WHOA! This novel is an amazing coming of age story about dreams, values, love, family, organized religion, crime and figuring things out for yourself against many differing backdrops and options. The Ends is a neighborhood in Bristol, UK. The first thing you see after the table of contents is the Hughes family tree: Sayon is … Continue reading An Olive Grove in Ends – Moses McKenzie
Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd.- Jonas Jonasson
This book is ingeniously quirky and I LOVED it and laughed and found out about an amazing artist all in one. It takes place in Stockholm and Kenya. Victor, a despicable young man, lands a job in a prestigious art gallery, Alderheims. The widowed owner has a young daughter, Jenny, and Victor, taking the long … Continue reading Sweet Sweet Revenge Ltd.- Jonas Jonasson
The Fall of White City – Nancy S. Wikarski: Victorian Chicago Mystery Series #1
Having been a mystery buff for over fifty years but a historical fiction buff for less time, I never read the Gilded Age Chicago Mysteries. I'm delighted that this was reissued and that I chose to listen to it recently. Evangeline (Engie), a wealthy single woman of marriageable age, teaches at Hull House and has … Continue reading The Fall of White City – Nancy S. Wikarski: Victorian Chicago Mystery Series #1
A Rip Through Time – Kelley Armstrong
You know how at first you think you're reading a decently wrought book with time travel and a mystery and a promise of romance and you end up realizing you're reading a great and original take on some recognizable themes, stitched together beautifully? Usually, my reactions to a book along the lines of A Rip … Continue reading A Rip Through Time – Kelley Armstrong
Big Girl -Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
NOTE: I listened to an audio version of this novel that I received via Netgalley. It does not look like this is available for the public. Big Girl is the story of Malaya, daughter of Nayala and Percy (Pro or Prah) initially at age 8 -168 pounds - living in a Brownstone in Harlem and … Continue reading Big Girl -Mecca Jamilah Sullivan
Happy-Go-Lucky -David Sedaris
Those of us who read "A Carnival of Snackery: Diaries 2003-2020" by David Sedaris will recognize that many of the polished stories in "Happy-Go-Lucky" seem familiar. I was never bored by Happy Go Lucky and I didn't get angry at David Seders, which I did in "A Carnival of Snackery." (It took a lot for … Continue reading Happy-Go-Lucky -David Sedaris
The Foundling – Ann Leary
The Foundling a thoughtful and original piece of historical fiction, expands on a snippet of information from Ann Leary's family about a time in the late 1920s when my home state, Pennsylvania, supported Laurelton Village for Feeble Minded women of Childbearing Age." Her grandmother worked there for awhile, right when a US Census placed her … Continue reading The Foundling – Ann Leary
Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
There are lots of unconventional, true to themselves people in this world and you may never want to get to know them. If nothing else, Elizabeth Zott should convince you it's a worthwhile venture to try. In 1959, as she is completing her Masters degree and planning on pursuing her doctorate, Elizabeth runs afoul of … Continue reading Lessons in Chemistry – Bonnie Garmus
The Sweetness of Water – Nathan Harris (audible version)
This (just) post-civil war novel brings together George Walker, an aging gentleman who lives in two-story "cabin" outside of Old Ox, Georgia, and brothers Prentiss and Landry - formerly enslaved by George's neighbor, Ted Morton, now camping on George's land. George is wealthy by local standards as he inherited a lot of land. He's a … Continue reading The Sweetness of Water – Nathan Harris (audible version)
The Decadents -MC Schmidt
How to start? The Decadents is a bizarrely engaging book about ambition, what success looks like when you're the owner of seventeen "Fry Boy" franchises -- which is a lot in the mind of Phil Ochs, but not so much in the eyes of the local Chamber of Commerce that gives a prize he dearly … Continue reading The Decadents -MC Schmidt
They Called me Bookworm 