The Sister's Curse
by Nicola Solvinic
Mystery meets magical realism (6/16/2025)
This was a captivating mystery due to its touches of magical realism and possible horror in the waters of Bayern County. Anna Koray is a detective in the Bayern County Police Department confronted by a series of mysterious drownings in the river. She's also grappling with her past as the daughter of a serial killer. As she delves into the drownings, Anna is confronted by her past and a mysterious force working in the river.
The book is a gripping good read, filled with an anxious aura of unbelievability yet one you want to believe because it could be real. It also tackles themes of misogyny and abuse. I want to thank Book Browse and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to read this ARC.
The Tapestry of Time
by Kate Heartfield
Lackluster historical fantasy (5/29/2025)
I had a love/hate relationship with this book. There were some great elements like the Sharp family’s powers to see into the future and some of the WWII scenes in France. But the use of the Bayeaux tapestry (which I have seen and intrigued me the most about this book) just didn’t seem to fit - at times it seemed like an add on. The book is well written though. The twist at the end with a betrayal revealed was good but again that too seemed like an add-on. I think the author tried to do a bit too much in this book.
Rabbit Moon: A Novel
by Jennifer Haigh
Secrets, sorrows and mending fences (4/21/2025)
An interesting story of the impact of a tragic event on a family. The novel focuses on the inner lives of the four members of the Litvak family: Lindsay, oldest daughter who goes to China eventually settling in Shanghai; Grace, adopted daughter of Chinese origins; Claire and Aaron, the divorced parents. Each has secrets which eventually collide when Lindsay is hospitalized after a hit-and-run accident. The book also explores the differences between eastern and western cultures. Eventually as the story ensues, relationships are mended. I found myself becoming so involved in all their lives. I listened to this book, very well narrated, and enjoyed it.
Play Nice
by Rachel Harrison
Cozy, spooky but great fun read (4/20/2025)
I received this book as an advanced readers copy (ARC). The author is one of my favorites so I was excited and not disappointed in the read. In this book, Harrison tackles the “haunted house” trope and it’s a winner in my estimation. Clio Louise Barnes inherits a haunted house, along with her two other sisters, Leda and Daphne, after the death of their mother, Alexandra. It’s also the house the three grew up in. Told in part through a book Alexandra wrote which Clio obtains at her mother’s funeral and through Clio’s attempts at remodeling the house, the story is spooky, scary and great fun to read - a perfect October read given its publication date in late September!
Ordinary Love: A Novel
by Marie Rutkoski
Intelligent and poignant love story (3/27/2025)
In spite of what the title says, this is not an “ordinary love” story. As one of the characters, Gen, says near the end, “nothing in life is ordinary.” This book is a love story of contrasts: Emily and Gen, high school sweethearts and Emily and Jack, the traditional man-woman love story. Each is fraught with problems, and each offers Emily choices as she grapples with discovering who she really is and what she wants out of life and love. In between these alternating stories, we see the impact of Emily’s love choices on her parents, her friends, and her children. As she grows and assumes responsibility for her decisions, we learn that she understands that in accepting a “second chance” at love, love can be ordinary in its truth but extraordinary in its honesty.
This is a beautifully written book. I was surprised how I was drawn to it as it was at times outside my comfort zone, but there was such a deep, searing honesty to it, I simply had to know the ending. It was a splendid read!
The Whyte Python World Tour: A Novel
by Travis Kennedy
Hilariously irreverent but fun thriller (3/23/2025)
Wow! What a hilariously irreverent but fun thriller about a heavy metal band in the late 1980s being recruited by the CIA to “topple the Eastern Bloc through the power of rock.” Strange and weird premise but it works! The author has created a great character in Richard Henderson aka “Rikki Thunder”. He’s a sweet guy who’s just looking for love and acceptance but on a dead end course with his current band, Qyksand, when he’s unwittingly recruited by Tawny Spice (undercover CIA operative, Amanda Price) to replace the drummer of the up-and-coming Whyte Python, a glam-pop band, and who eventually gets the band on a “youth corrupting” world tour of Soviet bloc countries.
The humor is tongue-in-check as the band is a group of misfits as are the CIA operatives - think the Apple series, Slow Horses, if you’ve seen it, with its MI15 misfits and you get the idea of the humor! I laughed so many times but there is also a seriousness to the story in how Rikki grows up and how he gains acceptance with his new band. The Whyte Python band has some crazy characters too whom you grow to love. I really enjoyed this ARC from Penguin Books. I highly recommend it.
Universality: A Novel
by Natasha Brown
Complex story on the affect of words (3/12/2025)
I initially chose this book because of the book summary indicated it was potentially a mystery but upon reading it was focused on British politics as its story line. This was unexpected but not necessarily a bad thing as the structure of the book was intriguing and the written was superb. The book is divided into several sections; the first deals with an incident at a remote Yorkshire farm where during a "rave" in the time of COVID a man is "bludgeoned to death with a solid gold bar."
