Moon Women by Pamela Duncan: Book Review

4 Stars. I loved this book. I met author Pamela Duncan at a book festival a few years ago and just chattered away at her. I never do that. I’m usually all tongue-tied at author signings and rarely get out more than “Please” and “Thank you.” But it just felt like she was one of my kind of people and so I rattled on while she […]

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The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley: Book Review

4 Stars. I have waited entirely too long to write this review– over a year. But. I absolutely loved this story of brilliant little Flavia de Luce. She is going to be intimidating when she grows up. Wait. What am I talking about? She already is intimidating at the tender age of 11 or so. She’s a brilliant scientist with an […]

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The Prince of Frogtown by Rick Bragg: Book Review

4 Stars. Having now read one of Bragg’s books and listened to another, I am torn about the best medium. I’m left thinking that the best thing for everyone would be if his publishers just gave us one of those readalong books I remember from when I was little. “You’ll know it’s time to turn the page when you hear the chime ring like this […]

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Daytripper by Fábio Moon: Book Review

5 Stars. I read the first chapter of Daytripper and was completely taken aback. I was in the mood for some graphic novels and I had just grabbed whatever looked promising at my local library. I had never heard of this book and I didn’t read the synopsis too closely but it still caught my eye. When […]

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Naked Came the Leaf Peeper by Brian Lee Knopp: Book Review

4 Stars. That sounds oh-so-serious. Zany, unpredictable, and hilarious are probably the best words to describe this Western North Carolina tale. Written by 12 local authors, each getting a chapter, this seems to be a competition to see which one can throw the biggest curveball out for the next author to catch. They each did an […]

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Ava’s Man by Rick Bragg: Book Review

4 Stars. My uncle has been telling me for–oh, years now, that I just have to read Rick Bragg. I do take his recommendations seriously, but my to-read list is out of control and I’m just now getting to him. How I wish I had listened to my uncle earlier. I will not be waiting years to read more of Bragg’s work, that is for sure […]

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Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey: Book Review

4 Stars. This was not what I expected, but I’m not complaining. I expected more of a science-fictiony werewolf story and that’s not really what this is. The nonhuman? superhuman? other-than-human? side of Loup definitely defines a large part of her life, but it’s not really what drives […]

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Fool Moon by Jim Butcher: Book Review

I have to admit that this book spooked me a little. Not too bad, but I wasn’t expecting to be spooked at all. There are, I believe, four different kinds of werewolves running around Chicago, each scarier than the last. And holy cow. The worst is just–man. He’s a monster. So after finding myself out […]

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Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey: Book Review

This started out a little slow for me. It dragged along for about the first 150 pages. Then the action started and I couldn’t put it down. To oversimplify the plot, this is the story of Phèdre, a masochist who sleeps with her patrons not only for money, but also for state secrets. So, there were […]

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Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi: Book Review

4 Stars. I felt like I was sitting in this roomful of multi-generational women as they gossiped about themselves, each other, and friends they knew. I think all women have sat in a group like this, when there aren’t any men around, and said just exactly what we really think. It’s not all ladylike and demure. This is the chance […]

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Mansfield Park by Jane Austen: Book Review

3 Stars. I liked that Jane Austen was a little more barbed and pointed in this book. I can’t remember any specific examples, but there were a few times when I mentally thought, “Ouch! I can’t believe she wrote that!” It made the book a little more fun. On the other hand, the book was too long and dragged in places. Also, I […]

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