

Review of The Fraud by Zadie Smith
Smith was inspired by the real-life Victorian England case of a cockney impostor attempting to wrest an inheritance from the nobility,...
Sep 24


Six Great Books about Brave Female Spies
Tough women, secrets and smarts, and sneaky spying! I love a peek at a secret world, and each of these books (all but one are fiction)...
Sep 19


Review of Atmosphere: A Love Story by Taylor Jenkins Reid
I love an astronaut story, and while Reid spent far more page time on relationships than on the astronaut or space aspects, there was...
Jul 23


Review of An Unexpected Peril (Veronica Speedwell #6) by Deanna Raybourn
While Veronica and Stoker stay close to home while entering into danger and solving the mysteries in book six of this series, Raybourn...
Jul 10


Review of Etiquette & Espionage (Finishing School #1) by Gail Carriger
The first in the author's young adult steampunk Finishing School series offers wonderful, typically strong Carriger women with unique...
Jul 9


Review of I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman
Harpman's slim novel poses a mysterious situation without promising concrete explanations. Our main protagonist knows little about her...
May 22


Review of This American Woman: A One-in-a-Billion Memoir by Zarna Garg
Comedian Zarna Garg lived several lives before falling into comedy in midlife and realizing it was where she'd belonged all along. Her...
Apr 22


Review of Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine
Erin Crosby Eckstine's richly detailed historical fiction explores the life of Junie, an enslaved young woman in rural Alabama haunted by...
Feb 25


Review of To the Bright Edge of the World by Eowyn Ivey
Eowyn Ivey is masterful at intertwining fantastical elements with the grounding of the vivid details of nature. To the Bright Edge of the...
Feb 20


Review of The Blood of the Old Kings (Bleeding Empire #1) by Sung-Il Kim
In this first installment of The Bleeding Empire, Kim sets three characters on paths to discover their worth, their purpose, and their...
Jan 15


Review of The Familiar by Leigh Bardugo
Bardugo's rich world-building sets the scene in Spain during the Inquisition, as a scullery maid with magical abilities is thrust into...
Dec 19, 2024


Review of A Song to Drown Rivers by Ann Liang
I love Liang's books, and this departure from her romantic comedies is inspired by the Chinese legend of Xishi. It's full of danger,...
Dec 3, 2024


Review of The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
ICYMI: My favorite Kate Quinn books center around strong young women proving their mettle during wartime crises, and The Alice Network ...
Oct 10, 2024


Review of Grey Dog by Elliott Gish
Grey Dog begins as an immersive historical fiction story of a young teacher with a shocking past in 1900s rural England, but it becomes a...
Jul 31, 2024


Review of The Goddess of Warsaw by Lisa Barr
Lisa Barr's World War II-set historical fiction follows a Jewish resistance fighter and spy through the Warsaw Ghetto to her second act...
Jul 25, 2024


Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II
Tales of Brave World War II Women Other titles I considered listing here were the Bossy five-star read All the Light We Cannot See; The...
Jun 14, 2024


Review of Those Beyond the Wall by Micaiah Johnson
I loved Johnson's first book set in this complex, futuristic, postapocalyptic world of conflicting classes and disparate privilege, but...
May 2, 2024


Review of Queens of London by Heather Webb
Queens of London is fascinating historical fiction that explores the gritty underbelly of post-World War I London through the points of...
Apr 17, 2024


Review of The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
Katherine Arden, author of the captivating Winternight trilogy, here shares a mysterious, haunting historical fiction story with a...
Apr 9, 2024


Review of The Excitements by C. J. Wray
C. J. Wray's story of elderly British sisters who played key roles in fighting the enemy in World War II offers lots of heart, sassy...
Mar 27, 2024