BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Honor
by Thrity Umrigar

Honor (9/8/2021)

There is modern India and there is backward villages India. In a village where a Muslim and a Hindi would never marry...where women are treated as the property of men. Reporter Smita, who has secrets of her own as a youngster in India, reports the brutal story that takes place in such two such villages. The book mesmerized me. It is a beautiful story of love and sacrifice.

The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

The Personal Librarian (2/1/2021)

The fascinating story of Bella Da Costa Greene begins for the reader in 1905. She went from working at the library at Princeton University to becoming the personal librarian to Junius Morgan, better known as J.P. Morgan. Even though her father was the first African American man to graduate from Harvard University, she lived her whole life as a white woman. Working with Mr. Morgan opened a whole new world for her. We read how she gained the respect of the men behind the scenes art world in the United States and Europe. Under her tutelage the private collection became the public library it is today.

The Mystery of Mrs. Christie
by Marie Benedict

Mystery of Mrs. Christie (11/4/2020)

Another winner by Marie Benedict!

Agatha Christie has 11 days of her life unaccounted. Was she abducted? Did she commit suicide? Was she doing research for a new mystery novel? Was she escaping from a loveless marriage? These and other questions are posed as we read this novel. Ms. Benedict has her own theory, and a fine one it is!

The reader is given an intimate look at the adult life of Agatha Christie. It reflects the era she lived and the way she was raised.

Afterlife
by Julia Alvarez

Afterlife (2/12/2020)

Life goes on. Perhaps differently than one's master plan. After newly retired college professor Antonia's husband, Sam suddenly dies, she faces living her shattered life. She finds herself facing many side shows. There is a strong Latino bond of sisterhood with her three scattered sisters. Heartbreaking decisions must be made without dishonoring a sister's turf.

What does she do when an undocumented young girl shows up at her door? How can she protect other undocumented men who live in her area?

Life as she once knew it is shattered, but it can go on in a different way after it is put back together.

Greek to Me: Adventures of the Comma Queen
by Mary Norris

Greek to Me (2/13/2019)

After reading Greek to Me, I am ready to reread The Iliad and the Odyssey, and a few classic Greek plays. I marvel how Mary Morris learned the Greek alphabet, learned to speak Greek, and apply the Greek root word to the English counterpart. Her love of Greek and Greece is so strong, I want to hop a plane and explore Greece.

Clock Dance: A Novel
by Anne Tyler

Clock Dance (7/10/2018)

I love Anne Tyler! Here is another book where nothing seems to be happening, but becoming part of Willa Drake's life is like being with an old friend. She appears to many to be weak, but she is actually a strong woman who eventually gets what she wants out of life. Not only does she nurture a stranger and her daughter, she finds that she is strong enough to get what she wants out of life. She can help others, but also get the full benefits of self esteem when doing so. I cheered at the end when Willa made her bold decision.

Auntie Poldi and the Sicilian Lions
by Mario Giordano

Auntie Poldi Sicilian Lions (1/7/2018)

This book did not "grab" me right away. Perhaps the translation wasn't perfect. But, once I got past all that, it was a fun light read. Auntie Poldi, a sixty year old Auntie Mame type character, was of Italian ancestry but raised in Germany. After her parents died she sold the family home and moved to Sicily where her sisters lived. She became immersed in the community and involved in a murder that she was determined to solve. Her joy of life shines throughout.

Strangers in Budapest
by Jessica Keener

Strangers in Budapest (10/25/2017)

Budapest is a beautiful city, but the people are just emerging from living under a communist nation. It is almost like they are afraid to be happy. This is what Annie and Will found when they moved there with their infant son. He is trying to work with the people of Budapest to set up a business. She, with her social worker background, is trying to help those in need. Mix this with an underlying story of revenge and intrigue and you have book well worth reading.

Young Jane Young
by Gabrielle Zevin

Young Jane Young (7/3/2017)

Never underestimate the power of a mother, or social media! Aviva, a summer intern for a congressman, reveals something to her mother. Is Mother morally responsible to "fix It"? Does Aviva blogging about it on social media make it worse? These dilemmas spin the web for the very enjoyable read, Young Jane Young.

Victoria
by Daisy Goodwin

Victoria (10/30/2016)

How could a very sheltered 18 year old girl cope with suddenly becoming the queen of England? The book, Victoria, gives us a glance of the first few years of her reign. The book is, more or less, a love story of her feelings for the father figure and kind prime minister. As she sees Albert in different light from their meeting several years ago. She begins her marriage and future.

