BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

The Wonder Boy of Whistle Stop
by Fannie Flagg

Couldn't put it down (9/6/2021)

When this book ended, I just wanted to start all over again with Fannie Flagg's first. She is exactly what I needed.

The Code Breaker: Jennifer Doudna, Gene Editing, and the Future of the Human Race
by Walter Isaacson

Fascinating (9/6/2021)

A must read. While Doudna is the focus, the real hero is RNA and all the folks who have so single-mindedly spent their lives understanding the genetic code and what that understanding means for all of us, in the context of the last 20 months.

Unwell Women: Misdiagnosis and Myth in a Man-Made World
by Elinor Cleghorn

Thorough, intriguing, readable (8/10/2021)

If you haven't read Unwell Women, put it on your list. Elinor Cleghorn has written a eminently readable, well-researched up to the minute history of medicine and women. While I can remember a great deal of the last 70 or so years, and had heard of much of the historical information, I found many new and intriguing facts.

Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
by Elizabeth Kolbert

But can we do anything? (7/31/2021)

As always, Kolbert has done her homework and takes the reader along from the easy to understand to the most difficult. If only we would actually DO something about extinction and climate...

Migrations: A Novel
by Charlotte McConaghy

Unputdownable! (7/26/2021)

I've found way too many highly rated books not nearly as good as their reviews. Migrations is exactly the opposite. One of the few books I've been unable to put down this year. Charlotte McConaghy is a writer to watch.

The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray

Didn't live up to reviews (7/18/2021)

I'm sorry to be a spoilsport, but The Personal Librarian didn't live up to its hype. While it probably was well-researched, I just couldn't seem to care about the main character - she was way too self-centered.

Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of World War II
by Liza Mundy

Sorry I waited so long to read it! (7/1/2021)

I'm almost ashamed to say I'd been hearing about this book for years - and it sat on my TBR shelf almost as long. Liza Mundy has written a mesmerizing history of American's WWII female code breakers that makes me wish I'd been one of them.

The War Nurse: A Novel
by Tracey Enerson Wood

Good, not great (7/1/2021)

I was troubled by the fact that Julia Stimson was a real person, who really did serve in WWI, and really did do most of the terrific things in the book, yet the author felt compelled to add romantic interest that probably didn't occur and pulled in real people who may not have served with Stimson at all. I realize historical fiction is, in fact, fiction, but writing this book in the first person lent it an authenticity perhaps it shouldn't have had. That said, I did enjoy the book and might read another by Wood.

Ariadne
by Jennifer Saint

Surprised me (5/12/2021)

I am surprised. I didn't expect to like this book nearly as much as I did. Really, fiction based on Greek myths? Most tellings have left me cold - I couldn't get past the first few pages of Circe. Even books with supposedly newer plot lines have left me cold. But something about Ariadne.... I was surprised when it ended. I'll be watching for more from Jennifer Saint.

Here's Looking at Euclid: A Surprising Excursion Through the Astonishing World of Math
by Alex Bellos

Fascinating (3/6/2021)

Exactly what this fascinated-by-numbers-and-what-they-can-do person needed! I suspect an actual mathematician might get more out of it. Meanwhile, I think I'll figure out how to crochet a hyperbolic model.

Caleb's Crossing: A Novel
by Geraldine Brooks

Mesmerizing/renewing (3/4/2021)

As always, Geraldine Brooks drew me in and wouldn't let me go. Difficult and sad as Bethia's life sometimes is, Brooks' prose is exactly the soul renewal I needed during the pandemic.

The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World
by Melinda Gates

Interesting, but.. (1/2/2021)

While I know it takes women of privilege to publicize and fund the necessary change in the world - and Melinda Gates does great good in the world and writes a compelling story of "lift" - and admits she is exceptionally privileged - I couldn't seem to forget privilege as I read this. Never the less, I recommend The Moment of Lift as an eye-opening visit to another world.

The Narrowboat Summer
by Anne Youngson

Women I believe (1/2/2021)

Anne Youngson has done it again - created a world so warm and women so believable that I to turn the book back to the beginning so I can start again and meet them all once more. Not many authors make me want to do that any more, let alone those with believable older women with believable problems.

Sorrow
by Tiffanie DeBartolo

Compelling (12/8/2020)

If you are turned off by the publicity for this book, ignore the publicity. It isn't so much an examination of masculinity as of what it means to be human. (I very nearly didn't read it based on the presales publicity about masculinity.) I'm so glad I did - it is a compelling account of a not-so-young man's discovery of himself.

Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
by Isabel Wilkerson

Thought-provoking (11/1/2020)

Wilkerson's easy to read prose kept me reading, but the topic kept me up nights. Everything she says is true. So, when I wonder about a "lower caste" person's promotion, am I wondering because she really isn't as qualified as other candidates, or because she's lower caste? And what, exactly, can I do to improve things? Is just the fact that I stop to think enough?

In Pursuit of Memory: The Fight Against Alzheimer's
by Joseph Jebelli

Fascinating (10/11/2020)

Having watched my mom go through this, I'm drawn to anything about Alzheimer's. However, Jebelli makes it fascinating, leaving me wanting more information about all the attempts to solve the AD puzzle. And leaving me with hope.

All the Devils Are Here: Chief Inspector Gamache #16
by Louise Penny

Louise spoils me (9/28/2020)

As always, Louise has spoiled me for the next few novels - or books of any type - I try to read. If only I could write like this!

The Shadow King: A Novel
by Maaza Mengiste

Disappointed (9/19/2020)

As is often the case these days, I found a highly rated book and glowingly reviewed book disappointing. While the language is poetic, the plot and the characters leave much to be desired. If I hadn't agreed to read it for a book discussion, I wouldn't have finished it. Sigh.

A Gentleman in Moscow
by Amor Towles

Disappointing (9/19/2020)

I had high hopes for this, but found myself unable to finish it. Perhaps it is the coincidence of Rostov's imprisonment and the isolation of COVID-19. I was struck by the Rostov's deciding to read a book he previously found impenetrable just because he was imprisoned, but unlike some reviewers, that wasn't enough to keep me going.