Tracie B. (tbowman) - , reviewed on 6/12/2025 + 63 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 2

This book was recommended to me by a book store owner in Colorado. The main character, Annie Libby, is so neat, a woman who headed across the country from Maine to California with her horse and her dog. The book provides information on Annie, horses, travel in 1955, automobile travel across the states, and state history. Wow!  A great read.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Elizabeth R. (esjro) - , reviewed on 5/28/2025 + 1013 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

4.5 stars. This is an ultra-violent tale of revenge, but also friendship and love. It is filled with magic and the occasional paranormal creature. Would be 5 stars but I felt that the pacing in the middle lagged a bit.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Laura P. (hemmputnam) reviewed on 5/29/2025 + 1180 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This was a quick cozy read with a hiint of romance between the mystery writer and his typist. It was fun to escape to this sunny island with a group of British ex-pats interacting with the local community. I will look for the next book in the series.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member
See more reviews of this book

Meredith G. reviewed on 6/1/2025 + 18 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Great book. I couldn't put it down. I did not know a lot about some of the Kennedy women (I was born in 1971). Had heard of Joan Kennedy, but knew nothing about her. I knew Jackie re-married a Greek shipping tycoon but was unaware of the details of the marriage. I passed the book on to my mom (a true Kennedy era democrat) and she is fascinated by the book as well.

There's just one thing...

I loved the feminist lens in which the book was written. I learned a lot and I am glad these women have received the sympathy and grace they deserve. However, no one is 100% good or bad. The men really are scorched in this book. The author really does not reveal any positive qualities. Deserving ? Read it and decide for yourself...

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Valerie S. (VolunteerVal) - reviewed on 6/2/2025 + 716 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I really enjoy a book where I feel like I'm a minor character in the plot, watching the drama unfold. The Book Club for Troublesome Women by Marie Bostwick provided that experience for me, and I'm so grateful. I listened to the audiobook, perfectly narrated by Lisa Flanagan, which increased my connection to this story and its characters.

Any novel with "book club" in the title is an instant win for me, and I loved how four very different women formed lifelong friendships sparked by discussing "The Feminine Mystique" by Betty Friedan. Set in the 1960s, Ms. Bostwick wove events and cultural opinions of the decade into the plot and actions of her heroines. Each main character could be viewed as a caricature representing four scenarios for women of the time, but detailed descriptions of their personalities, choices, and obstacles made them feel like fully-formed people. The novel also had me reflecting on my mother's experience since she got married and had her children during the 1960s.

With apologies to Marie Bostwick and Kim Michele Richardson, I connected this novel to The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek and its sequel in my mind for quite some time. To clarify, they have no connection except the word Troublesome in their titles. LOL

Thank you to Harper Muse for the review copies of this immersive novel.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member
See more reviews of this book

Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed on 6/8/2025 + 2852 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

As with any anthology. some are so-so, many are good and some are very good. One of my favorites was the first story. So I was pleasantly surprised when that story's plot was used in a later story. Overall, it is pleasant reading for any fan of Westerns.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Elizabeth R. (esjro) - , reviewed on 6/15/2025 + 1013 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

This book is INTENSE. It is a one-sitting read. What Caroline, her mother and really their whole family was put through by her father is unimaginable and unforgivable. The author and her mother are amazing for shining light into the darkness by using their awful experience to raise awareness and help others.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Paula G. (Paulathegreat) reviewed on 6/17/2025 + 162 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I received the book from Story Graph's giveaways.

This is a sweet little memorial book. Love-Hewitt tells how her mother made life magical for her children through family celebrations and every day activities. The main thrust of the book is not looking backwards, but looking forward to how she passes that magic on to her three children and how you can create magic for yours.

Some of the ideas are as simple as putting a filter on a light and taking the kids pictures with a rainbow reflected on their faces. Others are as complicated as the birthday parties she plans for her (Hollywood) kids. There are lots of pictures, some recipes.

I would recommend this book for someone who wanted to start thinking about entertaining or even to take your entertaining to the next level

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Julie Y. (naboo) reviewed on 6/19/2025 + 46 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I picked up a used copy at my local thrift store, thinking this would be an interesting mystery. 

