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Reviews by Cathryn Conroy

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So You Want to Talk About Race
by Ijeoma Oluo
Most of All, This Book is Practical. Use It to Positively Change How You Think and Act (4/17/2023)
If you're of a certain age, you'll remember the consciousness-raising sessions that were popularized by feminists in the late 1960s. This brilliantly written book by Ijeoma Oluo is like that—consciousness raising about racism. But it's a lot more than that, and herein liesmore
The Golden Hour
by Beatriz Williams
Once You Start Reading, You Won't Want to Stop! This Novel Left Me Spellbound (4/17/2023)
Oooh! Oooh! Oooh! What a book! It has it all: a historical thriller that doubles as a love story (actually two love stories), incredible writing, a colorful cast of characters, and a plot that is so compelling you had better order out because you won't want to stop readingmore
Valentine
by Elizabeth Wetmore
A Brilliant and Profound Novel About Love, Life, Family, and Faith (4/17/2023)
This is an exceptional book for and about women. It's about the tragedy of rape. It's about the will to survive. It's about what women will do for one another. It's a story that left me shaking and sad, but also feeling heartened and strong.

This is a book that is charactermore
The Marrying of Chani Kaufman
by Eve Harris
A Brilliant and Profound Novel About Love, Life, Family, and Faith (4/17/2023)
This is an extraordinary novel about love, marriage, family, and faith, and while the title makes it sound like the ultimate ChickLit book, it's not. Written by Eve Harris, this is serious literature that was longlisted for the prestigious Man Booker Prize.

The plot ismore
The Good Daughters: A Novel
by Joyce Maynard
Imaginative and Well-Written Novel with a Plot Secret That Will Absolutely Captivate You (4/17/2023)
This book is not a page-turner. It is not filled with suspense. There is very little literary tension. Instead, there is an undercurrent—one that is so subtle at first that it's barely discernible but eventually grows in power — so much so that when the substance and themore
Unexampled Courage: The Blinding of Sgt. Isaac Woodard and the Awakening of President Harry S. Truman and Judge J. Waties Waring
by Richard Gergel
The Incredible Story of Two Men Who Changed the Course of History for All Black Americans (4/17/2023)
Sometimes history really is shaped by a single man. Or, in this case, two men. Two very different men. They both hailed from South Carolina, although they lived in different worlds. But eventually it was because of them that the Supreme Court ruled that segregated publicmore
The Jesus Cow
by Michael Perry
An Amusing Story and a Fun Read—Even Though the Plot Is Totally Predictable (4/17/2023)
In a modest barn in small-town, Wisconsin, a calf is born on Christmas Eve, and instead of the usual spots, it has the unmistakable image of Jesus Christ on its flank to which the farmer said, "Well, that's trouble." Indeed.

Harley Jackson is a quiet, unassuming man livingmore
The Nickel Boys
by Colson Whitehead
Read It! Gripping Plot, Vibrant Characters and an Astonishing Ending That Will Take Your Breath Away (4/17/2023)
This book made me weep. This book made me angry. This book made me frustrated. This book broke my heart. This book is also a literary masterpiece with a formidable and vital story to tell.

Expertly written by Colson Whitehead, this is the story of Elwood Curtis, a blackmore
The Dry Grass of August
by Anna Jean Mayhew
Unputdownable! A Riveting Snapshot in Time of August 1954 on the Cusp of the Civil Rights Movement (4/17/2023)
There is only one way to describe this book: Unputdownable. As in, once you start reading, you really will not be able to stop.

Written by Anna Jean Mayhew, this is a snapshot of August 1954 in the deep South, three months after the Supreme Court ruled to integrated publicmore
All Adults Here
by Emma Straub
Breezy, Easy Read, But It's Like Eating Cake for Dinner—Fun and Sweet, But Ultimately Not Fulfilling (4/17/2023)
This is a book about family. And friends. And lovers. It's a book about the choices we make and the choices that are seemingly thrust upon us—for better or worse. It is a book about the human condition.

