Category: books
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Book Review: The Dig by John Preston (Other Press, 2007)
At some point during the pandemic, my husband and I watched the Netflix original film The Dig (Netflix, 2021) starring Ralph Fiennes and Carey Mulligan. We were both quite taken with it. I immediately googled it and found that it was based upon a work of historical fiction of the same name by John Preston.…
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Interview: Eman Quotah, author of Bride of the Sea
See my most recent published piece for Washington Independent Review of Books: http://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/features/an-interview-with-eman-quotah
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Book Review: The Bombay Prince by Sujata Massey (Soho Crime, June, 2021)
Author Sujata Massey brings us once again to 1920s colonial India with the third in a series featuring protagonist Perveen Mistry, the first female lawyer in Bombay, India. I discovered the series while recuperating from a broken ankle during the summer of 2019. As I was house-bound (relying on crutches and/or a knee scooter to…
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Book Review: Twenty-one Truths About Love by Matthew Dicks
This book was just not for me. Some readers have noted that the format was not to their liking, but I didn’t mind the story unfolding in list format. I’ve read other books not told in traditional narrative prose, such as Bridget Jones’s Diary told in journal entries and Salmon Fishing in the Yemen told…
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Book Review: Learning to Talk to Plants by Marta Orriols (Pushkin Press, June 2021)
From the publisher: “By turns devastating and darkly funny, Learning to Talk to Plants is a piercingly honest portrayal of grief – and of the many ways to lose someone.” The publisher’s quote above really says it all for this book, at least for me. I rated this book a 4/5, mostly because it was so painful…
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Book Review: You Had Me at Pet-Nat: A Natural Wine-Soaked Memoir by Rachel Signer
When requesting this book to read and review, I thought it was a novel, but I have since learned from Googling the author that it is a memoir. I’ve read a lot of biographies, autobiographies, and memoirs over the years, and this book reads more like a novel to me. It was great learning the…
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Book Review: Four Seasons in Rome: On Twins, Insomnia, and the Biggest Funeral in the History of the World
By Anthony Doerr (Published June 12, 2007 by Scribner Book Company) I realize I am late to joining the Anthony Doerr fan club, but I tore through this piece of nonfiction in less than two days. I probably would have finished it in one day had I not stopped so frequently to admire his wide…
Michelle Blanchard Ardillo 