Sep 19
Review of The Trap (Alias Emma #3) by Ava Glass
In the third Emma Makepeace novel, British spy Emma goes rogue in order to save world leaders and prevent an assassination at the hands...
Jun 20
Review of A Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles
ICYMI: Towles's closed-door tale of a Russian aristocrat under house arrest in a grand Moscow hotel manages to be at times playful,...
Sep 20, 2023
Review of The Traitor (Alias Emma #2) by Ava Glass
Emma Makepeace returns with new enemies in her sights--but this time she must work undercover on a Russian oligarch's yacht without MI6...
Jun 28, 2022
Review of The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn
In Kate Quinn's newest historical fiction, she shares the story of a real World War II figure, a Russian bookworm-turned-sniper who...
Mar 9, 2022
Review of Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams
Williams's historical fiction mystery--based on real-life double agents in the Cambridge Spy Ring--is vividly set in Europe and Russia...
Sep 30, 2021
September Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month
My very favorite books from September! These are the books I most loved reading during the past month. I included two titles from my...
Sep 9, 2021
Review of Red Notice by Bill Browder
Browder takes the reader deep into the intrigue and terror of the corrupt Russian political and business systems he uncovered. Despite...
Aug 27, 2021
Three Books I'm Reading Now, 8/27/21 Edition
The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Bill Browder's Red Notice, which is nonfiction about the author's uncovering of corruption in...
May 3, 2021
Three Books I'm Reading Now, 5/3/21 Edition
The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher's memoir focused on the early Star Wars years (and,...
Dec 18, 2020
Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved in the Past Year
01 The Huntress by Kate Quinn I'm in for World War II-set books with tough, brave female protagonists, and I loved this book. Nina...
May 14, 2020
Review of The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre
Macintyre presents a wonderfully paced and skillfully recounted Cold War-era story of spy intrigue, paranoia, bravery, and twists and turns.
Feb 5, 2020
Review of The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden
This is the third and final book in Katherine Arden's strong, fanciful, often wonderfully dark Winternight trilogy.
Oct 11, 2019
Review of The Girl in the Tower by Katherine Arden
Vasya is an irresistibly and wonderfully strong and defiant main protagonist, and Arden includes lots of offbeat details. This second...
Jun 27, 2019
Review of the Bear and the Nightingale by Katherine Arden
The first book in the Winternight trilogy, this is a Russia-set, ancient-feeling, dark fairytale of a story.