Reviews by Barbara B. (Evansville, IN)

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Three Days in June
Three Days in June: A Novel
by Anne Tyler
Realistic Marriage Fiction (12/7/2024)
A wedding and marriage story so realistic, I honestly felt I was at the wedding with the Baines family. Gail and Max are the parents of the bride, Deborah. They both are very complete characters in this novel, nearing retirement age and divorced. The sibling spats, work …more
Beast of the North Woods
Beast of the North Woods: Monster Hunter Mysteries #3
by Annelise Ryan
A Chapter Book for Adults (11/22/2024)
There are scary chapter books written for preteens, with many of these books on the market. This novel is a similar genre for young adults and grownups. Each short chapter ends with a slightly suspenseful sentence, and the readers want to continue with the next chapter …more
The Story Collector
The Story Collector
by Evie Woods
Cheerful and Charming (8/16/2024)
Does anyone actually make a spur-of-the-moment decision to move to another continent on Christmas Day? Sarah Harper does in this unusually charming and cheerful story. She leaves New York and relocates to the western coast of Ireland, on a whim, after reading a small news …more
Mockingbird Summer
Mockingbird Summer: A Novel
by Lynda Rutledge
A Bit Too Much About Corky (1/13/2024)
Mockingbird Summer is a Civil Rights and Women’s Rights novel set in Texas, 1964. Star of the book is a thirteen-year-old girl named Kathryn Corcoran, also known as Katie or Corky. She becomes friends with America Willcox, the teenage daughter of Corky’s family housekeeper. …more
The Vaster Wilds
The Vaster Wilds: A Novel
by Lauren Groff
Surviving the Wild (10/9/2023)
The girl had no name. She was a teenager, hired to be a caregiver for the child Bess as the family journeyed to America with the ill-fated Jamestown colonists. Could the girl survive the vaster wilds? The colonists were diseased and starving, so immediately following a …more
Above the Salt
Above the Salt: A Novel
by Katherine Vaz
One of a Kind Historical Fiction (10/1/2023)
Above the Salt is a descriptive, lyrical story of two lovers, John Alves and Mary Freitas. Their lives begin in Madeira, a Portuguese island, where the religious uprisings between Catholics and Protestants are at a fever pitch in the mid 1800's. Both become religious exiles …more
The Continental Affair
The Continental Affair: A Novel
by Christine Mangan
Henri and Louise (7/16/2023)
We have Henri and we have Louise, two European adults who never knew one another until Louise mistakenly picked up a bunch of shady money intended for Henri. Why did neither character want to let go of the money? That's the theme and psychological backbone of this novel. …more
The Long Ago
The Long Ago: A Novel
by Michael McGarrity
The Importance of Family (4/14/2023)
After serving a tour of duty in Vietnam during the early 1960's, Ray Lansdale has returned to his home in Livingston, Montana. Ray's younger sister, Barbara, has disappeared and it's of utmost importance for him to locate her. Their parents are deceased, so Barbara is the …more
Homestead
Homestead: A Novel
by Melinda Moustakis
Lessons Learned in Marriage (1/22/2023)
Lawrence and Marie Beringer bit off more than they could chew when they married less than a month after they met in Alaska,1956. It was a marriage built on infatuation and physical attraction. They had many lessons to learn while they lived in an old bus and slowly cleared 1 …more
The God of Endings
The God of Endings: A Novel
by Jacqueline Holland
Great Novel for Halloween (10/29/2022)
Vampires have a variety of personalities, just like mortal humans do. In this dark and somewhat realistic novel, perfect for Halloween, immortal vampire Anna is a conscientious female who fears many things, especially being a vampire forever. She is the director and teacher …more
Shadows of Berlin
Shadows of Berlin: A Novel
by David R. Gillham
Angry Characters (4/27/2022)
I feel compelled to speak about the tone of this historical novel. The young woman from Berlin and her American husband, living in Manhattan, are an argumentative couple. Both Rachel and Aaron are not likable characters. Rachel’s cranky uncle is also a postwar refugee in …more
Some of It Was Real
Some of It Was Real
by Nan Fischer
Very Suspenseful (3/8/2022)
May I first mention that this novel has adult content that can be distressful to some readers? Just a mild warning, because the dangerous suspense is what most readers are looking for. It definitely becomes gruesome toward the end of the book.

Sylvie is a beautiful, …more
Take My Hand
Take My Hand
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez
Realistic Fiction About Birth Control (9/10/2021)
Take My Hand is realistic fiction at its best. A black nurse in 1970's Montgomery Alabama takes a job at a family planning clinic where she becomes a beacon of hope for her poverty stricken patients. Soon, she discovers she is giving injections of a controversial drug, Depo- …more
The Sunset Route
The Sunset Route: Freight Trains, Forgiveness, and Freedom on the Rails in the American West
by Carrot Quinn
Excellent memoir (7/7/2021)
Forever, I will think of this book every time I see a freight train. But the more important theme is the way the author was treated by her parents when she was a child.

I have questions, many questions. How could her mother have custody of Carrot Quinn and her brother Jordan? …more
The Personal Librarian
The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
Suspenseful Life of Belle De La Costa Greene (2/5/2021)
I enjoy Marie Benedict's novels because there's always the hint of something suspenseful for the main character. Belle De La Costa Greene is the Personal Librarian for infamous investor and business magnate, J P Morgan. Belle encounters some good choices and some bad …more
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
by Marie Benedict
Positive Spin on Agatha Christie (11/1/2020)
Marie Benedict has crafted a very good fictional explanation for the brief disappearance of mystery writer Agatha Christie. Both characters, Agatha and Archie Christie, are fully created in their personalities and their lifestyles. The book alternates chapters, told from …more
At the Edge of the Haight
At the Edge of the Haight
by Katherine Seligman
Fictional Account of Homelessness in San Francisco (10/5/2020)
The dire homeless life of 20-year-old Maddy Donaldo is depicted very honestly and vividly in the novel At The Edge of the Haight, written by Katherine Seligman. Why do young people choose to live such a careless and rough lifestyle when they are given opportunities to …more
The Madwoman and the Roomba
The Madwoman and the Roomba: My Year of Domestic Mayhem
by SandraTsing Loh
Just slightly humorous (3/27/2020)
Perhaps if I was reading this novel at a different time in our world, I might have found it more humorous. The author has a strong personality that comes through in her memoir, and she writes about insignificant events in her life without taking herself seriously. Compared …more
The Women with Silver Wings
The Women with Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service Pilots of World War II
by Katherine Sharp Landdeck
Courageous Women as Service Pilots (12/30/2019)
Apparently, it was a popular thing for middle-class and upper-class women to earn their pilots' licenses in the late 1930's. However, the male pilots were reluctant to share the skies and duties with their female counterparts. Midway through World War II, it became …more
And They Called It Camelot
And They Called It Camelot: A Novel of Jacqueline Bouvier Kennedy Onassis
by Stephanie Marie Thornton
Very Believable Kennedy Fiction (12/3/2019)
Myth or legend, the idea of Camelot during the Kennedy political years was proposed by Jackie Kennedy in interviews with journalist Theodore White after JFK's death. Jackie was adept and convincing at creating a positive image from a lamentable life and marriage. Told from …more
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