BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Kenan R. (Liberty, MO)

Lady Sunshine
by Amy Mason Doan

You Had Me at Blondie (5/20/2021)

I thought this was a great read. My only regret is that I will be at the beach next week and this is a perfect beach read! The narrative set in 1999 and 1979 moves seamlessly and I was engaged in both. I will admit that I was a little more involved in the the 70s timeline, …more

Big Girl, Small Town
by Michelle Gallen

Hey - is this an Irish book?? (11/9/2020)

So... the Irish slang itself didn't bother me, I read Roddy Doyle, Tana French et al. But the phonetic spelling - seriously?!? I do not need you to spell tea "tae" or beast "baste"! I know what an Irish accent sounds like. Honestly what a slog, and a great way to break up …more

With or Without You: A Novel
by Caroline Leavitt

It Was Fine (5/14/2020)

I thought this book was a little shallow, considering the subject matter. I mean girlfriend in a coma and all that. The book moved at a nice clip and was easily digestible - great for a beach or quarantine read. I just really did not care about any of our 3 main characters - …more

Creatures
by Crissy Van Meter

Loved This but Probably not for Everyone (10/21/2019)

This book is - well - a little dark. I thought from the synopsis that it would be funnier after all... "On the eve of Evangeline's wedding, a dead whale is trapped in the harbor, the groom might be lost at sea, and her mother has shown up out of the blue." It sounds a bit - …more

You Were There Too
by Colleen Oakley

MEH (8/27/2019)

So I went back and forth with this review. I did not hate this book, but I did not love it. It was all a little much for me - too summer romance novelly. I did not care for the protagonist - too indecisive and emotionally immature. The idea of dreaming about the same person …more

Nothing to See Here
by Kevin Wilson

All the Feels! (6/28/2019)

Charming, quirky, delightful... I am probably the 367th person who has used these adjectives to describe Kevin Wilson's book, but I am at a loss as to what other words could suffice. Parenting is often a job of degrees. What can I do to keep my kid from bursting into flames …more

The Night Tiger: A Novel
by Yangsze Choo

I liked it but... (12/28/2018)

There were parts of this story that I found compelling and there were parts that I struggled to get through. The concept excited me as a reader - a historical novel of love and family set in Malaysia in the '30s with a dash of magic. I just found the narrative to be uneven. …more

A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel
by John Boyne

Terrible and Excellent! (9/20/2018)

Ah - the protagonist you love to hate - so cathartic! Maurice Swift is a terrible, awful, no-good very bad person, and a truly excellent character. His ruthless climb to the top of the literary world is perfectly crafted, and every time you think he has hit rock bottom as a …more

Me, Myself and Them
by Dan Mooney

Loved This! (7/3/2018)

Well - who'd have thought - a funny and charming read about a young man with a serious mental health issue. This debut novel is a highly entertaining read about a very real and dark subject, mental illness in the wake of a personal tragedy. The main character is an …more

The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure
by Shoba Narayan

Who Knew? (12/19/2017)

I was initially a little disappointed to discover the book I had selected was not a novel. That did not last long. Populated with true "characters" and a wealth of cultural and dairy information I was hooked almost immediately. The book is ostensibly about cows and their …more

Wonder Valley
by Ivy Pochoda

Wonderful and Seedy (7/25/2017)

This was a beautifully written book about a less than attractive subject. Marginalized characters are introduced in 2 time lines, and their stories of questionable choices and loss unfold independently of each other in Southern California from Skid Row to sketchy compounds …more

Seven Days of Us: A Novel
by Francesca Hornak

Fast Fun Read! (6/6/2017)

I breezed through this book, thoroughly enjoying it and rooting for the characters even when they weren't being particularly likeable! Francesca Hornack does an excellent job of presenting the Birches as a family of archetypal "characters" and then peeling back their layers …more

Extraordinary Adventures
by Daniel Wallace

LOVE! (2/15/2017)

I requested this book because Daniel Wallace wrote Big Fish - not that I had read it mind you - but the movie was so magical I had to try his new novel. It did not disappoint - I loved it!

Edsel Bronfman travels through the world on the outside looking in. He wants to be …more

The Typewriter's Tale
by Michiel Heyns

Too Much (1/17/2017)

The concept of this story intrigued me. Its execution almost undid me. Was it necessary to be so overwhelmingly long-winded in telling the story of Henry James' typist? A young woman of moderate means and a vague desire for more than she is offered by society, gains access …more

Edgar and Lucy
by Victor Lodato

Edgar and Lucy (11/16/2016)

Edgar is eight. His grandmother loves him unconditionally, his mother is distant and enigmatic, his father is dead. This story of a little boy navigating life in the face of profound sorrow and dangerous choices is engaging and gripping. Told from the perspectives of …more

Cruel Beautiful World
by Caroline Leavitt

Good Read (9/13/2016)

I enjoyed this book very much. Sometimes I felt the prose was almost too simple for such a dark subject, but I was engaged by the characters and wanted to know more. The simpler style of the author allowed the story to unfold at an excellent pace, and it was a page turner …more

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things: A Novel
by Bryn Greenwood

Wow - Just Wow (5/11/2016)

This is a finely crafted, beautifully written book about a very ugly world. The love story of Wavy and Kellen is definitely not the stuff of dreams. It is the stuff of life and the story of how two people can love each other enough to rise above all the pain and brutality …more

Ashes of Fiery Weather
by Kathleen Donohoe

I Devoured This Book! (3/4/2016)

I so enjoyed Ashes of Fiery Weather. The characters were extremely well drawn and fleshed out. It almost felt like several short stories that worked together to form a narrative. Full disclosure - I love a book that starts with a family tree, and I did flip back to this one …more

Tuesday Nights in 1980
by Molly Prentiss

I Just Didn't Love It (1/14/2016)

On the surface this is a good book. It captures perfectly the scene in New York City at the end of the seventies - when Manhattan is still dangerous and gritty, and art is just beginning to be seen as currency and about to explode as a commercial enterprise. It moves along …more

What Lies Between Us
by Nayomi Munaweera

Excellent Read - Tough Subject (12/2/2015)

Munaweera's prose is beautiful, her characters finely crafted and her ability to set the scene is uncanny. As in her first novel the story begins in war-torn Sri Lanka, but the civil war outside does not really touch our protagonist. Instead she is torn asunder by a tragedy …more

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?

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The Devil Finds Work
by James Baldwin

A book-length essay on racism in American films, by "the best essayist in this country" (The New York Times Book Review).

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The River Knows Your Name
by Kelly Mustian

A haunting Southern novel about memory and love, from the author of The Girls in the Stilt House.

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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.

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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!

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