The Book That Matters Most: A Novel
by Ann Hood

The Book That Matters Most (6/1/2016)

Book club members rejoice! The title of this books is also the theme for Ava's book club for a year. Besides learning more of the symbolism of each chosen title, we can see how it ties into the daily life of members. Add to that trying to figure out what really happened to Ava's sister and mother many years ago; to figure out daughter Maggie's messed up personal life in Paris; and to figure out Ava's present life. We have a book that holds our interest to the very last page. Sum it up with a quote from the book, "Our lives are our own to ruin or not, no one can do it for us".

The Swans of Fifth Avenue
by Melanie Benjamin

The Swans of Fifth Avenue (10/30/2015)

I was so drawn into the characters of this book that I thought of them even when I was not reading. They are the people of that era, the "women who lunch" in New York all dressed up to impress, each with her own personal secret. Truman Capote was engulfed with his "swans". He with his own secrets, that stem from his insecure childhood. This was an insight into the Capote we never knew.

The Nightingale
by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale (10/8/2014)

I found myself thinking of these characters even when I was not reading the book. The story of the Germans occupying France during World War II has been told many times, but Kristin Hannah painted a vivid picture of the characters and the times. I easily pictured the countryside in the Loire Valley and the city of Paris.

Sisters Viann and Isabella, who seemed very different, bonded in the dire circumstances. Morals during war become a matter of necessity.

A beautifully told story.

Accidents of Marriage
by Randy Susan Meyers

Accidents of Marriage (6/11/2014)

What constitutes verbal or emotional abuse? Can a person who is esteemed at his office be so different at home? The author makes the reader aware of what can happen when anger cannot be controlled. An entire family, and extended family, is shattered when the parents are involved in an accident that leaves Maddy, the wife, with brain damage. I felt her struggle as she tried to slowly cope and recover. A teenage daughter must bear the burden of home responsibility: a young son reverts to bed wetting. The burden falls on everyone. The husband must face and recognize his failings.

There are many topics to discuss in this book. It would be excellent for book clubs

Mimi Malloy, At Last!
by Julia MacDonnell

Mimi Malloy, At Last! (2/14/2014)

Mimi Malloy, who recently lost her job, is the Irish American mother of six grown daughters. A genealogy questionnaire for a nephew's school project opens doors to her mind that closed long ago. The quote, "forget too much, risk forgetting who you are" makes her delve into the past. The reader is introduced to the folklore of Irish Faeries and an Irish evil stepmother who thought she had special powers.
This was a book that kept my interest.

Under the Wide and Starry Sky
by Nancy Horan

Under the Wide and Starry Sky (11/5/2013)

What an adventure Fanny lived! She fled to Europe with her 3 children to escape a bad marriage. She fell in love, and eventually married a man 10 years her junior. The story gives us insight into the life of Robert Louis Stevenson...his life long struggle with a fibroid lung disease, his dreams that resulted into his wonderful stories, his continuous struggle with finances and his devotion to Fanny.

Anyone reading this will find himself immersed in the travels and lives of Fanny and Robert.

How the Light Gets In: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, #9
by Louise Penny

How The Light Gets In (7/16/2013)

Although I would have had a clearer picture of the plot if I had read the previous books, I immediately became engulfed into the world of Armand Gamache. The description of the village Three Pines was so vivid I could picture it all. Interwoven in the main plot was the murder of one of the elderly Ouellet quintuplets which brought to mind the lives of the Dionne quints.

I look forward to reading both the earlier and the future books of Louise Penny.

The Aviator's Wife
by Melanie Benjamin

The Aviator's Wife (12/5/2012)

What a great story! The author has wet my appetite to want to dig further into the biographies of Anne Morrow Lindbergh and Charles Lindbergh. His personal determination and organization overpowered all who had contact with him, including his family. It was also interesting to note that the media had as much a profound effect on celebrities then, as it does today. The highs and lows of this marriage are presented in a very readable and appealing way. I highly recommend this book for all age groups.

Live by Night
by Dennis Lehane

Live by Night (7/30/2012)

I was hooked from the first sentence, the line did not slacken until the last sentence. Gangster and bookleggers were brought to life from Boston to Tampa to Cuba. They are humanized as the reader delves into their dark lives. The actions so vivid, it was almost like watching them occur as I was reading. This is a real page turner.

The Innocents: A Novel
by Francesca Segal

The Innocents (5/12/2012)

Reading this introduced me to many Jewish customs and gave me a new knowledge of the special holidays celebrated. The story itself is one told many times; wanting what we can't have.
Marketed as a recasting of Edith Wharton's, The Age of Innocence, it is a pleasant read that would appeal to women of all ages.