Synopsis: When the body of his first love is discovered 22 years after she failed to show up and elope to England, undercover detective Frank Mackey is sucked back into his dysfunctional and dangerous family. Review: Faithful Place is yet another perfect read from Tana French. As Frank navigates the crime scene, even after being [...]
Faithful Place by Tana French
July 28th, 2010 · No Comments
Tags: Irish Literature
The Help by Kathryn Stockett
June 30th, 2010 · 1 Comment
Synopsis: A white woman writes the lives of the black women who work for her and her friends in early 1960s Jackson, Mississippi. Review: After having a half a dozen people recommend The Help, and then not being able to find it at the library, I decided to take the plunge and buy myself a [...]
Tags: American Literature
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
June 25th, 2010 · 5 Comments
Synopsis: A professional “carer” recalls her idyllic school days, which mask a horror that she and her friends “know but don’t know.” Review: Never Let Me Go is one of my favorite all-time books, and this is the third time I’ve read it. Big life upheavals, like having a baby, always send me back to [...]
Tags: British Literature
The Hungry Season by T. Greenwood
May 6th, 2010 · 1 Comment
Synopsis: Stricken with writers’ block after the death of a loved one, a writer moves his family to a remote New England cabin to try to rebuild, while a fan makes her way across the country to realize her dream of being with him. Review: I’m a longtime fan of T. Greenwood‘s nuanced character portraits [...]
Tags: American Literature
Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien
April 13th, 2010 · 1 Comment
Synopsis: One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them, One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them. Review: This is my third time reading JRR Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, and I can’t say I’ve ever enjoyed it more. I’ve been following along with The Tolkien Professor’s [...]
Tags: British Literature
Lost to the West by Lars Brownworth
January 26th, 2010 · No Comments
Synopsis: Subtitled: The Forgotten Byzantine Empire that Rescued Western Civilization. Review: I was first introduced to Lars Brownworth’s Lost to the West thanks to his outstanding podcast 12 Byzantine Rulers. He presented tangled, complicated history so compellingly that I just had to read the book. The book is a fantastic read. The history is clearly [...]
Tags: American Literature
Just An Ordinary Day by Shirley Jackson
December 24th, 2009 · No Comments
Synopsis: A collection of unpublished and previously uncollected short stories by the reigning queen of gothic Americana. Review: Short stories are not usually my cup of tea, because they’re over far too quickly. But I’ll read anything that Shirley Jackson writes, and I really enjoyed the stories found in Just An Ordinary Day, which I’ve [...]
Tags: American Literature
Girl in the Arena by Lise Haines
October 12th, 2009 · 6 Comments
Synopsis: After the death of her mother’s seventh husband in the gladiatorial arena, a teenage girl finds herself betrothed to his killer–unless she can fight her way out of it. Review: When I first picked up Girl in the Arena, I was expecting some kind of Hunger Games ripoff. That’s not a bad thing, per [...]
Tags: American Literature
Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
September 9th, 2009 · 4 Comments
I’m giving away 3 copies of Hunger Games–check out this post for rules & to enter! Synopsis: After winning the Hunger Games, underdog Katniss Everdeen finds herself caught up in political intrigue as rebellion foments in other districts, and when the president himself makes a game-changing move, Katniss must choose between love and freedom. Review: [...]
Tags: American Literature
The Goose Girl by Shannon Hale
July 17th, 2009 · 6 Comments
Synopsis: A princess who can talk to animals sent to marry a foreign prince is replaced by her lady-in-waiting in a nefarious plot, and ends up caring for geese while she figures out a plan. Review: The Goose Girl was simply wonderful. Shannon Hale’s writing is poetic, subtle, and complex, and she really knows how [...]
Tags: American Literature



