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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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America Is Not the Heart
by Elaine Castillo
An Imaginative, Emotionally Searing Story, but It's Difficult to Read and Boring in Parts (4/14/2023)
This is a difficult book to read on several levels. Not only is the subject matter disturbing in the important story it has to tell, but also the many (many!) words and phrases written in Tagalog, Ilocano, and Pangasinan with no translation can just make it confounding tomore
My Father's Tears
by John Updike
Storytelling at Its Finest: Magnificent Look at the World Past and Present (4/14/2023)
Published in 2009 just a few months after John Updike's death at age 76, this collection of 18 short stories is a magnificent look at the world past and present. The keen observations—from the quotidian details of life during the Great Depression to doomed love affairs—aremore
Ask Again, Yes
by Mary Beth Keane
This Is a Powerful Book About Forgiveness—And You Won't Be Able to Stop Reading Once You Start (4/14/2023)
This is a novel about many things, but most of all it's about the power of forgiveness. The kind of deep-seated, soul-searing forgiveness that heals deep-seated, soul-searing hurts.

And what a book it is! This novel just grabbed my heart and wouldn't let go. I devoured it.

more
A Woman Is No Man: A Novel
by Etaf Rum
A Hard, but Profound, Book to Read: A Story About Women Who Are Discarded, Invisible, and Abused (4/14/2023)
Reading is magical. It transports us to places we can't visit on our own and drops us smack into cultures and lifestyles we would never otherwise experience. Reading can be a little like eavesdropping—being that proverbial fly on the wall. That is exactly what it felt likemore
The Women in Black
by Madeleine St John
A Delightful, Tender Novel About Finding Love, Hope, and Happiness (4/14/2023)
On the cover of this charming book by Madeleine St John, there is this quote by Hilary Mantel (author of the acclaimed "Wolf Hall" series about Thomas Cromwell, so really serious stuff!): "The book I most often give as a gift to cheer people up." Well, that's enough for me!more
Issac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
by Erik Larson
Magical Writing! History Comes Alive, and You'll Feel as If You're in the Middle of the Hurricane (4/14/2023)
We humans have a fascination for the majestic, violent, and sometimes deadly power of Mother Nature. And while we take for granted 21st century meteorologists' ability to warn us of storms in our path, that wasn't always the case.

Isaac Monroe Cline was the head of themore
The House at Riverton: A Novel
by Kate Morton
Escape Into Another Era! This Ingeniously Plotted Book Will Simply Take You Away (4/14/2023)
There should be an official fiction genre called "escape novels." These are books in which the story, place, and characters all conspire to sweep the reader away from current reality, current problems, current worries. And this book would lead the way.

Written by Kate Morton,more
The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty
by G.J. Meyer
If You Enjoy Novels About the Tudors, This Highly Readable History Book Is a Must-Read! (4/14/2023)
Beginning with Henry VII and ending with Queen Elizabeth I, this fascinating and highly readable history book on the three generations of Tudors, is a deep dive into one of the most interesting and tumultuous periods of England's royal rulers.

Written by G.J. Meyer, themore
Just Like You
by Nick Hornby
I Was Enchanted! This Is a Delightful Love Story with an Imaginative Plot and Snappy Dialogue (4/14/2023)
What a fun love story! The plot is imaginative, the dialogue snappy, and the characters feel like real people. It isn't profound. It isn't great literature. But it is a delight to read.

Written by Nick Hornby and taking place in London in 2016, this is the classic boy-meets-more
Winter: A Novel (Seasonal Quartet)
by Ali Smith
A Weird, Odd, Strange Book That Is So Compellingly Good, I Couldn't Put It Down! (4/14/2023)
This book is weird. Odd. Strange. But the weirdest, oddest, strangest part of all is this: It's really, really GOOD. I just couldn't stop reading it.

