On Santa Claus Lane.

Book Review for “Lurkers” by Sandi Tan. Summary: “The residents of Santa Claus Lane do their best to stay out of each other’s way, but desire, fury and mischief too often propel these suburban neighbors to collide. Precocious Korean American sisters Mira and Rosemary find their world rocked by a suicide, and they must fight … Continue reading On Santa Claus Lane. →

TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for February 6, 2021.

From “Redhead by the Side of the Road” by Anne Tyler to “Uncommon Type: Stories” by Tom Hanks. This is a monthly link-up hosted by Kate at Books Are My Favourite and Best. Each month a book is chosen as a starting point and linked to six other books to form a chain. A book … Continue reading TCL’s #6Degrees of Separation for February 6, 2021. →

Trifecta of Troubles.

Book Review for “Trio: A Novel” by William Boyd. Summary: “It is summer in 1968, the year of the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy. While the world is reeling our trio is involved in making a rackety Swingin' Sixties British movie in sunny Brighton. All are leading secret lives. As the film … Continue reading Trifecta of Troubles. →

Journeys Without Maps.

Book Review for “Woman Enters Left” by Jessica Brockmole. Summary: “In the 1950s, movie star Louise Wilde is caught between an unfulfilling acting career and a shaky marriage when she receives an out-of-the-blue phone call: She has inherited the estate of Florence “Florrie” Daniels, a Hollywood screenwriter she barely recalls meeting. Among Florrie’s possessions are … Continue reading Journeys Without Maps. →

A Bunch of Useful Idiots.

Book Review for “Anxious People” by Fredrik Backman. Summary: “Viewing an apartment normally doesn’t turn into a life-or-death situation, but this particular open house becomes just that when a failed bank robber bursts in and takes everyone in the apartment hostage. As the pressure mounts, the eight strangers begin slowly opening up to one another … Continue reading A Bunch of Useful Idiots. →

… and one real marriage.

Book Review for “The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo” by Taylor Jenkins Reid. Summary: “Reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. But when she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant to write her story, no one is more astounded than Monique herself. Determined to … Continue reading … and one real marriage. →

Perching in Perilous Pockets.

Book Review for “Cher Ami and Major Whittlesey” by Kathleen Rooney. Official blurb: From the green countryside of England and the gray canyons of Wall Street come two unlikely heroes: one a pigeon and the other a soldier. Answering the call to serve in the war to end all wars, neither Cher Ami, the messenger … Continue reading Perching in Perilous Pockets. →

And yet… she DID!

Book Review for “Why I Don't Write and Other Stories” by Susan Minot. According to Goodreads, this collection of short stories includes: A writer dryly catalogs the myriad reasons she cannot write; an artist bicycles through protests in lower Manhattan and ruminates on an elusive lover; an old woman on her deathbed calls out for … Continue reading And yet… she DID! →

Women who Raced.

Book Review for “Fast Girls: A Novel of the 1936 Women's Olympic Team” by Elise Hooper. Summary: This biographical, historical fiction novel portrays the story of three women athletes who "join with others to defy society’s expectations of what women can achieve. As tensions bring the United States and Europe closer and closer to the … Continue reading Women who Raced. →

Tempo of Progression.

Book Review for “Take Nothing with You” by Patrick Gale. According to the back of this book, “Eustace, an only child, is leading a strange existence in a houseful of elderly adults. His life changes dramatically with the arrival of Carla Gold, his cello teacher, who casts a heady spell over everyone, including his mother. … Continue reading Tempo of Progression. →