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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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That Old Cape Magic
by Richard Russo
Classic Richard Russo! A Literary Treasure Filled with Life-Truths, Hilarity, and Heartbreak (4/13/2023)
Oh, this book! This is classic Richard Russo: a really good story written with wit, verve, and so many life-truths that I was nodding my head in wonder when I wasn't laughing out loud or reaching for the tissues. There is a reason this gifted writer won the Pulitzer Prizemore
Horse: A Novel
by Geraldine Brooks
A Masterpiece! Truly Imaginative, Multilayered Story That Is a Gripping, Can't-Put-It-Down Read (4/13/2023)
A book about a racehorse from the 1850s? Well, that doesn't interest me. But a book by Geraldine Brooks? That I cannot resist. She is one of my favorite authors, and this novel is yet again a reason why.

Quite simply, this is a masterpiece. It's a truly imaginative,more
Jackie & Me
by Louis Bayard
ANOTHER Book on Jackie Kennedy? Oh, Yes! It's Brilliant, Richly Imagined, and a Must-Read (4/13/2023)
ANOTHER book on Jackie Kennedy? Oh, yes, and it's a must-read! This is a delightful twist on the tale we all know about this beloved former first lady. Here's the twist: The "me" in "Jackie & Me" is Jack Kennedy's best friend Kirk LeMoyne Billings, or Lem as he wasmore
How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
by Clint Smith
This Book Will Make Most Readers Uncomfortable…Very Uncomfortable. And That's a Good Thing. (4/13/2023)
Sometimes the best books are the books that make you uncomfortable. Make you squirm. Make you rethink what you thought was true. Make you realize that myths are not facts and should never be treated as such. Make you realize the harm of not holding history and historians tomore
Salvage the Bones: A Novel
by Jesmyn Ward
A Must-Read Literary Masterpiece That Is Shocking, Heartbreaking, and an Emotional Sucker Punch (4/13/2023)
This is a book that broke my heart many times over. It shocked me. It was an emotional sucker punch. And it is a literary masterpiece.

Written by Jesmyn Ward, this is the story of the Batistes, a poor Black family living in a rundown house on rundown land peppered withmore
Cape May
by Chip Cheek
Seduction, Sex, and the Scandal and Sorrow of Betrayal: An Intense, Overplayed Story (4/13/2023)
This debut novel by Chip Cheek is about seduction and sex, as well as the scandal, sorrow, and reverberating effects of betrayal.

It's late September 1957. Henry, 20, and Effie, 18, who are from the rural and somewhat backwards town of Signal Point, Georgia, have justmore
Beautiful Country: A Memoir
by Qian Julie Wang
A Memoir That Reads Like a Novel: Life as an Undocumented Immigrant Through the Eyes of a Child (4/13/2023)
When we make the effort to see so many things in life—joyful and tragic—through the eyes of a child, our viewpoint shifts. Think of the magic of Christmas or the tragedy of death as a child would see these. That is this book.

Written by Qian Julie Wang, this is the story ofmore
The Gown: A Novel of the Royal Wedding
by Jennifer Robson
A Novel So Good, So Compelling, So Delightful That You'll Be Reading Long Past Your Bedtime! (4/13/2023)
Warning! This book is so good, so compelling, so delightful that you won't be able to stop reading. It is the perfect ChickLit with a gripping, multilayered plot that will keep you turning the pages long past your bedtime.

Written by Jennifer Robson, this novel is a deeplymore
Men We Reaped: A Memoir
by Jesmyn Ward
This Should Be Required Reading! Magnificently Written, This Powerful Tale Scraped My Heart Raw (4/12/2023)
This book by two-time National Book Award winner Jesmyn Ward scraped my heart raw. She is unflinchingly honest in her portrayal of life on the Gulf Coast, a life of poverty and hardship, a life where Black lives—especially men—are not valued. Raw and brutal though it may be,more
The Dovekeepers: A Novel
by Alice Hoffman
Historical Fiction at Its Finest: A Novel That Transports Readers to a Brutal, Terrifying Time (4/12/2023)
Quite simply, this novel astonished me.

