Fiction

  • The Roofer

    The Roofer is an extremely grim look at one woman’s life in the Irish mafia of Hell’s Kitchen. If reading about tragedy after tragedy is your preference, this may be the book for you, but much of the book’s bleakness felt gratuitous to me. Ava O’Neil is the daughter of Frank O’Neil, otherwise known as…

  • Raney by Clyde Edgerton

    Raney is a Southern novel, but don’t look for gracious antebellum mansions surrounded by magnolias and populated by society matrons and belles. This is the Appalachian South, the South of pine trees and Baptist churches, where accents twang instead of drawl. And Clyde Edgerton nails the voice of the region exactly. I should know; I…

  • Babyville by Jane Green

    To put it simply, reading Babyville was a revelation to me. I experienced it like a completely unexpected sock to the gut – it knocked the wind out of me and left me gasping for air. Reading this novel was an emotional journey I didn’t expect to take. It rose above stereotyped characters and you-can-see-them-coming…

  • Brilliant

    Marne Davis Kellogg specializes in female protagonists who are not what you’d consider warm and fuzzy. Edgy and decadent, yes. Cute and cuddly? Uh, no. Back in the mid/late 90s she wrote an enjoyable mystery series featuring Lilly, a female Marshal in Wyoming who runs her own security firm. Lilly is always well dressed, travels…

  • Savannah Blues

    Savannah Blues is a book that I’ve been meaning to read for awhile. Last summer, Mary Kay Andrews name cropped up as someone to try if you liked Jennifer Crusie. I made a note of it. Unfortunately, time passed and the note got stuffed somewhere, and I didn’t actually pick Andrews up until her book…

  • Understudy

    Carole Bellacera is an author I’ve been wanting to try for some time. Her first three novels met with a great deal of acclaim, including positive reviews from several of my AAR colleagues. I can only assume Understudy was the wrong place to start and that her earlier books were better than this slick, shallow…

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