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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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Demon Copperhead: A Novel
by Barbara Kingsolver
A Remarkable Literary Achievement: A Must-Read Book That Is Heartbreaking and Emotionally Searing (8/18/2024)
This is one of those rare novels that I read on two levels seemingly at the same time:

--First, I was captivated with the plot, as sad and tragic as it is. Those pages almost turned themselves.

--Second, I was mesmerized following the story that was lurking in the shadowsmore
The God of the Woods: A Novel
by Liz Moore
Don't Go in the Woods! A Perfect Summer Novel—Missing Person Mystery Wrapped in a Domestic Drama (8/16/2024)
This may be the perfect summer novel. It's a multilayered mystery about a missing 13-year-old girl at a summer camp nestled deep in the Adirondacks and wrapped around a horrifying domestic drama. And secrets! So many secrets being closely guarded by so many people.

But it'smore
Romantic Comedy: A Novel
by Curtis Sittenfeld
This Is the Best Love Story! Bonus Points: It's Witty, Intelligent, and Funny, Too (8/3/2024)
Oh, this is the best love story! Bonus points: It's witty, intelligent, and funny, too.

Written by Curtis Sittenfeld, this is a rom-com novel with a clever plot: It's 2018. Sally Milz is a longtime writer for "The Night Owls," a not-so-subtle spoof of "Saturday Night Live"more
On Chesil Beach: A Novel
by Ian McEwan
A Heartbreaking and Wrenching Novel, but It's a Tough One to Like (8/3/2024)
This is a heartbreaking and wrenching novel.

Written by Ian McEwan, this is the story of Edward and Florence, whom we meet on their wedding night in their hotel suite as they are being served a dinner of roast beef by two waiters. It's the summer of 1962 in Great Britain,more
This Strange Eventful History: A Novel
by Claire Messud
An Ambitious Family Saga Based on Fact, Embellished by Imagination (8/1/2024)
Who among us hasn't thought that our family story would be perfect for a novel? Claire Messud has written that novel about her family. This bighearted, cosmopolitan family saga begins in 1940 at the start of World War II and continues for three generations until 2010.

Whilemore
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store: A Novel
by James McBride
A Masterpiece of Genius: A Story About the Bonds of Community and the Grace of Diversity (7/30/2024)
This book by James McBride is a masterpiece of genius, a story about the bonds of community, the grace of diversity, and the blessings of caring for one another.

That said, it is not an easy book to read, especially in the beginning. There are a lot of characters. There is amore
Clear: A Novel
by Carys Davies
A Polished and Eloquent Novel with a Most Unexpected Ending That Hit Me Like a Thunderbolt (7/29/2024)
This is a perceptive, emotionally powerful novel about the agonies of change, the depths of our humanity, and the transformative power of love. And the ending? It hit me like a thunderbolt.

Masterfully written by Carys Davies, this is the story of The Rev. John Ferguson andmore
The End of the World Is a Cul de Sac: Stories
by Louise Kennedy
An Unflinching, Emotionally Complex, and Brilliantly Perceptive Collection of 15 Short Stories (7/23/2024)
Wow. Just that…wow. This is an unflinching, emotionally complex, and brilliantly perceptive collection of 15 short stories by Irish writer Louise Kennedy.

All take place in small towns and villages in Ireland with beautiful, lyrical descriptions of the countryside andmore
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
by Erik Larson
A Highly Readable History Book: Deep Dive into the People, Places, and Events That Caused the Civil War (7/21/2024)
Why did the Civil War happen? How did it start? I'm not talking about who fired the first shots at and from Fort Sumter off the coast of Charleston, South Carolina, although that is an important and fascinating part of this book. I'm talking about the actions, misdeeds,more
Real Americans: A Novel
by Rachel Khong
A Thoughtful, Ingeniously Plotted Novel About the Choices We Make with the Life We've Been Given (7/21/2024)
This is a multigenerational saga about a Chinese-American family that will take you from the 1950s rice paddies in the southern basin of China's Yangtze River to Mao's 1960s Cultural Revolution to 9/11 in New York City to the hot-shot San Francisco tech scene of the 2020s.more
North Woods: A Novel
by Daniel Mason
Extraordinary. Brilliant. Masterful. Exceptional. I Adored This Book! (7/7/2024)
Extraordinary. Brilliant. Masterful. Exceptional. Yes, I adored this book. It has to be THE most imaginative novel I have ever read.

