This book was recommended to me by a trusted source. The source was right. I was not familiar with the writings of Chris Pavone, but now I am a fan. The Expats is set in Luxembourg, primarily, but takes the reader to Paris, Geneva, New York City and Washington, D.C. The primary “good guys” are …
It’s midsummer and high time to celebrate the publication of a new thriller by Seattle writer Kevin O’Brien. While he ventured to Lopez Island for his last novel, They Won’t Be Hurt, many of the twists and turns of his new book, The Betrayed Wife, take place in Seattle, including a key scene at the Century Ballroom, …
This British cozy mystery series focuses on a talented but deeply flawed detective. Agatha Raisin smokes, drinks, and is incredibly vain–on the other hand, she sure loves her cats! She doesn’t do much investigating in this one, focusing mostly on her always messy love life, but as a fan I enjoyed spending time in Agatha’s …
A classic of European literature unavailable in English for decades, Three Summers is perfectly timeless and perfectly seasonal. Set in the countryside of prewar Greece, it traces the doings and developing identities of a trio of sisters growing into adulthood, each of whom finds a different way to balance her desires for love and freedom. …
Of course the book with the word “conversations” in the title offers both compelling dialogue and characters that don’t know how to talk to each other. Rooney’s made something modern and cool of that oldest narrative plot– the extramarital affair. Usually I can’t stand such stories but this one hooked me and the ending made …
What a treat to have not just one fun book, but a whole trilogy to dive into this summer! I am so happy that I finally got around to reading the first of this sassy, compulsive series set in modern Singapore. The “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous” elements combine with skewering social commentary and …
A woman crosses a London street, walks into a funeral parlor and plans her own service. Six hours later she is strangled to death in her home. Did she know she was going to die? Did she plan her own murder? Was it suicide? Was it merely fate? Bad luck? Horowitz (Magpie Murders, PBS’s Midsomer Murders) has written himself as narrator into his latest …
This is just the tip of the iceberg of summer reading delights awaiting young readers at independent bookstores. Here are some recent bookseller favorites for elementary and middle school students, but the shelves are stocked for a whole season of great reading. What is in your backpack or by your hammock this summer? Lumberjanes Unicorn …
We can thank Mr. Cantero for a dark, but funny, campy trip down memory lane. Be warned, these characters are not the same ones we remember– they have grown up damaged, made mistakes and have become more dimensional– with all the baggage that implies. Great fun! Loved the book! –Melanie, The Well-Read Moose, Coeur d’Alene, …
Sometimes when I look back over the past few books I’ve read, I notice a common thread running through them. Might be a particular time period or historical event, a theme whether big or small, or frequently, a locale. And that’s why one corner of The Front Table is currently draped in the green, white …
