For February, we read The Anomaly. If you are interested in joining us for the next meeting, in April, please send Robin an email at readerlybooks[at]gmail.com Background: This book was on several “best of” lists for 2021, including the New York Times. Here is a sampling of reviews and the publisher’s page: Penguin Random HouseContinue reading “Read Like a Writer Book Club Recap; The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier”
Category Archives: Book Reviews
A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde
Howler Alert! I discovered Wilde’s series by accident when I was doing some checking on Austen Fan Fiction for the JASNA Bibliography. What a fabulous pseudonym! I mostly enjoyed this entry in the Cozy Mystery genre and found it delightful, except for one ENORMOUS Howler. If you are a fan of historical mysteries, femaleContinue reading “A Useful Woman by Darcie Wilde”
Book Club for Writers
The Read Like a Writer Book Club begins this month! It will feature book discussions of great novels both past and present through the lens of a writer. We’ll deconstruct their work looking for lessons in craft, style, and story, so we can apply those lessons to our own works in progress. Our first bookContinue reading “Book Club for Writers”
Review of Lucy Foley’s The Paris Apartment
Full disclosure, I received an eGalley of this book prior to publication in exchange for a review. Lucy Foley has a talent for a certain kind of Thriller. She collects a group of entitled, mostly unlikeable characters in an isolated location, makes sure there are plenty of secrets nobody wants revealed, empowers an unreliable narratorContinue reading “Review of Lucy Foley’s The Paris Apartment”
Reflection on the Chawton House Reading Group, women in history and Mary Eleanor Bowes…
When Covid started and my in-person book clubs and groups started canceling, I went looking for something inspiring. What I found was the Chawton House Reading Group. For the uninitiated, Chawton House is the home of not only Jane Austen’s brother and in the same village as Jane Austen’s House Museum, but it is alsoContinue reading “Reflection on the Chawton House Reading Group, women in history and Mary Eleanor Bowes…”
Throwback Thursday AND Austenalia…First Impressions by Charlie Lovett
This review was originally written in 2014 Jane Austen fans are in for a treat in this literary mystery cum romance modeled on the beloved novels of Jane Austen. One nice twist is the addition of the parallel storyline about Jane Austen’s fictitious relationship with an older clergyman who helps encourage her writing aspirations. ManyContinue reading “Throwback Thursday AND Austenalia…First Impressions by Charlie Lovett”
The Rose Code by Kate Quinn
This is the second book I have read by Kate Quinn and I am going to be in the minority here when I say I found it mediocre at best. I read The Alice Network a couple of years ago for a book club and didn’t really like it, either . The spying plots inContinue reading “The Rose Code by Kate Quinn”
Throwback Thursday: Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough
In honor of the Netflix series, which by the way is just as dreadful as the book, I pulled out this old chestnut from 2017. Roasted… This was billed as psychological suspense, so I got sucked in. Though it has moments of brilliance, in the end, it falls flat, partially because the main character isContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Behind Her Eyes by Sarah Pinborough”
The Storm by Arif Anwar
The Storm is a beautifully woven tale that skips across time and geography to bring the reader into the life of Shar, a Ph.D student and policy wonk who has overstayed his student visa in the United States. Things are complicated. He has a daughter, but he is not married to her mother. If heContinue reading “The Storm by Arif Anwar”
Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd
Well, Janeites, it is with a heavy heart that I report to you: this book is not very good. I had high hopes, since it was a murder mystery, but alas those hopes were dashed upon the rocks of mediocrity. As may be surmised from the title, this is a retelling of Mansfield Park inContinue reading “Murder at Mansfield Park by Lynn Shepherd”
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