The plot of The Death of Us isn’t bad idea—the body of woman who may be the birth mother of your not quite adoptive teenage son is found in the quarry behind your house—but the execution was kind of slow. Not much happened for many chapters at a time beyond the main character talking about … Continue reading
This American Ex-Wife is another book where I wish it was just a memoir and the author didn’t try to make so many connections to the greater world. I don’t think they worked as well as they could have. Unlike Geraldine DeRuiter, she is a journalist and experienced researcher but it doesn’t help as much … Continue reading
I wish Geraldine DeRuiter had written a memoir or personal essay collection instead of trying to shoehorn facts into her book of essays. The connection between the topic, the some sort of personal story she’d include and the facts she footnotes was often very tenuous. She does not seem to be an academic, a reporter or … Continue reading
I listened to all of the Ann Cleeves Vera, Shetland and Two Rivers novels and then moved to the Karen Pirie series by Val McDermid. Some themes, like fatphobia re: the main character are similar and for both Vera and the first book barely mentioned the detective until most of the book was over and … Continue reading
The Widow’s Guide to Dead Bastards by Jessica Waite Continue reading
Group Living and Other Recipes by Lola Milholland Continue reading
I had requested this from NetGalley but wasn’t selected so I am happy the library ordered it. The Night of the Storm was a mixed bag. The setting— a hurricane headed for and then hunkering down in Houston, Texas—was fun and different. I liked the time spent on family and cultural dynamics. However, there were … Continue reading
Snacking Bakes was a little repetitive and contradictory at times. The author lists espresso powder and malted milk powder (in detail) twice in her pantry chapter, just a few pages apart. The author makes a big deal about how you never have to refrigerate the dough when making cookies after going on about how tiny … Continue reading
All the Little-Bird Hearts by Viktoria Lloyd-Barlow Continue reading
I was impressed with Silverton’s confidence in The Cookie…! In the introduction she talks about how she took the “perfect” peanut butter cookie recipe from a former employee (Roxana Jullapat)’s yet up published book and made it even more perfect! She then took her doctored recipe to her agent and pitched a book about making … Continue reading
Rachel Reads Books 