book reviews

Having enjoyed a few of Lisa Jewell's recent novels (The Family Upstairs, The House We Grew Up In, I Found ...

Frank Carter, known as The Whisper Man, was a serial killer captured and imprisoned for luring children out of their ...

A man washes up on a British beach having no idea who he is, where he came from, or where ...

I was already a fan of Lisa Jewell’s work, specifically of The Family Upstairs, and I devoured her latest book ...

Having read some of Octavia Butler’s work before, I knew reading Kindred was going to be an emotional journey. It ...

Libby Jones is a young London woman who knows she's adopted. She's fine with this, though she's always been curious ...

Teaching English at our co-op has reignited my interest in the classics, and one glaring void on my shelf was ...

Already on a Ruth Ware roll, I decided to finish all five of her books and read The Lying Game ...

I didn't immediately jump on the Ruth Ware bandwagon after reading In a Dark, Dark Wood back in 2016. I ...

I love a story with a good twist. Better yet, I love a story with several good twists. I enjoy ...

I've had this book on my shelf for a while, and when a BookTuber I follow selected it as the ...

I'm not sure if double or triple timelines is a trend that authors are choosing independently or if literary agents ...

In 2017, I settled into a genre that doesn't seem to be waning. I've always enjoyed a good whodunit, but ...

The quickest way to describe this book to you is to reference "Single White Female" and point to that level ...

Twenty years ago the body of Hilaria Blake was found in her home. An apparent overdose left her two children ...

I'm late on this review, but it is not a reflection on its quality. I listened to it on audiobook ...

One of my favorite historians is Alison Weir. Not only is she thorough and detailed, but she writes in a ...

Burntown has been on my TBR (To Be Read) list since I heard about it. Already a big fan of ...

One of the perks of developing my own English class for our co-op is selecting works I love and think ...

My experience with The Word is Murder was so delightful that I immediately investigated other Anthony Horowitz novels and selected ...

If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, whether the original Doyle stories or the Benedict Cumberbatch show, then The ...

Since I have another half marathon coming up - in a few days, no less - I've kept on with ...

Now that half marathon training exceeds an hour (and nears two), I'm in the market for wholly absorbing thrillers to ...

Well, they can't all be perfect. I've been on a roll with books lately, devouring one right after the other ...

Catherine Steadman is a British actress known for her role as Mabel Lane Fox in season 5 of Downton Abbey, though ...

It's 1969 in New York City's Lower East Side when the Gold siblings - Daniel, Varya, Klara, and Simon - ...

I resolved to write this book review before diving into other things because I simply must implore you all read ...

I am slowly making my way through a stack of borrowed Karin Slaughter books, but goodness gracious almighty, I have ...

I've had this one on my shelf for a couple of years, waiting for the pull to read it. I ...

This book was born out of Jordan Peterson's knack for answering questions on Quora. When asked, "What are the most ...

On the morning of the Royal Wedding, I felt a strong pull back to an early literary love of mine ...

I've shied away from reading books with titles that have been directly marketed. Yes, all titles are designed to spark ...

After reading Pretty Girls, I knew I wanted to explore more of Karin Slaughter's work. Happily, one of my besties ...

It is only May, but I could easily give you my five favorite books of 2018, Eleanor Oliphant included. I ...

Occasionally I'm drawn to historical fiction, high brow literary works, and out-of-the-box fantasy, but my mainstay is a true crime ...

I began my Lenten reading with The Story of Reality, which was a throwback to the narrative of my early ...

I listened to The French Girl on Audible since I've settled in to audiobooks during long runs. (It's wonderful how ...

(This review was originally published on The Same, an online literary journal for women, by women.) Every once in a ...

In her sixth book from the Dublin Murder Squad, Tana French hits it out of the park again. I think ...

Before The Hunger Games, the Divergent Series, and The Maze Runner, there was the Parable of the Sower. Unlike today's ...

I've been adamant about my love for Ready Player One, not only listing it as one of my favorite books ...

It's been a long time since I didn't finish a book, but look at me now, not finishing this book ...

Every time you pick up a new book, you're taking a tiny risk. Have you wasted your $3 at the ...

Killman Creek picks up where Stillhouse Lake ends. Resolved, but not. However, this time Gwen Proctor isn't on the run ...

I am late to this book, but it's been on my radar since coming out in 2015. The title was ...

How good it feels to have a book in your hands that you can't put down! Stillhouse Lake is a ...

I hung in there for 395 pages because I was sure there was going to be a big reveal. I ...

Since I enjoyed Faceless Killers so much, reading a second Henning Mankell book was an easy choice. The Kurt Wallander ...

I chose poorly in 2017, which is perhaps why I was unable to reach my 40-book goal this year. (I’m ...

A few years ago I caught a show on Netflix called Wallander starring Kenneth Branagh as the Swedish detective. It ...

After reading Winter People and The Night Sister last year, I resolved to read all of Jennifer McMahon's work. Both ...

In 2007, I was the young mother of a one and four-year-old. I wrote a column for our city paper, ...

