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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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City of Girls: A Novel
by Elizabeth Gilbert
A Glittering and Seductive Book: Fun and Sexy, as Well as Deeply Thoughtful and Intelligent (4/16/2023)
What a scrumptious book! It's not only a fun and sexy read, but also it is deeply thoughtful and intelligent—a combination that is not often found in novels, especially ChickLit.

Written by Elizabeth Gilbert (of "Eat Pray Love" fame), this is the story of Vivian Morris, themore
Hamnet
by Maggie O'Farrell
One of Those Rare Books That Is Both a Literary Achievement and So Good You Can't Stop Reading (4/16/2023)
This is one of those rare books that is both a literary achievement and unputdownable (I love that word!). Magnificently written by Maggie O'Farrell, the prose is so lyrical that many sentences deserve to be reread, but that is only possible if you can stop reading forwardmore
Once Upon a River
by Diane Setterfield
Fall into the Magic and Wonder! This Is Old-Fashioned Storytelling at Its Finest (4/16/2023)
Oh, what a story! Imagine sitting beside a wide stone fireplace, a roaring fire within, and a storyteller perched on the hearth ready to spin a tale…a tale that will have you mesmerized for hours even as the embers die down. Yes, that is this book. It is an old-fashionedmore
The Midnight Library: A Novel
by Matt Haig
Boring, Banal, and Predictable: Don't Waste Your Money or Time on This Book (4/16/2023)
Two succinct ways I viewed this novel by Matt Haig:

1. Underwhelmed
I say that because before I even purchased the book, I knew it had been honored with a slew of "best book" picks from Goodreads to "Good Morning America." Based solely on this, I had certain expectations.more
Heaven and Hell: A History of the Afterlife
by Bart D. Ehrman
Find Out What the Bible REALLY Says About the Afterlife (Hint: You May Be Surprised!) (4/16/2023)
We humans do not know as an absolute scientific fact what happens after death, but we can pretty much surmise that it is one of two things:
1. Nothing. We are dead. Our existence ceases. It is finished. Over. Done. Sweet everlasting dreams.
2. There is an afterlife.

The ideamore
The Evening and the Morning: The Prequel to The Pillars Of THe Earth
by Ken Follett
Read This Incredible Book to Be Entertained. Finish It and You'll Learn About the Dark Ages. (4/16/2023)
Before you start reading this book, here is some advice: Clear your calendar, and stock up on dinner leftovers. You won't want to stop reading. Yes, it's that good.

This prequel to Ken Follett's hugely successful "Pillars of the Earth," begins in 997, which is closing in onmore
Redhead by the Side of the Road
by Anne Tyler
Oh, I Loved This Book! It's Tender, Humorous, Wise, and Just Plain Delightful (4/16/2023)
No one — no one!— writes like Anne Tyler. This, her 23rd novel, is by turns tender, humorous, wise, and just plain delightful. Told with candor and compassion, the story is the literary equivalent of comfort food. The quirky characters, the life lessons, and the essentialmore
The Northern Reach
by W.S. Winslow
A Fierce, Intelligent Novel That Grabbed Me from the First Page. Literary Fiction at Its Fines (4/16/2023)
This book grabbed me right from the first page and wouldn't let go. And that's quite a statement because even though this is a novel, it reads more like interconnected short stories. Each new chapter begins a tale about new characters in a different time period, so the factmore
Elsewhere: A memoir
by Richard Russo
By Turns Hilarious and Heartbreaking, This Is a Soul-Baring Memoir Ideal for Richard Russo Fans (4/15/2023)
This book is for two audiences:

1. Richard Russo fans. If you have read at least one or two of his books, you will recognize the source of some of the characters, places, and storylines. Plus, it's by Richard Russo. Need I say more?

