The Poe Shadow, by Matthew Pearl

The Poe Shadow, by Matthew Pearl…I Give it Five Stars!
This novel is part mystery, part intrigue, part fact, part fiction, but always brilliant in the author’s desire to unearth the details surrounding the death of Edgar Allan Poe. If you like suspense mingled with twisting and turning plots, then this is the book for you!
“It [...]

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Two Lives, by Vikram Seth

Two Lives, by Vikram Seth…I give it Five Stars!!
This beautifully written memoir is one that you will remember, long after you have finished the last word, on the last page. It is one of those memoirs that stay in your heart, in your mind, for a long time.
“When I was seventeen I went to live [...]

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Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario

Enrique’s Journey, by Sonia Nazario…I give it Five++ Stars!
Enrique’s journey is more than a journey, it is the compelling, unbelievable, and factual saga of Enrique, and his harrowing odyssey through lands unknown, in order to find his mother. He traverses from the Honduras to the United States, traveling twelve-thousand miles in order to come face-to-face [...]

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Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer

Into the Wild, by Jon Krakauer…I Give it Five Stars!
Into the Wild is a non-fiction account of a Chris McCandless’s journey to Alaska. This will not be a review, as such, as the events described in the book are taken from McCandless’s journal, his photographs, writings, postcards sent to people he met along his [...]

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The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards

The Memory Keeper’s Daughter, by Kim Edwards…I give it Four Stars!
What would you do if faced with the same situation that Dr. David Henry was faced with. Can you say for sure?
After delivering twins during a blizzard, the doctor is faced with the fact his second-born, a daughter, has Down’s Syndrome. Deciding, during a time [...]

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The Septembers of Shiraz, by Dalia Sofer

Dalia Sofer’s first book, The Septembers of Shiraz, is an excellent novel, written with colorful and detailed word imagery, covering a one-year period from September 1981 to September 1982.  Sofer was ten years old when her own Jewish family escaped Iran. That fact might just be the event that gives her insight into the Jewish [...]

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The Reluctant Tuscan, by Phil Doran

The Reluctant Tuscan, by Phil Doran…I give it Five Stars!
I am not so reluctant, after reading The Reluctant Tuscan, Phil Doran’s memoir. In fact, more than ever, I am eager for my trip to Tuscany to begin. The end of March can’t come soon enough for me.
The book is filled with humor, crazy moments, poignancy, [...]

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The Zahir, by Paul Coelho

The Zahir, by Paul Coelho…I give it Four Stars!
Paul Coehlo has managed to capture the emotions of a man in search of his missing wife, but, in the end, realizes that he was searching for his own Self.
“Zahir, in Arabic, means visible, present, incapable of going unnoticed…someone or something, which once we come in contact [...]

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I Feel Bad About My Neck, by Nora Ephron

I Feel Bad About My Neck, by Nora Ephron…I give it Four Stars
This wicked and divine book, which is a cross between poignant/serious and outright hilarious, brings much comic relief to women who are aging. With Ephron’s sensible, yet comedic style (after all, she did bring us When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle), [...]

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