Caren Gray has tried very hard to escape her roots in Attica Locke’s The Cutting Season, but for all that, she is back at Belle Vie, the antebellum plantation where she grew up. She manages the plantation, works with the clients, handles the personnel, and deals with any unforeseen circumstances — such as a body found in a shallow grave on… Read more
I was of two minds about Christopher Stewart’s Jungleland: A Mysterious Lost City, a WWII Spy, and a True Story of Deadly Adventure. First of all, I love a good adventure book. Traipsing through the jungle looking for a lost city, with a plan based only on rumors and some numbers carved into an old walking stick? Love it! That’s… Read more
Something bad has happened to Estrella. That much Luz knows for sure – something bad has happened to her older sister and her father is in jail for it. The problem is that 11 year-old Luz is not talking to anyone, not a word, and she is the only one who knows what really happened. In Mario Alberto Zambrano’s Loteria, Luz… Read more
This title was completely unfamiliar to me, but Nanette is a big fan of his blog and was really excited to read it. — Lisa One of the great things about reviewing is finding hidden gems—great books that aren’t bestsellers, but probably should be. Song of the Sea God is one of those books. The beginning just reaches out and grabs… Read more
Extra special stuff today – the first review from my new associate reviewer, Christine Linial! She’s a long-time on-line pal who also loves books, and I am sharing some of my bounty with her (and getting more reviews on my pages at the same time). If you’re a baseball fan who loves intrigue, Hang A Crooked Number is your next… Read more
Four Summoner’s Tales starts with an interesting premise. If you could truly raise people from the dead, of course, there would be people willing to pay you to do it, to bring their loved ones back. But wouldn’t there also be people willing to pay you not to do it? Could you blackmail that trophy wife, whose 90-year-old husband just left… Read more
Knowing what this book was about, I wasn’t expecting a happy ending. What surprised me was how often I was moved to tears by the sheer bravery and strength of the men in this novel. What kind of inner strength does it take to go out into what will likely be deadly conditions, risking your own life, to rescue a… Read more
It’s kind of a funny thing. When I was telling some bookish friends about The Man, one of them commented that they hate it when books break all “the rules” of time travel. Seems silly to me – how could time travel have rules? Sean Ferrell’s Man in the Empty Suit breaks all the rules of time travel and has some fun doing… Read more
Goat Mountain by David Vann is one of those books where the writing is so lyrical, so poetic, that you keep going back to re-read passages because they are so beautifully written. The story drew me in immediately – the pivotal event in this book happens less than 20 pages in – and the aftermath was compelling enough to keep me… Read more
I was so excited to get a chance to read and review this! I find Neil Gaiman’s work really interesting; even the books I haven’t loved have intrigued me. The Ocean at the End of the Lane is definitely a one-sitting read: once you pick it up, you will be hard-pressed to put it down. Note to authors: please give your characters names!… Read more