BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Elizabeth of Silver's Reviews

Power Reviewer

If you'd like to be able to easily share your reviews with others, please join BookBrowse.

Wilde Lake
by Laura Lippman

Wilde Lake (3/13/2019)

The famous Brandt family....could they do anything wrong or were they not able to because of their status? Or...did they do it anyway?

The Brandt family was made up of attorneys and secrets.? Lu and her brother AJ were eight years apart with Lu admiring AJ and his friends. …more

Sunburn
by Laura Lippman

Sunburn (3/13/2019)

Two men, more added on, one woman, many lies and a lot of deceit.

SUNBURN has your brain burning to find out what is really going on.

Polly has just left her husband, Gregg, and her daughter, Jani, while they were at the beach. She had it planned, but we don't know why.

Gregg …more

The Wife Between Us
by Greer Hendricks, Sarah Pekkanen

The Wife Between Us (3/13/2019)

Don't marry Richard...you don't know what you are getting yourself into.

Vanessa was Richard's first wife and wanted to warn her replacement to not marry Richard. Vanessa also had some mental issues or maybe she didn’t and was made to think she did.

The entire book was a …more

The Last Romantics
by Tara Conklin

The Last Romantics (2/6/2019)

The family had to move to a smaller house and a not-so-nice neighborhood and to fend for themselves because they only saw their mother when she decided to venture out from her bedroom.

Renee was the oldest, Caroline was next in line, Joe was the only boy, and Fiona was the …more

Forget You Know Me
by Jessica Strawser

Secrets, secrets, secrets (2/5/2019)

Each character has something they hide from another character and actually from themselves.

We first meet Liza and Molly the night of their long overdue Skype chat that was to bring them close again, but the chat turned everything sour.

Another question is what was going on …more

The Wartime Sisters
by Lynda Cohen Loigman

The Wartime Sisters (1/22/2019)

Sisters who didn't get along because of jealousy.

Sisters who didn't get along because of different ways of looking at things.

Sisters who just didn't get along or agree about anything.

Ruth and Millie were sisters who fit into those categories. Ruth was older and more …more

City of Women: A Novel
by David R. Gillham

City of Women (1/15/2019)

The book's title indicates what Berlin was like during WWII....women waiting for their soldiers to return home, women enduring the air raids, women keeping an eye out for traitors and those not following the German edicts at that time, and women going to work.

Sigrid lived …more with her mother-in-law and hated every moment. She worked in the day and kept people on their toes at all times, but always made friends. Her favorite place to meet people for clandestine reasons or even legitimate reasons was in the movie theater. You will follow Sigrid through her daily routines as well as her covert actions of smuggling and other secret activities. You will also be fearing what her decisions would be in different situations.....situations involving fellow citizens, situations where she would be meeting a lover, or situations where she was helping hide Jewish people.

I liked Sigrid and could see why she despised living with her mother-in-law. She was a very strong woman and knew who she could trust and who was actually trying to trick her to see if she was being loyal to Hitler. Her decisions were the basis of the book and what made the book quite gripping.

The book was beautifully written with wonderful detail and great descriptions of what life was like in Berlin at that time in history. The German names were a bit difficult to keep track of, and it took a few pages to get into the storyline, but you could figure out what was going on and will become completely absorbed in the book because of the author's magnificent writing.

This is a compelling novel that will have you putting yourself into the story and also one that will be making you nervous for the characters as they endured the life they lived and definitely will be making you fear the outcomes of their unethical or illegal deeds. You will become immersed in the story and the characters simply because of the eloquent writing style of the author and its riveting content.

Even though it takes a few pages to get involved with the characters and the story, it is a book you won't want to miss. The cover itself is enough to draw you in. The genuine feel of the era is magnificently relayed to the reader and takes you along page by page into Berlin and into the lives and terrors of Berlin's citizens. 5/5

I received this book free of charge from the publisher at the BEA in New York City in June of 2012 in exchange for an honest review. (less)

Emma in the Night
by Wendy Walker

Emma In The Night (1/10/2019)

Two sisters disappear after a fight over a necklace, two sisters leave no trace except a pair of shoes and a car on the beach, two sisters leave and then one sister returns after three years.

The police have questions for Cass about where she and Emma were, but Cass can't …more

Sold on a Monday
by Kristina McMorris

Sold On A Monday (1/9/2019)

Good and bad things seemed to happen on Mondays for Ellis Reed, but more bad.

The day Ellis was biding time until a scheduled meeting, happened to be the day his career changed, but it also was the day that would change his life and the life of the Dillard family.

Ellis’s …more

Our House
by Louise Candlish

Our House (1/9/2019)

My house? Your house? Whose house is it?

Seeing someone moving in is no big deal in this neighborhood, but someone moving into YOUR house IS a big deal.

Fi had no idea that the morning she came back from a business trip there would be a moving van in the driveway and all of …more

The Summer Wives
by Beatriz Williams

The Summer Wives (1/9/2019)

Miranda has come back after eighteen years to the island where she has spent every summer since her mother married into the prestigious Fisher family. She hasn’t told anyone the reason why she has returned to Winthrop’s Island with bruises that no one mentions, but since …more

Next Year in Havana
by Chanel Cleeton

Next Year In Havana (1/9/2019)

The Perez girls were the talk of the town for many reasons.

The day they had to leave Cuba was not pleasant but a necessary event.

