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Reviews by Sandi W.

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Becoming
by Michelle Obama

"I'm an ordinary person who found herself on an extraordinary journey." (3/9/2019)

I was very pleased with this book. I felt that Michelle (who made you feel like you were her friend) did a wonderful job of telling her truth. She told of her aspirations, along with her fears. She did not hesitate to spell out her doubts and concerns. By the end of the …more

The White Darkness
by David Grann

An unforgettable entry into one man's dream (2/6/2019)

There is not a thing that I have read by this author that I did not like. Grann tells it like it is, leaving you to decide whether you like the story or not. But always non-fiction and compelling. He is diverse in his projects, from the Amazon to Kitty Hawk to the Osage …more

Once Upon a River
by Diane Setterfield

mastery of detail and readability (2/6/2019)

4.5 stars

I loved this book. It not only attests to the excellent story telling of the author, but it held me in awe of it's mastery of detail and readability. I felt that the story was enthralling, but the attention to detail and story follow up, along with the touch of …more

Sugar Run
by Mesha Maren

strings left dangling (2/6/2019)

I am not sure exactly what it was that I was expecting or waiting for in this book, but it never seemed to materialize. For a debut novel there was plenty of action in the story, some good character development and a plausible plot, but for me it just missed the mark.

The …more

Old Newgate Road
by Keith Scribner

our past can predict our future (2/6/2019)

This is one of the better novels I have read that relates to men. A story of three generations, son, father and grandfather, all different. But all still trying to move through the guilt of the past.

Although I thought that this book started off a bit slow, it took no time …more

Waiting for Eden
by Elliot Ackerman

genius of consciousness (2/6/2019)

Given the time to think about this book for the last two days, I have changed my rating from 4 stars to 5 stars. Not many books get this rating from me, but in afterthought I truly believe that this book should be one of them.

Such a sad book. Sad, from the narrator of the …more

An Elderly Lady Is Up to No Good
by Helene Tursten

just a little devil (2/6/2019)

What a charming little book. Translated from Swedish, being made into a TV series in Sweden, I feel cheated that we are not also getting it in the United States.

Eighty-eight year old Maud is just a little devil. Set, and solitary, in her ways and always looking for the …more

The Hiding Place
by C. J. Tudor

Authors second book... (2/6/2019)

For those unaware, this book has a second title - The Taking of Annie Thorne.

This is the second book written by C. J. Tudor. I was very quick to secure a copy of it because I liked The Chalk Man so well. Sadly, I must say that the two books are very dissimilar.

I liked this …more

The Lost Man
by Jane Harper

imagination and brilliant storytelling (2/6/2019)

How refreshing! Just a really nice novel with a general fiction story line. Set in Australia, in the very outback, with minimal characters and subtle plot surrounding a family. The novel speaks of love, relationships, heredity, loss and endurance. Of how things are handed …more

The Affairs of the Falcóns
by Melissa Rivero

Heart wrenching... (1/7/2019)

Unsettled, desperate and heart wrenching, this story takes us into the lives of one undocumented immigrant family. Afraid to go home and afraid to stay, the Falcons are left living off family, struggling to find work, learning the language, avoiding crime and fitting into …more

The Dinner
by Herman Koch

A cold, horrendous act of violence (12/6/2018)

3.75 stars

Man, what a crappy family. Each person in this group of people has a problem, and one that supersedes the problem that they are all drawn together to solve. There is not one character in this whole novel that is likable. Some of their actions are very …more

Three Things About Elsie
by Joanna Cannon

Grabbing Premise, fizzeling story... (11/14/2018)

A study in aging - the loneliness, the loss of memory and the secrets kept for years.

Florence Claybourne has fallen in her apartment. She lives in a retirement home and she knows she will soon be found. As she lays on her floor she begins to relive the secrets of her past. …more

A Cloud in the Shape of a Girl
by Jean Thompson

bleak and sorrowful (11/14/2018)

This was a book that I probably would have set down, if it were not that I was reading it with a group. But because I was, I forged on, and am now fairly happy that I did.

The first half of this book was frustrating. I felt the characters were shallow and basically portrayed …more

Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens

The author gives you the visual, the characters give you the familiarity (11/14/2018)

Seldom does a book leave you with a warm and completed feeling. Especially one revealing a murderer in its closing paragraphs. But this is the book that managed to do just that.

Delia Owens introduces you to a wonderful list of characters. Then she sends them on their way to …more

Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company that Addicted America
by Beth Macy

Macy humanized this story... (11/14/2018)

For me this was a book that needed a bit of time, after reading, to be able to review it. The author Beth Macy is a favorite author of mine. I enjoy the way she lays her information out. Every book I have read by her was about a vastly different subject, but all were …more

The Care and Feeding of Ravenously Hungry Girls
by Anissa Gray

Paying for regret... (11/5/2018)

Relationships - terrifying! And when they are relationships between a Mother and her daughter they become even more confusing, more highly emotional and possibly more devastating. Then add in relationships with siblings, runaways, lies and prison and you have this amazing …more

Force of Nature: Aaron Falk Mystery #2
by Jane Harper

Five start out...four return (10/30/2018)

Jane Harper has done it again. Staying in the Australian vein, again engaging with Detective Aaron Falk, this second book of the series is another great who-done-it. Her first book, The Dry, was exceptionally good, both in story plot and writing. This second book is also …more

The Winter Soldier
by Daniel Mason

Starts slow and builds up speed.... (10/6/2018)

I had a lot of trouble getting into this book. I felt it read like a foreign dictionary. I was disappointed. I so liked Mason's book The Piano Tuner and was excited to get a chance to read this one. I had so much trouble starting this novel that I almost set it aside. I …more

A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel
by John Boyne

A life in chapters... (10/6/2018)

This may be book that you will love to hate, or hate to love? Boyne did a fabulous job on the three separate chapters. He pulled them all together by high-lighting one person, Maurice Swift. Each chapter told by a different person, each chapter a different period in life, …more

Sold on a Monday
by Kristina McMorris

Sincer, Absorbing, Historical read... (8/29/2018)

Great historical story set in 1931 Pennsylvania. Based on the research of a factual picture showing a sign selling 4 children on a stoop in Chicago in 1948 - the desperation of just one family. McMorris, after following up with the children in that picture and learning of …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

Praised by Parade and The New York Times Book Review, this debut features a 1960s scientist turned TV cooking star.

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The Lilac People
by Milo Todd

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, a poignant tale of a trans man’s survival in Nazi Germany and postwar Berlin.

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Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung

Based on the author’s family story, comes an extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ escape from Taiwan.

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