This partly sad, partly very funny, partly informative and totally heartwarming story captured me and kept me reading. Máriddja:, a very elderly Sami woman who has a penchant for goats that caused her eccentricity to show early in her life has learned she has terminal cancer. Her husband Biera, also Sami is one of those … Continue reading The Secret of Snow – Tina Harnesk
How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder – Nina McConigley
A family becomes fractured, but only two girls know this. How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder is a story about a family settled in a Wyoming town, that is dependent on oil production and good prices. Two little girls, their Indian mother and their white father share a small house. The sisters' first names are … Continue reading How to Commit a Postcolonial Murder – Nina McConigley
Vigil – George Saunders
George Saunders returns us to an earth where many beings who have passed on are with us, in this instance wandering about the earth with some purpose, perhaps a need to resolve something. They have the power to travel great distances, but some are more skilled than others. They can hear the thoughts of both … Continue reading Vigil – George Saunders
Murder Your Darlings – Jenna Blum
We, all of us, who have read her work, know that Jenna Blum is the "it girl" of writing with the chops to move from genre to genre and never disappoint. Murder Your Darlings, her first mystery, was instantly fun to read. The prologue introduces us to The Rabbit, a woman who seems to be … Continue reading Murder Your Darlings – Jenna Blum
Fire Must Burn – Allison Montclair
I'm a fan of the Sparks and Bainbridge mysteries centering on old friends who create a marriage bureau (The Right Sort) in London in the post WWII era. Fire Must Burn, the eighth entry in the series, started slow for me and then totally met all of my expectations and more for the series. A … Continue reading Fire Must Burn – Allison Montclair
Murder in Manhattan – Julie Mulhern
Freddie Archer is a keeper for me. She is based on Lois Long, a New Yorker Columnist who was on the scene in the 1920s. Freddie's job is to party everywhere in New York during Prohibition, writing a cheeky column on all the best places to go, her celebrity friends and fashion, fashion, fashion. Mulhern … Continue reading Murder in Manhattan – Julie Mulhern
The Night Watchman – Louise Erdrich (audio narrated by Louise Erdrich)
Louise Erdrich is an exquisite writer. This novel won the Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 2021. The fictional story of The Night Watchman is based on her grandfather, who in addition to working as a night watchman in a jewel bearing plant, becomes an ardent activist, seeking to prevent Congress from taking recognition from his … Continue reading The Night Watchman – Louise Erdrich (audio narrated by Louise Erdrich)
The Incredible Winston Brown – Sean Dietrich (Audio read by author)
This is a book anyone would describe as heartwarming. Winston Browne is the Sheriff in Moab, a small town in the Florida panhandle. He has never married. It is the mid-1950s. We learn immediately that Winston is dying, but along the way we learn more, including that he is not telling anyone about this. … Continue reading The Incredible Winston Brown – Sean Dietrich (Audio read by author)
What We Can Know – Ian McEwan
What We Can Know is so rewarding a dystopian novel that it is hard to review. In 2119 and beyond, the earth is essentially made up of many islands. Physical infrastructure and documents and artifacts have been lost to the tsunamis that tore through the world. Most of what is left from a historical perspective … Continue reading What We Can Know – Ian McEwan
Virgil Wander – Leif Enger (Narrator Macleod Andrews)
It is impossible not to use huge mental exclamation points when reading a Leif Enger novel, because his prose is so elegant yet he paints everything that is ordinary with authenticity appropriate to each character, each setting, each story. In 2024, when I read an advanced reader copy of the novel, "I Cheerfully Refuse," Leif … Continue reading Virgil Wander – Leif Enger (Narrator Macleod Andrews)
They Called me Bookworm 