BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Susan S. (Lafayette, CA)

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Metropolis: A Novel
by B. A. Shapiro

Highly recommended! (4/1/2022)

This book is both a whodunit and also a what-exactly-happened-anyway? There is a central location - an abandoned storage facility with six or seven units of particular interest to us - and also six or seven characters who we assume connect in some way to the storage …more

True Crime Story: A Novel
by Joseph Knox

Very clever mystery (11/14/2021)

This is a compelling mystery in which an attempt is being made to solve the question of what happened to a young woman who disappeared 10 years previously. It is told almost exclusively via interviews with various people who knew her. One thing I really liked is that I …more

Mrs. March: A Novel
by Virginia Feito

Disappointing (5/9/2021)

I really wanted and expected to love this book, based on the description and the review comments that were on the front cover of the advanced reader copy. But I didn't. I like emotional darkness in novels, and am intrigued by incipient mental illness in a main …more

The Madwoman and the Roomba: My Year of Domestic Mayhem
by SandraTsing Loh

Uneven (4/10/2020)

I have read other books and articles by this author and have always enjoyed her writing a lot, so I was eager to read this new book. I found it to be uneven, and not as good as her previous work. She has always written about very personal things, but they felt very …more

American Dirt: A Novel
by Jeanine Cummins

I am in awe (11/25/2019)

I would say that a rating of 5 stars is an understatement. I think it would be impossible to praise this book too highly. I can't remember the last time I loved a book this much or learned this much. It's enlightening; it's inspiring; it's moving; it's thoroughly engrossing. …more

Never Have I Ever
by Joshilyn Jackson

Well-written and entertaining psychological thriller (4/28/2019)

This is a very entertaining, well-written entry into the currently popular psychological thriller genre. The author's prose is excellent and not cringe-inducing the way some other books in this genre are. If you are a fan of the this type of book I highly recommend this. I …more

A Ladder to the Sky: A Novel
by John Boyne

Patricia Highsmith meets All About Eve (9/8/2018)

This is a wonderfully dark novel, with an evil, ruthless protagonist. There aren't very many of those, so for me it is quite a find when I encounter one. If you are a reader for whom the phrase "wonderfully dark" resonates, then I highly recommend this extremely well- …more

Vox
by Christina Dalcher

MIsogyny run amok (5/3/2018)

This book takes place in a current, recognizable United States, except that women are banned by law from working or speaking more than 100 words per day, with the ultimate goal of turning them into virtually silent Stepford wives. They also cannot use the internet or even …more

Our Lady of the Prairie
by Thisbe Nissen

Not what I was expecting (11/21/2017)

I waffled between two stars and three stars. Three stars, because even though I did not like the book, sentence by sentence the writing was good. Two stars because I really disliked the main character, and was filled with irritation while I read. I think the author expected …more

Tell Me How This Ends Well
by David Samuel Levinson

Tell Me How This Ends Well (3/15/2017)

This book uses a literary device that I love of letting us see the family history and the events immediately before, during, and after the central event from the point of view of each of the three adult children and one other family member. Each person knows different …more

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Daughters of Shandong
by Eve J. Chung

Based on the author’s family story, comes an extraordinary novel about a mother and her daughters’ escape from Taiwan.

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The Lilac People
by Milo Todd

For fans of All the Light We Cannot See, a poignant tale of a trans man’s survival in Nazi Germany and postwar Berlin.

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Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus

Praised by Parade and The New York Times Book Review, this debut features a 1960s scientist turned TV cooking star.

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