Private investigator Naomi is in a specialized field: she finds lost children. Sometimes they are still alive, and occasionally they ...

The year isn't close to being over, but I already know Ready Player One will be on my Top Five ...

When Nicolette (Nic) returns to the small North Carolina town where she was raised to help manage the sale of ...

I'm not generally a fan of Young Adult fiction, which is why I barely made it through the first book ...

I finished this book in late May and completely forgot to review it here. I know most of you who ...

If you know me, then you know I was #NotWithHer during the 2016 presidential election. I had the privilege of voting ...

Though released in June 2016, it wasn't until after President Trump was elected in November that I started hearing about ...

Reading this book was an act of magnetism because I've been drawn to the Lost Generation writers and their work since ...

I unearthed Max Lucado's 1986 book to read during Lent because I've been craving the story of the cross. In ...

After the cluster that was my Searching for Sunday reading experience, I craved a literary touchstone so spiritually challenging that I'd be knocked right ...

If this reads like a break-up letter, that's because it is. Rachel won't receive it, and that's fine. Her pool ...

First, an English lesson: Deus ex Machina ("god from the machine") is a literary device often used when the writer has ...

After reading The Devil of Nanking last year, I sought out Mo Hayder's entire collection because I knew she was ...

Instead of reading a paper book, I listened to this one (for free) in audiobook format. It's not my favorite ...

Lydia Lee is dead. It is 1977 in rural Ohio and she is the middle child of a mixed race ...

In 2015, I read 53 books, verifying to myself that I could, indeed, read 50 books in a year. For ...

I'm working on a post about the favorite books I read this year, and I was about 30 pages into The Snow ...

There is much to say about this book, but in the interest of not spoiling it for the reader, I'll ...

In London, Vermont, there's a small motel off of Route 6 that used to be the go-to place for travelers ...

This book was so good I read it in two days. Then I found a second book by Jennifer McMahon ...

I've been on a kick of needing complete escapism, and for me, that means mystery, thriller, murder, scary, and what ...

I assigned this book for my literature and creative writing class at the co-op, and I'm so glad I did ...

Dennis Lehane might not be an author whose name you recognize, but you know his work. Mystic River, Gone Baby ...

For Leonora, going to a hen party isn't her cup of tea, but when an old friend from a decade ...

To officially welcome my favorite month, I started October with a ghost story written by Audrey Niffenegger (author of Time ...

In the span of a short time, Judd Foxman's marriage falls apart and his father dies. He's living in a ...

I picked up this delightful on account of its cover design and title. After reading the inside flap, I was ...

Margaret Holloway is involved in the worst pileup in London's history. Crammed into her crunched vehicle, which is on fire, she fears ...

I thought I was picking up a little light reading, but no. Dietland is social commentary, and I can't make up ...

I get book recommendations from myriad places - friends, acquaintances, online reviews, etc. It was from BookTube (the small literary ...

After finishing Cage of Stars, I sat still for a few minutes and wondered if I'd read the same book ...

This is the third book I've read by Donna Tartt. Compared to The Goldfinch and The Secret History, it fell ...

If you recall, I'm teaching a middle school literature and creative writing class at our co-op this year. Wonder is the ...

I found this book immediately after listening to author Elna Baker on a podcast (episode #589) from This American Life ...

Do I really need to explain why I read this book? If you're a parent, then you have already spent ...

Pulling from a real event (the hijacking of a Japanese embassy in Peru in 1996), Ann Patchett creates a similar hostage ...

The irony of reading this book in the midst of the Orlando attack is not lost on me. The timing ...

Well, the streak was bound to end. They can't all be great. Unlike Into the Woods, Faithful Place, The Likeness, ...

It wouldn't be accurate to say that Tana French writes the traditional "Whodunit?" crime thriller because it's almost always clear ...

The first thing I want to tell you is that Amy Greene is a local. For that reason alone, I ...

My first taste of Tana French was reading In the Woods last spring. Then I read Faithful Place. Of the ...

Similar to my review of All the Light We Cannot See, I'm going to break the mold with a unenthusiastic ...

This one took me nearly three weeks, which is almost unprecedented. It was also surprising, considering how much I loved ...

For the first time ever, I listened to an audiobook, and while I'm not sure it's something I'll do regularly, ...

To be a heretic in earlier centuries - that is, to denounce a proclamation from the church at-large - was worse ...

Since Lent is over I'm back to reading fiction and will be posting more book reviews frequently. Before I attacked ...

I gotta say - I miss fiction. It feels like I've been immersed in monks and heretics and religious history ...

I don't know what to say about this book. It is unlike anything I've read so there's nothing that I can ...

When Clay Jannon lands a third-shift front desk job at a strange 24-hour bookstore in San Fransisco, he doesn't suspect that ...

Two things: 1. This is a psychological thriller, emphasis on the psycho. 2. It is vulgar. Now that I've made ...

I'm late to this game, and not just because it was published in 2003. Last year I noticed a handful of ...

When you think of Europe during World War II, the reign of Hitler and his persecution of the Jewish people ...

I've read enough books in my life to know not to be swayed by the remarks on the cover. Every ...

