Recent Reader Reviews

VERA WONG’S UNSOLICITED ADVICE FOR MURDERERS
By Jesse Q. Sutanto

Reading by Eunice Wong was very good. I paired audio with the book.

A cup of tea, food, and a corpse …

A cozy mystery taking place in a small neighborhood of San Francisco. We meet 60-year-old Vera Wong who finds a corpse in her tea shop and decides to investigate the murder herself. Through her meddlesome process, she befriends four young individuals, taking them under her wing and providing the mothering she was born to give, all while unraveling the mystery behind the corpse.

This is a genre I don’t normally read, but a light read, such as this, is …more nice after a heavier read. This is a first read for me by this author and it was a fun quirky whodunnit. All in all, a quick and entertaining read and look forward to book #2 in the Vera Wong series. Themes of motherhood, identity, relationships, family, heartbreak, and death. (less)

The subtitle of this enchanting and riveting debut novel by Tara Karr Roberts could be the famous Winnie the Pooh quote: "You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, smarter than you think, and loved more than you'll ever know." This is the story of four generations of brave, strong, smart, and beloved women very loosely interwoven into the story of "Moby Dick" and told with a light touch of magical realism.

And it's a delight!

The novel opens in 1849 on Nantucket Island. Evangeline Hussey has a psychic gift that she keeps a secret: She can see people's recent memories. And one day when her fisherman …more husband, Hosea, doesn't come home, she knows exactly what happened to him because she can see it in her mind. He fell off his boat and drowned. New to the island, Evangeline's marriage to Hosea was not viewed with approval by his large family and many friends, so she realizes she must do something drastic in order to keep hold of the Try Pots Inn they ran together, her only form of livelihood. Her bizarre plan works…for several years. And one day a man named Ishmael arrives on the doorstep of the inn, asking for a room and bowl of chowder. Before long, Ishmael is sharing Evangeline's bed. On Christmas morning, he and his buddy Queequeg ship out on the Pequod with the eccentric Captain Ahab, but he has left Evangeline a parting gift: She is pregnant.

Her little girl, Rachel, grows up saucy and sassy with a psychic gift of her own. She can place spells (which she calls "curses") on people forcing them either to remember something or to forget it. Rachel is nine years old when she learns about the mysterious Ishmael and is determined to find out who is. One day, she reads a column about whaling adventures in a Boston newspaper and realizes the author is her father, Ishmael. Rachel travels to Boston in search of him, but it's not easy tracking down an itinerant sailor. The story continues with Rachel's daughter, Mara, who has her own psychic gift: She not only vividly retains her own memories, even from very early childhood, but can sometimes see the darkest, most secret memories of other people. Mara's daughter, Antonia, has an uncanny ability to envision other people's paths and where they have been, seeing every stop along the way.

One thing all of the women have in common is the seemingly fruitless search for Ishmael because somehow, someway they believe it will lead them to family. This quest is what drives each of them, but secrets and lies—oh, so many lies—abound. Eventually, it is Mara and Antonia who realize the most important quest of all, and once those secrets are revealed and the truths divulged…well, let's just say that I (really, truly) got goosebumps.

This ingeniously plotted novel jumps from Nantucket Island to Boston to Brazil to Italy to Idaho and back to Nantucket Island, and each stop in this unusual historical travelogue is filled with intrigue, hope, fear, and touch of magic as the age-old mystery of Ishmael continues to haunt this family through the generations.

This is a sweeping epic that is creative storytelling at its best. (less)

We meet three wonderful characters in 1944 London.

Charlie Matters who wears tattered clothes, too-small shoes, who lies to his grandmother, who quit school, and steals things.

Molly Wakefield who just returned home to her well-to-do neighborhood after being with a family in the country to avoid the London bombings.

Ignatius Oliver who befriends both Charlie and Molly, who owns a bookstore, and who Charlie stole from.

How do they become friends? What brings them together?

These three unlikely characters were brought together because they all needed someone.

The book focused on friendship and people taking care of each …more other.

The storyline was quite engaging, and I loved Charlie Matters for his scrabbly, trying-to-stay alive-and-out-of-the-workhouse personality and also for some of his honest deeds.

Charlie’s Grandma was wonderful as well - I think she knew all the things Charlie was up to.

Molly and Oliver were just lonely, wonderful people.

If you need a heartwarming, but heartbreaking read at times, this is it.

There is even a bit of a mystery along with short, pull-you-in chapters. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. (less)

No surprise, ALL THE BROKEN PLACES is an outstanding novel from John Boyne. This book is another example of why he is one of my go-to authors. Plus, although this is a standalone novel, if you read Boyne's THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS, you should notice and may like meeting again some characters the two books have in common.

