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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.
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.)
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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