Book Review: The Missing Sister by Elle Marr
Elle Marr tells the story of twin sisters, nefarious dealings, deaths, and the catacombs of Paris in her debut mystery, The Missing Sister. She gathers plenty of action and plot points, with a unique cast of characters in an iconic city. Mix it up, and you’ve got a...Book Review: Takes One to Know One by Susan Isaacs
Back in the day, Susan Isaacs was an auto-buy author for me. But that was literally decades ago. When I happened to read an excerpt of her 2019 book, Takes One to Know One, I thought it was time to give her writing another try. And this was an enjoyable, if not...Book Review: Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo
Bernardine Evaristo writes a prose poetic novel, honoring a wide-ranging group of black British women in her 2019 book Girl, Woman, Other. The women represent many walks of life, various generations, and diverse personalities. They connect with each other, but the...Book Review: Women Talking by Miriam Toews
In Women Talking by Miriam Toews, a group of women sort life out after experiencing terrible assaults. What makes this unique is that the women are all conservative Mennonites living in the isolated, fictional colony called Molotschna. But this isn’t strictly a work...Book Review: Drive Your Plow over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk
Olga Tokarczuk is a celebrated Polish writer and Man Booker International Prize winner. No wonder my IRL book group decided to read her work in January. And what a wintery, chilling book this is. Titled “Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead,” it references works...Book Review: Knots and Crosses by Ian Rankin (Inspector Rebus #1)
Reading Knots and Crosses from Ian Rankin is a trip into the underbelly of Edinburgh, Scotland. Inspector John Rebus is a troubled man, assigned to the team investigating a series of abductions. Not just any abductions, though. Someone is taking young girls, about the...Book Review: Miracle Creek by Angie Kim
In Miracle Creek, author Angie Kim creates a whodunit with a side helping of the difficult realities of achieving the American Dream. Kim blends tragedy, kids with chronic illness, moms who will do anything to help them, teenage angst, and cultural pride. It’s a...Book Review: Disappearing Earth by Julia Phillips
In Disappearing Earth, author Julia Phillips transports the missing girl trope to a unique location. On the Kamchatka Peninsula in Eastern Russia, life is hard. It combines both modern conveniences like cell phones, and long-established behaviors like misogyny. So...Graphic Novel Review: My Favorite Thing is Monsters by Emil Ferris
Emil Ferris shows off her storytelling and artistic talent in My Favorite Thing Is Monsters, Volume 1. In her graphic novel, she creates the art journal and diary of Karen Reyes. Karen is a 1960s Chicago pre-teen, balancing the difficulties of her own adolescence with...Book Review: Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Eleanor Oliphant is the oddest of odd ducks, created by Gail Honeyman in her 2017 debut novel, Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine. Thanks to my IRL book group for suggesting it, as I probably wouldn’t have read it without them. Eleanor has a way with words. In fact,...Book Review: Saint X by Alexis Schaitkin
Alexis Schaitkin unspools a story of that 18-year-old we all know. The one with buckets of confidence and virtually no experience. Who wants to be thought well of, while never giving their parents the time of day. Who rolls her eyes, shows off her body, and keeps...Book Review: This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel
Laurie Frankel brings us inside a raucous and somewhat unconventional Wisconsin family in This Is How It Always Is. Rosie and Penn, respectively a doctor and a writer, are the parents of four boys when she gets pregnant again. Every time she’s expecting they hope for...Book Review: The Testaments by Margaret Atwood
I wanted to love the new Gilead book from Margaret Atwood. I wanted that so much. And it didn’t happen for me. She tells a tale that pales in comparison to both The Handmaid’s Tale book and television series. It’s not gritty, suspenseful, or driven by compelling...Book Review: [Dis] Connected: Poems & Stories of Connection and Otherwise, Volume Two
Editor and publisher Michelle Halket showcases work from ten poets in [Dis]Connected: Poems & Stories of Connection and Otherwise Volume 2. Each of the ten poets submitted three poems, which are interspersed between short stories from the same writers. Halket...Book Review: The Merchant of Menace by Richard T. Ryan
(A Sherlock Holmes Adventure)
It’s a joy to revisit the world of Sherlock Holmes with author Richard T. Ryan and his latest novella, The Merchant of Menace. Holmes and Watson need to catch a thief who’s angling for priceless, one-of-a-kind items. And threatening the owners’ loved ones as he does...
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