Colin Dickey—Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places (Book Review)
From author Colin Dickey, Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places is just the kind of book choice readers make in October. It combines history, travel, architecture, urban legend, and philosophy. But I also have to say it wasn’t nearly as gripping as I...Lindy West—Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema (Book Review)
Lindy West reviews classic movies from the last several decades in Shit, Actually: The Definitive, 100% Objective Guide to Modern Cinema. These are her favorites, meaning she likes to pick them apart and point out all the plot holes, weird characters, and clunky...The Sandcastle Girls: Heartbreaking Historical Fiction from Chris Bohjalian (Book Review)
In The Sandcastle Girls, Chris Bohjalian crafts a skilled and sad historical fiction novel. It centers on the little-known Armenian genocide around the time of World War I. Tragically, the Ottoman government expelled and mass murdered 1.5 million Armenians in Turkey...From Rachel Carson: Silent Spring, an Environmental Classic
Rachel Carson published Silent Spring in 1962, and it’s an environmental science classic. She was one of the first authors to expose the realities of pesticides to the general public. Now, the world has always had natural pesticides. Sometimes it’s a protective...Caitlin Myer on Escaping Abuse, Church, Patriarchy in Wiving
(Book Review)
Caitlin Myer explores family, identity and the role of women in her upcoming book Wiving: A Memoir of Loving then Leaving the Patriarchy. The story starts in Provo, Utah where she’s the youngest child in a medium-sized Mormon family. And her Art Professor dad holds it...
Anne Tyler, Book Group and a Palate Cleanser
The new book from Anne Tyler, Redhead by the Side of the Road, is a certified palate cleanser. At least that’s how it worked for me. In the midst of a history book about pandemics, and historical fiction about slavery, this was a small story about a few days in one...Book Review: Lakewood by Megan Giddings
In Lakewood, the debut novel from Megan Giddings, Lena Johnson is just trying to hold it all together for her family. And that family recently lost its most senior member, her grandmother. That leaves Lena with her ailing mom to care for, as their mountain of debt...Book Review: You Suck by Christopher Moore
Well, I just feel silly reviewing a vampire book by Christopher Moore this week. I could point you towards social and racial justice reading suggestions. Or maybe diving into my advanced readers’ copy of Mychal Denzel Smith’s upcoming release is an idea. But, as it...Book Review: Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America’s Xanadu by Les Standiford
Les Standiford writes a compelling history of the very rich in South Florida, in his 2019 book Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago and the Rise of America’s Xanadu. Picking up a book like this is pretty out of character for me. But I lived in Palm Beach County for eight years back...Book Review: Zone One by Colson Whitehead
Zone One from Colson Whitehead isn’t your typical zombie novel. Not that I’m a regular reader of the genre. But I know my fantasy and horror. What Whitehead does is show us the mind of one man in his post-pandemic world. (Yes, I read another pandemic book.) This world...Book Review: The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz
Tiffany Reisz combines one part romance, one part mystery, and two parts family dysfunction in this Kentucky bourbon themed novel. At its center are Paris and Tamara, both women driven to have what they want, logic be damned. It pulled me along like the distillery...Book Review: Secrets of the Chocolate House (Found Things #2) by Paula Brackston
After I read the first book in Paula Brackston’s recent series, Found Things, I was super excited to read the next book. Called Secrets of the Chocolate House, I finished it in the midst of our current global pandemic crisis. Naturally, I wished for escapist reading....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 Reviews: Nora Roberts – Chronicles of The One, Books 2 and 3
I never thought about Nora Roberts as a fantasy author until she published Year One in 2017. When I finally listened to the audiobook last fall, I thought it was a gripping 4-star combination of post-pandemic survivalist epic and magical (or magickal as Roberts spells...Bookshop.Org Affiliate
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Jane A. Swartz
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