BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Judy B. (Marysville, OH)

The Swans of Fifth Avenue
by Melanie Benjamin

Too much like a gossip column (10/7/2015)

I was excited to read The Swans of Fifth Avenue because I loved Melanie Benjamin's The Aviator's Wife. I read all of The Swans because I didn't remember much about the real-life main characters, except for Truman Capote, about whom much has been written and filmed, and I …more

Vanessa and Her Sister
by Priya Parmar

I loved this book! (11/9/2014)

I was so excited to read this book because I am a long-time devoted reader of all things Virginia Woolf, including reading the 6 volumes of her letters and the 5 volumes of her diary--twice! (I know, get a life!)

Priya Parmar's book is beautifully written. She gives us the …more

Under the Wide and Starry Sky
by Nancy Horan

Under the Wide and Starry Sky (11/30/2013)

Horan's book brings the story of Robert Louis Stevenson and his wife Fanny van de Grift Osbourne to vivid life. The tales of their travels across the globe, ever in search of places where R.L.S., an off-and-on-again invalid all his life, can be nursed to health or kept …more

A Murder at Rosamund's Gate: A Lucy Campion Mystery
by Susanna Calkins

Authentic historical atmosphere (3/13/2013)

I think this book is outstanding for the historical detail that takes you right into the midst of unromanticized 17th century England and for its plucky main character, Lucy Campion, who works from within the limits of her lowly servant status to solve the mystery of the …more

The Aviator's Wife
by Melanie Benjamin

Astonishing story about the Lindberghs (12/18/2012)

I highly recommend this fictionalized story of the Lindberghs (based on the author's deep research). It is astonishing because although everyone knows of the famous couple--Charles, an aviation pioneer, and Anne, writer of Gift from the Sea--and, of course, of the terrible …more

The White Forest: A Novel
by Adam McOmber

Not the book for me (8/9/2012)

I read all of The White Forest, hoping that it would redeem itself, because it is well written. It did not. The characters, the plot, the premise did not inspire a "willing suspension of disbelief," without which a story simply remains implausible. For example, I did not …more

The Starboard Sea: A Novel
by Amber Dermont

Sailing in deep literary seas (1/31/2012)

The Starboard Sea by Amber Dermont is intensely powerful, full of suspense and well written. I think of a cross between Lord of the Flies and Ordinary People. Jason Prosper (a highly ironic name on many levels) arrives for his senior year at Bellingham, a “second chance” …more

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