Category: Recent Release
Review: Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart
Dear Miss Kopp is the sixth book in the Kopp Sisters series by Amy Stewart, and I was thrilled to receive an advanced review copy from NetGalley. This is one of my favorite historical series, and if you haven’t read it, I strongly recommend… Continue Reading “Review: Dear Miss Kopp by Amy Stewart”
Review: When Time Stopped by Ariana Neumann
The first time I heard about this book, I was struck by how much it sounded like my own family. Neumann grew up in Venezuela, but her father was born in Czechoslovakia. He survived the Holocaust but never talked about it, and she grew… Continue Reading “Review: When Time Stopped by Ariana Neumann”
Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab
I loved this book. I already thought Schwab was great, but this book combines so many things I love – history, travel, France – and it’s really character/relationship driven. The story is complicated, and there were lots of times I found myself trying to… Continue Reading “Review: The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab”
Top Ten Books Released in 2020
These lists seem to come out earlier every year, but I guess that way people can add them to their wish lists and give them as gifts. And this year is a better time than ever to 1) support your local bookstore and 2)… Continue Reading “Top Ten Books Released in 2020”
Review: Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko
I love reading about Australia, ever since I traveled there in 2013. I was struck by the similarities in the history of Australia and the United States, though I felt Australia was much more open about its troubling treatment of Aboriginal populations. Too Much… Continue Reading “Review: Too Much Lip by Melissa Lucashenko”
Review: All Adults Here by Emma Straub
I really got into this book about three generations of a family in small-town Connecticut, though I felt let down by the ending, for reasons I’ll try to explain without saying too much. The novel begins with Astrid, a widow, who sees a friend… Continue Reading “Review: All Adults Here by Emma Straub”
Review: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow
I liked everything about Harrow’s new novel, a story that blends the mythology of Grimm’s fairy tales with historical misogyny. The Eastwood sisters Beatrice, Agnes, and Juniper haven’t seen each other for seven years. The two elder sisters fled the family farm because of… Continue Reading “Review: The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow”
Review: The End of the Day by Bill Clegg
I loved Clegg’s first novel, Did You Ever Have a Family, so I was happy to receive an advance review copy of his second novel, The End of the Day. Unfortunately, this book fell flat for me. This novel is a story about three… Continue Reading “Review: The End of the Day by Bill Clegg”
Review: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell
I couldn’t be happier that Maggie O’Farrell’s Hamnet won this year’s Women’s Prize. I love O’Farrell but I worried that this book couldn’t live up to my expectations, after all the rave reviews. It absolutely did. Hamnet is about William Shakespeare, though he’s never… Continue Reading “Review: Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell”
Review: Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon
This was a fantastic historical novel about World War II that is even greater because it is nearly all true. Author Lawhon gives us the story of real-life hero Nancy Wake, an Australian who serves as a British special operative in World War II,… Continue Reading “Review: Code Name Hélène by Ariel Lawhon”
Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue
If you’re trying to avoid thinking about the pandemic, this will NOT be the book for you. Otherwise, it’s another fantastic novel from Emma Donoghue, author of Room and The Wonder. This is a historical novel set in Dublin in 1918 during World War I and… Continue Reading “Review: The Pull of the Stars by Emma Donoghue”
Review: Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell
To date, David Mitchell hasn’t written a book I didn’t like, and this one is no exception. In fact, it will be one of my favorites because of its subject matter. I don’t always fully understand Mitchell’s work, especially the horology storyline that runs… Continue Reading “Review: Utopia Avenue by David Mitchell”