Christopher John Francis Boone, a fifteen year-old boy with Asperger Syndrome, is the protagonist and narrator of the story. He possesses a strong aptitude for mathematics and science. Unfortunately, due to his disability it is difficult for him to effectively socialize and communicate. 

At the beginning of the novel, Christopher discovers Wellington, a standard poodle, dead from being stabbed with a garden fork. Immediately both Mrs. Shear, the owner of Wellington, and the police officer suspect Christopher of the murder. So he decides to investigate. He uncovers that his father killed the dog and finds out that his mother is still alive and living in London. Therefore, he embarks on a journey to find his mother. 

I have to be honest, I thought the pace for the book was too slow. Furthermore, I did not like any of the main characters. For example:

Christopher - rude and selfish 

Ed Boone (Christopher's father) - an asshole for killing Wellington and lying to Christopher about his mother still being alive

Judy Boone (Christopher's mother) - selfish for leaving Christopher and Ed

Mrs. Shear - a bitch for quickly blaming Christopher for the death of her dog 

Finally, the only reason I gave this a two star rating (instead of one) because I am a math major and I enjoyed the prime numbers for the chapters and the math equations throughout the story. 

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member
See more reviews of this book

Marcia C. reviewed on 7/5/2025 + 701 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Ugh. Is this book really meant for adults? I found it so silly and simplistic that I couldn't finish it. Can't wait to send it off to someone else!

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Frank H. (perryfran) reviewed on 7/6/2025 + 1274 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Steinbeck has always been one of my favorite authors ever since reading Grapes of Wrath back in college. I have had this Modern Library hardcover copy of Tortilla Flat in my personal collection for over 20 years but just now got around to reading it. This is one of Steinbeck's earlier novels published in 1935 and was his first commercial success. The book portrays a group of 'paisanos'âliterally, countrymenâa small band of errant friends enjoying life and wine in the days after the end of World War I living above the town of Monterey on the California coast in the shabby district of Tortilla Flat. The book explains that a 'paisano' is "a mixture of Spanish, Indian, Mexican and assorted Caucasian bloods. He speaks English with a paisano accent and Spanish with a paisano accent. . ."

The main protagonist of the novel is Danny who returned from WWI and inherited not one, but two houses when his grandfather dies. Danny decides to rent one of the houses to his friends with little hope of ever collecting rent. He and his friends are used to sleeping in the woods and getting drunk on wine whenever possible. The story really glorifies drunkenness, stealing, homelessness, and quick casual sex. His friends accidentally burn down the house he rents to them so they end up moving into the other house with Danny. As time passes more friends seem to end up moving in with him. This included a man called Pirate who works selling firewood for a quarter a day that he never spends. He is persuaded to move in by the group mainly because they want to obtain the money he has been saving. But it turns out he is saving for a good cause and so he ends up with the support of all of them. The group carries on with their existence, mainly drinking and brawling until Danny seems to go his own way because he misses the freedom he had when he was alone.

I enjoyed this one. The location of Monterey was later used by Steinbeck in Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, two of my favorites. Of course the book contained some minor racial slurs that were common in the books of the time but overall this was an interesting look at the down-and -outs that made the most of their situation. The ending of the book was a little unexpected but life goes on. . . This was also made into a movie in 1942 with Spencer Tracy and John Garfield. I remember seeing this several years ago, probably on TCM, but I definitely would like to see it again after reading the novel and I look forward to reading more of Steinbeck that I have missed.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member
See more reviews of this book

Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed on 7/7/2025 + 2852 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Interesting book of letters from a Civil War nurse for the Union whose husband had deserted her. She had four children, two of whom died young. A third ended up as a soldier in a Massachusetts Infantry regiment. Another was a daughter.

She left her home for Washington and was matron of the Union Hotel Hospital in Georgetown, D.C. from July 1862 until January 1863. One of the nurses who served under her for a while was Louisa May Alcott, whose book "Hospital Sketches" I've also read.

Mrs. Ropes' letters were discovered in California and mostly went unnoticed by historians until 1975.

