Archive for the ‘Full Reviews’ Category

Review: The Reader

The Reader
Bernhard Schlink
Vintage Books, 2008
ISBN 0307473465
Mass Market Paperback

When 15-year-old Michael Berg discovers an older woman willing to become his lover, he thinks he’s the student. Yet, intimacy with Hanna comes with one condition–he’s got to read to her first.
Michael never thought much about this odd form of foreplay until years later when Hanna’s on trial [...]

February 26, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: Margarita Nights

Margarita Nights
Phyllis Smallman
McArthur & Company
ISBN 1552786994
Trade Paperback
Some women just pick the wrong guy to fall in love with.  Sherri Travis is one.  She loves Jimmy Travis.  I’m not sure why.  He is a golf pro from a better social class than Sherri, and he tends to get into all kinds of trouble.  Money trouble.  Woman [...]

February 24, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: The Sound of Building Coffins

The Sound of Building Coffins
Louis Maistros
Toby Press, 2009
ISBN 1592642551
Hardcover
I first read the first 5000 words of “The Sound of Building Coffins” as part of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards in 2008.  If I had the rest of the book, I would have finished reading right then.  As it was, those first chapters haunted me. I [...]

February 20, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: The Heretic’s Daughter

The Heretic’s Daughter
Kathleen Kent
Back Bay Books, 2009
ISBN 031602449X
Trade Paperback
For me there are numerous mysteries of life, most of which involve how we humans treat other humans (and animals). My list includes but is not limited to:
Inhumane treatment of American Indians;
Slavery;
and
The Salem witch trials.
How could our ancestors have made major advances in so many different improvements [...]

February 18, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: Split

Split
Swati Avasthi
Alfred A. Knopf Books for Young Readers
ISBN 0375863400
Hardcover (ARC), March 2010
When his abusive father kicks him out for having the audacity to fight back, 16-year-old Jace Witherspoon has only one place to go–his older brother Christian in New Mexico. From Chicago to Albuquerque is not an easy trip, particularly if you have only recently [...]

February 15, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: The Hearts of Horses

The Hearts of Horses
Molly Gloss
Mariner Books
ISBN 0547085753
Trade Paperback, 2008
Younger me had a herd of Breyers and read every horse book I could have laid my hands on.  Molly Gloss’s “The Hearts of Horses” has the same feel as the great classics I read back as a child.

Based on oral histories from real cowgirls, the book [...]

February 8, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: Eggs Benedict Arnold

Eggs Benedict Arnold
Laura Childs
Berkley, 2009
ISBN 0425231550
Mass Market (ARC)
When I think of this book, I think first about Petra, Suzanne and Toni. These women joined their talents to create one fabulous eating, reading and knitting place of comfort where one can hang in peace. At least that was the plan.
Add to the mix Carmen, the neighborhood [...]

February 5, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: The Enchantment Emporium

The Enchantment Emporium
Tanya Huff
Daw Books
ISBN 0756405556
Hardcover, 2009
Allie Gale is wallowing in gloom after her job ended and there are no prospects of friendship or employment forthcoming. Her multi-member family of witches is about to take some action when Allie receives a letter from her Grandmother which opens with:
If you are reading this, I am dead…
Grandma’s [...]

February 4, 2010  Tags:   Posted in: Full Reviews, Uncategorized  No Comments

Review: Grave Secret

Grave Secret
Charlaine Harris
Berkley, 2009
ISBN 0425230155
Hardcover
Harper Connelly and Tolliver Lang are going back home to Texas to salve a rich rancher’s curiosity. Harper is to read Rich Joyce’s remains to tell his granddaughter how he really died. What she discovers is nothing the family actually wanted to know.
Someone Rich knew greeted him on the road and [...]

January 30, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  No Comments

Review: Broken Places

Broken Places
Sandra Parshall
Poisoned Pen Press, February 2010
ISBN 1590586530
Hardcover (ARC)–Also Available in Trade Paperback
When I began this book, I thought that I had remembered that I had read both previous Dr. Rachel Goddard books. I was wrong and I believe it influenced my reading of this book. I will have to go back and read the [...]

January 29, 2010  Tags: ,   Posted in: Full Reviews  3 Comments