This book is fantastic. It is historical fiction that is also literary and it contains so much fodder for great discussions. I hope you and some friends will read it and discuss it. It will be featured in an upcoming episode of the Read Like a Writer Book Club podcast, so stay tuned! The structureContinue reading “Book Review: Trust by Hernan Diaz”
Category Archives: Book Reviews
Mystery and Thriller Round up for 2022
It is time for year end lists! Here’s my list of favorite mysteries and thrillers I read in 2022. NOTE—I read these in 2022, some of them were published earlier… Each of these are a great mini-masterclass for mystery writers, too. Each does a wonderful job of keeping the reader curious, building suspense, but withoutContinue reading “Mystery and Thriller Round up for 2022”
Book Review: Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin
Brontë’s Mistress is an exploration of what happens when women are socialized to be decorative and seem to have no other purpose. Our anti-heroine, Lydia Robinson, is the woman who became Branwell Brontë’s mistress during the 1840s. Some readers may find her unlikable, spoiled, whiny, even extremely self-centered. As an anti-heroine, these qualities are notContinue reading “Book Review: Brontë’s Mistress by Finola Austin”
Book Review: The Fell by Sarah Moss
NOTE to writers: this book breaks a lot of the “rules” you’ve been told in good faith to follow. Please realize this is not her first novel, so she has more freedom to experiment. It’s okay to break the rules sometimes, if you can do it well, which she does. 🙂 This book is aboutContinue reading “Book Review: The Fell by Sarah Moss”
The Readerly NaNoPlanMo Virtual Retreat is Coming!
Do you struggle with finding time to write, because you have a busy schedule and no trust fund? Do you start writing a new novel because you have this fabulous idea, but then run out of gas about 30 pages in? Do you have a draft that needs revision, but you aren’t sure where toContinue reading “The Readerly NaNoPlanMo Virtual Retreat is Coming!”
Read Like a Writer Book Club Recap
We had a great July meeting and discussed Apples Never Fall by Liane Moriarty. If you missed it and would like to see the notes, click below. One thing that came up in the meeting was that we would all like to see a Story Grid/Bookmap analysis of this novel. I am not promising anything,Continue reading “Read Like a Writer Book Club Recap”
Book Review: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams
A novel written with book people in mind, this is a delightful examination of how reading can change lives and bring people together, which is, of course, a topic near and dear to my heart. I will not tell a lie, the analysis of the titles on the list is surface at best, but theContinue reading “Book Review: The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams”
Throwback Thursday: Germinal by Emile Zola
Originally reviewed June 2015 First a little background: Emile Zola was a French novelist during the late nineteenth century and is credited with founding the naturalist school of fiction writing. His contemporaries, and indeed friends, included Flaubert, Balzac, and Stendhal. Zola attempted to apply the methods of natural science to fiction writing to make itContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Germinal by Emile Zola”
Throwback Thursday: The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango
Originally reviewed 2015 Finally, something edgy, clever, and not the least bit condescending. The unreliable narrator will keep you guessing until long after you close the book. When we meet Henry, he is in the midst of a crisis. His mistress is pregnant, but he likes being married to his wife, who incidentally, is theContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: The Truth and Other Lies by Sascha Arango”
Austenalia: The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray
Those of you who are regular readers will know that I was looking forward to reading this novel. It is an Austen fan fiction cozy mystery written by an author that I first became acquainted with through her Young Adult novels. Here’s the set up: it’s a house party starring the Darcys, the Knightleys, theContinue reading “Austenalia: The Murder of Mr. Wickham by Claudia Gray”