Tag: fiction
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Book Review: A Shoe Story by Jane L. Rosen

Full disclosure: I used to love shoes. I adored ballet flats and had them in many, many colors. I had cute Keds sneakers in multiple colors. Working as a clown for a balloon delivery service, I had high-top Chuck’s in red and yellow so I could wear one on each foot with alternating socks to…
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Book Review: The Impossible Fortune by Richard Osman
It’s been a long time coming, with the debut work of a new series and a movie based upon Book 1 of a previous series, but Richard Osman has struck gold again with the four senior citizens who spar, spy, solve, and celebrate justice in The Impossible Fortune Book 5 of the Thursday Murder Club…
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Book Review: Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Recently published by Ballantine Books in June of 2025, Atmosphere by Taylor Jenkins Reid, her ninth novel, is supposedly unlike her previous works, which include her big hits The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, Daisy Jones & the Six, Malibu Rising, and Carrie Soto Is Back. Her lesser known earlier novels include Forever, Interrupted; After I Do; Maybe In…
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Book Review: Just One Gift by Linda Sue Park
I was browsing new titles on NetGalley recently and saw a title listed that immediately caught my attention. The book was Just One Gift (HarperCollins/Clarion Books, April 2026) by Linda Sue Park. I didn’t know Linda Sue Park at all until late summer 2017 when I found out that I would be teaching one section…
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Book Review — Revenge, Served Royal: A Mystery (Lady Petra Inquires #3) by Celeste Connally

First of all, I am a devoted fan of the Great British Bake Off show and have watched each season many times. I love a good cooking show, and I’ve watched the cooking shows made by previous winners of the GBBO, like Nadiya Hussain, the 2015 winner. I also love all things British, all things…
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Book Review: Sugar and Spite, An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton with R. W. Green
Mystery is by far my favorite genre, and within that genre I tend to gravitate toward cozy mysteries. Add to that a Scottish author and, well, I’m all in. Everyone has a guilty pleasure when it comes to their reading life, and for me, the Agatha Raisin mystery series falls squarely in that court. With…
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Book Review: The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce
The Homemade God by Rachel Joyce was recently published on July 8, 2025 by The Dial Press, an imprint of Random House. I was offered this ARC by the publisher because of my interest in and book reviews of several other books published by Random House, such as Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano, one of…
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Book Review: The White Octopus Hotel by Alexandra Bell
NetGalley is a digital platform that provides book people with FREE advance reading copies (ARCs) of books yet to be released in exchange for a review written and posted on their site, on Goodreads, on Amazon, on your own social media. Sometimes you are offered a book, but more often you request a book that…