Anna Benz is an American ex-pat living with her Swiss husband and three children in Zürich. She doesn't work outside ...

Set in present day between the damp, stone walls of an old prison, we are told the sobering story of ...

After seeing the final Hunger Games movie with Jeremy the last week of December, I decided that I'm really, quite ...

I completed the 50 Books Challenge by late November, a feat that both surprised and pleased me. I went on ...

This is a Pulitzer Prize-winning book. It spent two years on the NYT Bestseller list. On Goodreads, it averages 4.3 ...

There are about ten pages I would cut from Night Film, but they don't transpire until the last sliver of the ...

I'm tempted to call Marilynne Robinson a favorite writer of mine, but this is the only work of hers that ...

I finished reading my fiftieth book of the year last night and it was a good one. In the most fitting ...

Every Harry Potter fan knows what happened after JK Rowling moved on from the wizarding world. She wrote a subpar ...

This one will not make my top five favorites, or even my top ten. It's going to swim somewhere in ...

As I've chipped away at the 50 Books Challenge of 2015, I've made mental notes along the way counting the top ...

Reading has slowed down considerably this month on account of several things, but I hope to get back to normal ...

It took me a while to finish this book, and not just because it's 540 pages. Granted, the book is ...

When I saw Silver Linings Playbook a couple of years ago, in which one of the main characters is bipolar, I ...

At first I didn't think I'd review this book since I figure everyone read it in school, but considering I ...

I think we've reached the first book - no, the second book - that I won't recommend to you, and ...

This book got a lot of accolade last year and was all the buzz among bloggers, BookTubers, and the GoodReads ...

What do you do when you toss and turn all night? Get up and read. I'm still reading Wild Things: ...

You guys. THIS BOOK. I don't even know where to begin. Rosemary, the narrator and main character, doesn't even start ...

Here's a confession: The only reason I picked up this book was because of its fabulous lettering. The cover is gorgeous ...

I don't remember the first time I saw the cover of Lucky (published in 1999), but when I did I ...

I've recently become an affiliate with the Book Depository, an online bookstore that offers free delivery and discounted prices. I'm ...

I first heard of Nadia Bolz-Weber about two or three years ago when I was in a heavy place of ...

This one took no time to finish because I couldn't stop wondering how it would end. Major props to M.L ...

You may not recognize the name Sara Gruen, but you probably recognize Water for Elephants - the beautiful novel, the ...

This book has been on my To-Read list for years. More than a decade, really. My fascination with Ernest Hemingway ...

There are a handful of writers who have a place in my default folder of "People Whose Stuff I'll Always Read." ...

Man, I'd love to know what Gillian Flynn thinks about right before she falls asleep. Sharp Objects was her debut novel ...

When I read In the Woods, I didn't know it was part of a series about Dublin murder cases, but ...

The cover is foiled and crisp, but If Jack's in Love could've been a novella or even a short story ...

At nearly 800 pages, The Goldfinch was a commitment, but it was one I was ready to make because I'd ...

The Heights caught my attention primarily for its cover. One cannot underestimate the power of a beautiful book cover! Other than author familiarity, ...

I acquired this book in November 2013, so to read it so long after its release feels unsupportive of Liz Gilbert and ...

Hmm. What to say about this one... To start, I picked it up at the Charleston County Library last week ...

I didn't know that a book could be completely vague and painfully detailed at the same time, but such is ...

Holy moly. I read The Husband's Secret in three days. It would've been one day had I no children or a coonhound ...

Having only read her short story, A Good Man is Hard to Find, the one thing I really knew about Flannery ...

This image must have been used for promotion since it pinpoints the release date (which was in 2013), but I ...

Alice Winston is a pensive girl and the entirety of this book is an outpouring of her thoughts throughout a ...

I found this book at a discount store for $2.99, and after reading it, I would've paid more. That in ...

I have no experience with Christopher Fowler books, but based on Seventy-Seven Clocks, I won't be trying out his work ...

I've not read anything by Ann Patchett before but I'm going to remedy that soon. She's a lovely storyteller and ...

That's a stretch, I know, but hear me out. I just finished reading We Are Water, Wally Lamb's latest piece ...

Small town North Carolina, early 1960s, two children who light fires and kill chickens. Unspeakable things happen when a crazy ...

Noa is on death row in Pennsylvania for the murder of a girl her age. In a few months, she'll be ...

It's important to note that In the Woods was Tana French's first novel. Not only was it warmly received, but ...

I don't normally finish books in two days, but this one was a quick read. The short page count helped, but it ...

So I finished the third and final installment of Ken Follett's Century trilogy, Edge of Eternity, and I can say ...

The synopsis of Left Neglected prepares you for the accident. Sarah is a busy working mother of three, living the high ...

When I read this book last year, I was hooked on every word, relishing the twists and giddy over all ...

This is perhaps the most unusual book I've read in a while. I've tried to nail down a better adjective, ...

I was tagged by our cousin, Annette, to list the ten books that have had the greatest influence on me ...

We've begun our second week of school and if the boys keep at this pace we'll be finished by March. Not ...