BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Donna N. (sherwood, or)

Crossing the River: Seven Stories That Saved My Life, A Memoir
by Carol Smith

Crossing the river (2/2/2021)

This book will not be for everyone but it definitely met a need for me. The author loses her son to a condition that he was born with...She is an author by trade and she begins writing about children parents and adults facing in most tremendous odds with diseases and …more

Travelers: A Novel
by Helon Habila

Travelers (7/6/2019)

I enjoyed the premise of the book. Travelers meaning those that have left their countries to escape, find a better life, to be in a different place. I think it had an excellent message but there were times when the language of the writer and the reader caused confusion. I …more

Courting Mr. Lincoln
by Louis Bayard

Lincoln review (3/13/2019)

This is a delightful book about the other side of Lincoln. Having grown up in Illinois Lincoln was an especially important character in our history. The relationship with Mary Todd was always portrayed less favorably and I really liked the detail the author went to to give us another side.

The Days When Birds Come Back
by Deborah Reed

the day when birds come home....... (11/18/2017)

I felt the language and writing was superb...but felt that in some ways that took away from the storyline...the depth of feelings was there, but the connections were too weak for me.

The Fifth Petal: A Novel
by Brunonia Barry

Witchcraft at its best! (2/13/2017)

This is not a genre I usually read but it was well done and keep me reading when I should have been sleeping. The setting is Salem, Massachusetts, and we revisit the Salem witch trials of 1692 and follow them to modern day descendants. Many twists and turns weave a good …more

Edgar and Lucy
by Victor Lodato

I loved this book! (12/2/2016)

I truly enjoyed this book. It is wonderfully written and while it may not be for everyone; it grabbed me. The subject of death and love and how we deal with it is so well done. Edgar is an albino and and is a young boy for most of the story. Secrets of his fathers death …more

The Bone Tree: A Penn Cage Novel, Natchez Burning Trilogy #2
by Greg Iles

Humm (10/31/2016)

This book had great potential but was too long and too many impossible events to keep one's mind on the important parts of the story.

Les Parisiennes: How the Women of Paris Lived, Loved, and Died Under Nazi Occupation
by Anne Sebba

Tough read (7/17/2016)

This book is about Paris women and how they faced WWII. It is not an easy read. There are a multitude of characters that come from many backgrounds. It is a definitely a well researched piece of work, which would appeal to a history buff rather than a reader of historical …more

Lady Cop Makes Trouble: Girl Waits with Gun #2
by Amy Stewart

Fun Read (5/16/2016)

This was light mystery based on a lady detective in 1915, there actually was a Constance Kopp and the story is a combination of fact and fiction. It was a delightful story which held the readers interest throughout the book. It is a second Constance Kopp book and I am sure …more

Ashes of Fiery Weather
by Kathleen Donohoe

Interesting read (3/21/2016)

I enjoyed the theme of this book about wives of Irish firefighters and their families. She had very good insight into the various women that were part of this story. I was able to identify with the feelings and actions that were depicted. I wanted to keep reading which is a …more

Crazy Blood
by T. Jefferson Parker

Crazy Blood (1/13/2016)

I would like to be positive about this book, but I found it a difficult book to read. It did not flow and it felt disjointed to me. I didn't care about the characters, there was not enough development of the characters to relate to them. I have had some experience with ski …more

The Well
by Catherine Chanter

Interesting (3/11/2015)

I found I liked the fact that the author started us in the future and had Ruth take us through the past as she struggles to understand what occurred. I had a little trouble with Ruth's involvement with the "cult". I felt she was a stronger woman. Did this strength emerge …more

The Same Sky
by Amanda Eyre Ward

Great title (11/12/2014)

What a wonderful book! Connects a good life with a longing for a child with a young girl who takes her younger brother from Honduras to Texas. Certainly very timely given the recent events on the border. No matter where you stand on immigration it gives you many things on …more

Her
by Harriet Lane

HER (5/4/2014)

I found the book lacking. The characters were well developed and you had a good sense of their feelings and time of life they were experiencing. But there needed to be more substance to the storyline. I did not like the repetition in some of the chapters.
The reader needed …more

Doing Harm
by Kelly Parsons

Do not read before surgery! (10/25/2013)

This is an excellent medical thriller. It is a "stay with it until you finish it" kind of book. Many twists and turns. Someone is murdering patients using methods or situations that can happen in a hospital setting and not be discovered. The author is a doctor which brings …more

The Mouse-Proof Kitchen
by Saira Shah

Tough Topic (6/23/2013)

First time parents expecting a child of their dreams and having those dreams dashed with the birth of their extremely disabled little girl. This is not a book I would have picked up to read because of the topic. I think the author did a good job of dealing with the …more

The Lion in the Lei Shop
by Kaye Starbird

good read (5/28/2013)

This was an interesting return to history. We don't often read about the secondary impact of terrific events like Pearl Harbor. I enjoyed the two viewpoints from the five year old daughter, and her mother. The difference in age gives such different responses to any event. …more

The House Girl
by Tara Conklin

Well-done (11/22/2012)

If you like the Civil War era with an interwoven mystery you will like this book. The author does a good job of moving from modern day to 1850's with parallel stories of a slave girl and a young lawyer. The common threads are the art world and situations that require …more

A Simple Murder
by Eleanor Kuhns

An interesting start to a new series (4/12/2012)

I found this to be a light enjoyable mystery with an interesting setting. The story kept my attention and the characters were ones that I found appealing; however, I did think the characters were more modern than historically accurate. In the beginning I felt that some of …more

King Peggy: An American Secretary, Her Royal Destiny, and the Inspiring Story of How She Changed an African Village
by Peggielene Bartels, Eleanor Herman

King Peggy (12/16/2011)

What a delightful story!! I enjoyed the "King" and what she brought to this village in Ghana. It had me smiling many times, and it would be a good book for book clubs allowing them to discuss strong women and look at this part of the world in a way we don't often have the privilege of encountering.

BookBrowse Book Club

The Husbands
by Holly Gramazio

The Husbands delights in asking: how do we navigate life, love, and choice in a world of never-ending options?

About Discuss
Becoming Madam Secretary
by Stephanie Dray

New York Times bestselling author Stephanie Dray returns with a captivating novel about an American heroine France Perkins—now in paperback!

About Discuss
The Jackal's Mistress
by Chris Bohjalian

From the New York Times bestselling author of Hour of the Witch, a Civil War love story of a Confederate wife and a wounded Yankee.

About Discuss
A Map to Paradise
by Susan Meissner

From the USA Today bestselling author of Only the Beautiful. 1956, Malibu, California: Something is not right on Paradise Circle.

About Discuss

Members Recommend

Jane and Dan at the End of the World
by Colleen Oakley

Date Night meets Bel Canto in this hilarious tale.

Read the Reviews
Girl Falling
by Hayley Scrivenor

The USA Today bestselling author of Dirt Creek returns with a story of grief and truth.

Read the Reviews
The Antidote
by Karen Russell

A gripping dust bowl epic about five characters whose fates become entangled after a storm ravages their small Nebraskan town.

Read the Reviews