Written by Emma Straub, this is the story of the Strick family who livemore
Our Souls at Night
by Kent Haruf
A Treasure of a Book, a True Gem of the Literary World (4/17/2023)
This is a treasure, a true gem of the literary world. It's short, sweet, and absolutely beautiful.

Addie Moore has been widowed for many years. So has her neighbor, Louis Waters, whom Addie knows more as an acquaintance than a friend. One day, Addie does something that somemore
Ten Thousand Saints: A Novel
by Eleanor Henderson
A Depressing Tale That Is Deeply Sorrowful. If You Can Survive the Darkness, the End Is Worth It (4/17/2023)
Oh, this is a depressing book. Melancholy. Tragic. And bleak. The story will grab some dark place of your soul and not let go. Eventually, there is hope and redemption, but it is a deeply sorrowful read to get to that point.

That said, it really is an extraordinary book.

more
If You Leave Me
by Crystal Hana Kim
Don't Judge a Book by Its Title: It Sounds Like ChickLit, But It's a Multilayered Historical Novel (4/17/2023)
You can't judge a book by its title. This book may sound like the ultimate ChickLit, but it's not.

Yes, at its core, it is a love story, but that love story is a tightly woven, multilayered historical novel beginning in 1951 during the Korean War and continuing throughmore
Red at the Bone
by Jacqueline Woodson
This Novel Is Nearly Perfect! The Lyrical Prose Transforms a Simple Story into a Masterpiece (4/17/2023)
Oh, this book! And it's all because of the writing. Exquisite. Eloquent. Exceptional. This stunningly beautiful novel is very short, but I found myself taking longer to read it than the page count would indicate simply because I reread so many (many!) passages just to savormore
A Fatal Grace: Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #2
by Louise Penny
A Literary Murder Mystery: Compelling Whodunit Plot That Is Perceptive and Smart (4/17/2023)
I am smitten with Louise Penny. And that's saying a lot because I am not enamored of murder mysteries. But her mysteries are another thing all together. Her books are expertly written with not only a compelling whodunit plot, but also extraordinary, entirely humanmore
Squeezed: Why Our Families Can't Afford America
by Alissa Quart
This Book Is Shocking, Heartbreaking, and an Absolute Must-Read for Everyone (4/17/2023)
This book had me riveted. It's the rarest of nonfiction tomes in that I couldn't stop reading. Just a few more pages…just a few more pages.

That said, it is emotionally exhausting to read. Even if you yourself are not financially squeezed, chances are pretty good you knowmore
Caleb's Crossing: A Novel
by Geraldine Brooks
An Extraordinary Book and Writing Achievement: I Loved It, But I Know It's Not for Everyone (4/17/2023)
This is a very special book. And while I absolutely loved it, I know it's not for everyone.

Written by Pulitzer Prize-winner Geraldine Brooks, the story takes place in the mid-1600s in Massachusetts in Cambridge and on what we now know as Martha's Vineyard. Bethia Mayfieldmore
The Expectations
by Alexander Tilney
Lots of White Male Privilege to Wade Through, But It's Also a Tender Story About Adolescence (4/17/2023)
This is a book that is steeped in white male privilege…and the white male who has all this privilege is only 14 years old. But that is the point. Ben, the privileged white teenager, is coming into his first realization of who he is, all he has, and all he could lose.

more
Eden Mine
by S. M. Hulse
This Book Is Genius. A Multilayered Psychological Novel That Will Leave You Reeling (4/17/2023)
This book. This book is gripping. This book is provocative. This book is haunting. This book is intense. This book is genius.

Written by S.M. Hulse, this masterpiece novel takes place in the tiny mountain town of Prospect, Montana. The two mines that once offered employmentmore
The Rules of Magic
by Alice Hoffman
I Was Bewitched! A Delightful and Richly Imagined Tale with Just a Sprinkle of Magic (4/16/2023)
What a delightful and richly imaginative book! Author Alice Hoffman has perfected the genre of magical realism, telling tales that are captivating and intelligent with just a sprinkle of magic.

This is the first of a three-book series, and while it's not as strong as othermore

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