Alice Hoffman | FictionWhat is this book about? The reviews and the back cover imply that it is about Nora, a newly-divorced woman who moves into a rundown house with her two sons. She is a major character, but it really isn’t all about her and the influence she has on her neighborhood. Really, it…
Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray Historical Fiction 2021 | 352 pages The book is based on the extraordinary, true life of Belle da Costa Greene. She was a Black American woman who worked as the personal librarian to financier J.P. Morgan and became the first director of the Morgan Library & Museum. A fascinating…
Fernando Aleu Fiction 2021 | 395 pages *** A GUEST BLOG POST FROM MY SWEETHEART BRIAN *** Set in Barcelona (surprise!) and Berlin during World War II around a real event, the story revolves around the lives of Werner, a German born Jewish American doctor, his nephew Max, a svelte Jewish German circus performer, Rosy,…
Robert Dugoni Fiction 2018 | 428 pages The year is 1955 and baby Sam Hill has just been born to Madeline and Max Hill. All is going well until Sam opens his eyes. Brown eyes have a lot of pigment. Blue eyes have little, and the range between creates green, hazel, gray. Sam has red…
Kathryn Stockett Fiction 2026 | 646 pages Kathryn Stockett is a wizard with characters. Meg, Birdie, Frances, Charlie have such depth; such nuance; are so differentiated one from the other; wear their values on their sleeves; take action, each in their own profound way; love so differently. She makes me feel like I know each…
Kirsten Miller Fiction 2024| 296 pages Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books is quirky. Perhaps implausible. One-third of the way into this book, I read some reviews. Two reviewers describe this book as hilarious satire. I missed this completely.. I found it very choppy and disjointed. Plus, there are 24 characters, making it challenging to…
Dean Koontz Fiction 2014 | 398 pages The 57-year-old narrator in our story writes about his youth … mostly from age eight to age 11. Jonah Kirk lives in the city and we learn about the events and experiences that shape his life as a pianist, a lover of art, and ultimately a songwriter. The…
Barbara Kingsolver Fiction 1988 | 242 pages With confidence and self-reliance instilled in her by her loving mother, “Missy” Greer is able to buy a very rough VW Beetle and take off west from rural Kentucky to find her own path after she graduates high school. She has to start her Beetle with one foot…
David Szalay Fiction 2025 | 368 pages This book has a lot of sex in it but not love. Flesh follows the life of its protagonist, István, from his difficult adolescence in post-communist Hungary to his rise and fall in the elite circles of London. The story traces István’s journey as he navigates a world…
Ruta Sepetys Historical Fiction 2019 | 499 pages Josie, I don’t know how you do it. You always unearth not-well-known long books from a few years ago, and they are always stellar, such as this one, The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys. This is a sweeping, beautifully written historical novel about a time in…