I wish I could write this way—with an effortless lucidity and simplicity that reaches the heart. Elizabeth Strout’s title, My Name is Lucy Barton, expresses the simplicity of her prose, though the power and full meaning of the phrase only come with the reading. The plot is equally simply. While in the hospital in Manhattan, Lucy […]
Author Archive | Judy
A Paris Apartment: A Bestseller?
Michelle Gable’s A Paris Apartment is a bestseller and the setup was intriguing enough to make me buy the book. Alice, a professional antique dealer, heads for a Paris apartment that hasn’t been open for seventy years. Such a premise, based on the actual discovery of such an apartment, promises aging secrets, great mystery, and […]
Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: Southern Mystery at its Best
There’s little argument that the American South produces the best storytellers in the nation, and best-selling author, Tom Franklin, certainly counts as one of those. Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter is a mystery full of past sins rising from the grave, forbidden friendships and betrayals—in short the soil of small town Mississippi life. Larry Ott, white, […]
The Bright Forever: a Different Mystery
I like mysteries that are based more on character than plot, and Lee Martin’s Pulitzer Prize Finalist, The Bright Forever, is one of those. It is as much about the social dynamics of small towns and the destructive power of isolation as the tragedy that results. Pieces of the story unfold from the point […]
A Wild Read: FATES AND FURIES
The characters of Lauren Groff’s multiple award winner, FATES AND FURIES, are conceived on the scale of the Greek tragedies the title suggests. Consumed by great love and great fury and driven by their sense of their fates. If you were captured by the gentle subtlety of Toni Fuhrman’s character treatments in One Who Loves, […]
Snow Child: a Magical Read
For all who find magical power in nature or who grew up with fairy tales, Eowyn Ivey’s Snow Child is a must read. The book was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and a winner of the UK National Book Award and with good reason. Ivey mixes the harsh reality of the 1920 Alaska wilderness […]
Best Selling Reads: Kate Morton
Authors frequently fall into a sour grapes attitude toward those who are more successful than they are, so I’ll try hard not to commit that sin. I do read best sellers to discover the key to success, as I’m sure other authors do, but end by discovering the same essential question. Does the story […]
Introducing ONE WHO LOVES, A Great Read
I’m delighted to introduce author, Toni Fuhrman and her first novel, One Who Loves, just published in e-book by New Libri Press. I’ve loved Toni’s work for years; her grasp of the subtleties of human nature is as impressive as her prose. She has a gentle touch and a fluidity that will carry you through […]
What Happened to My Sister: A Mixed Read
Elizabeth Flock’s What Happened to my Sister follows her best seller Me and Emma and, according to the reviews, I should have read the latter first. I didn’t, and perhaps that’s the reason for my mixed review. I’d love to hear comments from any who have read it, in order or not. Nine-year-old Carrie Parker and […]
Reading THE INVENTION OF WINGS
Sue Monk Kidd’s novel of two women in the pre-Civil War South will stay with you, I promise. I’ll say no more. “There was a time in Africa the people could fly. Mauma told me this one night when I was ten years old. Mauma told me this one night when I was […]
Reviewing THERE MUST BE SOME MISTAKE
Before I took off for Writers Conferences a couple of weeks ago, I reviewed Lori Roy’s Bent Road and asked readers to respond, giving me the titles and comments on good books they’ve read this year. Author Terry Persun did respond recommending Frederick Barthelme’s There Must Be Some Mistake. Here are his review and […]
Help Find a Good Book
I haven’t reviewed a book on my blog recently, and it troubles me. It isn’t because I haven’t been reading, but because I haven’t fallen in love with the book in my hands. So I’m asking your help. Send me the title and author of the best book (or books) you’ve read this year, plus […]