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”
Category Archives: Book Reviews
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”
Read Like a Writer Book Club Recap: The Aspern Papers by Henry James
Hello dear readers! This is the recap of our second meeting. Our next meeting will be July 19, 2022. If you would like an invite, please contact me at readerlybooks[at]gmail[dot]com. Happy Reading! Background Published in 1888, Novella, later edited by James and reissued. Genre: Realistic Fiction at the time; today it would be classic orContinue reading “Read Like a Writer Book Club Recap: The Aspern Papers by Henry James”
Throwback Thursday: Dead Wake by Erik Larson
This review was originally written in 2015 In the interest of full disclosure, I must admit that I am a big fan of Erik Larson. In the Garden of Beasts kept me up late at night, The Devil in the White City creeped me out, Thunderstruck left me, well, thunderstruck. With great anticipation I opened my e-galley (Thank you Crown!) andContinue reading “Throwback Thursday: Dead Wake by Erik Larson”
Throwback Thursday; My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock
This book originally came out in 2011 and it was one of the many that I read on my Kindle back when everyone thought print was DEAD. Well, as the saying goes, rumors of the death of print were greatly exaggerated and it is still with us! Usually Throwback Thursday features a book review thatContinue reading “Throwback Thursday; My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock”
Read Like a Writer Book Club Recap; The Anomaly by Hervé Le Tellier
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”
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”