This is Gretel's story. She is 91 years old. She tells of her life in a luxury "flat" in 2022 London with her neighbors: Heidi across the hall and Alex and Madelyn and their little boy Henry downstairs. Every other chapter Gretel tells of her past.

She was born in Germany. Her unnamed father …more was an officer in the German army and was, in large part, responsible for the atrocities during the Holocoaust. Gretel and her family lived quite a nice life. But at the end of the war, when she was 12 years old, her father and brother were gone, and she and her mother escaped to France under assumed names.

Gretel spends the rest of her life feeling guilty and hiding her past.

In 2022 London, she befriends young Henry and does her best to prevent his evil father from ruining his life or even killing him. Because of Gretel's ongoing guilt, she is not afraid to do what she knows will hurt her.

I've read several of Boyne's books. All, including this one, are unputdownable. (less)

McDermott is a master story teller about the real lives of real women in a challenging time and place. The female American protagonists follow their establishment husbands to war adjacent Saigon in the early 60s. The epistolary narrative structure works so well to revisit that setting.

The women were shackled by cultural roles, foreignness and personal burdens. Despite these constraints, they tried to do good. On the surface they were all tea parties and gift baskets but underneath they were black market operators and rule breakers. Love that "don't ask permission ask forgiveness" characterization.

The world …more around them reminded them constantly: you and your work are inconsequential. McDermott makes a different point. The "little" contributions counteract a little bit of evil. Their work would absolve a little American guilt.

McDermott shares the women completely. Husbands are peripheral but claustrophobic long-term marriages are astutely observed. Charlene and Tricia, the friends at center stage, are beautifully understood. Charlene, the dynamo, was relentless in her pursuit of charitable works until the end. But she was never smarmy, she was so cool. Like my namesake Tricia, I would have been sucked into her orbit. Happily, at the dramatic surprise conclusion, Tricia stands up to friend and husband. Well done! (less)

I have been asked to ghostwrite a book about an orphanage and what happened there even though my first book was not a success?

Alex always had an interest in history and researching.

Researching Coram House about the abuse and specifically the drowning of Tommy, a child at the orphanage, and Sarah who was pushed out of a window, was difficult with no one wanting to give out much information when interviewed.

Based on a true story, Alex delves into what really happened to Tommy and Sarah, and then a body and another body is found.

What do these two incidents have in common?

Is this death connected to Tommy's all those …more years ago and Alex’s “digging?”

It looks as if writing a book is turning into everyone who is being investigated turning up murdered.

Will she be able to write this book or will she be the next body to be found?

Is she getting too close to what really happened with all the people she is researching?

Well written, engaging, and heartbreaking, Coram House is an outstanding debut with its detail and storyline.

A good twist at the end. 5/5

Thank you to the publisher for a copy of this book. All opinions are my own. (less)

"My Friends" by Hisham Matar is a winding, unpredictable novel about Libya's past and future. The last book I read from him was "The Return," nonfiction about his father's exile from his homeland, and those themes continue here. We, as Americans, know little about the country and only know that we attacked them based on human rights violations. Khaled, a man who left and cannot return, embodies these ideas.

I was between the ages of eight and ten when the story occurred, so my knowledge of the Qaddafi regime was limited then. If you protest like Khaled and leave, the government bans you from the country. Even …more after they shoot him, he is persona non grata and stuck at the University of Edinburgh.

It was 1984, and this society of tapped phones and paranoia seemed far away. Say what you will, but we do not have that kind of fear about our travels and decisions. The main characters share a love of literature, and we remember it as a freedom we take for granted. Could you not take my books away?

In my reviews, I make it a point not to reveal anything that happens after the first half of the book, even if the flap summary lists an occurrence as a significant plot point. It made it difficult for me to buy into what the author deemed essential. A bit of subtle character development helped me care about everyone.

The message of friendship and identity is strong, and you will want to learn more about life as a Libyan. Those who do not enjoy slow burns may wish to steer clear. You will enjoy the brain food if you like historical fiction about cultures we seldom discuss here in America. Hisham Matar has taught me about Libya twice thoroughly. (less)

This is the story of three generations of the Chen Family. The first part is told by Lily who was born in the US on Long Island, NY. Lily starts out as an unpaid intern in 1999 and meets Matthew who wines and dines her. Matthew is an heir to a huge pharmaceutical company. Lily’s parents were scientists who fled Mao’s Cultural Revolution. She falls in love with Matthew and they marry, but something is not right.
She discovers a devastating secret. It was a game changer.

