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Somewhere Toward Freedom, by Bennett Parten***** | Seattle Book Mama
Bennett Parten is a fine historical writer, and here he examines General William Sherman’s renowned march through Georgia during the American Civil War through the lens of the formerly enslaved people that followed him. It’s a job that needed doing, and I’m glad that Parten was the one to do it. My thanks go to…
American Spirits, by Russell Banks***** | Seattle Book Mama
American Spirits is a collection of three short stories that take place in the fictional New England town of Sam Dent. My thanks go to NetGalley and Alfred A. Knopf for the review copy. This book is for sale now. I wasn’t sure this book would be up to Banks’s usual standard, as it was…
The Great Hippopotamus Hotel, by Alexander McCall Smith***** | Seattle Book Mama
The 25th book in the #1 Ladies Detective Agency series is not to be missed. My thanks go to NetGalley and Knopf/Doubleday for the review copy; this book is available to the public now. When life becomes stressful, what do you do? Some swear by yoga, herbal tea, walking or running, therapy, mindfulness, journaling, or…
Open Season, by Jonathan Kellerman*** | Seattle Book Mama
3.5 stars, rounded downward. Open Season is the fortieth (!) in the Alex Delaware series, one that I have read since the very first book. Newbies can read it as a stand alone novel, however. My thanks go to NetGalley and Random House/Ballantine Books for the review copy. It will be available to the public…
Veronica Ruiz Breaks the Bank, by Elle Cosimano**** | Seattle Book Mama
Fans of Cosimano’s Finlay Donovan series will recognize her trusty sidekick and BFF, Vero. Over the course of the series, we’ve had many hints about Vero’s past, and Finlay sometimes wonders why Vero is so tightlipped about her personal history. This short story provides curious readers with some background, as well as some of the…
You’ll Never Believe Me, by Kari Ferrell**-*** | Seattle Book Mama
My thanks go to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the invitation to read and review. This book will be available to the public January 7, 2025. The blurb for this book had me at hello. Korean baby girl adopted by Caucasian Americans, who then become Mormons; a childhood and adolescence rife with alienation, discrimination,…
The Slate, by Matthew FitzSimmons***** | Seattle Book Mama
Author Matthew FitzSimmons is a veteran novelist, but he is new to me. I picked up on the buzz generated by his most recent book, a political thriller titled The Slate. What a ride! This is a true thriller, one that gripped me at the outset and didn’t let me go till it was done…
Bedtime Stories for Privileged Children, by Daniel Foxx**** | Seattle Book Mama
3.5 stars rounded upward. My thanks go to NetGalley and Octopus Publishing for the review copy. This book is for sale now. This book came to my attention when a Goodreads friend reviewed it, and I decided on the spot that I had to read it. Author Daniel Foxx may never get his tongue out…
Carl Perkins, the King of Rockabilly, by Jeff Apter***** | Seattle Book Mama
“’I had only three childhood idols,’ John [Lennon] would tell a friend. ‘Elvis, Carl Perkins, and Jerry Lee Lewis.’ Paul McCartney would go one step further: ‘If there were no Carl Perkins,’ he’d state, ‘there would be no Beatles.’” When I saw this book, I felt a slight buzzing at the back of my mind.…
Emperor of the Seas, by Jack Weatherford***** | Seattle Book Mama
How much do you know about the Mongol empires? If you grew up in the U.S., chances are you answered, “Absolutely nothing.” The world is a big place, and world history has never been much of a priority in American schools; we study various phases of U.S. history, state history, and in a wild flurry…
How to Summon a Fairy Godmother, by Laura J. Mayo***** | Seattle Book Mama
“She was Theodosia Balfour. Good things did not happen to her.” Theo is engaged to be married, despite her wishes; her mother has bartered her to an ancient, badly behaved duke for the prestige of his title and the money she must have to keep the family manse. Beggers can’t be choosers, amirite? Her stepsister…
Crook Manifesto, by Colson Whitehead***** | Seattle Book Mama
The Ray Carney mystery series is among the most exciting new series to emerge during the past decade, and that is hardly surprising, given that it’s written by Colson Whitehead, who has two Pulitzers and a host of other prestigious awards to his credit. The first in the series is Harlem Shuffle, which came out…
Lula Dean’s Little Library of Banned Books, by Kirsten Miller | Seattle Book Mama
Lula Dean is a deeply unhappy woman. Neglected by her children, alone and unappreciated, she strikes on a way to gain the attention she knows that she deserves. She embarks on a crusade to remove books she deems objectionable from local libraries, and she sets a sterling example for her town by erecting a little…
The Love Elixir of Augusta Stern***** | Seattle Book Mama
