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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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Hang the Moon: A Novel
by Jeannette Walls
A Roller Coaster of a Book! Strap on Your Seat Belt Because This Is a Raucous Literary Ride (12/8/2023)
If Sallie Kincaid, the 19-year-old lead character in this roller coaster of a book by Jeannette Walls were real, we would be singing ballads written about her. What a character! What a book!

Taking place primarily in the early 1920s in the poor, rural Virginia area of Eastmore
My Reading Life
by Pat Conroy
A Must-Read for Pat Conroy Fans: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Wizard of Southern Novels (11/21/2023)
Pat Conroy is one of my favorite authors, and I simply devoured this book that gave delightful and tragic insights into his life—so much so that this could double as a book titled "My Writing Life" or simply "My Life." While he does discuss some of his favorite books, themore
The Night Strangers: A Novel
by Chris Bohjalian
A Hauntingly Scary Gothic Ghost Story That Had Me Shivering in Fright (and Delight)! (11/19/2023)
Oh, what a devilishly creepy, hauntingly scary Gothic ghost story that had me shivering in fright (and delight!).

But one important word of caution: Do not read this book after dark. And most especially, do not read this book just before falling asleep or you will havemore
Stealing: A Novel
by Margaret Verble
Brilliant Storytelling! An Emotionally Searing Novel About the Impact of Prejudice and Injustice (11/16/2023)
This is an exceptional, imaginative, and emotionally searing novel about the dangers of prejudice, the impact of hate, the wounds of injustice, and the small victims whose lives are never the same.

Brilliantly written by Pulitzer Prize finalist Margaret Verble, this is themore
The Faraway World: Stories
by Patricia Engel
An Extraordinary and Imaginative Collection of Short Stories About the Joys and Brutality of Life (11/14/2023)
This is an introspective, accomplished, and brilliantly observed collection of 10 short stories by Patricia Engel that all have one thing in common: There is another world—a faraway world—that the characters in each of the stories yearn for, remember, or are escaping. Today'more
The Confessions of Frannie Langton
by Sara Collins
It's a Page Turner! Literary Historical Fiction Wrapped Around a Sensational Murder Mystery (11/10/2023)
This literary historical novel has just about everything to keep the pages turning. At the heart of this book by Sara Collins is a sensational murder mystery swathed in betrayal, jealousy, forbidden sex, drug addiction, the evils of slavery, and the privilege andmore
The Alice Network: A Novel
by Kate Quinn
A Pressure-Cooker of a Novel with an Extraordinary, Richly-Imagined Plot. I Devoured This Book! (11/6/2023)
Wow! What a book! This is a stunning, page-turner about daring, courageous women made of inner steel who, against all odds, successfully spied on the Germans in World War I…until they were caught. This is a pressure-cooker of a novel that just builds and builds and buildsmore
October Suite: A Novel
by Maxine Clair
A Mediocre Book with a Flat, Drawn-Out Storyline Punctuated with Whining, Handwringing Prose (10/26/2023)
I had such high hopes for this novel, since Elizabeth Strout, who is one of my favorite authors, wrote sterling praise for the book jacket. Quite simply, it's a mediocre book with a flat storyline that drags out a predictable tale way too long.

Written by Maxine Clair, thismore
Hidden America: From Coal Miners to Cowboys, an Extraordinary Exploration of the Unseen People Who Make This Country Work
by Jeanne Marie Laskas
A Spellbinding and Remarkable Book About American's Hidden Worlds and Jobs (10/25/2023)
There is so much about our everyday lives that we not only take for granted, but also rarely (or never?) even think about. How do the blueberries for your morning oatmeal get into your bowl? How does your cross-country flight take off and land safely? And what happens tomore
The Personal Librarian
by Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray
Boring! A Hybrid of Historical Fiction and Biography That Falls Flat. Skip It. (10/3/2023)
There are two kinds of readers: Those who finish every book they start—no matter what. After all, you never know what wonderful surprise awaits if you don't slog your way through it. And then there are those who say life is too short for a boring book. I am, for better ormore
The Covenant of Water
by Abraham Verghese
A Monumental and Original Family Saga That Packs an Emotional Wallop (9/27/2023)
This is a monumental and original family saga that is like nothing I have ever read. It is richly imaginative and packs an emotional wallop.

