Book lover, collector, and reviewer
Three years ago, teenage sisters Emma and Cass go missing, with very little for investigators to go on to find them. Now, Cass has returned–alone–and the investigators are anxious to get her help to find her sister. Dr. Abby Winters, a psychologist who was part of the initial investigation, is still sure the girls’ mother … Read More “Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker” »
Shortly after the Twin Towers fall on 9/11 in New York, Shirli, a young Jewish girl, is cast as Golde (the older mother) in her middle school’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. She’s upset she won’t have a solo, until her crush, Ben Morgan (who isn’t Jewish,) is cast as Tevye (her character’s husband.) … Read More “Broken Strings by Eric Walters and Kathy Kacer” »
This book is told from the perspective of three different women — Alice and Molly both in the present time, and Margaret, mostly in the past, although her chapters cross into the present time toward the end. Alice is a married mother of three with a horrific past. Molly is a loving and very loved … Read More “The Nowhere Girl by Nicole Trope” »
This delightful book alternates between the present day (2018) and 1940. In 1940, Anna Dale, a young, naive artist from New Jersey, wins a contest to paint a large mural to represent Edenton, North Carolina. In 2018, Morgan Christopher, a young art student who is sitting in prison serving a 3-year sentence for a DUI … Read More “Big Lies in a Small Town by Diane Chamberlain” »
When I picked up this book, I thought I was getting something light and fast. It was definitely a fast read — I got sucked in and finished it in a day — but it was not light. Have tissues at the ready, especially in the middle of the book. But it was a really … Read More “The Missing Letters of Mrs Bright by Beth Miller” »
A father — President Abraham Lincoln — mourns his son, Willie — who has died of typhoid fever — as thousands of parents mourn their own sons — who have died in the first year of the American Civil War. This book takes place over one night (along with several flashbacks) in a crypt where … Read More “Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders” »
My first book of 2020, and if it this is what books are like this year, it’s going to be a good one. Charlotte and Philip have a (somewhat stereotypical) meet cute on an airplane while sitting in economy, and start a romantic relationship that will alter both of their lives. She moves with … Read More “This is Not How it Ends by Rochelle B. Weinstein” »
I really enjoyed reading this book, and I finished it wishing it was longer. Tom Hazard has been alive for over 400 years, although because of a rare medical condition he looks like a regular man his in his early forties. He has acted with Shakespeare, sailed with Captain Cook, and drank with F. Scott … Read More “How to Stop Time by Matt Haig” »
This was the first book I’ve read by Emma Rous, and if her earlier book is as good as this one, I definitely want to go back and read that one, too. Told in dual timelines, we learn the story of Raven Hall, an old, isolated manor. In 1988, Beth Soames is left with the … Read More “The Perfect Guests by Emma Rous” »
Detective Amanda Steele lost everything almost six years ago after her husband and daughter were killed by a drunk driver and she shut out her parents and siblings, unable to be near them after her life fell apart. Now she spends her nights drinking too much and having one night stands, although somehow she still … Read More “The Little Grave by Carolyn Arnold” »