Reviews

Those of us who are addicted to Public Radio know Kee Malesky as The Librarian. Her name is always acknowledged on NPR programs, which makes her one of a few librarians in the media to receive public credit for her work as a librarian.  Hearing her name on the radio makes us wonder what her first name is.

Is there a fiction genre called "cozy horror"? There should be: Shirley Jackson's We Have Always Lived In The Castle deserves a category of its own.

Why does the world seem infatuated with French women?  There is something fascinating about them to all of us, and this book tries to uncover the uniqueness of French women.  What French Women Know: About Love, Sex, and Other Matters of the Heart and Mind

Eloquent, intense, terrifying… This novel has been called the ultimate and definitive novel of German resistance during WWII. An elderly laborer and his wife learn of the death of their only son on the Western Front.

Abraham Verghese uses a fictional setting to explore medicine in a third-world country going through revolution and change.  Twin boys are born to a resident doctor and Catholic nun.  Cutting for Stone tells a very lyrical story covering a span of 60 years; it describes the lives of the twins, ess

Anne Whateley is a beautiful girl who gets her looks from her late Italian mother, Anna Rosalina de Verona, who was a travelling tumbler and dancer before her marriage.  Anne’s father is English and, although he is illiterate, operates a growing pack train business which carries goods from Stratford to London and back.  However, it is said that William Sha

In one of my usual somewhat harebrained moments I adopted Newman, a beautiful mini Australian Shepherd, from a dog rescue group in Stanley, KS.  Within 24 hours, I realized that I had a severely neurotic dog on my hands.  Although my mother-in-law insists he is psychotic, I don’t think he would try to kill us in our beds—he’s more worried we will try to kill him in his.

Emerald O’Brien is a thirty-six-year-old divorced mother of two and owner of the Chintz ‘n China Tea Room, a quaint little business in the town of Chiqetaw, Washington.  Emerald’s daughter, Miranda, suggested the name be changed to Chintz ‘n China Tea Room and Tarot Emporium since her mother reads cards for many of her customers.  The name, however, did not change.  The

With the untimely death of her beloved husband, Edward, Cristiana Helyngton is now a widow.  She and her daughters, eight-year-old Jane and twelve-year-old Mary, are grateful for the help and guidance of Cristiana’s brother, Gerverys.  But Gerverys is no match for Edward’s cousin Laurence Helyngton, who is determined to have all the Helyngton land and properties as well as Jane and