Taking place in Kerala, a state in South India on the Malabar Coast, it spans nearly 80 years and is brutally realistic. This isn't amore
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
by Timothy Egan
An Extraordinary Book: A Sordid, Scary Slice of History Transformed into a Page-Turning Thriller (9/11/2023)
This book is terrifying. It is the stuff of nightmares. And it's such an extraordinary and important history book that it should be required reading for everyone.

When you think of the Ku Klux Klan, you likely think of the deep South. Think again. This is the story of whatmore
Olga Dies Dreaming: A Novel
by Xochitl Gonzalez
A Big, Weird Novel! A Remarkable and Powerful Book That Is Also a Really Good Read (9/8/2023)
This is a remarkable and powerful story that is also a really good read, but the best description of all comes straight from author Xochitl Gonzalez: It's a big, weird novel.

It is a novel about a lot of things: Puerto Rican politics, political corruption, the close-knitmore
Dear Committee Members
by Julie Schumacher
Hilarious! A Short, Quick Read That Had This Old English Major Laughing Out Loud (8/31/2023)
In a word: Hilarious!

This is a witty, snarky, and comical skewering of modern-day college English departments, many of which are suffering from a lack of allocated funding from their universities as the number of English majors declines in favor of STEM majors. If you weremore
Malibu Rising
by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Literary Equivalent of Eating Ice Cream for Breakfast: Sexy, Entertaining Summer ChickLit (8/29/2023)
This book is the literary equivalent of eating ice cream for breakfast. Wickedly fun, but not something you want to do on a regular basis. It's entertaining, engrossing, and sexy summer ChickLit. Nothing more. And sometimes that's just what you want.

Written by Taylormore
The Brutal Telling: Chief Inspector Gamache Novel, #5
by Louise Penny
This Is a Marvel of a Murder Mystery: A Clever Whodunit Filled with Life Wisdom (8/25/2023)
I never read murder mysteries until I started reading Louise Penny, and now I am an avid fan—of both the genre and (especially) this author. Like the other four books that precede this novel, this is expertly written with a compelling whodunit plot, bold and vividmore
Instructions for a Heatwave
by Maggie O'Farrell
A Brilliant and Captivating Novel About a Family Built on Shocking Secrets and Devastating Lies (8/19/2023)
This is the story of a family that is—on the surface, at least—picture perfect. But underneath that surface there is trouble—big trouble in the form of long-guarded secrets and outright lies that can only be described as shocking, astonishing, devastating, and even earth-more
Foster
by Claire Keegan
A Pitch-Perfect Story of a Parent's Love—of What Could Be and What Isn't. It Will Break Your Heart! (8/15/2023)
Oh, this is a masterpiece in just 62 pages. Every word is perfect. And when all those words are placed one after the other on the page, the result is a novella that just wrapped its way around my heart and wouldn't let go.

Brilliantly written by master short story-tellermore
Las Madres: A Novel
by Esmeralda Santiago
A Fierce, Touching, and Insightful Intergenerational Novel About Heritage, Memory, and Secrets (8/8/2023)
This is a fierce, touching, and insightful intergenerational novel about heritage, memory, and secrets, but most of all family, especially the family we create with our dearest friends.

Written by Esmeralda Santiago, this is the story of three mothers—Luz, Ada, and Shirley—more
Tenth of December: Stories
by George Saunders
A Spectacular, Special, and Brilliant Collection of Short Stories (7/31/2023)
I read this book now in preparation for being in the audience when author George Saunders is presented with the 2023 Library of Congress Prize for American Fiction at the National Book Festival on August 12, 2023. While Saunders is receiving this award for the body of hismore

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