Literary Criticism
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Review: How We Disappeared by Jing-Jing Lee
I haven’t read a ton of Asian literature but I was eager to read this one because of one thing—the time period. My venture into Asian literature has come down to two books, Memoirs of a Geisha and Snowflower and the Secret Fan…..that is it. So when I agreed to read this book, I had no idea what I was going to get. I remember reading Memoirs of a Geisha and Snowflower and the Secret Fan and loving both of those. Especially Memoirs of a Geisha, mostly because it was set during WWII and the occupation of allied troops post war was very interesting to me. When this book came…
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REVIEW: Pride, Prejudice, and Other Flavors (The Rajes #1) by Sonali Dev
This is an author that I have been really really looking forward to reading. She’s written a number of ‘Bollywood’ books and while I am not Indian, I think their culture is exotic, colorful, and interesting. This book is the first installment in a new series about the Rajes family and I was thrilled that I got to read this one, especially since there is a Pride and Prejudice element to the story. I would definitely put this book in the retelling category, but it was so much more than just another P & P retelling. With it’s cultural aspect, this book adds a lot of uniqueness and color to…
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REVIEW: The Royal Secret by Lucinda Riley
I have been a long time fan of Lucinda Riley and am making my way through the Seven Sister’s books again, this time on audiobook. I absolutely love her writing and count her as one of my favorite authors. When I saw that she had a new book coming out in the US (it was already published in the UK I believe), I was thrilled and eager to read it. Her books tend to be on the longish side, but I was happy to adjust my schedule and work this book in because I know the kind of books she writes and I was sure to not be disappointed. Though…
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Review: Mistress of the Ritz by Melanie Benjamin
I recently read one of Melanie Benjamin’s books and was really taken by her research and writing abilities. When I saw that she had another book coming out so soon, I was eager to jump on board and see how this one compared. To be honest, I was way more excited about this book than the original book I read, The Girls in the Picture. This one sounded a little more like something I would be into. While I loved the ‘old Hollywood’ vibe in The Girls in the Picture, WWII is more my time period. As with the first book I read by this author, I love the cover…
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Review: A Murderous Malady (Florence Nightingale Mystery #2) by Christine Trent
Christine Trent is an author I have had on my radar forever it seems like. When her Lady of Ashes series first came out, I tried to win a copy for months to no avail. Then as always seems to happen….I was on to another book. But I did continue to see her Lady of Ashes series pop up all over the place….my library, bookstores, social media. But then the timing just never seemed right. Now she has a new series out, The Florence Nightingale Mysteries, and I was eager to try and work this latest book into my review schedule. It is the second book in a series, but…
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Review: Sunset Beach by Mary Kay Andrews
I’ve made it my mission this year to read more beach reads…..though not necessarily by choice. In the past, I didn’t read a ton of beach reads, mostly because I didn’t really understand the appeal. If I am going to read, I want to read something with some depth. But then I had a kid and sometimes I just need easy, relaxing plots with a laid back vibe. Plus after a read one of two beach reads, I discovered that they weren’t all full of ‘flimsy’ plots that were predictable. In fact many were downright interesting! When this book came up for review I saw that Mary Kay Andrews is…
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Review: The Silent Woman (Cat Carlisle #1) by Terry Lynn Thomas
Long before this book tour came about, I downloaded this book. I thought the cover was eye catching and I am a sucker for historical mysteries, so I downloaded it on my Kindle……. And promptly forgot about it. Like everything else in my electronic life, things get buried before I even know they are there! My Kindle is full of great books that I have ordered and forgotten about. So when this book came up for review as part of the HFVBT tour group, I was eager to join up. I didn’t even realize that I already owned the book until I went to download it again and found that…
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Review: The Overdue Life of Amy Byler by Kelly Harms
While the title didn’t resonate with me for this one—the second I saw the cover I was interested in reading it. I’m not sure why, but the title just didn’t stand out to me , I mean it totally should have because it was a fun little library play on words, but for some reason it just didn’t. Thank god for interesting cover art! This cover totally caught my eye and made me excited about reading it even if the title didn’t. I picked this book up on a random sunny day and instantly fell in love with Amy Byler.
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Review: Naughty in Nice (Royal Spyness #5) by Rhys Bowen
Slowly I am binging this entire series and I hope you have been following along with my reviews on each book. I have no stranger to Rhys Bowen’s books, but this series was one that just kept flying under my radar. My mom gifted me the first book in this series at least 4 times and I did give in and read the last book in the series—-first, like an idiot. But I decided to finally remedy the situation and started this series from the beginning. As I said, I am slowly binging the series so that I can be nice and caught up for the new book being released…
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Review: The Great Pretenders by Laura Kalpakian
I decided to review this one because I have zero impulse control when it comes to pretty historical fiction book covers. I love the eye catching teal and yellow color pallet in this cover and it so clearly screams 1950s Hollywood glamour and as soon as I saw it, I knew I wanted to read it. I didn’t even really read the pitch all the way through, I just eagerly agreed! This author has written a number of other books but none that I have read or really heard of but she has won a number o literally awards. This book seems to be kind of her ‘break out’ novel…