This started out a little slow for me. It dragged along for about the first 150 pages. Then the action started and I couldn’t put it down. To oversimplify the plot, this is the story of Phèdre, a masochist who sleeps with her patrons not only for money, but also for state secrets. So, there were […]
3 Stars. This was a decent book, but I have a couple of complaints. I was excited to read a non-Western fairy tale re-telling. While I did enjoy the story, and I really liked Mulan herself, this book stayed a little too faithful to what I know of the legend from the Disney movie. I enjoy re-tellings that add an unusual twist to […]
4 Stars. I felt like I was sitting in this roomful of multi-generational women as they gossiped about themselves, each other, and friends they knew. I think all women have sat in a group like this, when there aren’t any men around, and said just exactly what we really think. It’s not all ladylike and demure. This is the chance […]
3 Stars. Even though this novel was written in first person, I felt as if I were watching the story unfold behind glass. I never got pulled into the story completely. I was never particularly interested in Aurora. I was more interested to see what scheme Paulina would come up with next in late-nineteenth century America and […]
A list of my 2010 book reviews by author. Click the letter to jump to the corresponding section. A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P R S T V W Z
3.5 Stars. I really liked the whole story, I just felt that I wanted a little more meat to it. That’s really my only criticism. I liked the way that Emily learned the value of family. Julia learns that for most people, home will always be home, no matter how hard you try to leave it behind. I loved the way that the Coffeys […]
Were there a few problems with this book? Yes. But it was fun, funny, suspenseful and original. I read it in one shift at work. I was hooked when Harry quips, “But just because you’re paranoid doesn’t mean that there isn’t an invisible demon about to eat your face.” What a great line! Harry is a […]
The Postmistress is a novel of if. “If I tell this story in exactly the right way, people will hear it and act on it,” thinks the reporter. “If I don’t make mistakes, the system will be perfect and chaos and random chance will be kept at bay,” thinks the postmistress. “If I think hard enough about my husband being safe, he will […]
4 Stars. This wasn’t exactly what I expected when I started it. I was expecting a typical shy-girl-meets-handsome-guy story. But it wasn’t exactly like that. This was more about finding the courage to get to know yourself. The importance of female friendships. The jealousies between mothers and daughters. Surrounding yourself […]
4 Stars. It’s been several years since I read this, so I can’t say much about it except that I liked it. And I saved this quote from the book: “There are two kinds of women: those who marry princes and those who marry frogs. The frogs never become princes, but it is an acknowledged fact that a prince may very well, in the […]