The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson: Book Review

Journalist Mikael Blomqvist has just been found guilty of libel and sentenced to 90 days in jail and slapped with a huge fine. He needs to take a break from journalism for a while, so when a former industrial tycoon asks him to write a family history while investigating a 40-year-old mystery, Mikael takes him […]

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Sisters Red by Jackson Pearce: Book Review

Scarlett March was horribly scarred when she defended her younger sister from a Fenris (werewolf) when they were both young. They lost their beloved grandmother in the same attack. With guidance from the local woodsman, Pa Reynolds, and with Silas Reynolds as a partner, the March sisters become deadly Fenris hunters. Now that the girls […]

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The Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted: Book Review

Elizabeth is an intelligent young woman growing up within the constraints of Victorian society. To make matters worse, she is “the maid’s daughter.” After her mother and the owners of the house where she worked died, Bet is taken along with the heir, Will, to live with Will’s uncle. Bet is treated as something between, […]

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Duchess of Aquitaine by Margaret Ball: Book Review

This review is full of spoilers if you don’t know anything about Eleanor of Aquitaine. This is (obviously) the story of Eleanor of Aquitaine, from the time of her father’s death to her divorce from whichever King Louis of France (that was never made clear). She plots to become Queen, goes on Crusade, and then […]

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Under Heaven by Guy Gavriel Kay: Book Review

Shen Tai’s father, the great Kitan general Shen Gao, died haunted by an epic battle he led against the neighboring country of Tagura. He won the battle but in his old age he came to realize that the cost was too high. 40,000 casualties lie unburied in the beautiful meadow at Kuala Nor. Tai decides […]

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Dear Jane Austen by Patrice Hannon: Book Review

Imagine, if you will, that Jane Austen can somehow receive letters from her modern-day readers, asking for her sage advice in love and marriage. That’s the premise for this charming little book. Part “autobiography”, part self-help book, and part critical analysis, Dear Jane Austen is full of practical advice for all women, no matter what […]

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The Vision of Emma Blau by Ursula Hegi: Book Review

Stefan Blau runs away from his home in Germany when he is a young man. He’s always dreamed of living in America. He eventually finds himself in New Hampshire, building a beautiful apartment building, running a restaurant, and doing his best to provide for his family. Honestly, this book might have suffered from too many […]

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Daughter of My People by James Kilgo: Book Review

Hart Bonner is the son of a formerly prosperous plantation owner. Jennie Grant is his cousin’s biracial cook. In South Carolina in the early 1900s, she is considered a “Negro” and it is a felony for a white man to have “relations” with her. She and Hart carry on a secret affair for years though. […]

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Look Homeward, Angel by Thomas Wolfe: Book Review

I decided to read this because Thomas Wolfe was from my area and I only had to read one short story of his for an English class. I wanted to see what he was all about. This is basically the slightly fictionalized story of his childhood and young adult years growing up in the mountains […]

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