Reviews

Stockett's debut novel is a gem. The Help is a poignant look at the 1960's civil rights movement in Jackson, Mississippi. This story shows us the boundries that need crossing and endears us to the very few citizens willing to dare.

Widow Francesca Companile needs something to do to fill some lonely hours. Single mother Loretta Simmons needs a nanny. It seems like a match made in heaven, right. Not quite.

Felix Castor, Fix to people who like him, is an exorcist. When he accidentally almost excises an old college buddy instead of the demon who has possessed him, Fix gives up the business. Hard times, however, draw him into a case in which he becomes interested in helping the ghost, instead of those who want to get rid of it.

The Imperfectionists is a series of vignettes that tells the story of several "imperfect" people involved with the  publication of an unnamed English language newspaper in Rome.  Why the mysterious businessman, Cyrus Ott, choose Rome as the newspaper's headquarters is a recurring question answered in  the last few page

This memoir, that reads like a novel and should appeal to anyone who enjoys family drama, defies convention when it comes to predictability. Jeannette Walls grew up in a family of nomads. She and her three siblings were born in the west to a couple who were brilliant but ungrounded, to say the least.

The author visits the places or as close to the places that he thinks are the present day places mentioned in the Bible. Trouble is, there are always at least 5 possibilities for each place. But that does not stop him. He is on a journey! A quest! And an interesting peregrination it is.

When Annie and William Taylor witness an execution in the woods they run to the safety of the first passing car. But the driver isn’t just a passerby; he is one of the executioners. They escape and are on the run again, this time knowing they can’t trust anybody. Eduardo Villatoro, a newly retired detective, just happens to be in town following up on some unlikely clues to the only unsolved murder of his career. As Villatoro gets closer to solving the crime, he also gets closer to Annie and William. But will he get there in time?

Annie O'Sullivan is at at good place in her life. She's thirty-two, a successful relator with a line on a big project and a wonderful boyfriend. Annie is looking forward to dinner with her boyfriend, Luke, following her Sunday afternoon open house. As she is finishing up the open house a final prospective buyer approaches her outside the house.

Belgian novelist Georges Simenon is best known for his detective series featuring Parisian policeman Jules Maigret. But he also wrote a number of bleak psychological novels that deal with people whose lives are disrupted by seemingly random happenings or impulses.