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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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The Teachers: A Year Inside America's Most Vulnerable, Important Profession
by Alexandra Robbins
A Treasure! This Is a Page-Turner Filled with Compelling Storytelling and Cutting-Edge Research (4/21/2023)
This book inspired me, angered me, filled me with awe and wonder, and made me really and truly think—think about our public schools, the educators who work so hard, the students who depend on the schools, and the parents who can make life so wonderful or challenging formore
The Aviator's Wife
by Melanie Benjamin
An Oh-So-Sad Story of the Private Life of a Very Public Couple (4/20/2023)
This book is so sad. At times, it was almost too sad to keep reading. It is a fictionalized account of the life of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, the painfully shy wife of the famous pilot Charles Lindbergh. Lauded as a hero for flying solo from New York to Paris in 1927, he wasmore
The Hour I First Believed
by Wally Lamb
A Beautifully Written, Intelligent Book (4/20/2023)
There is only one word that can adequately describe this phenomenal book: Genius.

That said, this work of literary fiction by Wally Lamb may not appeal to everyone. (English majors will love it!) Narrated in the first person by Caelum Quirk, this multilayered book ismore
Behold the Dreamers
by Imbolo Mbue
This Remarkable Book Pierced My Heart and Soul (4/20/2023)
The time: 2008

The place: New York City. Well, to be exact a corner office on Wall Street with floor to ceiling windows offering a breathtaking view, a posh Upper East Side apartment that is decorated to the nines and a one-bedroom, cockroach-infested fifth-floor walk-up inmore
The Female Persuasion: A Novel
by Meg Wolitzer
Profound and Moving, This Is a Sheer Joy to Read (4/20/2023)
Somehow this book, which is all about the characters—and I mean ALL about the characters—somehow has a plot. And that is the genius of author Meg Wolitzer!

This is the story of Greer, a shy, confused college freshman and her journey to adulthood. It's also about Cory, hermore
The Art of Hearing Heartbeats
by Jan-Philipp Sendker
Enchanting, Passionate and Profound: Read and Enjoy (4/20/2023)
Magic. Pure magic. This book—with prose that reads more like poetry—is a sheer delight. I have no idea how to classify it. It's a haunting fable. And a passionate love story. And an enchanting mystery. I wanted to hurriedly read to find out what would happen next, but I hadmore
Little Fires Everywhere
by Celeste Ng
This Is a 10-Star Book: Read It! (4/20/2023)
This is a 10-star book. But it comes with a serious warning: Do not read it unless you really have time to read. Because this book will suck you in and not let go. It is one of those rare accomplishments in literature: an ingeniously plotted page-turner that is written withmore
The Monk of Mokha
by Dave Eggers
A Breathless, Unexpected and Mesmerizing Journey About Coffee (4/20/2023)
It's a good thing this book is nonfiction. If it were a novel, no one would believe it! The author would be excoriated for creating an absurd and preposterous plot line and told to tone it down. A lot. But this isn't fiction. It really happened.

Let's back up. This is themore
The Great Alone
by Kristin Hannah
ChickLit Meets Adventure With a Hearty Dose of Melodrama (4/20/2023)
This can best be described as ChickLit meets Adventure with a hearty dose of Melodrama. It is a good story—the kind that keeps you turning pages to find out what happens. And if you enjoy books with riveting plots, this one is for you. But that's about all it has. Themore
Fresh Complaint: Stories
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Extraordinary Collection: By Turns Hilarious and Heartbreaking (4/20/2023)
This collection of 10 extraordinary short stories by the ingenious Jeffrey Eugenides is by turns hilarious and heartbreaking. From the decades-long friendship between two women to the 40-something failed poet who is so desperate for money he does something horribly wrong tomore
Manhattan Beach
by Jennifer Egan
Love, Redemption and Hope in a Powerful, Suspenseful Storyline (4/20/2023)
Deftly written with a compelling plot that is populated with fully-realized and colorful characters, "Manhattan Beach" is one of those rare books that succeeds on every level. The imaginative and suspenseful storyline will grab you on the first page.

Eddie Kerrigan of Newmore
Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
by Sebastian Junger
A Truly Remarkable Book (4/20/2023)
"Isn't it fun to be with your tribe?" author Joyce Carol Oates asked the assembled 1,000 who had gathered to hear her speak at the 2016 National Book Festival in Washington, D.C. Indeed. As an avid reader, I had never before thought of those sitting around me in thismore
Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine
by Gail Honeyman
Priceless. Perfect. Phenomenal. (4/20/2023)
Priceless. Perfect. Phenomenal.

Eleanor Oliphant is one of the most refreshing characters to ever inhabit the pages of a book. She is literal and direct in everything she says, using perfect English at all times. She is confident and quite self-sufficient, thank you verymore
Asymmetry
by Lisa Halliday
Pretentious, High-Brow Literary Fiction (4/20/2023)
This book, which is essentially a study of the imbalance of power in relationships, was brilliant…but boring. Philosophical…but perplexing. Intriguing…but incongruous.

Written by Lisa Halliday, it is actually three novellas, the first two of which have nothing in common andmore
1968
by Mark Kurlansky
 (4/20/2023)
I was in eighth grade when 1968 dawned, too immature and self-centered to fully appreciate the truly momentous, spirit-shattering and world-changing events—the effect of which is still felt 50 years later. And that is why I read this outstanding book by Mark Kurlansky. Thismore
The Immortalists: A Novel
by Chloe Benjamin
Superbly Written With Keen Insight About the Meaning of Life and Death (4/20/2023)
What if you knew far in advance the exact date you would die? That is the premise of this exceptional book by Chloe Benjamin. In 1969 in the New York City, four siblings—Varya (age 13), Daniel (11), Klara (9) and Simon (7)—meet with a gypsy fortuneteller, and she tells themmore
The Heart's Invisible Furies: A Novel
by John Boyne
Witty, Wise and Wonderful! One of the Best Books I Have Ever Read (4/20/2023)
I dare you to read the first sentence—Yes! Just the first sentence!—and not be hooked on this book. It is witty (as in, you will laugh out loud and want to read passages to others because they are so funny), wise and wonderful. This book will grab your heart and not let go.

more
Where the Past Begins: A Writer's Memoir
by Amy Tan
Difficult, But Interesting, Book (I'd Rather Read Her Novels) (4/20/2023)
If you're a big Amy Tan fan, this book is a must-read. But if you're not a Tan fan, skip it. Read her novels instead.

In chapter after chapter, she pulls back the wizard's curtain not only on her own life, but also on the (sometimes bizarre) ways she conceives of story ideasmore
Less
by Andrew Sean Greer
A Good Book…But Something Critical Is Missing (4/20/2023)
This is a well-written, intelligent book with a clever little plot and a colorful main character. Of course, it is. It won the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction. But something is missing.

Written by Andrew Sean Greer, the book tells the story of 49-year-old (about to turn 50!)more
Florida
by Lauren Groff
An Extraordinary, Emotionally Intense Collection of Stories (4/20/2023)
Lauren Groff is an artist. But instead of a paintbrush she uses words, and she does it with such amazing talent that those disparate syllables and sentences come together to create daring, brilliant images of Florida (and other places) in this collection of imaginative andmore

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In Our Midst
by Nancy Jensen
In Our Midst follows a German immigrant family’s fight for freedom after their internment post–Pearl Harbor.
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