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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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A Good Neighborhood
by Therese Anne Fowler
A Political Message Disguised as a Novel and Delivered with All the Subtlety of a Sledgehammer (4/14/2023)
This is a political message disguised as a novel and delivered with all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

And you can almost choose your favorite cause because they're all here: racism, sexism, environmental rights, rich vs. poor, suburban sprawl, the role of women in society,more
The Dictionary of Lost Words
by Pip Williams
If You Love Words, You'll Love This Book! (4/14/2023)
If a book were your favorite comfy sweater, this would be it. It's a slow, steady, and quietly fascinating read about the men and the very few women who were involved in the making of the venerable Oxford English Dictionary (OED).

It's also a book about linguisticmore
Sag Harbor: A Novel
by Colson Whitehead
A Trip to the Beach Like None You've Ever Had! The Writing Is Brilliant, but the Plot Crawls (4/14/2023)
This is the power of reading: It will take you places you can never go in real life. Exhibit A is this book.

This is a coming-of-age story about a nerdy and awkward 15-year-old, prep school-educated black boy, who is spending the summer of 1985 at his family's beach housemore
Garden Spells
by Sarah Addison Allen
A Delight to Read! An Enchanting Love Story Infused with a Touch of Magic (4/14/2023)
If you need a summer escape from the real world, just open this delightful book by Sarah Addison Allen. It’s the literary equivalent of a bundle of fresh, colorful flowers.

This novel is written in the genre of magical realism, so you must be able to suspend your belief (more
Call Your Daughter Home
by Deb Spera
Emotionally Searing and Difficult to Read, but It’s One of the Best Books I’ve Read (4/14/2023)
This is a story about the deep South. This is a story about the indelible bond and incredible courage of women. But most of all, this is a story about our shared humanity. This is a story that will stay with me for a long time.

Magnificently written by Deb Spera, this novelmore
A Fine Imitation: A Novel
by Amber Brock
Entertaining! A Fun ChickLit Escape Read with a Well-Crafted Plot That Has Several Clever Twists (4/14/2023)
This book is a ChickLit escape read. Take it to the beach. Read it curled up in front of the fireplace during a snowstorm. It will keep you entertained for hours. But like most ChickLit, it’s all plot without the enduring depth of literature. That said, we all need booksmore
All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashley's Sack, a Black Family Keepsake
by Tiya Miles
A Brilliant Melding of the Scholarly and the Personal. Quite Simply, This Is Essential Reading. (4/14/2023)
It’s just an old cotton seed bag. But it is truly priceless.

Sometime in the 1850s, Rose, an enslaved woman in Charleston, South Carolina, gave the bag to her nine-year-old daughter, Ashley, on the eve of her being sold away from her family to another South Carolinamore
Summer: Seasonal Quartet #4
by Ali Smith
A Literary Delight with Exquisite Writing, but Despite the Title, It’s Not a Beach Book (4/13/2023)
Despite the title, this is a not a light and romantic romp at the beach. This is a serious book about serious subjects—from the horrors of Nazi brutalities to the isolation of the Covid pandemic—but the story had me riveted.

Written by Ali Smith, this is the fourth in hermore
The Daughters of Erietown: A Novel
by Connie Schultz
A Bit of a Soap Opera Plot, but It’s a Captivating Story That Brilliantly Captures a Bygone Era (4/13/2023)
As much as this is the story of a marriage, it is even more a story of a bygone era when men were the ones who went to work, women were housewives, races and ethnicities lived in separate neighborhoods, and Dad’s word—no matter how unfair—ruled. This is a story that willmore
Anxious People
by Fredrik Backman
Read This Book! It's Brilliantly Plotted, Heartwarming, and Hilarious (4/13/2023)
This is the story of a bank robber who botches the job and then inadvertently takes eight people hostage, all of whom are viewing an apartment for sale in a small town in Sweden the day before New Year's Eve. It's also the story of the two police officers—a father and a son—more
Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi
Fierce and Triumphant: A Historical Novel/Family Epic That Will Sear Your Heart and Soul (4/13/2023)
This a historical novel/family epic masquerading as the most creative collection of short stories I have ever read.

The premise: It is the summer of 1775 on the Gold Coast of West Africa. (The Gold Coast was a British Crown colony until its independence in 1957 when itmore
Remarkably Bright Creatures: A Novel
by Shelby Van Pelt
A Summer ChickLit Delight: An Endearing Novel About Death, Grief, and the Power of Love to Heal (4/13/2023)
It could happen! Well, maybe. OK, never. But that doesn't mean this book—a summer ChickLit delight—won't tug at your heartstrings and make you smile. It is an endearing novel about the tragedy of death, the anguish of grief, and the power of love to heal. And it's partlymore
Catherine House: A Novel
by Elisabeth Thomas
A Gothic Mystery, Thriller, and Coming-of-Age Novel That Is Both a Page-Turner and a Slog (4/13/2023)
The best way to describe this unusual novel by Elisabeth Thomas is: Peculiar. It's strange, odd, and weird. It's also creepy and eerie.

This Gothic mystery, thriller, coming-of-age novel is both a page-turner and a slog. How can it be both? The twisted, mysterious, and verymore
The Prophets
by Robert Jones Jr.
The Prose Sings Like Poetry, but It's a Difficult Read—a Real Sucker Punch to the Heart (4/13/2023)
This literary novel is so beautifully and powerfully written that the prose sings like poetry, demanding that readers stop and reread not only paragraphs but also entire pages.

Masterfully written by Robert Jones Jr., this is the story of the forbidden love between Samuelmore
Walking on Eggshells: Navigating the Delicate Relationship Between Adult Children and Parents
by Jane Isay
Valuable Tips on How to Parent Grown Up Children Without Conflict (or Shut Up and Wear Beige) (4/13/2023)
When my oldest child was engaged to be married, a dear friend asked me, "Do you know the most important job for the mother of the groom?" I eagerly replied, "Do tell!" She quipped, "Shut up and wear beige." After I stopped laughing, I realized that this is spot-on advicemore
My Brilliant Friend
by Elena Ferrante
A Literary Novel Filled with Wisdom, Wit, and Insight About a Deep and Abiding Friendship (4/13/2023)
I read this extraordinary book by Italian author Elena Ferrante with a bit of trepidation. Two of my bookish friends whose opinions I greatly value have wildly different views of this novel. One friend loves it so much that this is her go-to book to give as a gift; it is somore
The Arrivals: A Novel
by Meg Mitchell Moore
Selfish, Whiny, Entitled Characters No Plot = A Boring Book (4/13/2023)
This is summer ChickLit with a big ol' helpin' of whining and complaining. Enough already!

Written by Meg Mitchell Moore, this is the story of William and Ginny, sixty-somethings who are happily retired in Burlington, Vermont on the shores of picturesque Lake Champlain andmore
Booth
by Karen Joy Fowler
Original, Imaginative and Ingeniously Plotted: A Riveting Story That Is Also a Warning for Our Times (4/13/2023)
A warning. That is what this book is. A chilling, daunting and, perhaps, prophetic warning. And you don't even have to be a particularly astute reader to see that.

This is the personal life story of one of the most despised and reviled assassins in American history, butmore
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story
by John Berendt
A Bizarre Cast of Characters, a Baffling Murder, and Excellent Writing Make This a Must-Read Book! (4/13/2023)
This book is nonfiction. And that's a good thing because it's too unbelievable to be fiction. But…wow. It's (mostly) true.

Ostensibly, this is about the baffling May 2, 1981 murder of a 21-year-old out-of-control, drunk, drug-addicted, kid with a history of violence namedmore
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

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