Above has been compared to Emma Donoghue’s Room and based on the subject matter I can see why. One could say what is original about that, its been done before. No it has not. Above is as fresh as the air that is above, but it is the darkness below that draws you in. Blythe’s […]
The first half of the novel or Daisy as a child and young adult is interesting and a good read, learning about her parent-less childhood with a co-guardian who has sexual feelings for 11-year-old Daisy Goodwill and eventually marries her 20 some years later, but also reading about her brief marriage to her first husband […]
hydraulic fracturing: the forcing open of fissures in subterranean rocks by introducing liquid at high pressure, esp. to extract oil or gas. Fractures started out with so much potential but never came into fruition. We begin with the main character Frank talking about suicide running in his family and how he had struggled with it. Next […]
I loved Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House series growing up. Twenty years later, I still set aside time for Hallmark’s Little House on the Prairie Marathons and am just as enraptured by her books as I was at age eight. It recently came out the Laura’s daughter Rose may have been the steamroller behind the […]
The Secret Life of Bees was a little to touchy feely for me, all the hugging, praying,finding yourself crap was ya-ya sisterhood on a smaller scale. I found it extremely predictable i.e. Lily’s mother living with the “calender girls” May, June and August ten years prior. I really had to plow my way through the […]
“The neighbors all whisper about the two sisters who live on the hill: It’s Blanche Hudson who lives in that house, you know. The Blanche Hudson.” Anyone who knows me, knows that my favorite actress is Bette Davis, who starred in All About Eve, Dark Victory and What Ever Happened To Baby Jane? This was […]
I was greatly anticipating Diane Setterfield’s next novel as soon as I put down The Thirteenth Tale. the writing style was intoxicating and held perfect suspense. I was expecting the same caliber with Bellman & Black. I received the same beautiful writing but the suspense I was looking for was not. I know it is […]
The Last Winter of Dani Lancing is tragic, the premise unimaginable, yet it was engrossing. P.D.Viner created characters that made you feel. Grief. I felt her parent’s grief, it hung in the air like a cloud before a rain storm. You’d think with the subject matter, a girl murdered with her parents left to pick […]
I have always been interested in true crime. Some may call it a sickness. I’m an avid watcher of the Investigation Discovery channel and have also followed such cases as Casey Anthony, Natalee Holloway, and Amanda Knox. The premise of Jennifer Dubois’ novel Cartwheel seemed reminiscent of Amanda Knox, thus piquing my interest. At first, and […]
Recently, my dad asked what I was reading and I replied “The Almond Tree”. His response was “That sounds boring”. He could not be farther from the truth. You should never judge a book by its title. From the start, it is made clear that The Almond Tree is a dark, heartbreaking story of adversity, […]