We meet the girls when their family was prosperous and in power, and then we move to when the granddaughter of Elisa Perez, Marisol, comes back …more

As Bright as Heaven
by Susan Meissner

As Bright As Heaven (1/9/2019)

From a small town in Pennsylvania as a family rolling tobacco leaves for a living to Philadelphia as a family living and working in a funeral home.

The Brights made a big change from their quiet life in Quakertown to the noisy, big city of Philadelphia. Both the city and the …more

Once Upon a River
by Diane Setterfield

Once Upon A River (1/9/2019)

Storytelling at the Swan is the favorite past time of the crowd and the reason so many men stop by for their drinks.

One night the storytelling became real when a man who had been hurt and a small girl who appeared as if she had drowned fell through the inn’s front door.

Then …more

She Lies in Wait
by Gytha Lodge

She Lies In Wait (1/8/2019)

What could have happened to Aurora? Someone knows but isn't telling.

Uncovering bones from a thirty-year-old disappearance/murder case wasn’t something the police thought would happen after their very thorough search and investigation back then.

The remains of fourteen-year- …more

The Confession: An Inspector Ian Rutledge Mystery
by Charles Todd

The Confession (12/31/2018)

Furnham was a fishing town with very unfriendly residents that could spot an unfriendly outsider immediately when he walked into town. Ian Rutledge was the stranger that screamed police, and the residents screamed nothing but coldness and silence. What could they be hiding, …more

The Paris Winter
by Imogen Robertson

The Paris Winter (12/31/2018)

Who wouldn't want to spend the winter in Paris? Maud was in Paris starving and freezing as an art student when Tanya, a wealthy woman, befriended her and helped Maud obtain a position in a home to take care of a young lady.

Maud found out the accommodations brought about …more

House of Thieves
by Charles Belfoure

House of Thieves (12/31/2018)

Gambling debts, robbery rings, and high society and thugs blending together for a marvelous read.

HOUSE OF THIEVES takes us back to the late 1800's when women needed escorts and when men were their protectors. The men definitely protected their wives and families and kept …more

The House We Grew Up In
by Lisa Jewell

The House We Grew Up In (12/31/2018)

Four children then three, traditional chocolate-Easter-egg hunts ?where you had to save the foil wrappings, a tidy house and then a very cluttered one.

The Bird family was loving but very eccentric with Lorelei, the mother, being the oddest of all and who kept a secret that …more made her hold onto things.

Colin her husband re-installed the wall in their once duplex house and lived next door to his wife, Megan turned out to be a neat freak, Beth never left home until she was 30 because she thought her mother needed her, and the twins were total opposites as well as having a tragic incident happen to them.

There were a lot of strange things about the Birds, but they all loved each other. As the years went on and the children grew into adults?, Lorelei still held onto their childhood toys, clothes, blankets, ?and even drawings as she herself remained an adult? child and a compulsive shopper and hoarder. The children couldn't believe what was in their childhood home when they visited and how they had to navigate through a small path surrounded with things Lorelei just had to have and couldn't part with.

If you want to read a book that will have you shaking your head but also not wanting to put the book down because of total enjoyment, you will want to read THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN. The storyline and writing were marvelous.

I enjoyed THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN because of the unique, creative storyline with characters that kept you wanting to know how each of their lives would turn out. They all were quite unconventional, but you couldn’t help but love them.

THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN will have you thinking back to your childhood and wonder if what happened in the home you grew up in has actually shaped you into the person you are today.

We definitely can't forget the cover. It is absolutely gorgeous with the egg being the basis of the Bird family's many memories of their Easter egg hunts which kept them all connected.

Along with being a beautifully told story, THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN has a happy ending along with characters you will remember long after you turn the last page.

I don't think there will be any reader no matter what their preferred genre is who won't get caught up in this splendid story.

My rating is going to be a 4/5 simply because I was lost in the beginning pages, but the rest of the book definitely made up for my being lost.

Make THE HOUSE WE GREW UP IN a must read for yourself. (less)

The Girls in the Garden
by Lisa Jewell

The Girls In The Garden (12/31/2018)

Moving into a garden park community after their beautiful home was burned down definitely was a change for Pip and Grace as well as their mother Clare.

They lost everything in the fire and had to start from scratch. They also lost their father but not to the fire.

The park …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Dream Count
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

A searing new novel from the bestselling author of Americanah and We Should All Be Feminists, exploring four women's desires.

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

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
Fagin the Thief
by Allison Epstein

A thrilling reimagining of the world of Charles Dickens, as seen through the eyes of the infamous Jacob Fagin, London's most gifted pickpocket, liar, and rogue.

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
Raising Hare
by Chloe Dalton

A moving and fascinating meditation on freedom, trust, and loss through one woman's friendship with a wild hare.

Read the Reviews
The Dream Hotel
by Laila Lalami

A Read with Jenna pick. A riveting novel about one woman's fight for freedom, set in a near future where even dreams are under surveillance.

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

Who Said...

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world...

Click Here to find out who said this, as well as discovering other famous literary quotes!

Wordplay

Solve this clue:

B O a F F T

and be entered to win..

Your guide toexceptional books

BookBrowse seeks out and recommends the best in contemporary fiction and nonfiction—books that not only engage and entertain but also deepen our understanding of ourselves and the world around us.