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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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Little Gods
by Meng Jin
This Is a Strange Story with a Cumbersome Structure, But It's Also Beautiful and Compelling (4/18/2023)
Oh, this is a strange little book. It's also strangely beautiful and strangely compelling.

Who ARE you…really? Ask that question of anyone who is close to you, and you'll probably get different answers. That's because we are perceived differently by different people. Andmore
Such a Fun Age
by Kiley Reid
An Important Message About Prejudice and Forgiveness Wrapped Up in a Fabulous, Intriguing Story (4/18/2023)
This book grabbed me on page one and never let go. It's a riveting page-turner not because it's a thriller or a whodunit but because it's a compelling story about people…people who are acting up, while trying to do the right thing for all the wrong reasons—and utterlymore
The Jesus Cow
by Michael Perry
An Amusing Story and a Fun Read—Even Though the Plot Is Totally Predictable (4/17/2023)
In a modest barn in small-town, Wisconsin, a calf is born on Christmas Eve, and instead of the usual spots, it has the unmistakable image of Jesus Christ on its flank to which the farmer said, "Well, that's trouble." Indeed.

Harley Jackson is a quiet, unassuming man livingmore
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
Read It! Gripping Plot, Vibrant Characters and an Astonishing Ending That Will Take Your Breath Away (4/17/2023)
This book made me weep. This book made me angry. This book made me frustrated. This book broke my heart. This book is also a literary masterpiece with a formidable and vital story to tell.

Expertly written by Colson Whitehead, this is the story of Elwood Curtis, a blackmore
The Dry Grass of August
by Anna Jean Mayhew
Unputdownable! A Riveting Snapshot in Time of August 1954 on the Cusp of the Civil Rights Movement (4/17/2023)
There is only one way to describe this book: Unputdownable. As in, once you start reading, you really will not be able to stop.

Written by Anna Jean Mayhew, this is a snapshot of August 1954 in the deep South, three months after the Supreme Court ruled to integrated publicmore
All Adults Here
by Emma Straub
Breezy, Easy Read, But It's Like Eating Cake for Dinner—Fun and Sweet, But Ultimately Not Fulfilling (4/17/2023)
This is a book about family. And friends. And lovers. It's a book about the choices we make and the choices that are seemingly thrust upon us—for better or worse. It is a book about the human condition.

Written by Emma Straub, this is the story of the Strick family who livemore
Our Souls at Night
by Kent Haruf
A Treasure of a Book, a True Gem of the Literary World (4/17/2023)
This is a treasure, a true gem of the literary world. It's short, sweet, and absolutely beautiful.

Addie Moore has been widowed for many years. So has her neighbor, Louis Waters, whom Addie knows more as an acquaintance than a friend. One day, Addie does something that somemore
Ten Thousand Saints: A Novel
by Eleanor Henderson
A Depressing Tale That Is Deeply Sorrowful. If You Can Survive the Darkness, the End Is Worth It (4/17/2023)
Oh, this is a depressing book. Melancholy. Tragic. And bleak. The story will grab some dark place of your soul and not let go. Eventually, there is hope and redemption, but it is a deeply sorrowful read to get to that point.

That said, it really is an extraordinary book.

more
If You Leave Me
by Crystal Hana Kim
Don't Judge a Book by Its Title: It Sounds Like ChickLit, But It's a Multilayered Historical Novel (4/17/2023)
You can't judge a book by its title. This book may sound like the ultimate ChickLit, but it's not.

