BookBrowse: Your Guide to Exceptional Books

The Fairbanks Four: Murder, Injustice, and the Birth of a Movement
by Brian Patrick O’Donoghue

Too much going on (4/9/2025)

The book is written by a journalist / professor who starts digging into the murder conviction of 4 people found guilty of beating & killing a teenager. The professor (author O'Donoghue) creates an Investigative Reporting course for his students and over several years, they research details of the case. The premise is really interesting and caught my attention.

The execution of the book fell short for me. There were so many names in the book, it was hard to keep track of who was who. Additionally, it felt like a lot of details were not important to the story, but including them caused more confusion.

L.A. Women
by Ella Berman

Slow start but picked up (3/21/2025)

This book was a slow start, it didn't pick up for me until about 40 of the way through. Gala was the more interesting character to me, Lane felt a bit whiny throughout the book. The buildup of the mystery of Gala felt like it didn't pay off in the end. I think I would have preferred if this book focused solely on Gala, with Lane as a side character. Gala's romantic relationship was something I wish had more focus in the book.

The Lost Story of Eva Fuentes
by Chanel Cleeton

Average Book for Me (2/17/2025)

This book is an average read for me. The plot of the story was interesting, particularly the story following Pilar. The other 2 views were a bit disjointed and almost felt like they were forced into the book to have the multiple timelines.

I think this book would have held more of my interest if it focused only on Pilar's story. Towards the end of the book, I found myself skimming through as it felt very wordy but not enough interest in the story.

Fagin the Thief: A Novel
by Allison Epstein

Not for me (12/9/2024)

Sadly, I found this book quite boring. So much of the book was detail after detail about petty theft. I didn't get a good feel for Fagin or the other characters in the book. I wish there was more insight into the characters relationships with each other, their own thoughts/beliefs, etc. I don't know that I feel like I took away a backstory to Fagin of Oliver Twist, which was a disappointment. This one just wasn't for me.

The Adversary: A Novel
by Michael Crummey

A miss for me (1/15/2024)

This book was a miss for me. The first ~20 I was interested in the developing story between the sibling main characters but the remainder of the book fell flat. The storyline kept changing and I never felt invested in the characters by that point. There's a lot going on, I wish the author had followed one thread vs many.

All You Have to Do Is Call
by Kerri Maher

Good Historical Fiction (6/24/2023)

I really enjoyed "All You Have to Do Is Call" - the book focuses on the lives of several very different women during the 1970s, particularly on their struggles on the tradition roles of women at that time, low pay, limited child care support, but mostly on abortion - women trying to obtain one, caregivers providing them and the challenges faced. Very good and interesting read on the topic - I highly recommend!

The September House
by Carissa Orlando

Great fall read! (5/18/2023)

I really enjoyed September House. The story is unique and tackles mental illness, family drama, love & loss - several topics. Margaret, the main character, is likeable. The other characters, including the dead ones, were interesting. This will be the perfect read during spooky season, but this book isn't too terrifying in my opinion (a benefit!). I'm not a big fan of super scary books and found this one to be just right.

Zig-Zag Boy: A Memoir of Madness and Motherhood
by Tanya Frank

Beautiful and Heartbreaking (2/19/2023)

Well written memoir focusing on how mental illness impacts the family system. Tanaya Frank also describes the challenges of the mental health system in both US and UK - many times, these systems are set up for failure. A difficult, yet important read to better understand mental health challenges and the need to address how we support them.

Iron Curtain: A Love Story
by Vesna Goldsworthy

Loved this book! (1/27/2023)

I loved this book - right from the start I was drawn into Milena and her story. The beginning is a bit dark, but that is relevant context for the rest of the story. I felt so many emotions reading Iron Curtain - it is sad, funny, disturbing, exciting, confusing, the list goes on. The pace moves quickly and this book is beautifully written. Highly recommend!

Moonrise Over New Jessup
by Jamila Minnicks

Strong start but lost interest (12/26/2022)

I loved the first 25 of this book. Learning about Alice's travels to New Jessup, her backstory, etc. About the time Raymond came on the scene I started to lose interest. It felt like there were a lot of different story lines going on, but they were all disconnected from each other. The new romance with Raymond, the search for Rosie, Patience's removal, NNAS, etc. The stories were all over the place and didn't intertwine as much as I wish they would have.

River Sing Me Home
by Eleanor Shearer

Wonderful book, highly recommend (9/20/2022)

I loved the story and characters of this book. This book is based on the practice of separating slave children from their parents and one mother's desire to find out what happen to her own. This was a quick read and although difficult, provides important information to more fully understand the brutal history of slavery.

