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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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One Child: The Story of China's Most Radical Experiment
by Mei Fong
Rife With Horror Stories, This Book Details the Unforeseen Consequences of China's One-Child Policy (4/19/2023)
For Americans, the idea that the government would mandate that couples could have only one child is the stuff of dystopian novels. It is not real life. But in 1980, the Chinese government did just that, and in the sweep of a pen created a law that dizzyingly overturnedmore
Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett
This Book Is Pure Genius—A Real Treasure! (4/19/2023)
If all you do is read the plot summary of this book—in an unnamed South American country, terrorists storm the birthday party of a Japanese electronics executive in a botched attempt to kidnap that country's president—you would never know that this exceptional book by Annmore
The Flight Attendant
by Chris Bohjalian
A Spellbinding and Intelligent Thriller (4/19/2023)
Have you noticed all the hype that has surrounded this book by Chris Bohjalian ever since it was published in March 2018? Yeah, it's all true—and then some. Do find a comfy chair because this spellbinding and intelligent thriller is so engrossing and riveting you won't wantmore
Uncommon Type: Some Stories
by Tom Hanks
Deftly Written with Wit and Intelligence, This Collection of Stories Is a True Delight (4/19/2023)
Tom Hanks can do it all. OK, come to think of it, I have never heard him sing. While we all know the two-time Oscar winner can act, now we know he can also write fiction. And write it really well. This eclectic collection of 17 highly original and wildly imaginative shortmore
American Fire: Love, Arson, and Life in a Vanishing Land
by Monica Hesse
Monica Hesse's Compelling Reporting Is as Mesmerizing as the Best Storytelling (4/19/2023)
Quite possibly, it could happen anywhere.

From November 12, 2012 to April 1, 2013, an astonishing 86 fires were deliberately set in rural Accomack County, Virginia, a sliver of Eastern Shore land bordered on one side by the Chesapeake Bay and on the other by the Atlanticmore
The God of Small Things
by Arundhati Roy
This Is Great Literature, But It's Also a Very Challenging and Difficult Book to Read (4/19/2023)
This is literature, perhaps even great literature. (This debut novel by Arundhati Roy did win the Man Booker prize in 1997, after all.) But that doesn't mean it is an easy book to read. Quite the opposite. It's a real challenge.

Taking place in the small Indian town ofmore
The Burgess Boys
by Elizabeth Strout
This Book Is Beautifully Written and Profoundly Moving. Quite Simply, It Is a Masterpiece. (4/19/2023)
The quick review: This is now one of my favorite books…ever. It is nearly perfect because of the brilliant way author Elizabeth Strout crafts the story. It is truly a masterpiece.

This is a tale about the Burgess family—three kids: Jim, Bob and Susan. They are grown now. Jimmore
Where the Crawdads Sing
by Delia Owens
Ingenious! Incredible! A Must-Read Book That Will Grab Your Heart and Soul (4/19/2023)
Oh. My. Goodness. Yes, all the hype is true. This is an incredible book that broke my heart, made me laugh out loud, made me shake my head in wonder, made me cry real tears several times, and made me oh-so-sad when it ended. (Book hangover!)

Ingeniously plotted, the storymore
A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara
An Elegiac, Heartbreaking Story That Is a Literary Masterpiece (4/19/2023)
This truly exceptional book by Hanya Yanagihara is a literary masterpiece. It is, quite possibly, a work of genius. It is also the saddest, most upsetting book I have read—perhaps ever.

This is not a book I would casually recommend to anyone. It is dense. It is intense. Itmore
News of the World
by Paulette Jiles
Read This Book, and a Simple Dime (Yes, the 10-Cent Coin) Will Never Be the Same Again (4/19/2023)
If you read this book, you will never hold a dime—yes, a simple 10-cent coin—in your hand again and think of it in the same way. No spoilers here! I won't tell you why, but trust me that it is worth reading the book just to find out.

The Civil War has ended. The wilds ofmore
The Year We Left Home: A Novel
by Jean Thompson
Warning! This Book Will Induce a Book Hangover (4/19/2023)
Warning! This book will induce a book hangover.

This is a story about family. Everyone's family. The family in which we are born and the family we create. The expectations for our life others have for us and the expectations for our life we create ourselves. This beautifullymore
The Secret Chord: A Novel
by Geraldine Brooks
An Extraordinary Tale! You'll Never Read the Biblical Story of David the Same Way Again (4/19/2023)
This extraordinary novel by Geraldine Brooks tells the biblical story of King David in such a compelling and riveting way that you will wish she would do the same for all the holy scriptures! Told in the first person by the prophet Natan (Nathan), who spent his entire lifemore
Speak No Evil
by Uzodinma Iweala
Powerful and Profound. It Is Impossible to Read This Book and Not Feel Stunned by It (4/19/2023)
Oh, this book broke my heart. But in a good way, because the powerful and profound message it delivers speaks the truth. It is raw. It is brilliant. It is deeply affecting. It is impossible to read this book and not feel stunned by it.

Niru is 18 and in his senior year at anmore
The Nest
by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney
Unlike Most of the Reader Reviewers, I Liked This Book! (4/19/2023)
I liked this book! And it would appear that based on many of the reader reviews this is distinctly a minority opinion.

Granted, it's not great literature, but most definitely it is not as awful as so many are depicting it. Written by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney, this is a storymore
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
This Book Is Worth Reading Just for the Writing! The Words Simply Sing (4/19/2023)
Poetry. Sheer, beautiful, pure poetry. But it's prose. Of course, it is. This is a novel. And. Every. Word. Is. Perfect. That is what makes it poetry. That is what makes the language sing. This book is worth reading just for the writing.

Jojo is 13, almost a man, but stillmore
Erotic Stories for Punjabi Widows
by Balli Kaur Jaswal
The Clever Title Should Win an Award…But the Book—Not So Much (4/19/2023)
I admit it! I admit it! I bought and read this book by Balli Kaur Jaswal because of the title. While the book itself is only OK, the clever title should win an award.

Here's the short version: This book is so bad…it's (almost) good. Soap opera, anyone?

Nikki is 22, a recentmore
Normal People
by Sally Rooney
Stunning, Intelligent, and Accomplished. This Book Grabbed My Heart and Soul (4/19/2023)
What does it really mean to be in a relationship? What does it mean to be in young and in love? With sparse but beautiful language, author Sally Rooney has written a (literary) love story for the ages.

Marianne and Connell grew up in the same small Irish town. She is wealthy,more
The Dark Monk: A Hangman's Daughter Tale, Book 2
by Oliver Potzsch
A Really Good Tale Well Told (4/19/2023)
Part historical novel, part adventure story and part murder mystery, this intriguing book, the second in "The Hangman's Daughter" series by Oliver Pötzsch, is quite the page-turner. Underneath an intricate plot, this is also a none-too-subtle statement about Christianity—more
Unsheltered: A Novel
by Barbara Kingsolver
When the World as You Know It Inexorably Changes, What Would You Do? (4/19/2023)
What happens when the world view you have always known inexorably shifts? Do you embrace the change as forward-thinking or fight it for all you're worth? If you simply deny that the change is real, will those words be enough to bring back the good old days? That is themore
My Life as a Rat
by Joyce Carol Oates
A Deeply Affecting Book About Forgiveness (4/19/2023)
This is a deeply affecting and heart-wrenching book about forgiveness. And it's about the most difficult form of forgiveness: Forgiving oneself.

Violet Rue is the youngest of seven children in the Irish Catholic, blue collar Kerrigan family of South Niagara, New York. Whilemore

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