Yes, at its core, it is a love story, but that love story is a tightly woven, multilayered historical novel beginning in 1951 during the Korean War and continuing throughmore
Red at the Bone
by Jacqueline Woodson
This Novel Is Nearly Perfect! The Lyrical Prose Transforms a Simple Story into a Masterpiece (4/17/2023)
Oh, this book! And it's all because of the writing. Exquisite. Eloquent. Exceptional. This stunningly beautiful novel is very short, but I found myself taking longer to read it than the page count would indicate simply because I reread so many (many!) passages just to savormore
A Fatal Grace: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #2
by Louise Penny
A Literary Murder Mystery: Compelling Whodunit Plot That Is Perceptive and Smart (4/17/2023)
I am smitten with Louise Penny. And that's saying a lot because I am not enamored of murder mysteries. But her mysteries are another thing all together. Her books are expertly written with not only a compelling whodunit plot, but also extraordinary, entirely humanmore
Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America
by Alissa Quart
This Book Is Shocking, Heartbreaking, and an Absolute Must-Read for Everyone (4/17/2023)
This book had me riveted. It's the rarest of nonfiction tomes in that I couldn't stop reading. Just a few more pages…just a few more pages.

That said, it is emotionally exhausting to read. Even if you yourself are not financially squeezed, chances are pretty good you knowmore
Caleb's Crossing: A Novel
by Geraldine Brooks
An Extraordinary Book and Writing Achievement: I Loved It, But I Know It's Not for Everyone (4/17/2023)
This is a very special book. And while I absolutely loved it, I know it's not for everyone.

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Geraldine Brooks, the story takes place in the mid-1600s in Massachusetts in Cambridge and on what we now know as Martha's Vineyard. Bethia Mayfieldmore
The Expectations
by Alexander Tilney
Lots of White Male Privilege to Wade Through, But It's Also a Tender Story About Adolescence (4/17/2023)
This is a book that is steeped in white male privilege…and the white male who has all this privilege is only 14 years old. But that is the point. Ben, the privileged white teenager, is coming into his first realization of who he is, all he has, and all he could lose.

more
Eden Mine
by S. M. Hulse
This Book Is Genius. A Multilayered Psychological Novel That Will Leave You Reeling (4/17/2023)
This book. This book is gripping. This book is provocative. This book is haunting. This book is intense. This book is genius.

Written by S.M. Hulse, this masterpiece novel takes place in the tiny mountain town of Prospect, Montana. The two mines that once offered employmentmore
Olive, Again: A Novel
by Elizabeth Strout
What a Treasure! This Is a Book About Life and Death That Is Filled with Wisdom and Grace (4/17/2023)
This is a 10-star book in a five-star world. With an imaginative structure, a riveting storyline, and incredibly vivid characters, this book by author Elizabeth Strout is one to read slowly, fully savor, and treasure.

This is the sequel to the Pulitzer Prize-winning "Olivemore
The Ice Queen
by Alice Hoffman
An Imaginative, Spellbinding Fairy Tale for Grown-Ups (4/17/2023)
This is a fairy tale for grown-ups. And quite a tale it is with the suffering heroine, the monster with whom she falls in love, and a desperately unhappy life that happily turns around.

As a little girl, our heroine said something almost every angry child utters at one timemore
Slammerkin
by Emma Donoghue
A Gripping, Historical Saga That Reveals the Underbelly of a Brutal World (4/17/2023)
This is a difficult book to read because it is so very sad. But even though this historical novel by Emma Donoghue is raw and emotionally draining, it tells an important story about the 18th century: the plight of girls and women who were abandoned and the degrading, awfulmore
Elevation: A Novel
by Stephen King
Disappointing! A Lesson in Tolerance, But Told Without Nuance or Subtlety (4/17/2023)
If the front cover didn't list Stephen King as the author, I would never have guessed he wrote it. Mind you, I don't read horror novels, so I dance around the edges of King's oeuvre, and this one is definitely on that edge. No horror at all, but also not much of a story.

more
The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak
Innovative, Imaginative, and Inspiring: A Brilliant and Unforgettable Must-Read Novel (4/17/2023)
If someone were to ask me to describe this incredibly creative book in three words, this is it: Innovative. Imaginative. Inspiring. It may take you a few pages to become accustomed to the highly original writing style, but the payoff is so worth it. This is one of thosemore

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