Category: Uncategorized

Our Marriage is Murder by Carol Goodman (Literary Mystery)

A love story and a mystery, immersed in literary and classical references with a touch of modern greed and drama. Master genre novelists Fred and Theda Morgan-Lane are both writing and life partners. At least they were. Now — on the cusp of attending a mystery convention at the gorgeous Italian castle where their very popular “Death Takes a Holiday” series was launched — they plan to announce the end of both. Or at least Theda does; Fred has a few other plans up his sleeve. Ignoring whatever plans they each may have, things start going horribly wrong as one by one the murders from their first novel seem to be repeating in real life.

The writing is (as always) good; the pacing deliberate and triggering just the right blend of edge-of-the-seat and calm curiosity; and the characters are all interesting (to me) people. The characters and their various relationships are intriguing because they capture multiple levels of overlapping and inconsistent emotional undercurrents. Especially once the murders start and everyone is forced to look at everyone else in a whole new, and highly suspicious, way. Goodman is both a classicist and a feminist, and both themes run through the narrative in credible fashion. Most importantly, the resolution was surprising (to me), tenable, and completely satisfying — the perfect combination!

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on July 21st, 2026.

Evelyn in Transit by David Guterson (Literary Fiction)

Writing: 5/5 Characters: 4/5 Plot: 3.5/5

A beautifully written story that slowly winds its way through the process of transitioning new incarnations of a Tibetan Tulku — the “emanation of a realized being.” Two parallel narratives come together mid way through the book to cover the identification of the seventh incarnation of the Tibetan abbot Norbu Rinpoche. The first narrative follows Evelyn, a midwest misfit who travels the country doing odd jobs and questioning life, purpose, time, belief and perceptions. The other follows Tsering, a rural Tibetan who accepts his position as the sixth incarnation of the Rinpoche, while continuing to question the whole concept. These stories come together when Evelyn’s five-year old son is identified as seventh Rinpoche after Tsering passes away.

I enjoyed the philosophical nature of this book. The “action” in each story line is minimal, but it is accompanied by a deep and ongoing questioning on the nature of the world and one’s place in it. Unlike a lot of the literary fiction that I read, very little of this questioning thought is devoted to understanding one’s own internal machinations. Both characters appear detached to me, showing little emotion, worry, or planning for the future. Instead, each seemed to embody the “Be Here Now” tenet of Buddhism. This made the book (for me) more of an intellectual exercise, rather than an engaging story. The language was stellar, the characters interesting, but not engaging at an emotional level, and the story a little slow paced for my taste. However, it was certainly thought provoking which counts for a lot in my world. As an aside, the author’s note at the end made it clear that he had met Evelyn and her son, and that parts of this story were based on their experiences.

Thank you to W. W. Norton & Company and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on January 20th, 2026.

Enormous Wings by Laurie Frankel (Literary Fiction)

I wanted to like this book — Laurie Frankel is a fun and sharp writer and I loved Family, Family. She excels at writing families who are faced with every permutation of reproductive drama — unwanted pregnancies, adoptions, abortions, you name it — and who deal with them in an abundance of creative ways. This book’s discombobulating surprise? Pepper Mills — a 77-year old woman recently shunted to an old age home by her well-meaning but (in her opinion) overly controlling children — finds herself … pregnant! A bizarre situation by any standard but in this case, she also happens to live in Texas — home of some of the most “innovative” no-abortions-allowed legislation. (To be fair, we do get an explanation later in the book that does make this pregnancy more plausible than it first appears).

I loved the humor which is wry, supported by a fair amount of carefully launched sarcasm, and reminiscent of the Jewish family I always wished I lived in. I also loved the discussions, the ethical (and bizarre) questions, and every single one of the primary characters including a great set of “oldies” at the Home, and the myriad children and grandchildren who all add their personal (and multi-generational) slant to the events. I really loved the many one liners that had me laughing out loud — this woman can write! And how can you not love Pepper? Her thoughts, irritations, and love for each individual she connected with are coupled with her absolute insistence on good grammar! I’m not actually very good with grammar myself, but I really appreciate those who are.

