BookBrowse | Book Reviews and Recommendations

Reviews by Anke V. (Portland, OR)

The Botanist's Assistant
by Peggy Townsend

The Botanist's Assistant (7/17/2025)

Margaret Finch is precise, intelligent, and invaluable to the charming botanist Dr. Deaver, whom she finds dead in his office. While others believe he died of natural causes, Margaret has her doubts, and her attention to detail makes her a perfect sleuth, quickly finding …more

Making Friends Can Be Murder
by Kathleen West

MAKING FRIENDS CAN BE MURDER (3/14/2025)

Making Friends Can Be Murder is a cozy mystery with a unique premise. It revolves around a group of women ages 17 to 69, all named Sarah Jones, or so they think. When one of Sarah Jones is murdered, this group of unique personalities decides to go sleuthing to solve the …more

We'll Prescribe You a Cat
by Syou Ishida

WE'LL PRESCRIBE YOU A CAT, Syou Ishida (7/8/2024)

We'll prescribe you a Cat is a heartwarming and cozy series of short stories about people during troubled times visiting an elusive clinic in Kyoto that prescribes cats. Each chapter focuses on different patient-cat relationships, with the cats portrayed as therapeutic …more

The Cleaner: A Novel
by Brandi Wells

The Cleaner, Brandi Wells (2/29/2024)

The cleaner, by Brandi Wells, is such an odd book. The story is told through the eyes of an unnamed office cleaner who works the night shift. She is seen by few colleagues and appreciated by none. Sharing her work with the reader, we learn from the beginning that she …more

Strong Passions: A Scandalous Divorce in Old New York
by Barbara Weisberg

STRONG PASSIONS by Barbara Weisberg (1/7/2024)

Divorces can be messy. STRONG PASSIONS by Barbara Weisberg follows the story of the divorce battle between Mary and Peter Strong, offering an interesting look into married life and divorce in the late 1800s. In the first half, the author provides the perfect amount of …more background history on the couple and their families to give an understanding of important relationships. The second half reads like the transcript of the Strongs' divorce trial.
Mary Stevens and Peter Strong were born to privilege in New York. Mary was raised in a home with a puritanical atmosphere but slightly veered from the ideal of a passive, perfectly genteel young lady. Peter enjoyed the life of leisure of a well-to-do gentleman, the occupation of choice for many young men of his class, with his law degree from Columbia sitting on a shelf, unused. After marrying, Mary ceased legally to exist, and her desire for a dwelling of her own would never be realized: the couple lived at the Strong family estate in Queens, New York, under the thumb of Peter's mother. Peter, leading a free-wheeling carefree life on his mother's dime, often left Mary to fend for herself, providing no emotional support even during her miscarriages. Mamie and Allie, Mary's children, were her joy. Edward, Peter's widowed brother, was living in the bedroom across the hall from Mary and Peter.
The Strong v Strong Divorce Trial opened on November 23, 1865, lasted for five weeks and captivated the nation. Only seven months after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, the case provided a war-torn country with a shocking distraction and an unusual glimpse into the private world of New York's powerful and privileged elite. Peter and Mary each accused the other of adultery, requested a divorce, and asked for custody of the children. The freedom to legally remarry depended on obtaining a divorce decree, at least for the party judged innocent. The guilty party generally was barred from remarrying during the innocent party's lifetime. Peter demanded full custody of his daughters considering it to be his traditional paternal right. Mary having a will few could withstand, ran off with younger daughter, Allie, at the start of the trial.
Strong Passions reads like a novel, although it is a true story. The author makes the ins and outs of the late 1800s justice system (regarding divorce) in New York understandable. The obvious bias against women is an integral part of this story.
Thank you WW Norton & Company and BookBrowse for the print ARC in exchange for an honest review. (less)

Alfie and Me: What Owls Know, What Humans Believe
by Carl Safina

ALFIE AND ME, Carl Safina (9/26/2023)

This is a moving story about the rescue of an injured baby Eastern Screech Owl named Alfie. It recounts a heart-warming story of dedication, perseverance, and ultimate success by both Safina and Alfie. It provides details about Alfie's progress and final release back into …more

Banyan Moon: A Novel
by Thao Thai

BANYAN MOON, Thao Thai (5/23/2023)

This is a multi-generational story narrated by Minh (grandmother), Huong (daughter), and Ann (granddaughter). The story begins with Minh's death followed by Ann's return to her grandmother's decrepit house situated next to a Banyan tree, where she reconnects with her mother. …more

The Wager: A Tale of Shipwreck, Mutiny and Murder
by David Grann

The Wager (3/27/2023)

Set in 1740, this is the story of the treacherous journey of six English warships, the Wager among them, with the secret mission of capturing Spanish silver and gold near the tip of South America. While rounding Cape Horn, and battling an outbreak of scurvy, the weather …more

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

THE NAZY CONSPIRACY (12/30/2022)

The story centers around a possible Nazi attempt to kill Franklin D. Roosevelt (USA), Winston Churchill (UK), and Joseph Stalin (USSR) while they met at the secret summit of the Big Three in Tehran, Iran, in 1943, while WWII is raging. The book details the history of these …more

The Last Russian Doll
by Kristen Loesch

The Last Russian Doll (11/9/2022)

The Last Russian Doll is a sweeping historical fiction novel, with two equally compelling, engaging and entertaining storylines that blend past and present that interweave to build up a sense of mystery. Starting in Russia in 1915, Tonya's story spans decades encompassing …more

Take My Hand
by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

Take My Hand, a gem of a book (9/26/2021)

Inspired by true events, Take My Hand is a profoundly moving novel that moves between 2016 and 1973. Civil Townsend is a black nurse in 1970's Montgomery Alabama working at the Family Planning Clinic whose patients were mostly from poor black families. When Civil begins …more

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Book Jacket — Broken Country (Reese's Book Club)
by Clare Leslie Hall

A love triangle reveals deadly secrets in this thriller for fans of *The Paper Palace* and *Where the Crawdads Sing*.

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