Category: Book Reviews

Harlem Shuffle and Crook Manifesto – Colson Whitehead – Audio Version

Harlem Shuffle is a three-part book about a furniture store owner at 125th Street and Morningside in New York City in 1959, 1961, 1964. Harlem itself is a character in this novel, its hierarchy, its ordinary families, its upper crust and those trying to change their lives or to preserve the status quo. I sat … Continue reading Harlem Shuffle and Crook Manifesto – Colson Whitehead – Audio Version →

All Day is a Long Time – David Sanchez

David Sanchez has written an important, compelling, disturbing, sympathetic and at times infuriating novel about addiction. It is written from the perspective and random thoughts of protagonist David, who at fourteen tries crack for the first time. It reads like a dream and reminds us always of Davids humanity, as he steals from family, becomes … Continue reading All Day is a Long Time – David Sanchez →

A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons- Kate Khavari

In this delightful debut, A Botanist's Guide to Parties and Poisons introduces us to Saffron Everleigh, the only female working in the University College London Biology Department. She is the assistant to Professor Maxwell, a botanist. He is an old family friend, who assigns Saffron substantive work and mentors her, an unusual experience for many … Continue reading A Botanist’s Guide to Parties and Poisons- Kate Khavari →

The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America’s Forgotten Capital of Vice – David Hill

The Vapors is entertaining, well-written, incredibly well-researched and personal to the author: His sixteen year old grandmother Hazel ended up in Hot Springs in 1935 when her traveling horse trainer father ditched her there to live with 22 year old Hollis Hill-- never mind Hollis was still married. Hot Springs was a tourist town with … Continue reading The Vapors: A Southern Family, the New York Mob, and the Rise and Fall of Hot Springs, America’s Forgotten Capital of Vice – David Hill →

The Last House on the Street – Diane Chamberlain

How does Ellie, a twenty year old pharmacy student at University of North Carolina, born and raised the daughter of a pharmacist in Round Hill evolve into a freedom fighter, voter registration worker, civil rights activist in 1965? What does this mean to everything she ever took for granted in life? A personal note: I … Continue reading The Last House on the Street – Diane Chamberlain →

Well of Rage: Murder in Mobile – Lynne Hesse

In 1974, a black high school football player in a recently desegregated school in Mobile Alabama went missing. It's now March 2000. J.C. Grey is stuck with the task of training (and, read between the lines, making her want to quit or forcing her out) rookie officer Carly Redmund. He's unhappy with the assignment but … Continue reading Well of Rage: Murder in Mobile – Lynne Hesse →