In the second part 2021 we meet Nick, Lily and Matthew’s son. He is living on in isolated island in Washington State, with his mother. Lily …more divorced Matthew and ran as far as she could from him and his family. Nick never knew his father. He does a DNA test to find his father. He finally connects with him. He discovers that he looks exactly like his father. He can’t understand why his mother kept him from his father all these years. Matthew what's to be part of Nick’s life. Can Nick adjust to Matthew’s life style?
Part three is May’s story. She tells of her life in China during the Revolution. How she became a bio genetics scientist.

She did extensively research which she brought with her when she escaped from China. May is Lily’s mother. Nick has never met her. He was told she was dead. This was the most interesting part of the book it brings the other two stories together. This is the compelling story filled with secrets. It was very well written. I just would have liked to have known more. What happened to Matthew and Lily? This book is about race, science, relationships and betrayal. May’s story was the heart of the book as it pulled it all together. (less)

This is a haunting, deeply philosophical, and almost otherworldly novel, written in elegiac prose that feels poetic. It's short and succinct, and every word counts. It can also be confusing at times, but stick with it.

Masterfully written by Anne Michaels, this is the story of a single family covering more than 120 years—a family shrouded in tragedy but encompassed in a deep and abiding love. It's also a romantic story, but brace your heart because it's also incredibly sorrowful.

The novel, which was shortlisted for the prestigious 2024 Booker Prize, opens in 1917 on a snow-packed field near the River Escaut in …more Cambrai, in France during World War I where John, a British soldier, lies half-buried in the snow. He can't feel his legs, and he is hallucinating, remembering bits and pieces of his life, especially his one true love, Helena. We are then propelled three years hence when John is home with Helena, trying to restart his life, including his photography business. And then John begins taking photos of ghosts, an event that has a devastating impact on him. Again, a big jump in time to Anna, John and Helena's daughter…and then a jump in time to Anna and Peter and their daughter Mara…and then another jump in time to Mara and Alan.

It can be confusing because it bounces back and forth in time, introducing new characters whose connection to the characters we already know can be a bit murky at first. It can almost feel like a mirage until suddenly it clicks into place and meaning and you'll see clearly. Each chapter is labeled for location and year. Pay attention to that.

This is a story about life. And death and dying. And love and romance. And memories. Throughout the book are lyrical passages and plotlines about the spirituality of death and dying and the soul living on in a new and different state.

An example of just such a passage: "Everywhere the dead are leaving a sign. We feel the shadow but cannot see what casts the shadow. The door opens in the hillside, in the field, at the sea's edge, between the trees at dusk, in the small city garden, in a café, in a tram in the rain, on a stairway."

Exquisitely written with many passages that just beg to be read over and over, this is a novel that will likely offer hope and solace to those who are grieving. (less)

Chilling. Very, very chilling. And considering the times we are living in (I write this in April 2025), this book is terrifying. The dystopian idea of Big Brother watching your every move, governing your every action, paying heed to your every word has never before seemed so possible.

Written by Sandra Newman, this is a creative feminist retelling of George Orwell's classic novel "1984," told from the perspective of Julia Worthing, Winston Smith's illicit lover.

Julia is 26, smart, and an ideal citizen—doing everything she is supposed to do with a smile and only a little (private) cynicism. She is living an …more uncomplicated life in Air Strip One (formerly England), residing in a women's hostel, sleeping in a large dormitory room with dozens of others, and working as a mechanic in the Fiction Department of the Ministry of Truth. The Fiction Department is where books are "written" by machines that spout the party doctrine. Julia fixes the machines when they break, and she is good at her job. Because she is bored, she begins an illicit affair with Winston Smith—just for the clandestine excitement of trying to outwit the ever present telescreens of Big Brother. One day the manipulative and charismatic O'Brien, a high-level member of the Inner Party summons Julia to his luxury apartment with an offer she can't refuse. And while she really couldn't refuse it, the work she is then assigned is nefarious, ugly, and duplicitous, but she does it willingly. And that is when everything changes…and eventually falls apart.

What makes this rewrite different than the original is the female focal point. Not only do we see things through Julia's perspective, but also we learn much about how other women live in this restrictive government, both caring for and betraying each other. Still, it's not as strong as Orwell's classic.

This is a haunting, incendiary tale with a provocative and searing storyline that catapults from emotionally devastating to emotionally resonant. It's appalling and horrifying because it doesn't seem so farfetched as "1984" once did. And this sense that pieces and parts of it could really happen right now and right here is more terrifying than any horror novel.

Note No. 1: There are somewhat explicit sex scenes and very explicit scenes of violence and torture.

Note No. 2: Do read (or re-read) "1984" or at the very least look for a plot summary online before you begin this book so you can better appreciate the different perspective. (less)