The genius of the book is in the structure. Beginning in the 1600s in Puritan New England and extending for almost four centuries, the novel'more
Sandwich: A Novel
by Catherine Newman
It's an OK Book, but Not a Great One: Ideal Audience Is Menopausal Women (or You Might Not Get the Jokes) (7/6/2024)
This book has a narrow ideal audience: Menopausal women. Otherwise, you might not get the jokes.

The opening chapters are bland, beach ChickLit—disappointing. But if you're part of the ideal audience, stick with it because the story morphs into something with a bit moremore
Wellness: A Novel
by Nathan Hill
An Epic Love Story About a Modern Marriage: Brilliant, Introspective, and Richly Imagined (6/21/2024)
This is a love story. An epic love story about a modern marriage and the bonds that hold couples together and sometimes tear them apart. And what a doozie of a love story it is! This novel is about the stories we tell ourselves and each other and how those stories—true andmore
Tom Lake: A Novel
by Ann Patchett
This Is a Great American Novel: Tender, Nostalgic, and a Really Good Read (6/8/2024)
This incredible book by Ann Patchett deserves to be named a Great American Novel. It has everything: an engrossing, multilayered storyline, deeply developed and vivid characters, and embedded literary themes. It's a ten-star book in a five-star world.

Taking place over twomore
The Husband's Secret
by Liane Moriarty
Big (BIG!) Secrets! A Compelling ChickLit Page-Turner with Major Plot Twists and Turns (5/21/2024)
Ooooh! This is delicious ChickLit and a compelling page-turner with a multilayered plot line, well-developed characters, and (of course!) big secrets. Really, really big secrets from two husbands.

Written by Liane Moriarty, this is the story of three women living in Sydney,more
You Have a Friend in 10A: Stories
by Maggie Shipstead
Ten Short Stories: Diverse Settings, Fresh Characters, Surprising Plots Focused on the Dynamics of Sexual Power (5/20/2024)
This literary collection of short stories by Maggie Shipstead should win an award for diversity of settings. The 10 stories take place on a Montana dude ranch, a Midwestern college, Paris, a small California town off the Pacific Coast Highway, the backroads of Easternmore
Night Watch: A Novel
by Jayne Anne Phillips
This Is Literary Fiction at Its Finest: A Mesmerizing Storyline (5/16/2024)
The writing. Oh, the writing. This is one of those books that demands to be reread—even if it's just a paragraph here and a page there. The writing is masterful, lyrical, and nearly poetic. And this is only one of the reasons this profound, haunting novel by Jayne Annemore
State by State: A Panoramic Portrait of America
by Sean Wilsey, Matt Weiland
50 States. 50 Essays. 50 Writers: An Unvarnished, True-to-Life, and Occasionally Disturbing Portrait of America (5/13/2024)
Fifty states. Fifty essays. Fifty writers. Sew it all together, and you have a portrait of the United States, but it's not one that would be endorsed by any state chamber of commerce. This is an unvarnished, true-to-life, sometimes full of praise, sometimes denigrating, andmore
Rules of Civility: A Novel
by Amor Towles
A Charming and Imaginative Novel: The Magic of This Book Is in the Remarkable Characters (4/26/2024)
Amor Towles is one of my favorite authors, and it was a delight after 12 years to reread this, his first novel, for my book club. While the plot is compelling, the magic of the book is in the enthralling characters.

The story takes place over one year—1938—opening on Newmore
Happiness Falls: A Novel
by Angie Kim
An Overrated Novel: Disjointed Plot, One-Sided Characters, and Hyped-Up Prose (4/21/2024)
This is billed as a "thrilling page-turner": A married father of three children goes missing. Is he dead? If he is dead, was it an accident or murder? Was he kidnapped? Did he skip town with a possible paramour? If you, like me, choose to read this book thinking it's amore

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