She was quite a feisty lady, in that when a surgeon and a steward in charge of her hospital for a period of time were uncaring about the wounded, and were in fact stealing from them, she went directly to Secretary of War Stanton to report it. Both were eventually relieved and court-martialed.

It's a quick read of 129 pages, of which 46 were the editor's Introduction.

One comment from her letters I enjoyed was "Washington is decidedly the ugliest and dirtiest city I ever saw." She may have been right, as during the Civil War period it had that reputation.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Thomas F. (hardtack) - , reviewed on 7/15/2025 + 2852 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Just in case you didn't read the entire title, this is a novel. Which means the author takes literary license, a lot of literary license. I've read dozens of books about Lincoln, who is easiest my all-time favorite historical personage. So I can be very critical about how authors treat him.

At the end of the book the author admits he wrote "...an imaginative re-creation of life as a young Abe Lincoln might have lived it..." However, for the incidents in the book and some of people Lincoln interacts with, the author maintains he did a lot of research to stick close to what happened back then.

I did find the story interesting, but some scenes were a bit over done. And I was confused at the end when he lets the reader know---more than once--one event was going to happen before another, but then has the second scheduled event occurring first. And personally, I refuse to believe Lincoln lost his virginity in a fancy New Orleans bordello. But, hey! Remember the literary license?

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member
See more reviews of this book

Liz G. (livinglibrary) - reviewed on 7/16/2025 + 8 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

A must-read for lovers of apocalyptic fiction.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Karen S. (BoysMom) - , reviewed on 7/16/2025 + 1008 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

Elvira Vance and the Monster Mystery by Kacy Ritter

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


Suspenseful and fun middle-grade adventure where young supernatural sleuths investigate the disappearance of some of their monster neighbors.

Elvira Vance and the Monster Mystery by Kacy Ritter is a fun and exciting paranormal middle-school novel about a team of young investigators looking into the disappearance of a number of monsters from their community right before the annual Marfa Monster Festival, the biggest event of the year. Half-siren Elvira Vance is the daughter of the owners of Vince Vance's Vintage Trailer Park Inn for Monsters and a budding detective. When some of her monster neighbors begin to go missing, she and her two best friends, Mari, a chupacabra, and Emilio, a human and photography enthusiast, jump at the chance to investigate, especially when the official detective, a human from the local town of Marfa, Texas, shows up to take over the case.

In the years since monsters of all kinds came out into the open, there had been an uneasy truce between them and the humans. However, the local mayor, Guff McCoy, had been doing his level best to stir up fear and hate in the human community. With tensions between the species about to boil over, and finders from both camps pointing at the other, Elvira, Mari, and Emilio know they must get to the bottom of the disappearances before things explode.

What a delightful children's/middle-grade story of monsters and mystery, unknowns and underdogs! Elvira is a confident character, certain that she and her team can crack the case before the adult human can, and they do uncover clues that Detective Ace Price has no way of obtaining. I enjoyed the trio's investigations and their questioning of a variety of mythical beings in the process. While Elvira, Mari, and Emilio frequently disobey their parents, they seem to generally believe they have no choice and accept their punishments, when caught, without complaining. However, they readily continue to break those same rules without ever fully explaining what they're involved in with their parents, and perhaps avoiding some of their problems. As they gather their clues and build their case, twists in the plot rule out a couple of major suspects. The eventual reveal is a surprise, and the action leading up to the resolution is shocking and exciting.

I recommend ELVIRA VANCE AND THE MONSTER MYSTERY to readers of middle-grade paranormal fiction, action, and adventure. However, not only will middle-grade readers enjoy the adventure, but the book will also work well as a read-aloud selection for younger children.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy through Toppling Stacks Tours.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member

Cis H. (californiadreamin) reviewed on 7/18/2025 + 286 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I read this book in hopes of getting some insight into what gay men endured in the 50's and 60's when gays were still in the closet. My dear uncle was a high school English teacher during that time and eventually was fired for his alternative lifestyle.

Unfortunately this book didn't satisfy my curiosity because author Richie Jackson is too full of himself and his rich, privileged life to have suffered like gays of the past. DNF.

See this review on a page by itself
See all reviews by this member