loved husband, and a …more
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