BookBrowse: Your Guide to Exceptional Books

Reviews by CarolT

Power Reviewer

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The Nazi Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
by Brad Meltzer, Josh Mensch

Interesting.... (3/18/2023)

Interesting WWII history, and a few new characters I'd nat heard of before, but not nearly as much about a "conspiracy" as I expected - or wanted.

The Swift and the Harrier
by Minette Walters

Enthralling (1/16/2023)

I knew nothing about the English Civil War other than it ended with the beheading of King Charles I. Walters puts an interesting twist on it.

The Invisible Kingdom: Reimagining Chronic Illness
by Meghan O'Rourke

Thought-provoking (1/16/2023)

A new way to look at - and feel sympathy for - people I knew who were considered hypochondriacs - maybe they had unidentified illnesses.

Iron Curtain: A Love Story
by Vesna Goldsworthy

Keep reading! (1/8/2023)

When I started this book, I thought "how slow. how Russian." But I'm glad I hung in because by the middle it was good and by the end very good. Highly recommended - but hand in there.

Sea of Tranquility: A novel
by Emily St. John Mandel

Fascinating time travel (1/3/2023)

I admit I'm partial to really good time travel. This one is right up there with Connie Willis and Jack Finney. (Odd that Mandel did not include them in her suggested reading list.)

Moonrise Over New Jessup
by Jamila Minnicks

Eye opening (12/12/2022)

Jamila Minnicks makes the world of Alice, a young black woman in 1960ish Alabama, real to white readers. Alices's (and her family's) constant stress in navigating a white world become our stress. And I didn't realize how refreshing she found living in an all black area, so much that she didn't want it to change. I can't recommend it enough.

Honor
by Thrity Umrigar

Eye-opening (12/12/2022)

Honor taught me so much about India that I don't know where to begin. Hard to put down. I'll be watching for more from Thrity Umrigar.

Cradles of the Reich: A Novel
by Jennifer Coburn

Interesting twist (10/24/2022)

Cradles of the Third Reich is an interesting twist on all those WWII novels from the perspective of young women of childbearing years. Highly recommended.

Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel
by Kate Atkinson

Extremely disappointing (10/5/2022)

I know this isn’t the popular view for any of Kate Atkinson’s work, but I found Shrines of Gaiety disappointing enough to take her off my list of “must read” authors.

All the Lonely People
by Mike Gayle

A Keeper! (10/3/2022)

All the Lonely People was the first book I've read by Mike Gayle, but it won't be the last! Huburt Bird is right up there with Arthur TruLuv and Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton as the people I've most enjoyed getting to know.

The Last Nomad: Coming of Age in the Somali Desert
by Shugri Said Salh

Eye-opening (9/10/2022)

Shugri Said Salh had offered us a chance to see exactly what it was - or is - like to be a nomad in Somalia and then a refugee running from a war. So much to learn!

Lucy by the Sea: A Novel
by Elizabeth Strout

The pandemic (9/10/2022)

Elizabeth Strout does it again, walking us through what the pandemic meant to those who could protect themselves early on. As always, the characters feel like someone I might actually know.

One's Company: A Novel
by Ashley Hutson

Interesting concept (5/18/2022)

Hutson's debut is an interesting concept and she obviously did a lot of research. (How much Three's Company must she have watched?!) However, I had difficulty actually suspending my own disbelief.

Shadows of Berlin: A Novel
by David R. Gillham

Interesting main character (5/18/2022)

Thank heaven! At last, a post-WWII novel that isn't exactly like all the others.

French Braid: A novel
by Anne Tyler

Good afternoon's read (4/2/2022)

I'm not sure why, but this was my first Anne Tyler. I was pleasantly surprised and will be looking for more.

Surviving Savannah
by Patti Callahan

OK (4/2/2022)

A little slow to start and one of the early characters isn't important at all, which confused me. Otherwise, an average parallel historical/modern fiction.

Something to Hide: A Lynley Novel
by Elizabeth George

Breathtaking (3/15/2022)

Well worth the wait! Entry into a world most of us (thankfully) don't know, but that exists around us. Couldn't put it down.

Her Hidden Genius: A Novel
by Marie Benedict

Good history (2/23/2022)

Follows along in Benedict's usual course - good history, but so-so characters. I'm really interested in Rosalind Franklin, but Benedict's version is a flat, uninteresting woman who did remarkable things. There are hints Franklin was a more rounded woman, but I'll have to go to actual biographies for that. A novel should bring her out.

When Two Feathers Fell from the Sky
by Margaret Verble

Compelling (10/28/2021)

After the initial "set the stage" introduction (which was very interesting), Two Feathers seemed a little slow to start, but once I got past the chapters Margaret Verble needed for the backstory, I couldn't put it down. I'm off to find her earlier books.

Morningside Heights: A Novel
by Joshua Henkin

Real (9/29/2021)

Morningside Heights is very true to life as it happens - in a way that just pulled me in and held me.

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