My only complaint — and it was big enough to warrant my dropping the rating a point — is that the book was too long and spent much of that excess length on a long pro-choice / anti-Texan rant lecture. I am, and always have been, pro-choice, and I think the recent anti-abortion laws in Texas are wrong in so many ways — but I still resent the incredibly heavy handed depiction of people in Texas (including doctors) who are two-dimensionally mean and manipulative with their only goal appearing to be keeping women under control. It’s a long-standing technique in the world of fiction to make the bad guys really, obviously, Bad. It makes it easier to hate them and side with the author’s idea of the “good” people. But in our era of extreme polarization and encouraged hate, I’m pretty sick of it. I’m sure I’m overreacting here, but it really spoiled the book for me. Too much pounding of the message, even though the message was well-established from the first pages and anyone who was reading this probably already in agreement.

So — fun to read if you can ignore the stereotyped baddies and skim a bit at the end…

Thank you to Henry Holt & Co. and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on May 5th, 2025.

Becoming Baba: Fatherhood, Faith, and Finding Meaning in America by Aymann Ismail (Memoir)

This is a well-written and illuminating memoir recording Ismail’s personal experience of building a life as American Muslim. In many ways, this is a typical “child of immigrants” story — finding a balance between the traditional values and expectations in which he was raised and the not-so-traditional American culture in which he lives — but the story is somewhat atypical because being a Muslim in America is not always an easy thing to be. The memoir focuses primarily on the topics in the subtitle — how to live a good and meaningful life, be a good Muslim, be a good husband and father with the definition of “good” being something that evolves over time with a great deal of thought and discussion.

I read this book to better understand the Muslim religion and those who practice it — especially in light of the pretty scary practices of the more extreme Muslim groups which (unfortunately) seem to have control over the places most Muslims live. I did get a much better understanding of what I would called “American Islam” vs extremist Islam from Ismail’s 15 short “Who’s Afraid of Aymann Ismail?” video episodes than I did from the book, which didn’t obviously differentiate between the two. I got the impression that Ismail didn’t think he should have to explain that, but to those of us who have met few Muslims but read a lot of (scary) news, the clarification of his video series helped a lot. In the memoir, his comments on both 9/11 and the Israel Hamas war were complaints about the negative impact on American Muslims without a word of condemnation of the attackers or acknowledgement of the pain of the victims. This disturbed me. To be fair, Ismail is unashamedly anti-Israel and doesn’t seem to feel the need to understand “the other side” at all, though one of his video episodes focussed on man who had tried to do that — and was roundly attacked by the Islam community. At any rate, I did enjoy most of the video series, and gained some real education on topics that had not been clear to me, and when I step away from the political (which was NOT the focus of the memoir) I found it to document a well reflected journey that supports values I could easily relate to.

Thank you to Doubleday and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on July 8th, 2025.

The Road to Tender Hearts by Annie Hartnett (Literary Fiction)

I was a big Annie Hartnett fan and after reading this book I am a bigger fan!

The very first line: “Things were falling apart at the nursing home in Pondtown, a small town in the armpit of Massachusetts,” was quickly followed by the introduction of my favorite character — Pancakes the cat — with his affinity for those whose (sometimes surprising) deaths are on the Grim Reaper’s schedule. And that was it — I was hooked.

A cast of characters: PJ, a lottery winner who has succumbed to alcoholism after the death of a daughter; Sophie, his other daughter who has developed a healthy distrust of him as a parental figure; Luna and Ollie, two youngsters suddenly orphaned in not the healthiest way, suddenly dropped in PJ’s lap; and the aforementioned cat. All set off on the world’s weirdest road trip chasing a fantasy paternity prospect and an equally fanciful long lost love prospect. While each character is a little broken, this only tugs the heartstrings in what turns out to be a positive way. Great dialog, wild and wonderful storytelling sprouting from memories and passed down tales, and some atypical (understatement) attitudes toward life and death.