It's just words on a page, but those words are so powerful, so entrancing, so visceral that they seemingly affected every one of my senses. I felt the searing heat of the desert, tasted the gritty sand in my mouth, smelled the lilies,more
Tell Me More: Stories About the 12 Hardest Things I'm Learning to Say
by Kelly Corrigan
Kelly Corrigan Is Courageous! Deeply Private and Brutally Honest Story-Essays About Living Her Life (4/12/2023)
Kelly Corrigan is a courageous woman.

In this collection of very personal essays, she tells deeply private stories about herself, many of which don't cast her in a positive light. As she herself says in the "Reading Group Guide" at the end of the book, the stories show "howmore
Love and Other Consolation Prizes: A Novel
by Jamie Ford
Brilliant and Beautiful: This Is a Haunting and Tender Historical Novel with a Shocking Premise (4/12/2023)
This novel by Jamie Ford is both a testament to the resiliency of the human spirit, especially in children, and a testament to the power of love to transcend so many of life's deepest hurts and tragedies.

Loosely based on something that actually happened, this is the storymore
The Deepest South of All: True Stories from Natchez, Mississippi
by Richard Grant
A Southern "Twin Peaks": An Eye-Popping, Almost Unbelievable, and Absolutely Fascinating Book (4/12/2023)
As I was mentally struggling with the best way to describe this book, the perfect line was uttered by one of the younger residents of Natchez, Mississippi: "This whole town is like a Southern Twin Peaks." Indeed.

Englishman Richard Grant was promoting one of his books whenmore
The Sentence
by Louise Erdrich
A Perfect Autumn Read: A Magical, Book Lover's Delight That Doubles as a Ghost Story (4/12/2023)
This enchanting novel is a book lover's delight that doubles as a ghost story. It's magical!

Written by Louise Erdrich, this is the story of Tookie, a Native American woman from the Ojibwe tribe who has just been released from prison (She was set up! It wasn't her fault!)more
The Headmaster's Wife
by Thomas Christopher Greene
Wow! An Extraordinary Novel with a Plot Twist That Will Knock You Between the Eyes (4/12/2023)
This fast-to-read psychological thriller is the perfect book for a cool autumn evening. Light a fire and get comfortable because this novel by Thomas Christopher Greene is so riveting you won't be moving for a while.

This is an astonishing read, and about halfway through themore
The Souvenir Museum
by Elizabeth McCracken
A Beautifully Written Collection of Short Stories That Explores Family Ties of Love and Sorrow (4/12/2023)
Elizabeth McCracken may very well be the queen of the short story, and this collection is why she deserves that crown. Each story is a little gem with a solid plot, interesting and fully developed characters, and an underlying theme, which is often about the bonds of family—more
Go Tell the Bees That I Am Gone: A Novel (Outlander)
by Diana Gabaldon
"Outlander" Is My Bookish Guilty Pleasure: And No. 9 in This Monumental Series Is Fabulous! (4/12/2023)
The "Outlander" series is my bookish guilty pleasure. What a delight! Although each of these nine books is very well written by master storyteller Diana Gabaldon, there is minimal literary value. It's all about suspending your sense of reality and just going with themore
Lucy by the Sea: A Novel
by Elizabeth Strout
A Lovely, Heartfelt, and Deeply Endearing Story That Is the Literary Equivalent of a Comfy Blanket (4/12/2023)
Oh, I just want to hug this book!

This is a lovely, heartfelt, deeply endearing story about the Covid lockdown as experienced by one of Elizabeth Strout's most beloved characters, Lucy Barton. And while each of us has our own unique story to tell about this unsettling time,more
Beasts of a Little Land: A Novel
by Juhea Kim
A Profound and Haunting Novel About Korean History. But Beware! It's Slow-Going in the Beginning (4/12/2023)
There are two types of readers: Those who finish a book—no matter what—just because they started it and those who give a book a few pages—10, 20, 50—and then give up if it's not that good. If you fall into the latter category, be cautious reading this novel by Juhea Kim. It'more
Moloka'i
by Alan Brennert
Intriguing and Heart-Wrenching: The Drama, Tragedy, Joy, and Courage of a Hawaiian Leper Colony (4/12/2023)
Historical novels, by their very nature, offer facts, but this novel by Alan Brennert far exceeds that basic standard. Painting a vivid, colorful picture with words, Brennert takes the reader on a fictional journey to Kalaupapa, a leper colony located on the remote islandmore

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