BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

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

Hilarity, Heart, and Twists (11/19/2024)

This novel tempts a reader to cancel every other life obligation to keep reading. As the mid-life Dan and Jane celebrate their 19th anniversary, more than a little bored and unsure of their love and how well they have parented their two children, life throws them a curve ball--a terrorist group hostage crisis. In one moment a reader shares their terror and in the next laughs at their conversations and at another unexpected twist. Brilliantly covering both the domestic ennui of midlife as well as global climate and political issues a reader comes to the heart of what truly matters--liking who you love.

Going Home: A Novel
by Tom Lamont

Toddler Upends Four Adults (11/6/2024)

Any reader who loves complex character development will be immersed in this novel as one toddler challenges each of four major characters as well as their relationships with one another. While I enjoyed that aspect, the detailed emphasis was just a bit slow for my taste. Since the novel is from a British perspective and set in a smaller town that may be the difference for me. It is a novel with great heart and both the turmoil and joy one little boy brings to these four adults makes it well worth a read.

Follow the Stars Home
by Diane C. McPhail

Intrepid, Indeed (5/5/2024)

This historical novel introduces the reader to Lydia and Nicholas Roosevelt on their daring trip in 1811 to prove a steamboat could navigate the Ohio and, especially, the Mississippi River. Focused on Lydia's viewpoint the reader is taken on the perilous trip with many challenges, including Lydia being 8 months pregnant with their second child, giving birth, and also mothering their preschool daughter during the trip. Lydia's courage and her deep love and partnership with Nicholas enrich the historical aspects of the novel. I got a little bogged down in some of the details, though overall it is a book well worth reading.

The Flower Sisters
by Michelle Collins Anderson

Story brings us home (2/26/2024)

Of all the "First Impressions" books I have read "The Flower Sisters" moved me to ponder, to laugh, to tears and more. It is now on my never-to-be-forgotten novels list. Based on a historical event in the author's Ozark small town, Michelle Collins Anderson takes that event and creates a whole world of fascinating and complex people whose stories become part of the reader's world. One inhabits this world through multiple characters, but for me, Daisy, especially, drew me into what she thought would be temporary but became the home of her heart.

Day: A Novel
by Michael Cunningham

Difficult to empathize (10/16/2023)

Family relationships contain complications in the best of times but when economic struggles and a pandemic lockdown figure into a family's life, it is difficult to sort out the impacts on each member of a family. I found this book both challenging and, at times, disheartening. Others may find they can relate to or empathize with the characters, but I was unable to connect with any of them. There is some hopefulness eventually that some will find their way to more love.

The Continental Affair: A Novel
by Christine Mangan

Complexities of pursuer and pursued (7/20/2023)

Author Christine Mangan takes the reader on a twisting tale of one pursued and of her pursuer through locations in Europe, Asia, and Africa. Time, also, twists leaving the reader sometimes bewildered but always intrigued at the cat and mouse journey of the two major characters. Ultimately surprises await the reader along the journey and this reader was left with hopes of self-forgiveness for each of the characters and for their futures.

Stealing: A Novel
by Margaret Verble

Unforgettable Young Narrator (12/22/2022)

In nonlinear fashion we follow young Kit's journaling of challenges she faces in her 1950s life after her Cherokee mother's early death. Her WWII veteran father loves Kit and remains close to his wife's Cherokee family. As the reader comes to trust Kit's innocent wisdom and voice, outside self-righteous, supposedly "Christian" persons, enter into her father's and her lives. Forced to be known as "Karen," the reader will cheer for Kit as she shares details and seeks to reveal truth.

In the Time of Our History
by Susanne Pari

Amazing and complex characters (9/27/2022)

I am eager for this novel to be available so I can tell all the readers I know not to miss reading it. The depth of the characters made me want them to walk off the page so we could sit down, share tea and have deep conversations. Susanne Pari's novel opens both new and, at the same time, recognizable cultural and emotional worlds in this story of first and second generations as they navigate family, tradition, political upheaval, self-awareness and tragedy.

The Empire of Dirt: A Novel
by Francesca Manfredi

Captivating novel (6/9/2022)

This novel, beautifully translated, immediately pulls a reader in to the lives of three female generations of a family and both the mysterious and human forces which threaten them one summer. Seen through the lens of the 12-year-old, and occasionally the woman she becomes later, one is drawn into this "empire of dirt" and the Biblical (see Exodus) plagues they experience. Most readers will want to carve out time to read this novel in one sitting as I did.

The Last Grand Duchess: A Novel of Olga Romanov, Imperial Russia, and Revolution
by Bryn Turnbull

To remember family (12/26/2021)

As a granddaughter of German from Russia immigrants (paterna,1904 and materna,1911) this historical novel was of special interest to me since relatives of my grandparents remained in Russia during the time covered in the novel. Bryn Turnbull's historical novel of the last of the Romanov dynasty from 1913-1918 is well researched. The author takes necessary liberties to focus, however, on family in the middle of the political turmoil through the viewpoint of Nicholas II and Alexandra's oldest daughter, Olga. I found it emotionally insightful. The epilogue and author's notes complete the reader's experience.

