Someone by Alice McDermott Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 2013 240 pages The Boston Girl by Anita Diamant Scribner, 2014 336 pages The company where I work serves the real estate industry, which has two primary trade show seasons each year: one that runs January-May and one that runs August-November. Being the marketing director, I do … Continue reading Someone and The Boston Girl
A Long Way From Chicago
A Long Way From Chicago by Richard Peck Dial Press, 1998 192 pages When I first started this blog, I made a few rules for myself. One of them was never to review the same author more than once. For 7 years, I've kept that rule - but now I'm about to break it. Six … Continue reading A Long Way From Chicago
The Case of the Missing Marquess
The Case of the Missing Marquess (An Enola Holmes Mystery) by Nancy Springer Scholastic, 2006 224 pages I'm pretty ambivalent about books that amend the work of dead authors. Some - like the annotations and new stories released by the Tolkien estate - find their way onto my bookshelf. But I tend to give a wide … Continue reading The Case of the Missing Marquess
West of the Moon
West of the Moon by Margi Preus Amulet Books, 2014 224 pages You might have noticed that, lately, I've mostly been reviewing books for teens and young women. It hasn't been intentional - just the natural outcome of my recent reading patterns. My daughter is 11 now, and a wide-ranging and advanced reader. We still have a "bedtime" book … Continue reading West of the Moon
Under the Egg
Under the Egg by Laura Marx Fitzgerald Dial, 2014 247 pages I love literary serendipity. A couple of years ago, while my husband was out of town one week, I watched a documentary called The Rape of Europa. It was my first encounter with the story of the Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives (MFAA) military … Continue reading Under the Egg
Sarah, Plain and Tall
Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan HarperCollins, 1985 58 pages For most of my childhood, my family attended a church that had a lending library. Among the books were novels about pioneer-era mail-order marriages, which I completely devoured. They were trite and fluffy reads, but through them I caught a glimpse of something serious: … Continue reading Sarah, Plain and Tall
Super Secondaries: The Ladies of Norvelt
Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos Farrar Straus Giroux, 2011 341 pages I have a thing for dark humor. I'm also a fan of period fiction (sometimes truly historical, sometimes not) and stories with a strong regional flavor. Give me a book, TV show, or movie that combines the two, and I'm in heaven. … Continue reading Super Secondaries: The Ladies of Norvelt
