Reviews by Laurie S., Minneapolis, MN

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The Antidote
The Antidote: A Novel
by Karen Russell
Dorothy, We're Not in Kansas Anymore (2/23/2025)
Dorothy, we're not in Kansas anymore.

In Karen Russell's The Antidote, we come to know the place of Ur, Nebraska, from the Dust Bowl on Black Sunday, April 14, 1935, to the Republican River flood, on May 30, 1935. This kaleidoscopic novel combines the genres of dystopian, …more
Libby Lost and Found
Libby Lost and Found: A Novel
by Stephanie Booth
Libby Lost and Found: Reality vs. Imagination (8/20/2024)
Libby Weeks is the anonymous author of a famous series of children's books, similar in type to Harry Potter. The final book in the series is in the process of being completed when Libby is diagnosed with an early onset and quick progressing form of dementia. Her condition …more
Help Wanted
Help Wanted: A Novel
by Adelle Waldman
A Madcap Menagerie of Retail Workers (1/7/2024)
What a madcap menagerie of retail workers! It's like One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest comes to Town Square, the retail giant, AKA, Target?! Help Wanted by Adelle Waldman, dedicated to all retail workers, provides a laugh out loud glimpse into the life of warehouse workers …more
Daughters of Shandong
Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung
Daughters of Shandong (11/26/2023)
One of the greatest joys of reading historical fiction is being transported to a dangerous and unfamiliar place in order to learn the lessons of history. Taken from author Eve J. Chung's own family history, Daughters of Shandong provided me a horrifying glimpse into China …more
Above the Salt
Above the Salt: A Novel
by Katherine Vaz
Above the Salt: Historical Fiction at its Finest (10/9/2023)
Based on a true story, Above The Salt by Katherine Vaz spans continents and centuries to tell a sweeping saga of the human heart. So beautifully rendered in its wisdom and details, I can't tell you many times I had to set the book down just to ponder its powerful conflicts …more
A Council of Dolls
A Council of Dolls: A Novel
by Mona Susan Power
A Council of Dolls: Wisdom from Dakota/Lakota Women (7/3/2023)
One of the most interesting aspects of A Council of Dolls is the structural framework of 3 generations of Dakota/Lakota women with 3 different childhood dolls who eventually form a council to speak their "truth" to the main narrator who experiences 3 changes in her own …more
Pieces of Blue
Pieces of Blue
by Holly Goldberg Sloan
Blues of Hawaii (2/12/2023)
With equal parts character study, love story, mystery, and adventure, Pieces of Blue weaves together the pleasure and pain that comes with living and loving. Lindsey, a young woman with three children, takes the insurance money from her husband's mysterious death to start …more
Stealing
Stealing: A Novel
by Margaret Verble
Eye Opening View of Boarding Schools and Indigenous Children (12/18/2022)
Although Margaret Verble completed most of Stealing over a decade ago, its publication couldn't be more timely right now with the revelations of the horrors inflicted on indigenous children in boarding school systems.

Karen "Kit" Crockett, the young mixed-heritage Cherokee …more
The Immortal King Rao
The Immortal King Rao: A Novel
by Vauhini Vara
King Rao: A Techno Odyssey (4/10/2022)
A searing satire of technology's effects on individuals and society. Consider it a 21st century odyssey on the magnitude of Ralph Ellison's "Invisible Man" combined with Hollywood's techno thriller Inception.

Vauhini Vara's "The Immortal King Rao" follows the story of King …more
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
On a Night of a Thousand Stars
by Andrea Yaryura Clark
Parallel Stories of Paloma and Santiago Collide (2/15/2022)
What an excellent work of historical fiction, my favorite genre! Yet again, a debut author uncovers a fascinating, yet terrifying story based in fact. In this case, it's the political terror created by Argentina's "Dirty War."

I've always wanted to learn more about the …more
The Latinist
The Latinist: A Novel
by Mark Prins
Smart and Suspenseful Academic Thriller (10/24/2021)
Waiting for the next academic thriller in the vein of Donna Tartt? The Latinist by Mark Prins was it for me. Multiple storylines take the reader from the halls of Oxford to the streets of Rome and back again where classical academics and archaeologists put together pieces …more
New York, My Village
New York, My Village: A Novel
by Uwem Akpan
Humor can reveal our deepest faults and greatest divides. (8/12/2021)
New York, My Village is not an easy read, and I can't say I enjoyed it; but, oh my, it made me think and feel deeply about our shared humanity. The story illustrates the dangerous parallels between American racism and Nigerian tribalism. Like the classic war novel Catch-22, …more
Morningside Heights
Morningside Heights: A Novel
by Joshua Henkin
Morningside Heights: The Joys and Sorrows of Marriage (4/19/2021)
Readers of Morningside Heights will find a fascinating view into the marriage at the center of this novel. At first, I felt the strangeness of new love with its unusual comparisons, like "two halves of a clam," and the initial clumsiness of young lovers. But then, I got …more
A Theater for Dreamers
A Theater for Dreamers
by Polly Samson
A Theater for Dreamers (3/8/2021)
The beautiful Greek island of Hydra sets an engaging stage for Erica, the main narrator, as she explores the pleasure, pain, and possibility of youthful dreams. Readers will enjoy digging into the evocative details of this place and might find themselves wanting to know …more
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