Spoiler
If you can set aside the unlikelihood of a woman with very limited resources being able to easily island hop across the Caribbean and in relatively short time find all her missing children after many years, this is a great book. I found this piece of the story unrealistic, so deducted 1 star.

The Empire of Dirt: A Novel
by Francesca Manfredi

Not sure what to think (7/3/2022)

I'm not sure how to describe this book, as I'm not entirely sure what it is about. The book is a "girl coming of age" story, but there doesn't seem to be much of a story here. The description talks about a family curse which is hinted at, but there's very little of this included in the book. There's partially developed story lines with Valentina's friend Ilaria, romantic interest Marco, father, mother and grandmother, but none of these relationships seem to go anywhere in the book. I would have liked to see at least one of these explore in further detail as I had some interest. This book is short and quick to read, although my interest level in it was lacking.

Some of It Was Real
by Nan Fischer

Good, quick read! (3/15/2022)

Reading the description, I didn't think this book would grab my interest but I was pleasantly surprised! By page 2 I was hooked! Well written, interesting characters and a good story line that kept me engaged. I read this in 2 days.

I was worried a story about a psychic would be ridiculous and not believable, but that wasn't how this book played out. I was interested in both main characters, learning more about Sylvia's backstory and felt the pace of the book moved along quickly.

I recommend this read, even if you don't think the description would be for you.

Crossing the River: Seven Stories That Saved My Life, A Memoir
by Carol Smith

Beautiful Memoir (2/22/2021)

I absolutely loved this memoir! As Carol Smith navigates the grief of her young son's death, she reflects on the stories of people throughout her life. These stories help her to see a way to balance holding onto her grief while navigating towards happiness again. I appreciate how much consideration she puts into the individuals in each story and the lessons she learns from each of them. This book is certainly heavy and can be difficult to read, but a journey into these lives is a beautiful one.

The Prophets
by Robert Jones Jr.

Sigh, wanted to love (10/17/2020)

I love the story of this book, but didn't love the way the story was told. I found myself struggling to stay focused. Sometimes I couldn't follow the story, sometimes I was bored and sometimes I was confused. I really wanted to enjoy this book, I was interested in the story of a gay black couple during slavery. But it was a struggle to get through.

American Dirt: A Novel
by Jeanine Cummins

Wow (11/12/2019)

One of the best books I have ever read. From the very first page to the last, I was hooked.

The story of Lydia & Luca is so beautifully written. I felt I was actually with them on every step of their journey.

This book isn't for the faint of heart - there are very difficult, emotional and violent moments. But this is also the reality of the world today, which makes it an important read.

I appreciate the research and heart Jeanine Cummins put into this book. This is a story that will stay with me.

Remembrance
by Rita Woods

Wonderful Story! (10/23/2019)

I really enjoyed this book. The story was well written and kept me engaged. The descriptions of location and characters were beautiful. I also appreciated learning more about the experiences of slaves, including the history going back to Haiti in 1700s.
There were some details of each character that I found a little hard to follow at the beginning. I found myself going back to previous chapters to re-read the details.
Overall, I think this is a wonderful book and recommend it others!

Beirut Hellfire Society
by Rawi Hage

Great idea, okay execution (5/20/2019)

I was initially drawn to this book because I wanted to learn more about war in Lebanon. The author does provide an interesting view of Pavlov's life. However, I felt like it was mostly disparate stories of Pavlov that didn't really come together until the last section of the book. The first three quarters I would find myself distracted and not engaged with reading more. It was an interesting idea, just not my style.

House of Stone
by Novuyo Rosa Tshuma

This book was a struggle (12/18/2018)

I had a lot of difficulty reading this book. I wasn't able to follow the story line and frequently had to re-read the description on the back to remember what the point of the story was. It appeared to consistent of random stories about people and I was never really sure how this flowed.

I was intrigued by the description initially. I struggled to get through this book and am not even now clear on what it is about. This writing style just isn't for me and I hope others are able to enjoy this book more.

The Kinship of Secrets
by Eugenia Kim

Glad I stuck with this book (10/11/2018)

This book started out a bit slow for me. I found it difficult to remember the details from chapter to chapter and I was slow to keep picking this book up again.

About half way, I became much more interested and the book picked up quite a bit. I'm glad I stuck with it thru the slow beginning, as this story unfolded beautifully.

I also learned information about the Korean War.

I really enjoyed this book once I got into it.