Just like other books by this author, this one gave me plenty of food for thought. From the very first book that I read – “The Dinner Club” is among my all-time favourite reads – I appreciated Helen Aitchison’s talent for depicting her characters’ everyday lives in a way that makes me feel a part... Continue Reading →
“River Reflects Earth” by Anne M. Smith-Nochasak
“I am Flo. I will never submit.” Oh, how these words made my heart beat faster! I felt the surge of adrenaline that members of the resistance in the Taggak Journey trilogy must have felt. The motivation they sorely needed to keep moving towards their goal, despite the cold and the hunger and the despair... Continue Reading →
“Falling Down Umbrella Man” by Will Tinkham
It is seldom that I can enjoy a story whose main character doesn’t have a single redeemable quality. When this is the case, only a writer of the highest calibre can make me interested in the book. Will Tinkham, undoubtedly, is such a writer. While he didn’t make me like Danny Coover/Slaughter, his eloquent narrative,... Continue Reading →
“Travels with Charley” by John Steinbeck
I am yet to read a John Steinbeck book that I didn’t enjoy, and ‘Travels with Charley’ definitely hasn’t broken this circle. The legendary author’s novels are very different, and each of those that I’ve read impacted me differently. What they have in common is that they all have left a lasting impression, an aftertaste,... Continue Reading →
“Seabiscuit: An American Legend” by Laura Hillenbrand
What a book! I honestly can’t remember a book, fiction or non-fiction, that impacted me as strongly as this one. When I was reading about the preparations for each race, my heart hammered in my chest like mad, as if it was I who was about to ride towards win or loss or if it was... Continue Reading →
“Those Who Breathe the Water” by N.B. Clarke
For someone who has never been a fan of horror, both books and movies, I’ve been turning to this genre surprisingly often lately. I doubt that my preferences will change in essence, but after reading a few horror stories, which turned out to be more than overly enthusiastic descriptions of violent scenes filled with gore,... Continue Reading →
“Blurred Lies” by Donna Scuvotti
What would you do if left out on the streets, having been thrown out of the not-always-soft but still cosy cocoon of a family home? For many, it would be a kind of blow from which they’d never recover. Used as we are to everyday comforts, most people would give up before trying. Shay Thorton... Continue Reading →
“Men in Books Aren’t Better” by Lisa-Marie Potter and Amanda Nelson
What attracts a romance reader to a romance novel? A happy ending, the things that people should but rarely do for those they love, a beautiful postcard setting – in one word, an escape. What attracts readers of other genres to a love story? Some depth to the characters’ backstory to make us care for... Continue Reading →
“The Girl Who Loved Cayo Bradley” by Nina Romano
It is a special kind of pleasure when, while reading, I become torn between sense and emotions. When logic and experience tell me one thing about what’s best for the main characters, while the heart yearns for them to make an irrational but beautiful choice. That’s exactly how I felt reading “The Girl Who Loved... Continue Reading →
“The Cary Grant Sanatorium and Playhouse” by Will Tinkham
Will Tinkham did it again. Swept me off my feet and into yet another totally immersive story, where the characters feel real rather than fictional and America becomes intimately familiar rather than a faraway continent across the ocean. “The Cary Grant Sanatorium and Playhouse” is the ninth book in Will Tinkham’s Americana series that I’ve... Continue Reading →