Category: Book Reviews

Don’t let the floral, whimsical cover fool you. The Jane Austen Society handles grief and loss in the same stride that it revels in the work of Austen and marvels in the friendships that are forged around great literature. From an American film star to a taciturn farmer, the Society is comprised of people from…

‘It scares the health out of me,’ he sang from the Bodines song. He sighed and looked into the yellow distance. ‘I totally love those words,’ he said,’and I wish they were mine.’ It was always the way with Tully: keeping his worries close. I’m constantly captivated by covers and I’m embarrassed to admit they…

“At the end, everyone seemed to be expecting an apology, but I didn’t have one to give them. What could I say? This thing of darkness I acknowledge mine.” Our story begins at the end. The end of a 10-year prison sentence, that is. Oliver Marks has served ten years for murder and now that he’s been…

To get straight to the worst, what I’m about to offer isn’t really a short story at all but a sort of prose home movie, and those who have seen the footage have strongly advised me against nurturing any elaborate distribution plans for it. For anyone who, like me, thought that Franny and Zooey was…

It’s strange, to not be the youngest kind of adult anymore.I’m thirty-one now, and my mother is dead. A realistic ode to the profession of working with words, Lily King uses the life of 31-year-old Casey to bring a writer’s struggles to life.  It is 1997 and Casey Peabody is floundering. She’s waiting tables in Harvard Square…

(there are so many covers so I’ve just selected two – I have the one on the right) Why should I not publish my diary? I have often seen reminiscences of people I have never even heard of, and I fail to see–because I do not happen to be a “Somebody”–why my diary should not be…

Pretend they were still boys, school boys who had said ‘Sir, yes, Sir’ and worn caps? Daylight might’ve answered yes; but darkness and the horrors of death said no. I am in the minority of individuals who were not required to read Lord of the Flies in high school and having just now read it, I’m grateful…

In the holiday spirit of giving, you get not one, but two reviews. So get your coco ready and let’s dive into our festive reads! A Highland Christmas Deep in the Scottish highlands, the people of Lochdubh do not believe in the fanfare and commercialism of Christmas. Police Constable Macbeth is stuck on duty while his…

I’m a sucker for a historical novel, especially those set in World War II, so I might be biased in my preference for this topic, but between the intrigue of code breaking, the brutally honest depiction of relationships, and the intrigue of uncovering an informant, I couldn’t put The Rose Code down.  Osla, Mab, and Beth…