From there the novella goes into sections dealing with the aftermath of the event on the journalist (Hannah) who wrote about it; the "amoral banker landlord" (Richard); and the "iconoclastic newspaper columnist" (Lenny) who cashes in on her notoriety to write about "woke capitalism." What we learn in these sections is how the words people used in relating the event from their perspective resulted in either positive or negative reviews by the public - and how things get skewed as a result.
In the "fallout of the dubious article" as one reviewer noted, the people affected by the event appear to be "delusional, unlikeable idiots who converse about identity, lockdown, crime rates and the perils of diversity." All these things do not make any of them likeable.
That's the beautiful irony of the book: be careful what you say, how you say it and how you play it." In our desires sometimes for the "moment of fame," we forget who we are. One final note: this is not an easy book to read but if read carefully, it can be a worthwhile one.
Dream Count: A Novel
by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
What dreams are made of (3/1/2025)
I was given an advance reader's copy of this book for an upcoming book club discussion. I was excited and honored to get it because Purple Hibiscus, Adichie's earlier book, is one of my favorites and I think this, the second book I've read by her, will be joining that list.
First, the book is definitely a character-driven novel, though with four female characters (Chiamaka, Zikora, Kadiatou, and Omelgor) whose lives intertwine and with whom you become intimately involved and develop a connection. The four women comes from different backgrounds in their native Nigeria: Chiamaka and Zikora come from wealth and while Omelgor might be more middle class, she cleverly abuses the system to gain wealth; Kadiatou is poor but manages through a series of circumstances to find her way to America where she succeed in creating a good life and finds herself in a friendship with Chiamaka.
Second, a part of the story line is based on real event (the author's note explains this in great detail), so there is an historical element to the telling of these women's lives. This event is fraught with misogyny, sexism and degradation, pointing to dilemmas women, regardless of nationality and country, face every day. Finally, the title itself is about all the women's "dreams" about finding a man who will be "the one" to complete her but in all four stories, "no one" emerges, but these women seem fulfilled in their lives as their stories are told and unfold in the book.
The book is divided into five parts: the first four revolve around each of the characters; the last goes back to Chiamaka, who is the main character, as her friendships and familial relationships are what tie all four women together. In dividing the book this way, Adichie develops her characters, intertwines the women together and shows how as each possibly pursues finding a husband (this is very big in the Nigerian culture, so relatives are always nagging at the women about this), the men they meet either are self-serving, selfish or have secondary motives in pursuing a relationship. When Kadiatou does marry (she really doesn't have the option to be independent), it is an arranged marriage to an older man and it's not all that great. Omelgor writes a column or blog filled with letters advising men on their foibles and why they drive women aways - some of very funny and clever.
All in all, the dream aspect in the novel serves as a great counterpoint to what happens to Kadiatou (you have to read the book to find out what this is), showing that men can be inherently cruel, selfish and that society in general really doesn't have all that high of opinion on women. I really enjoyed this book both for the story line, the female characters who are all so different but who represent real women and their struggles to fit into society, and for the writing itself. Adichie is a wonderful writer. Highly recommend.
Havoc: A Novel
by Christopher Bollen
Dark, haunting and deliciously suspenseful (2/22/2025)
Wow! This book came recommended from a variety of sources and it managed to met the mark on those recommendations. This is a dark, haunting and deliciously suspenseful novel. It pits an 81 year old woman against an 8 year old boy, each delightfully suspicious of the other and desirous of exacting revenge on the other.
Taking place during COVID, our protagonists are living in the Royal Karnak Palace Hotel in Luxor, Egypt. Maggie Burkhardt is escaping her past after the death of her husband, Peter, and an incident in a Swiss hotel. Otto Seppen is escaping expulsion from a Paris school along with his mother, Tess. Both Maggie and Otto have dark sides that converge in this tale of misplaced friendships and misconceptions galore. The ending is quite intriguing.
Giovanni's Room
by James Baldwin
Haunting exploration of sexuality (2/8/2025)
Reading a book for exploration in Black History Month, certainly makes a book by the great James Baldwin an excellent choice. The story deals with the main character’s, David, struggle with his homosexuality at a time (1950s Paris) “when liberation was desired, but persecution was still rampant” as one summary noted.
David is an unreliable narrator not just because he’s trying to be “straight,” pressuring Hella, another ex-pat in Paris, to marry him, but he cannot express his true desires, his true nature and he continually falls back into perseveration and deceit. When David meets Giovanni, a handsome Italian, who falls in love with him, Giovanni has the potential to break David free and make him honest to himself.
At this point, I will stop with the summation of the story; you have to read this short, but tautly written novel to find out what happens. Suffice it to say, the book hauntingly explores a man coming to terms with his sexuality which resonates today.
The Storm We Made: A Novel
by Vanessa Chan
Exceptional historical fiction (1/6/2024)
Wow! This was one moving, hard-to-put down, beautifully written book. Set in Malaya during WWII, the book follows Cecily Alcantara and her children (Jujube, Abel and Jasmine) between February - December 1945. This is a period in which the war is unraveling for the Japanese, and we experience these days from the eyes of the "conquered" four characters, experiencing some of the atrocities visited on the Malayans by the Japanese. However, it was not always so for Cecily as the story shifts from time to time back several years to when she meets a Japanese spy, soon-to-be General Fujiwara. Cecily is desirous of being more than a housewife of a middle level Eurasian bureaucrat as she is tired of the British racism she experiences in her capacity as wife to Gordon Alcantara. As a result, in her naivete, she begins spying for Fujiwara in the belief she's ushering in an "Asia for Asians" only to be confronted years later with the traumatic results of her "secrets." The alternating perspectives of time and the four characters makes this book so fascinating and compelling. As stated in the book's introduction, the war period was not discussed by those Malayans who survived and as the book reveals there are many reasons for that - you have to read the book to find these out. You will not be disappointed if you do.
Antoinette's Sister
by Diana Giovinazzo
Fascinating story of a forgotten queen (3/11/2022)
What a fascinating story of a strong, proud and amazing queen forgotten by history! Reading this book during Women’s History Month was a bonus too. As Queen of the Two Sicilies, daughter of the Empress Maria Theresa and sister to Marie Antoinette, Maria Carolina Charlotte is brought to life in this novel. The use of letters between Charlotte and Antoinette as well as Maria Theresa and brothers, Joseph and Leopold, adds delightfully to the story line. We are treated to the life an exceptional woman who took over and lead a kingdom in the absence of her husband (who was never prepared for kingship), all in the interest of caring for its people. In the Afterword, we learn of Charlotte’s fierce attempts to seek her sister’s escape from France. And as with many strong women in history in a time when women were not viewed as very capable, we learn that she was not given credit for many of the things that improved her country. This is a beautifully written and wonderfully told story that brings back to life a forgotten queen worthy of remembering.
Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through the World's Most Dangerous Country
by Tim Butcher
Eye-opening, pithy exploration of the Congo (2/21/2022)
In reviewing my TBR bookshelf, I found this book and what an excellent choice it was to read as it was interesting, exciting and harrowing story of the Congo. The author, a British journalist for The Daily Telegraph, set out to follow the 1874-77 route of Henry Morton Stanley used in charting the Congo River. Set in 2004 shortly after a peace breakdown in the region, the journey itself over land and on the river was frightening (possible rebels lurking everywhere and corrupt officials demanding/trying to extort money), exhausting (heat, bugs and lack of drinkable water or living conditions), and complicated (finding transportation in an area destroyed by war and climate deteriorations required strategy). Loved the history behind Stanley’s exploration as well as the colonial and current history (as of 2008 book publication). Having read King Leopoldo’s Ghost by Adam Hochschild, I was familiar somewhat with what he did to colonize the Congo - and exploit and treat the natives inhumanly - so re-reading aspects of this period was enjoyable. Also, it was interesting to read about the filming of The African Queen (the author cited excerpts from Katherine Hepburn’s diaries of her time in one part of the author’s Congo trip). To read of the deterioration of colonized cities due to the corrupt Congo regimes who exploited the country’s natural resources for personal gain (sound familiar?) when they took over the Congo after it gained independence from Belgium in 1960 was sad. The conditions of life are so primitive and the people so poor, it would seem that their lives are doomed. Then there is the violence of the bloody revolts between 1960-2002 which was chilling to read. I marveled too at what the author put up with physically. It was no picnic to journey in this underdeveloped part of the world where electricity and sanitary living conditions were few and far between. I think I was exhausted when I was finished reading the book and I didn’t do the trek (LOL)! But I was saddened by the poverty and neglect of the Congolese people by their leaders and fellow neighbors. As an example of this, at the end of Chapter 10 when one of the author's contacts on his journey, Oggi, asks him to take his 4-year-old son with him because Oggi knew that his son's life was not one of a future filled with promise or hope. This was heart-wrenching to read. Overall, though, I’m very glad I read this book. Highly recommend.
When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky
by Margaret Verble
Enchanting, delightful read (10/1/2021)
What and enchanting, delightful book! Not only is the book beautifully written, but the characters and story line create a world that you are drawn into and want to be a part of. Set in 1926 Nashville in the now defunct Glendale Park and Zoo, Verble brings Two Feathers, a Cherokee horse diver, to life along with other splendid characters like Crawford, her closest friend, Clive Lovett, head gamekeeper and tormented soul from WWI who rescues Two when she suffers a trac fall, Little Elk, a ghost who seeks to protect Two and some delightful animals in the zoo with whom Two “talks” too. The book illustrates the racism of that time and has true events like the wrap up the Scopes trial that ground the story. I hated when the book ended because I had come to love the people. This is a wonderful book.
 (1).gif)
