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Reviews by Mary L. (Greeley, CO)

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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 curvemore
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.more
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 manymore
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 eventmore
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,more
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 majormore
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 andmore
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, atmore
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 becomesmore
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 lastmore
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,more
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 intomore
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, bothmore
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 themore
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 thesemore
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 protectmore
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 shemore
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.more
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 timemore
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