Thank you to Ballantine Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on April 29th, 2025.

Spirit Crossing by William Kent Krueger

Writing: 3/5 Characters: 4.5/5 Plot: 3.5/5

This is my first foray into the Cork O’Connor, Minnesota Ojibwe territory mystery series. Obviously I’m way behind because this is the 20th in the series! In this story, a body “felt” by O’Connor’s 7-year old grandson on a berry picking expedition turns out not to be the missing daughter of a local (white) politician, causing the FBI and BCA to lose interest rapidly. But through his grandson’s “visions” they quickly identify the body as belonging to a local native girl, missing for some time. And O’Connor, along with the tribal police and local sheriff, do not lose interest. Danger ratchets up for everyone as more grim discoveries are made and the grandson (among others) appears to be the next target.

There were several other story lines not directly related to the plot. Members of O’Connor’s family are part of a large, and sometimes violent protest at the Stockbridge pipeline. One of his daughter’s has just returned from Guatemala with a pretty deep secret that she isn’t quite ready to share. And there are plenty of depressing stories of trafficking, runaway Native girls, alcoholism, and other stereotypically labeled Native American problems. A strong theme of forgiveness, even for people who commit heinous acts, with the blame laid squarely on their bad childhoods. To be honest, this always rubs me the wrong way. Not everyone who has a bad childhood becomes a cold hearted killer, and regardless of the problem’s origin, people who are or who have become sociopaths need to be stopped. But I digress.

Overall, I liked the characters. I found the writing acceptable though a little choppy, sometimes making deep sentiments come off as saccharine when they really aren’t. The plot moved at a good pace, though I didn’t appreciate the preachiness (and the fact that all but one white man were “bad” while all Natives and women were “good.”) I did enjoy the depiction of Native philosophy and positive ways of life when we weren’t focusing on those afflicted by alcoholism, abandonment, etc.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 20th, 2024.

Shy Creatures by Clare Chambers

Writing: 4/5 Characters: 5/5 Plot: 3.5/5

1964. When William — a mute and (very) shaggy man — is found in decrepit conditions in a London suburb, he is taken to a psychiatric clinic for evaluation.  He apparently had not left the house for over ten years.  When William turns out to have a real artistic talent, Helen, the clinic art therapist, feels drawn to the “Hidden Man” and makes him into a special project.  The narrative branches off in two directions.  The first follows Helen as she tries to unravel the mystery of the Hidden Man’s origins while also coming to terms with her increasingly disastrous relationship with the appealing, but definitely married, psychiatrist treating William.  Alternating sections follow William’s story backwards through time — eventually providing the answers in events taking place in 1938.

The story was compelling, and I liked the backwards progression through William’s life slowly explaining how he developed into the man he became.  All of the characters were deftly drawn, and I enjoyed the reflection and details that helped me understand (though not necessarily empathize with!) their various personalities.  I found the psychological tools and thinking of the era fascinating and wished there had been slightly more of that and less day-to-day descriptions.  I found the book a little long winded, but with a little judicious skimming (sorry!) I enjoyed it from beginning to end and appreciated the relatively upbeat ending (will say no more about this!)

I found the writing at the sentence level to be excellent.  Here are a few quotes:

“Helen started to feel the intestinal cramping and queasiness that often accompanied the contemplation of her moral failings.”

“As usual, thoughts of her mother prompted a wave of guilt, swiftly followed by a cancelling backwash of resentment.”

 “The fact that his ire was aimed not at them, but at some nearby object that confounded him didn’t make it any easier to ignore; for quiet people, raised voices are experienced as a kind of aggression even when directed elsewhere.”

Thank you toMariner Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.The book will be published on November 12th, 2024.