Augusta Stern is about to turn eighty, and she’s being forced into retirement, darn it. Her beloved niece persuades her to leave New York and spend what remain of her golden years in a Florida seniors’ community. From there, a wave of surprising events unfolds, changing Augusta’s life. My thanks go to NetGalley and St.…
Identity Unknown, by Patricia Cornwell***** | Seattle Book Mama
Patricia Cornwell’s Scarpetta series is among my favorites. Identity Unknown, the 28th in the series, is every bit as riveting as her earlier ones, and I am thrilled to have received a review copy. My thanks go to Grand Central Publishing, NetGalley, and Hachette Audio. This book is for sale now. First, I have to…
The Message, by Ta-Nehisi Coates**** | Seattle Book Mama
Ta-Nehisi Coates is an eloquent writer, and I look forward to reading whatever he publishes. My thanks go to NetGalley and Random House for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now. This book is brief, and it consists of four essays. The first and briefest is about returning to Howard…
My Name is Barbra, by Barbra Streisand***** | Seattle Book Mama
As I came of age in the late 1970s, Barbra Streisand was a tremendous star, and when it came to movies in which she sang, she was peerless. She still is. I was starstruck by her brilliance, her charisma, and her astounding voice, and even so, I didn’t know the half of it. She wouldn’t…
Den of Iniquity, by J.A. Jance**** | Seattle Book Mama
I began reading the J.P. Beaumont series by J.A. Jance around 1990, just a few years after her first was published. I’ve enjoyed it ever since, an entertaining series that is usually set right here in my hometown, Seattle. My thanks go to NetGalley and William Morrow for the review copy. This book, the 26th…
Phantom Orbit, by David Ignatius**** | Seattle Book Mama
“When we know a secret that could have devastating consequences, what should we do?” David Ignatius writes spy thrillers, and is one of the most reliable authors I’ve read within that genre. I can always count on an absorbing read. Phantom Orbit centers on Ivan Volkov, a young man from Russia that goes to Beijing…
Tell Me Everything, by Elizabeth Strout***** | Seattle Book Mama
“Lucy said, ‘So what is the point of this story?’ “Olive laughed. She really laughed at that. ‘Lucy Barton, the stories you told me—as far as I could tell—had very little point to them. Okay, okay, maybe they had subtle points to them. I don’t know what the point is to this story!’ “’People,’ Lucy…
Let Us Descend, by Jesmyn Ward***** | Seattle Book Mama
Reading Jesmyn Ward always hurts so good. In Let Us Descend, she conveys the heartbreak and sense of betrayal a young girl, Annis, faces when she and her mother are sold separately by their owner—who is also her father--and the ways that she copes, and also the ways she is helped by the spirits of…
That Librarian, by Amanda Jones**** | Seattle Book Mama
If ever a clarion call were needed in defense of the First Amendment in general and libraries in particular, that time would be now. Amanda Jones is an educator in a small Louisiana town, where she has lived all of her life. When a censorship battle presented itself, primarily at the behest of organized outsiders…
Margo’s Got Money Troubles, by Rufi Thorpe**** | Seattle Book Mama
Margo’s Got Money Troubles, by Rufi Thorpe, is a bold, inventive, and very funny novel about a young woman cut adrift in a difficult, expensive world. My thanks go to NetGalley and William Morrow for the invitation to read and review. This book is for sale now. Margo is the daughter of a Hooters waitress…
Spirit Crossing, by William Kent Krueger | Seattle Book Mama
Spirit Crossing is the spellbinding new novel in the Cork O’Connor series by William Kent Krueger. The book starts with two missing women, and an accidental discovery of a fresh grave. Readers faithful to the series will recognize the characters; there are enough of them, mostly related to one another, to provide depth and interest,…
The Wedding People, by Alison Espach***** | Seattle Book Mama
It’s a good sign when I finish reading a book, and I’m smiling. Alison Espach’s new novel, The Wedding People, not only left me smiling at the end; it made me laugh out loud almost from the get-go, and it will do the same for you. My thanks go to NetGalley, Henry Holt, and Macmillan…
The Faculty Lounge, by Jennifer Mathieu****-***** | Seattle Book Mama
“You really had to hand it to Mr. Lehrer. While dying at work is never ideal, he had the decency to do it during his off period. And not only that, but at the start of it, too, giving the clerks in the main office plenty of time to find someone else to cover Ms.…
Trouble in Queenstown, by Delia Pitt***-**** | Seattle Book Mama
Delia Pitts has been writing mysteries for quite some time, but she is new to me. In Trouble in Queenstown, she introduces hardboiled sleuth Evander Myrick. Myrick’s friends call her Vandy, and that helps to distinguish her from her elderly father for whom she is named; he’s in a memory care unit. My thanks go…
