A Ladder to the Sky by John Boyne Maurice Swift is very handsome. So handsome that both men and women fall in love with him. He is also very ambitious. His two goals in life are to become a renowned writer and to become a parent, and he has no qualms about achieving both by […]
Little Free Libraries come in all shapes and sizes. Sometimes they are in the boxes sold as kits by the Little Free Library organization. Sometimes they are in repurposed newspaper vending boxes. And sometimes people just leave books lying around for strangers to pick up. I have seen them in airport lounges, on garden walls, […]
Midnight Drive by Kenneth Price is available for pre-order at Amazon, Kobo, and Barnes and Noble, and will be released on June 1st. It is a gripping crime story that I would recommend even if I were not Ken’s mom.
Fair Warning by Michael Connelly If you have ever had doubts about what happens to your DNA after you submit it to a genetic analytics company, this book will add to your concerns. It raises the fictional (I hope) possibility that DNA information might be sold on to multiple other companies to do with as […]
Don’t get me wrong. I am still reading, but lately I’ve been abandoning some books. It all started when I thought I should work my way through some of the un-heard books in my audiobook files and unread books in my e-reader. Most of them have been there for many years, silently waiting for me […]
Little Brother by Cory Doctorow was published in 2008 and, although it discusses computer technology that is now dated, it still has relevance today. It is a book intended for young adults and has teenaged characters who find ways to challenge and disrupt their dystopian world. Marcus is a tech-savvy seventeen-year-old who has figured out […]
The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo This intriguing story is written in an unconventional manner, which I found bewildering at first. I’m glad I stuck with it, though, because it eventually becomes clear that the underlying message is about women who endure hardship and triumph over adversity. It is set in a […]
After I had reviewed The Warmth of Other Suns by Isabel Wilkerson, her book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents was recommended to me. It is another brilliant and very readable analysis of the social and racial issues facing the United States. Those same issues are facing other countries, too, but the circumstances Wilkerson describes […]
These two books were both recommended to me, and I am happy to recommend them to you. They are both enjoyable and engaging, although they are very different in style and tone. One is about staying in a home town and the other is about travelling all over the country. Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout […]
The 19th Christmas by James Patterson & Maxine Paetro This is one in a series of the Women’s Murder Club thrillers. I had not read any of the other books in this series, but it didn’t matter because the story stands alone. It mostly revolves around only one member of the club, although she draws […]
Here are two books that I have recently finished. They are both well-written and engaging, but I am left wondering why I want to like the protagonists in the novels I read. The Last Trial by Scott Turow This is one in a series of books about defense lawyer Alejandro “Sandy” Stern. He is eighty-five […]
The three books I have for you to consider today came to me via my Kindle, a sale at the Indigo online bookstore, and my local library. It is fair to say that the cost of each is no indication of their worth. Out Of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. This is a heart-rending […]
These three books are all very different and each is set in a different country, but all three have an understanding of women’s lives and women’s sorrows. Sweetness In The Belly by Camilla Gibb This story begins in Morocco, travels to Ethiopia during Emperor Heile Selassie’s reign, and continues to the London of Margaret Thatcher’s […]
Each of the three books here has a twist in the tail. They are all great yarns and provide lots of red herrings and dastardly characters to make solving the mysteries very challenging. Sycamore by Bryn Chancellor. A newcomer to the town of Sycamore is exploring her new location when she comes across the remains […]
Several years ago, I initiated a free library at my condo complex in San Jose. I asked the Home Owners Association Board for their approval, and they were kind enough to donate some shelving that was in the community room. I moved the shelves to a lounge area, put up a notice about it in […]
If you like books that keep your stomach tied up in knots, then you will enjoy all of these. The Woman Outside My Door by Rachel Ryan. A young mother is repeatedly told she is overwrought when she worries about her son’s new granny. The problem is, both his grandmothers have died, and one of […]
Here are three more books you might like and my thoughts about them. Little Cruelties by Liz Nugent. Sometimes children fight for their parents’ affection and/or attention. This story is about what happens when that competition continues into adulthood. It involves three brothers, each of whom is not very likeable but each for different reasons. […]
Snowbird of Paradise 