GuideReviews Index
'A Mercy' by Toni Morrison - Book Review
A Mercy by Toni Morrison is a short novel, and can be appreciated best when read in one or a couple sittings. Indeed, the the simple story is told in several voices, but reading these voices in succession weaves a tapestry that tells a larger story about America's history of slavery and the extermination of Native Americans.
'The Shack' by William P. Young - Book Review
'The Shack' by William P. Young is a story about a man who spends a weekend with God in a shack where his life was tragically changed years earlier. 'The Shack' examines how a good God can allow suffering.
'Breaking Dawn' by Stephenie Meyer - Book Review
Breaking Dawn is the fourth and final installment in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga.
'The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog' by Dave Barry
Dave Barry's Christmas novella, The Shepherd, the Angel, and Walter the Christmas Miracle Dog, is a slice of classic Americana. This story of a boy in a Christmas pageant in 1960 can be read in an hour, but it is packed full of nostalgic illustrations, funny stories and the sort of Christmas spirit that is more "A Christmas Story" than "It's a Wonderful Life."
'The Host' by Stephenie Meyer - Book Review
The Host is Stephenie Meyer's first adult novel. The human race has been taken over by parasitic but peace-loving aliens called souls. Melanie, the human host of a soul called Wanderer, is resistant and refuses to fade away, leading Wanderer on a journey unlike any she's experienced in her nine lives in other hosts' bodies around the universe.
'New Moon' by Stephenie Meyer - Book Review
'New Moon' is the second book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight series.
'The Story of Edgar Sawtelle' by David Wroblewski - Book Review
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski is a modern day Hamlet and a love story about the connection of a boy, his dogs and the world around him.
'The Gone-Away World' by Nick Harkaway - Book Review
A pink fuzzy book. Neon green type. Letters beginning to disappear like long lost sanity. It’s like the cover of ‘The Gone-Away World’ was dipped in a vat of nuclear waste and came out smiling, slightly anarchic, like the Joker on a comic binge. Yep. That’s the personification of Nick Harkaway’s debut novel to a T.
'Eclipse' by Stephenie Meyer - Book Review
Eclipse is the third book in Stephenie Meyer's Twilight Saga.
'Man in the Dark' by Paul Auster - Book Review
Man in the Dark by Paul Auster is about August Brill, a 60-year-old book critic and insomniac trying to make it through one night, holding onto the love of his granddaughter and the memory of his wife to shelter himself as the weird world rolls on.
Gentlemen of the Road by Michael Chabon - Book Review
Jews with Swords. That was what Michael Chabon had in mind for the
original title of Gentlemen of the Road. Combine the original and
published titles together and you get a sense of the unique atmosphere,
sly wit and daring do that Chabon is about to tell.
'Testimony' by Anita Shreve - Book Review
Anita Shreve is a bestselling author known for books like Body Surfing, The Pilot’s Wife, and The Weight of Water. Her latest effort, Testimony, is an introspective look at a private school community blown apart by one scandalous incident.
'The Given Day' by Dennis Lehane - Book Review
The Given Day by Dennis Lehane is a psychological thriller that takes place in Boston.
'Song Yet Sung' by James McBride - Book Review
Song Yet Sung by James McBride follows an escaped slave in pre-Civil War Maryland.
'Twilight' by Stephenie Meyer - Book Review
Twilight is the first in a series of four books by Stephenie Meyer. Although billed as "Young Adult," Twilight appeals to a much broader audience.
'The Other Queen' by Philippa Gregory - Book Review
Philippa Gregory is back with another historical fiction novel of the kind that has made her popular. In 'The Other Queen,' Gregory focuses on Mary Queen of Scots.
'The Heretic's Daughter' by Kathleen Kent - Book Review
'The Heretic's Daughter' by Kathleen Kent is a novel about the Salem Witch Trials. Kent is descended from one of the accused women.
'Bleeding Kansas' by Sara Paretsky - Book Review
'Bleeding Kansas' tells the story of the Grelliers, a farming family whose Kansas roots extend back to the fight over slavery. Though times have changed many of the struggles they face, including clashes between neighbors over war and religion, are just as critical. Paretsky’s novel paints an intimate portrait of a family and community dealing with each other’s differences.
'Trauma' by Patrick McGrath
Trauma, the latest novel by Patrick McGrath, tells the story of a New York psychiatrist who specializes in helping Vietnam vets suffering from trauma. As he learns more about his own family life, though, he finds himself caught up in his own trauma, and fighting the madness he knows is approaching. McGrath’s paints a dark picture of 1980s Manhattan as a backdrop for the human suffering Trauma explores.
'The Monsters of Templeton' by Lauren Groff - Book Review
'The Monsters of Templeton' is a debut novel that’s gotten a lot of buzz—and it’s well deserved. Lauren Groff has written a book that’s an ode to her hometown, Cooperstown, New York. Filled with monsters, ghosts, ancestors with secrets, and illegitimate children, 'The Monsters of Templeton' is monstrously enjoyable.
'People of the Book' by Geraldine Brooks - Book Review
In 'People of the Book,' Pulitzer Prize-winning Author Geraldine Brooks presents a fictional history of the Sarajevo Haggadah -- an important Jewish book that originated in thirteenth century Spain. 'People of the Book' is a set of stories about the book's survival, woven together through the story of a conservationist who is trying to unlock the mysteries of the book in the mid-1990s.
'Beginner's Greek' by James Collins - Book Review
'Beginner’s Greek' is the debut novel from James Collins, and it’s a shame he’s waited this long to begin. The story of Holly and Peter is a simple, old-fashioned story that’s sweet but not treacly; beautifully-written but not precious. 'Beginner’s Greek' is utterly delightful.
'Unaccustomed Earth' by Jhumpa Lahiri - Book Review
Jhumpa Lahiri is one of today’s most acclaimed writers, having won a Pulitzer Prize for her first collection of short stories, 'Interpreter of Maladies.' Her placid, poetic writing is back in another collection of stories, 'Unaccustomed Earth.'
'Wit's End' by Karen Joy Fowler
'Wit's End' by Karen Joy Fowler is a funny, quick-paced mystery novel about a woman who learns more about her family history by moving in with her godmother, a reclusive mystery writer. Fowler is best known for writing 'The Jane Austen Book Club,' and her new novel is likely to entertain her loyal fans.
'The House at Riverton' by Kate Morton - Book Review
In 'The House at Riverton' by Kate Morton, a former English servant who worked for a prominent family at the beginning of the nineteenth century remembers her relationship with the family and secrets about a suicide that she has carried for 70-something years.