The Secret Recipe of Ella Dove (Women’s Fiction)

Number three in the Dove Pond Series, each following the fortunes of one of the seven (somewhat magical) Dove sisters. Book one featured the youngest, Sarah, who can always tell exactly which book a person needs to read; book two focuses on Ava, second youngest, who brews a set of specialty teas that can induce calm, sleep, or romance; and this book introduces Ella, third youngest, who is a social media star baker whose products stimulate the recall of cherished memories in the consumer. It’s warm and uplifting chick lit with some very genuine, sweet scenes; good messaging around communication and facing your difficulties; and the requisite seriously good guy love interest. Nobody is perfect, which I appreciate, but regardless of some of their more negative attributes, they all want to be good people and all are trying their hardest to protect their loved ones, even if that isn’t always the best strategy! I’ve really lost interest in the new pile of books that are about very broken people who don’t always seem to manage to grow into decent human beings during the arc of the story. This book made me feel cheerful…

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on August 15th, 2023.

Titanium Noir by Nick Harkaway (SciFi / Mystery)

Writing: 4.5/5 Plot: 4.5/5 Characters: 4/5

Screams noir from the very first (excellent) sentence. Cal Sounder — hard-nosed detective (with a heart, of course) — specializes in “socio-medical criminal investigations.” In other words, he gets called in on highly sensitive cases — those concerning the Titans, the medically enhanced elite who run … everything. In this case he gets thrown a murder — of a very odd Titan.

I liked this book a lot — it made me think, it surprised me (after 50+ years of reading SF, this is difficult to do), and it was quite well-written. The banter between characters was edgy and often laugh out loud funny (in the wry snorting kind of way); the plot kept twisting in unexpected directions; and the rich inner life of our hero often featured struggles with confusing philosophical issues. I really liked the way being / becoming a Titan had a cost. Nothing about the story was straightforward. A side note in the story — writing with a pen engages theta rhythms and parietal lobe activity in the brain leading to better and faster retention. I knew it!

Great for fans of John Varley’s Irontown Blues — one of my favorites.

Some good quotes:
“No need to waste a perfectly good bit of bad news with conversation.”

“In her hands, a corpse is like one of those old Bibles chained up in a dusty room, not only the printed text and the rich colours of the pictures, but the records of marriage and birth and deaths in the back pages, the history of a town.”

“If either one of them was possessed of a rich and healthy interior life, we wouldn’t be meeting at Victor’s.”

“But at the end, he clapped, the way people clap when they’re crying inside.”

“She hates old movies and TV shows. A lot of people do, without knowing why. It doesn’t occur to them to notice that we’re locked to the patterns of life in the moment T7 was developed, as if there can’t be new things because the old ones aren’t going away.”

“I should have preferred him discursive. I suspect his death is very much of his own engineering, thought of course one always looks to the employer in such a context.”

Thank you to Knopf and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on May 16th, 2023

The Cliff’s Edge by Charles Todd (Historical Mystery)

Number 13 in the Bess Crawford series. Bess served as a nursing sister on the battlefields of WWI in France. Now it is 1919 and the war has ended. Bess is asked to nurse a formidable (and delightful) Countess Dowager through a gall bladder surgery in Yorkshire. But when the Dowager’s godson is gravely injured and another man killed during a terrible accident, Bess goes to help and becomes enmeshed in a bitter feud.

Oddly enough I find this series very calming (for me, not the characters!). The pace of life was slower at that time, and the authors (a mother and son team who go by the pseudonym “Charles Todd”) do an excellent job of blending action, context, interactions, and scene setting to keep the interest of different types of readers. This particular story was more gripping than usual, and I found myself wildly swiping my kindle pages to get to the end. Complete closure on the mystery but an additional little cliffhanger about the personal background of one of the series’ main characters has me wriggling with anticipation.

Thank you to William Morrow and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. The book will be published on February 14th, 2022.