The Chinese Question, by Mae M. Ngai****-***** | Seattle Book Mama
Mae Ngai is an award-winning author and a professor at Columbia University. In her third book, The Chinese Question, she examines the race relations and to some degree, the economic underpinnings of the Chinese diaspora. My thanks go to NetGalley and W.W. Norton and Company for the review copy. I am disgracefully late, but when…
Middletide, by Sarah Crouch***** | Seattle Book Mama
Sarah Crouch makes her authorial debut with Middletide, a mystery set in the Pacific Northwest near where she grew up. Atmospheric and tense, it’s a damn fine start to what is sure to be a promising career. My thanks go to NetGalley and Atria Books for the invitation to read and review. This book is…
Guilty Creatures, by Mikita Brottman***** | Seattle Book Mama
Tallahassee, Florida is a city with more than its share of horrifying murders, which Brottman tells us has earned it the nickname, “Tallanasty.” Is it something in the water? No, wait. That’s the gators. One thing that we know is true: in the far right, conservative Christian enclave there, two upstanding young people decided to…
The Demon of Unrest, by Erik Larson***** | Seattle Book Mama
When it comes to history, it’s hard to conjure a more capable author than Erik Larson. I’ve thought this for some time, but his Churchill biography, The Splendid and the Vile (2020) cemented this impression. I am therefore gushingly grateful to NetGalley and Crown Books for the review copy. I would have paid full cover…
Left for Dead, by Eric Jay Dolan***-**** | Seattle Book Mama
When I saw this book, I was eager to read it. Shipwreck, treachery, and survival? It doesn't get a lot more exciting than that. I signed myself up for both the digital and audio galleys, and settled in to immerse myself in history. My thanks go to NetGalley, RB Media, and W.W. Norton and Company…
Beep, by Bill Roorbach**** | Seattle Book Mama
Beep is squirrel monkey, born and raised in the rain forest of Costa Rica. He’s not a baby anymore, and his old uncles have informed him that all the females are spoken for, and he must travel to a new area to mate and propagate. It’s tricky business, though, because human encroachment has separated the…
Brothers in Arms, by Damien Lewis*** | Seattle Book Mama
My thanks go to NetGalley and Highbridge Audio for the review copy of Band of Brothers, the history of one unit of Churchill’s Special Forces during World War II. This book is for sale now. I was initially attracted to this nonfiction work by Lewis’s reputation—a list of awards as long as your arm—and the…
The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride***** | Seattle Book Mama
I am late to the party, not having been alert enough to request a galley of The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride. McBride is the author of The Color of Water and Good Lord Bird, but I haven’t read those either yet, so the whole thing blew by me, until I read…
The Stepford Wives, by Ira Levin***** | Seattle Book Mama
Ira Levin, legendary novelist and playwright, published The Stepford Wives in 1972, a time when feminist ideas were at a fever pitch for many, and a frightening development for others. Women’s rights were at the forefront in a way that they had not been since the suffragists had won the right for women to vote…
It’s a Privilege Just to Be Here, by Emma Sasaki**** | Seattle Book Mama
Emma Sasaki makes her fictional debut with the darkly amusing story of a mother and daughter caught up in a scandal at a prestigious private school. My thanks go to NetGalley and Dreamscape Media for the audio galley. This book is for sale now. Wesley Friends School is the prep school to which presidents and…
House of Glass, by Sarah Pekkanen***-**** | Seattle Book Mama
3.5 stars, rounded upwards. Author Sarah Pekkanen is known for writing psychological thrillers, and her newest novel, House of Glass, is a real page turner. My thanks go to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for the invitation to read and review. This book will be available to the public August 6, 2024. Our protagonist is…
The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, by Helen Simonson***** | Seattle Book Mama
Helen Simonson is the author of the bestselling novel, Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand. With her new release, The Hazelbourne Ladies Motorcycle and Flying Club, she is once more in her element, creating believable characters and using them to skewer the pervasive racism and class snobbery of Britain, and also, in a smaller way, that of…
Rednecks, by Taylor Brown***** | Seattle Book Mama
“Law only serves them that’s in power. Ain’t no different than always...’Tis the victor who writes the history—and counts the dead.” I’ve been an enthusiastic fan of author Taylor Brown since reading Gods of Howl Mountain, which was published in 2018. His new novel, Rednecks, is out now, and as with his earlier work, it…