2. Anyone who has had a mother totallymore
The Cruelest Month: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, #3
by Louise Penny
This Is No Ordinary Murder Mystery! It's Intelligent and Entertaining—A Literary Murder Mystery (4/15/2023)
This is a murder mystery. But as soon as you see it's written by Louise Penny, you know it's no ordinary murder mystery. It's also a story of love and betrayal, hope and horror, rebirth and death. It is a book that is entertaining (see above: murder mystery), but even moremore
The Liar's Dictionary
by Eley Williams
A Curious (Peculiar, Odd, Bizarre) Novel That's Not for Everyone. Buy (and Read) with Caution! (4/15/2023)
In a word, this novel is: creative. And by "creative," I mean just a little weird. Odd. Bizarre. Peculiar. Strange. (Really, really strange.)

BIG WORD OF ADVICE: Before you buy this book, use the Amazon "Look inside" feature and read the preface. Just a few pages (maybe evenmore
The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades before Roe V. Wade
by Ann Fessler
A Powerful, Unflinching Historical Account of Being Unmarried and Pregnant in the '50s and '60s (4/15/2023)
This should be required reading for every woman young and old, but especially for women who became teenagers in the 1950s, 1960s, and very early 1970s. This is a heartbreaking, deeply intimate historical account of what happened when girls and young women got pregnantmore
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri
A Brilliant, Extraordinary Short Story Collection That Is a Delight to Read (4/15/2023)
These nine very different short stories have one thing in common: They are all stories of love and loss, happiness and sadness as people adjust to the human condition. From adultery to abandonment, loneliness to falling deeply in love, each of the stories in this stellar,more
Waiting
by Ha Jin
A Literary Masterpiece, Political Allegory, and Love Story…But It's Not an Easy Read (4/15/2023)
This book is a real dichotomy.

On the one hand, it is a literary masterpiece, a political allegory, and a love story that won the 1999 National Book Award for Fiction, the 2000 PEN/Faulkner Award, and was a finalist for the 2000 Pulitzer Prize.

On the other hand, the titlemore
A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel
by John Boyne
An Astonishing, Addictive Novel with an Ending That Left Me Gobsmacked! (4/15/2023)
Gobsmacked. That's how I felt when I got to the end of this astonishing and rather addictive book by John Boyne.

But let's go back to the beginning.

This is not a "thriller" in the typical sense, but Boyne carefully—oh, so very carefully—builds the story from not much ofmore
Shuggie Bain
by Douglas Stuart
Dark and Depressing But It's a Masterpiece: A Literary Descent into the Hell of Addiction (4/15/2023)
This is one of those books that just crawled into my heart and curled up. Fierce and unflinching, but also mournfully sorrowful, this 2020 Booker Prize-winning novel by Douglas Stuart is emotionally devastating and so brutal in parts that I felt almost bruised by reading it.more
The Sea
by John Banville
This Is an Exquisite Book About the Meaning of Time and the Fleeting Tricks of Memory (4/15/2023)
Taking place at a seaside resort in Ireland, this Booker Prize-winning novel by John Banville is as much about time—past, present, and future—as it is about the sea. It's about memories of the past, the tricks and ravages of those memories, the ache of the present, and themore
The End of Your Life Book Club
by Will Schwalbe
A Lovely, Deeply Felt Tribute to the Joys of Reading and Living—Even While Dying (4/15/2023)
This book should come with a warning label: It will inspire you to read many, many books. It could cost you some big bucks if you're not careful!

But even with all these wonderful book suggestions lining the pages, this is far more a loving account of a mother's life aftermore
Golden Age: A Last Hundred Years: a Family Saga Novel
by Jane Smiley
This Three-Book Family Saga Is Truly the Great American Novel (4/15/2023)
The power of this book—as well as the other two books that comprise this gripping family saga trilogy—is the wisdom, compassion, and human insight of Jane Smiley's imaginative story arc.

This is the 100-year story of the Langdon family. Each chapter is titled with a year,more
Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro
A Powerful, Profound, and Astonishing Book That I Anticipate Some Will Try to Have Banned (4/15/2023)
I wonder how long it will take for someone to try to get this powerful, profound, and astonishing book banned? Translation: It's a must-read.

This is one of those brilliant novels that can be read on two levels. First, the highly imaginative plot and intriguing charactersmore

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In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
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