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Reviews by Nicole S. (St. Paul, MN)

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The Well
by Catherine Chanter

Slowly unfolds (2/24/2015)

My bias is that I do not like books where it feels that you are chasing the plot line. This book slowly unfolds with the promise of juicy details and a hope that it all neatly starts to fall in place. I am not that patient. The book took a while to get boiling and by the …more

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity
by Katherine Boo

Simply wonderful (2/24/2015)

I consider this book to be the best of 2012! It is that good. Interesting, intriguing, this book grabs you and holds on to you until the last page. I cannot recommend this book enough!

A Kim Jong-Il Production: The Extraordinary True Story of a Kidnapped Filmmaker, His Star Actress, and a Young Dictator's Rise to Power
by Paul Fischer

Pulling the curtain back on Oz (1/6/2015)

I knew nothing about North Korea. Well, I knew about the recent "Interview" debacle- so reading about the Korean film industry at the same time as the debacle was fun. The book has a great pace, good details and great mixing of historical interviews with storytelling.

I …more

Finding the Dragon Lady: The Mystery of Vietnam's Madame Nhu
by Monique Brinson Demery

Looking for more (11/6/2014)

I found the author's insertion of her life to be a good tool, but it also got clunky. I appreciate that the author placed herself in the narrative, so we knew what her biases were, but at times there was too much of her story. The book had trouble flowing and got bogged …more

Brutal Youth
by Anthony Breznican

It wasn't for me (6/6/2014)

Maybe this is actually a review in favor of the book, but I found it to be hard to read.Not because it wasn't well written - in fact it was vivid and at times so gripping that I felt uncomfortable - I think I just didn't groove with the subject.

I did not like the subject …more

BookBrowse Book Club

Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung

Based on the author’s family story, comes an extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ escape from Taiwan.

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The Lilac People
by Milo Todd

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, a poignant tale of a trans man’s survival in Nazi Germany and postwar Berlin.

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Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

Praised by Parade and The New York Times Book Review, this debut features a 1960s scientist turned TV cooking star.

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A new graphic memoir from the author of Blankets and Habibi about class, childhood labor, and Wisconsin’s ginseng industry.

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