This is the second in the seasonal quartet by Scottish author Ali Smith. The series begins with "Autumn" (it was shortlistedmore
The Buddha in the Attic: A Novel
by Julie Otsuka
Brilliant, Eloquent Writing: This Is One of the Most Powerful and Poignant Books I Have Ever Read (4/14/2023)
This very short novel—really, more a novella—is one of the most powerful and poignant books I have ever read. It is the story of the Japanese "picture brides" who were sent to the United States in the early 20th century to marry Japanese men, who mostly needed another setmore
My Dark Vanessa: A Novel
by Kate Russell
A Difficult, Brutal Novel to Read, But I Dare You to Stop Once You Finish the First Chapter (4/14/2023)
This is a difficult book to read. It's also difficult to stop reading.

It's difficult to read because of the subject matter—a 42-year-old high school English teacher grooms a 15-year-old student for sex—and it's difficult to stop reading because it's written with suchmore
Beartown
by Fredrik Backman
Treat Yourself to a Trip to Beartown! This Book Has Heart, Soul, and a Page-Turning Narrative (4/14/2023)
This is a book about teen boys playing hockey. Well, kind of. I mean, yes, it is about teen boys playing hockey in a small town in Sweden. But it's SO SO SO much more than that. And if you barely know a puck from a stick (count me in that category), you will still love thismore
These Precious Days: Essays
by Ann Patchett
I Want to Hug This Book! Brilliantly Written with Keen Insight These Essays Are a Treasure (4/14/2023)
This is a 10-star book in a five-star world.

If you're an Ann Patchett fan, this is a must-read. If you've never heard of Ann Patchett, you still need to read this, but first treat yourself to one or two of her novels. I highly recommend "The Dutch House" and "Bel Canto."

more
Plainsong
by Kent Haruf
An Exquisite Work of Literature That Is Also a Compelling, Can't-Put-It-Down Read (4/14/2023)
I hadn't even read half the book when I realized that this would likely be one of my favorite novels of all time. It is brilliant. A masterpiece. Monumental. All overused words in book reviews, but totally apt descriptors for this brilliant, monumental masterpiece by Kentmore
The Last Romantics
by Tara Conklin
Witty, Wise, and Tender: A Powerful Book That I Found Heartbreaking and Healing (4/14/2023)
I felt like I was looking in a mirror when I read this book. It is spookily close to my life story. Because of that resonance I found it to be powerful, heartbreaking, and healing, but I can't begin to fathom if this would be something most readers would also experience.

more
The Sweetness of Water
by Nathan Harris
This Novel Is a Literary Gift: An Extraordinary Story That Is Unsettling but Always Insightful (4/14/2023)
This may be a perfect novel. The plot is compelling. The characters are painted with such vividness that they seem real. And the writing…oh my goodness. The writing sings. It is beautiful, lyrical, and poetry in prose. It's the kind of writing that demands to be reread.

more
Spring: A Seasonal Quartet Novel
by Ali Smith
A Somewhat Difficult Book to Read—in Both Form and Story—But It Will Make You Think! (4/14/2023)
It may be titled "Spring," but this is not a book about the blossoming of new love or reveling in Earth's colorful pastel rebirth. It is bleak and dark with just a smidgen of hope. It's also experimental in form—so much so that when I was about 35 pages into the book, Imore
One Two Three
by Laurie Frankel
Imaginatively Written, but It Should Be Shelved in the YA Section. Overall, It's Disappointing. (4/14/2023)
This book by Laurie Frankel is a lot of contradictory things:
-- It's billed as a novel for grown-ups, but it should be shelved in the young adult section.
-- It's a riveting story, but it goes on far too long, spoiling something that started out really good.
-- I wanted tomore
The Language of Flowers: A Novel
by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
A Poignant, Thoughtful, and Insightful Book That Will Keep You Reading Far Past Your Bedtime (4/14/2023)
This book is so much more than a story about flowers. This is a book about what it means to love a child and the truly horrible things that happen to a child who is not loved—not enough food, no proper clothing, and worst of all, no self-esteem or confidence.

This is a storymore

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