Behave by Andromeda Romano-Lax is the story of Rosalie Rayner Watson and her marriage to psychologist John B. Watson, who came to be known as the Father of Behaviorism. This happens to be another of those books that's tough for me to review as there is a great disparity in what I feel about the author's abilities as a writer and story teller and my overall impression of the book. I think the ...
NetGalley
Review of “The Summer Before the War” by Helen Simonson
Helen Simonson has proven she's no one-trick pony. The author of the NYT bestselling debut, Major Pettigrew's Last Stand, has left no doubt that she is here to stay. The Summer Before the War transports us to the beautiful seaside town of Rye, East Sussex. My mind's eye has conjured a bit of a Pleasantville feel to this innocent pre-war town where everything is just as it should be at the ...
Review of “Sisi: Empress on Her Own” by Allison Pataki
I really loved The Traitor's Wife by Allison Pataki and was super-excited at the opportunity to read and review Sisi: Empress on Her Own. Unfortunately, it fell a little flat for me. I'm not sure if, in part at least, it's because I didn't read The Accidental Empress. I found the comparison to Princess Diana to be quite a stretch since Sisi seemed to face consistent criticism for her lack of ...
Review of “Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O’Keeffe” by Dawn Tripp
Wow. Dawn Tripp can write! "Here I am again. Held down, held back, in a power struggle with some arrogant man, his ego and incompetence that has nothing to do with my art. It's like they're all together in some maddening conspiracy to make me good enough, but not good enough to topple them." Georgia: A Novel of Georgia O'Keeffe is a beautifully written account of Georgia O'Keefe's life. As a ...
Review of “Tears in the Grass” by Lynda Archer
Tears in the Grass is the story of Elinor, a 90 year old Cree woman, and her quest to find the child that was taken from her as a newborn while she was living in a residential school. The child, a girl named Bright Eyes, was born after Elinor was raped by a man at the school. The year is now 1968 and more than 70 years have past. Elinor has never forgotten her beautiful daughter. She never told ...
Review of “The Two-Family House” by Lynda Cohen Loigman
I must admit that The Two-Family House surprised me in the end. It started off quite slowly. Initially, I found the writing to be clinical and I thought I knew just where it was going when I was 9% through. This all changed dramatically at about the 60% mark. Rose and Helen are sisters-in-law living in the same Brooklyn brownstone. They have always been very close; more like sisters than ...
Review of “On the Shores of Darkness, There is Light” by Cordelia Strube
This is one of the BEST books I have read in a very long time! I'm going to put it out there and say I believe this book will really put Cordelia Strube, who I was previously unfamiliar with, on the map in a BIG way. She certainly deserves any awards, accolades, screenplays, etc. that come her way as a result of writing this beautiful and meaningful book. I should stop gushing now. I rarely gush ...
Review of “The Singing Bone” by Beth Hahn
The Singing Bone is the story of a group of teenagers in NY who become involved with Jack Wyck, a narcissistic pyschopath, in 1979. "Mr. Wyck" as he likes to be called, seems to have the ability to control everyone he comes into contact with his Mansonesque methods including fear, intimidation, and violence. It all falls apart one fateful evening as several horrific acts of murder bring about the ...
Review of “Why We Came to the City” by Kristopher Jansma
After reading 36% of this book, I've made the decision to put it down and move on. This is not a decision made without careful consideration. It would have been an easy decision if there was something particularly objectionable or "wrong" with the book. Truthfully, I just couldn't engage no matter how many times I put it down and picked it back up. I did feel there were a few instances where the ...
Review of “Hidden Bodies” by Caroline Kepnes
Thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for providing me with a free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. Hidden Bodies, by Caroline Kepnes, is the sequal to You. Though I hadn't read You, I didn't have any trouble getting pulled into this series about a really nice guy who is down on his luck in the love department rare book dealer/murderer turned Hollywood writer/murderer. After all, ...