How to Find Your Way Home
by Katy Regan

Hope--a thing with feathers (10/9/2021)

Emily Dickinson's poem haunted me as I read this British novel as it reveals painful mistakes haunting a family split apart by frailty, bullying, tragedy, and a huge lie. Something lurks just beyond the reader's reach until near the end. An adult brother and sister, separated for many years, tentatively come back together to face truths which truly set them, at last, free like the birds the brother has always loved.

Lady Sunshine
by Amy Mason Doan

I could give it 10 stars! (5/12/2021)

While I can rate many novels 5 stars, there are only a very few I regret leaving at the end. "Lady Sunshine" is such a novel. From the beginning, the major character Jackie metaphorically takes the reader by the hand into her life in 1999 and back to the summer of 1979 into the lives of her Uncle Graham, Aunt Angela and, especially, her cousin Willa weaving late adolescence, music, domestic violence, the Pacific Ocean and the way love, thought lost, roars back into one's life like the tide. If you read just one book in 2021, read this one!

A Theater for Dreamers
by Polly Samson

Through innocent eyes (3/22/2021)

Through the eyes of 18-year-old Erica, we escape to the island of Hydra in 1960 and a cosmopolitan group of writers, artists, and a few young adults who, like Erica, each seek something not quite in their reach. Polly Samson creates, through almost poetic phrasing, both atmosphere and understanding of the Hydra lives of Charmian Clift, George Johnston, Leonard Cohen and others as they interact that one summer. But it is through Erica's eyes and life that the reader experiences Hydra--the loveliness and the broken hearts of one eventful summer. Then we have a few final glimpses of life after the 1960 Hydra summer.

Of Women and Salt
by Gabriela Garcia

Women--Cuba, Generations, Immigration (1/8/2021)

If you want to enter the hearts of several generations of women, starting in Cuba an moving to Miami you will want to read this book. While not long in length, the story that unfolds through the voices of these women is unforgettable and one that leave you haunted. "We are force" indeed.

The Blind Light: A Novel
by Stuart Evers

History, family, and cold wars (10/21/2020)

The threat of a nuclear apocalypse underlies the unlikely and often strained friendship between two British military men, one from the working class (Drum) and one from the wealthy (Carter). Though an atomic bomb never brings the destruction, the ensuing 70 years of the novel as the two men marry, have families, and live out there lives. Both positive and destructive human dynamics as well as historical events impact their lives. Not an easy novel to read and often one can get lost in some stream-of-consciousness, but it leaves the reader with much to ponder.

With or Without You: A Novel
by Caroline Leavitt

Complex characters one comes to love (5/20/2020)

Characters, who at may first appear unsympathetic, change and grow as the novel progresses, both in surprising and complex ways. That depth depicts the way we humans can both complicate and untangle our lives. As life circumstances and crises bring complications for these characters, life also opens new opportunities for both relational and personal growth. The relationships may not turn out the way a reader may hope, yet hope resonates throughout the novel, including at the end. Reading the novel may even give a reader an opportunity to examine his or her own personal growth and relationships, past and present.

Miss Austen
by Gill Hornby

More of the story (2/12/2020)

This book will appeal to admirers of Jane Austen's writing and also readers who love exploring both history and family relationships. The book alternates between Jane and her sister Cassandra's adult years and 1840, 23 years after Jane has passed, as Cassy seeks to protect Jane's reputation by destroying some letters Jane wrote. The novel also shines a light on the plight of women, married and, especially, single in England at the time. The wit and subtle humor are reminiscent of Jane Austen, herself.

Welcome to the Pine Away Motel and Cabins
by Katarina Bivald

Thought provoking and humorous (12/25/2019)

Tempted to five this a 4 rating because of my slight frustration about the narrator's switching between high school years and the present, ultimately decided that there gems to be discovered as one reads. Henny, the narrator, has died right at the beginning. However she stays around to observe and communicate with her friends and father, encouraging them to overcome the prejudices of the small town prejudices and misguided "Christianity." She also learns that her seemingly insignificant life has profoundly affected other lives.

Remembrance
by Rita Woods

History, mystery, and spirit (10/16/2019)

Spanning 1791 to the 21st century and from Haiti to New Orleans to Ohio, this story of the lives of three women, deepens one's understanding of the African American experience. Additionally, the mystery of spiritual power in Vodun (anglicized as Voodoo) intrigues a reader. The three women in the novel, so different from me, seemed to take me by the hand and show me their worlds. The book and the mysterious Josiah's words to the contemporary character, Gaelle, will stay with me. "How much more will you allow this world to take from you?"

The Secrets We Kept: A novel
by Lara Prescott

Outstanding historical novel (7/8/2019)

Spanning the Cold War period 1949-1961 and from Russia to the United States and Europe, this novel sheds light on Boris Pasternak, his mistress Olga Ivinskaya, and "Dr. Zhivago," for which Olga served as a muse and largely influenced the character of Lara. At the same time we gain insights into the CIA of the 1950s (referred to as "the agency") through the eyes of the female typists and two female spies. Lara Prescott uses a variety of narrators, never confusing the reader, to reveal an unfolding story of love, desperation, government repression and the undermining of the Soviet Union through "Dr. Zhivago." Ultimately it is truly about secrets kept. Well researched and beautifully written.

Reviews by Mary L. (Greeley, CO)

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Reviews by Mary L. (Greeley, CO)

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