Book lover, collector, and reviewer
I read this book today, sitting on a beach at the lake. While my setting lacked the salt air and the seashells, the waves were still crashing down loudly while I read. This is a collection of essays or short memoirs written by Anne Morrow Lindbergh, wife of Charles Lindbergh. Each chapter is given the … Read More “Gift from the Sea by Anne Morrow Lindbergh” »
As a suspenseful thriller — which is how this book is being advertised — it’s a letdown. There was no suspense, no mystery, and it was slow. However, if it had been marketed as fiction or literary fiction, I probably would have liked it more. Pax, a wannabe actor, is rushing to a meeting for … Read More “The Lies I Never Told You by Valérie Tong Cuong” »
I’ve read a number of Alison Weir’s books (nonfiction and historical fiction,) and while I didn’t like this one as much as her previous ones in this series, it was still an enjoyable read. Katheryn Howard is just 19 when she becomes Henry VIII’s fifth wife, fated to be beheaded by the age of 21. … Read More “Katheryn Howard, the Scandalous Queen by Allilson Weir” »
What a fun piece of British chick lit! Nina is a soon-to-be-out-of-work librarian who takes the plunge, leaves city life behind for Scotland, and opens her own traveling bookstore in a big van that she can barely handle driving. And, of course, there are love interests and a best friend and other people who she helps … Read More “The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan” »
The Girl Who Came Home is a book about the Titanic’s voyage, inspired by the true story of the Addergoole 14. Maggie is a 17-year-old Irish orphan who is leaving her sweetheart behind to sail to the United States with her Aunt Kathleen and a dozen other friends from her small town to start a … Read More “The Girl Who Came Home by Hazel Gaynor” »
I was really excited to get to read this book, but unfortunately, it just didn’t live up to the hype for me. The first third of the book was all about Daphne, a plus-size “influencer” who was bullied regularly by her “best friend” Drue in school, culminating in a huge public fight that was posted … Read More “Big Summer by Jennifer Weiner” »
I don’t usually read much Holocaust-related fiction, especially since I’ve read so many real, first-hand accounts in diaries, memoirs, etc. And — mostly since I’ve had my own children — it’s just not something I usually gravitate toward anymore. But I’m glad I didn’t realize that this book had so much of that because I … Read More “Miss Graham’s Cold War Cookbook by Celia Rees” »
Jill Mansell is back! I’ve really struggled with the last couple Mansell books that have been published in the US, but It Started With a Secret redeems her. I highly recommend this as a fun summer read. Lainey and Kit lose their jobs working at a French chateau after the business fails, and they make their … Read More “It Started with a Secret by Jill Mansell” »
The Guest List is a fun thriller and makes a good summer read. It opens with a wedding being set up on an island off the coast of Ireland, which is deserted either because: (a) the locals got tired of living without electricity and running water, or (b) the island is haunted by the ghosts … Read More “The Guest List by Lucy Foley” »
This book was definitely a page turner, but the ending was a let down. When Lucy was nine, she (and her imaginary friend Eliza) snuck her 3-year-old baby brother out of the house in the middle of the night. And while she returned home, Teddy never did. Now, Lucy’s all grown up and married and … Read More “To Tell You the Truth by Gilly Macmillan” »