BJ N

BookBrowse Reviewer

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BookBrowse Reviewer BJ is a BookBrowse Reviewer and has written reviews featured in The BookBrowse Review.

A writer, bookseller and artist, BJ Nathan Hegedus is a lover, foremost, of good tales. Her essays and short stories have been anthologized and also included in local publications. She is currently at work on a memoir collection about the wonders of growing up in Manhattan.

BookBrowse Editorial Reviews (10)

BookBrowse Editorial Review

Splendors and Glooms
by Laura Amy Schlitz

(11/28/2012)

At 384 pages, Splendors and Glooms is a meaty-sized book with short chapters making the journey more than comfortable. Splendors and Glooms is a magical adventure for readers and listeners alike to enjoy.

BookBrowse Editorial Review

The Dovekeepers: A Novel

(4/4/2012)

The Dovekeepers, meticulously researched for five years, transports us to this ancient time and is filled with such rich detail, one can almost smell the cumin-dusted challah browning as it bakes. Without a doubt, this is Alice Hoffman's finest work to date, catapulting it far and above her previous endeavors.

BookBrowse Editorial Review

Scenes from Village Life
by Amos Oz

(10/19/2011)

While initially these stories seem to be very much about Israeli life and culture, in fact, they are so much more. They speak of relationships each one of us wrestles with at some time - with ourselves, with the land, and with mortality (to name a few). Each one is achingly evocative and haunting, and though all the stories stand alone, main characters in one sometimes appear in the background of another; the idea being that no matter how solitary our lives may seem at times, we are a part of ot

BookBrowse Editorial Review

Started Early, Took My Dog: A Novel
by Kate Atkinson

(5/12/2011)

The prolific Kate Atkinson once again shows herself to be a master at crafting literary mystery with Started Early, Took My Dog. Unlike many mysteries, where the action is plot-driven (characters conveniently appear to carry things along), Kate Atkinson uses murder and mayhem to flesh out her characters and the dastardly crimes that define who they are and what they're capable of.

BookBrowse Editorial Review

The Empty Family: Stories
by Colm Toibin

(2/16/2011)

The Empty Family is a haunting collection of nine short stories that speaks to the connections we make with both people and places. It explores the idea that recognizing and acknowledging the profound influence both these aspects have on us leads us to be content with who we are. The high bar of expectation set by Tóibín's previous books is met if not surpassed by this work. Once again we are given the gift of wonderful writing, not only because of the journeys we are taken on but the way

BookBrowse Editorial Review

The Good Daughters: A Novel
by Joyce Maynard

(9/22/2010)

Joyce Maynard's ability to define her characters - their vulnerability, their dimensionality, their flaws their strengths, their resolve to do the best they can - grabs hold, completely captivating us. We follow the lives of both Dana and Ruth as chapters alternate between the two girls' voices, watching them grow from children into women... Maynard's previous novel, Labor Day, dealt with how the choices we make define our own lives. With The Good Daughters, she explores how decisi

BookBrowse Editorial Review

The Chosen One

(9/8/2010)

Writing young adult fiction is a tricky endeavor, for the reader walks a fine line between juvenile and adult worlds. A successful book of this genre must tread ever so carefully on the line that separates interesting and evocative from inappropriate. It must provoke thought without being overly explicit. No easy feat when the subject matter is polygamy.

The Chosen One serves as a fine example of handling such a difficult issue deftly ... Kyra's story is not easily forgotten and of

BookBrowse Editorial Review

Alone With You: Stories
by Marisa Silver

(6/9/2010)

Alone With you is a jewel. Actually a cache of many gems, each one complete and powerful in both the feelings that they evoke and the eloquent way in which they unfold. ... this collection of tales is about ordinary, down to earth people, trying to make sense out of life's messiness. We easily identify with them and see ourselves, our own lives played out in the defining moments of their journeys. We ache for them and with them, for their dilemmas, their hardships and their sorrows. Yet e

BookBrowse Editorial Review

Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel
by Helen Simonson

(3/3/2010)

Helen Simonson crafts an enchanting tale, brilliant in its simple yet profound insight into human nature - a light and crisp perfection. Her characters etch themselves into your head and heart, lingering long after the last page has been savored... This autumn-of-life love story - messy, funny, complicated and filled with the promise of possibility no matter what your age - is not to be missed. And like all good things, including fresh fruit tarts, the memory of enjoying it will make you smile w

BookBrowse Editorial Review

Abigail Adams
by Woody Holton

(11/19/2009)

Woody Holton artfully shapes vast archives of documents and correspondence into an intimate portrait of a freethinking, clever and articulate visionary navigating the narrow perimeters of her time. Though the word did not yet exist in the late 1700's, Abigail Adams may well have been the country's first feminist. One can only imagine her nod of approval if she could see how far her "female sex" has come.

Reviews (1)

Adam & Eve: A Novel
by Sena Jeter Naslund

Adam & Eve (9/17/2010)

Question: What do you get when you mix The DaVinci Code, Eat Pray Love, McGyver, Clan of the Cave Bear and ET all together; using plot contrivance and non stop eye rolling coincidences to propel characters, first clothed in Amsterdam, then naked in Eden, later clothed in Italian linen in France, as they struggle along their personal spiritual journeys while doing battle with a secret society lead by a deranged rabbi, a fundamentalist Muslim, and a Christian physicist hell bent on destroying newly found discoveries that will greatly impact the world? Answer: a 335- page disaster.

BookBrowse Book Club

Book Jacket — When No One Else Will
by Amanda Skenandore

1940s Chicago nurse risks everything at an illegal women’s clinic during a high-profile trial of courage and sisterhood.

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