The House by the Fjord by Rosalind Laker

The House by the Fjord by Rosalind Laker
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.5/5.0 - Parts of this I liked a lot, but other parts felt rushed or contrived. If set elsewhere, I'd give it a 3, but with the setting being Norway (my grandmother emigrated from there in the early 1900s), that definitely added to my enjoyment of the book. It brought the country I long to see alive for me, and the historical time period of just post WWII made it even more interesting.

View all my reviews

The Chosen by Chaim Potok

The Chosen by Chaim Potok
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

5.0/5.0 - I wonder how I've missed this book all my life. I feel like it's one that I could read again and again, and get more out of it every time. It's a wonderful book on so many levels, the story, the symbolism, the friendship between Daniel and Reuven, the father son relationships, the tensions between the Orthodox Jews, and the Hasidic Jews, and all the historical details. It is a book to be savored and closely examined. And read again.

View all my reviews

Rambler by Linda S. Browning

Rambler: A Leslie & Belinda Mystery by Linda S. Browning
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

2.5 rounded to 3 stars - What I liked about it - it was set in middle Tennessee and written by a Tennessee author, the main characters were retired ladies in their late 60s, the story was interesting enough, and short. The cultural references to the Rambler, the Tennessee RR, and the 70s worked well, and the friendship between the main characters was heartwarming.

View all my reviews

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi

The Henna Artist by Alka Joshi
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - Recommended to me by my daughter-in-law. I enjoyed the story of Lakshmi and her sister, Radha, set in 1950s India. Lakshmi escaped from an abusive marriage when she was a teenager and has made her way in the world since that time by painting henna and providing herbal cures and lotions. When her (annoying) 13 year old sister shows up, she is at first thrown for a loop, but soon takes it in stride. Radha makes all sorts of trouble for Lakshmi, but she keeps forgiving her, taking the blame on herself. It was interesting to see the characters' growth and to learn more about the culture of India during that time.

View all my reviews

Dark in Death by J.D. Robb

Dark in Death by J.D. Robb
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - This book has been my favorite of the In Death series, as the plot centers around books. The killer imagines themselves a better writer than an author they once greatly admired, and decides to recreate her books in real life, but making the villain victorious. After the second murder, the author sees the disturbing similarities and alerts the police. Eve and her team must stop the killer before people die, and eventually the author herself becomes the target. The author, her mother and two teenage daughters are strong female characters who offer great clues, and know how to take care of themselves.
This is my favorite mystery series at this point in time. As a rule, I pick cozy mysteries over other sub-genres because I don't like gratuitous violence. But I also don't care for bumbling, helpless female detectives. This series has the best of both. The murders usually happen off-scene, and in the books I've read so far, no torture has been involved (granted, I've only read 4 books). Eve is smart, savvy, brave and flawed. Her relationship with her colleagues shows respect, leadership and empathy. Her relationship with her husband, Roarke, is hot, full of passion, but also of mutual admiration, adoration, love and desire. They complete each other, and together they are more than the sum of their parts.
As much as I enjoy them, I don't think I could take a steady diet of them, and at the rate of 2 or 3 a year, I may never finish the whole series. So I'll pick and choose, and stop reading if Eve and Roarke ever split up. I have to give a shout-out to Debbie, the Drake Library housekeeper, who introduced me to this series. I think she probably re-read the entire series each year, as I never saw her on break without one in her hands.

View all my reviews

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore

The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear by Kate Moore
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

4.0/5.0 - An exhaustive study of Elizabeth Ware Packer, a woman unjustly imprisoned in an insane asylum during the Civil War in America, based only on her husband's testimony and the superintendent's collusion. Initially she is treated well, given her own room and special privileges, but as she gains support from both staff and patients, the superintendent has her moved to a ward where the most demented and violent inmates are held. She maintains her faith and works tirelessly to prove her sanity and improve conditions, and eventually she is released. She will spend more than 30 years of her life fighting for and achieving reforms for both married women and the mentally ill, in some forty-four states.
This is a hefty book, of almost 600 pages, extensively researched, but the writing is interesting. Conversations are recreated from letters, journals and other documents, and the book includes a group reading guide to facilitate further discussion.

View all my reviews

The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh

The Magical Language of Others by E.J. Koh
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

3.0/5.0 - I'm not sure what I thought this was going to be about when I checked it out. Maybe it was the cover, the fact that it was on a list of books (GR editors summer reading recommendations) that I made a note to check out, or the fact that it met a task requirement. Nevertheless, I'm glad I picked it. It is a memoir by a young poet (is there an age requirement to write memoirs?) with beautiful prose, and lots of cultural background on her family during their times in Japan and Korea. Chapters by the author are interspersed with letters written to her in Korean, by her mother. She also includes the English translation. The letters inspire her to pursue an advanced degree in translation (in addition to her degree in poetry), and it is only upon using them for this degree that she truly begins to understand them. It's a short book, but it helped me to expand my understanding of cultures beyond my own.

View all my reviews