5 Stars – Page 8 – Looking For a Good Book

June 8, 2022

FRENCH BRAID – Anne Tyler

We start in 1959 with the Garrett family (father Robin, mother Mercy and their three children – Alice, Lily, and David) taking their one and only vacation. Although vacations are often a time for families to be together and explore or relax together, the Garrett’s seem like strangers to one another. The ripple effect of… Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Reviews

May 31, 2022

OLAV AUDUNSSØN: PROVIDENCE – Sigrid Undset

Olav Audunssøn and Ingunn Steinfinnsdatter were betrothed as children and raised together as foster children. They are madly in love with each other, though Ingunn was raped by another man while Olav was absent. A child came from that event, Eirik, which Ingunn gave to a foster family. But Olav sees the depression Ingunn suffers… Continue reading

HISTORICAL FICTION, OTHER, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Books, Historical Fiction, Literature, Reviews

May 2, 2022

BECOMING A WRITER, STAYING A WRITER – J. Michael Straczynski

There is no shortage of ‘how to’ books on writing. Some retailers have a specific section in their stores for these kinds of books. So why do we need another? Author J. Michael Straczynski addresses that right at the start, offering what he feels other ‘how to’ writing books neglect to talk about (I’ll let you… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, non-fiction, Reviews

April 27, 2022

SLEWFOOT: A TALE OF BEWITCHERY – Brom

Oof, this was good. Have you ever wondered why, during the Salem witchcraft trials era, if the women accused of being witches really were witches, they didn’t perform some sort of magic to survive? I’m thinking author Brom may have wondered this. Abigail is an innocent and energetic young English girl, sold by her father… Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Mythology/Legend, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

April 13, 2022

SPELUNKING THROUGH HELL – Seanan McGuire

I’ve read a lot of Seanan McGuire’s books (under her name and under the name Mira Grant) and I’ve really liked most of them, but the InCryptid series is possibly my favorite, and this particular book really turns up the heat. This is Alice’s story. Alice Price-Healy once fell in love with a man named… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

April 11, 2022

THE LETTERS OF SHIRLEY JACKSON

Wow. This is a really remarkable book. In so many ways, reading these vast collection of letters – both personal (to her boyfriend [later her husband] and to her parents) and professional (to her agent and to publishers) – is a better autobiography than if she’d sat down to write specifically about her life. We… Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Memoir, non-fiction, Reviews, writing

March 28, 2022

SUMMER OF LOVE AND EVIL – Michael Kinnamon

It is 1967 and drugs, Vietnam, and family farms giving way to corporate farming are the topics of conversation in many Iowa communities. Charles Weaver is graduating from his small, Iowa farming town high school as the valedictorian. He has great plans for his last summer in town before going off to Des Moines to… Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Literature, Reviews

March 24, 2022

SHE WHO BECAME THE SUN – Shelley Parker-Chan

Oh, wow. This is phenomenal. It is 1345 China and the Mongol’s rule with an iron fist. Out in the Central Plains of China, peasants toil away and only dream of the possibilities of greatness – something found in prophesies but not real life. Until, that is, the eighth-born son of the Zhu family, Zhu… Continue reading

OTHER, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mythology/Legend, Reviews

March 10, 2022

PRIESTESS OF MORPHINE – Marie Madeleine

Whoa … where did this come from?! ‘Discovering’ a book like this is one of the joys of reading to review. Marie Madeleine was not likely to be on my radar, but I found her work to be significant. Baroness Gertrud Freifrau von Puttkamer (born Gertrud Günther) was a German writer of lesbian-themed erotica. She… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, OTHER, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, non-fiction, Poetry, Reviews

January 13, 2022

THE ESSENTIAL GUIDE TO COMIC BOOK LETTERING – Nate Piekos

I have no desire to become a comic book letterer but I’ve been reading comic books (and graphic novels) for a long time and lettering was one of the few art forms in the comic book business that I didn’t know much about. Until now. As professed by the title, this is indeed The Essential Guide… Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, non-fiction, Reviews

December 28, 2021

FINE PRINT – graphic novel

If someone were to create a movie rating between an ‘R’ and ‘X’ (like ‘R-21’), then this graphic novel would fit perfectly in that category. When it comes to making bad decisions, no one does it better than Lauren Thomas. She is currently suffering from a broken heart (due to a bad decision, of course)… Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Reviews, Sex

December 24, 2021

LIGHTNING STRIKE – William Kent Krueger

In this prequel to the popular Cork O’Connor series, Cork is twelve years old and takes an active viewing role watching his father, Liam O’Connor, the local sheriff, navigate between two worlds (the white man and the Native community) after Cork discovers the body of a man, hanged in an abandoned logging camp. This is… Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews