I’ve put my reviews for the books I’ve read on this page.  I’d love to read more books in the historical romance, drama, general fiction and young adult genres. I don’t read a lot of fantasy or non-fiction, unless it’s a book on writing.

If you’d like me to read your novel, please send me a note via the Contact page with information about your release. I don’t promise a review, but if you send me a copy, I’ll give it my best shot!

• The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen [Review]

  Ms Allen always delivers a fun, indulgent read laced with sweetness and a little bit of magic.

• Can't Say No by Jennifer Greene [Review]

• Chocolate & Vicodin by Jennette Fulda [Review]

  I cried on page 96 and laughed on page 113. In fact, I laughed on every other page. Jennette's natural dry humor and wit give this book a great personality. I really enjoyed it. Well done.

• Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen [Review]

  Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen My rating: 2 of 5 stars As a young man, Jacob Jankowski was tossed by fate onto a rickety train that was home to the Benzini Brothers Most Spectacular Show on Earth. It was the early part of the great Depression, a...

• The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom [Review]

  The Kitchen House by Kathleen Grissom My rating: 5 of 5 stars I have to start by saying I LOVED THIS BOOK. I got this as an audio book, a something to listen to that would ease my traffic woes and it WORKED. I can only concentrate on audio books ...

• The Girl Who Fell From The Sky by Heidi W Durrow [Review]

  Rachel Morse is the soul survivor of a horrific tragedy, brought from Chicago, IL to live with her grandmother and aunt in Portland Oregon. Rachel creates within her self a "new girl"... the old girl is gone, dead with the rest of her family. This new girl struggles to navigate a different life in Portland. Back home, her parents - a white German woman and a black soldier, never told her she was black. They never prepared her for a world where her kinky, curly hair and bright blue eyes would land her smack in the middle of two races, able to identify with neither.

• Columbine by Dave Cullen [Review]

  Dave Cullen's Columbine is a circuitous tale through the days leading up to and following the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School. I find myself appalled and shocked and saddened at the loss of life and the immense sadness and pain of the families of the Thirteen who died as well as the survivors still fighting for life everyday.

• Still Alice by Lisa Genova [Review]

  Lisa Genova presents a wonderfully and realistically woven, touching story about Alice Howland. Mother, wife, esteemed Harvard Professor, Research Analyst, Thesis Advisor-- all around very important woman, busy and in full control of her life. Slowly, instances begin to pop up that seem strange and disconcerting, but also fleeting. She feels ridiculous even making mention of them until they start happening with more frequency and severity.

• Easily Amused by Karen McQuestion [Review]

  Easily Amused is the short, sometimes funny, lightning fast read about Lola, editor of a Parenting Magazine, sister to the ever so perfect Mindy, friend to Piper-the-busy- mom and Hubert-- the friend with the girlfriend she can't stand.

• The Girl Who Chased The Moon by Sarah Addison Allen [Review]

  I didn't know anything about this book when I picked it from the stack, other than my fave book blogger WriteMeg! had read it at as well and didn't hate it. So glad I decided to get it and take a chance on it. I was craving something light and wonderful and this definitely hit the spot.

• Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter: A Novel by Tom Franklin [Review]

  As you can imagine, I thoroughly enjoyed getting lost in Mississippi via the imagery painted by the author. I could see the house that Larry and his family lived in, the delapitated cabin that Silas and his mother lived in, the lush forests and dirt roads of the back country and the daily ramblings and small town adventures of Chabot.

• In which I am still awake, this is going to have to be a double chapter, but I topped 3000 words yay

  This box asks me what I think... well. I think I don't understand the 4 and 5 star ratings of this book. I liked the story itself. It seemed to be full, however, of winding stories and retrospection, which provides us with back story. I guess I'll have to think further about the characters and development and writing style. [Adding: Which were fine, I guess. It wasn't impossible to understand].

• Room by Emma Donoghue [Review]

  Room by Emma Donoghue My rating: 4 of 5 stars Just... wow. I read this book in one day... couldn't stop reading it! It's like sitting in the mind of a 5 yr old as his world changes. Told in 5 distinct parts, the story opens when Jack turns...

• The Confession by John Grisham [Review]

  An innocent man is days from execution. Only a guilty man can save him. It's been awhile since I read this book, but I wanted to make sure I got a review in on this one. I remarked to someone earlier today that I'd put this book in my list of most enjoyed of 2010. Grisham includes a high level of detail, specifically when he's talking about the physical illness of his main character, Travis Boyette.

• Build My World by Rebecca Miller [Review]

  This is the first book I read by Rebecca Miller, though I have to admit I read it because she was a friend first. I had no idea she wrote until she plainly said, "I write." And then I was curious. I love to read, so I read. Perhaps it is the stigma of writers who self publish, but my expectations for this book were relatively low. I mainly wanted to read it because a friend wrote it. I ended up loving it and being impressed that someone could write a full novel that held my attention through the end, and then publish it. And then sell copies!

• Sugar, Bernice McFadden [Review]

  At the beginning of Bernice McFadden's Sugar, we don't meet Sugar. We meet Jude, so to speak. Jude is the ghost in the story, the crux of every emotional scene in the novel. Jude is the murdered child of Pearl, a woman who befriends her next door neighbor that happens to go by the name 'Sugar'.

• Her Fearful Symmetry, Audrey Niffenegger [Review]

  This story begins oh, so right. Niffenegger (you mind if I call her Audrey? That name is a toughie)jumps right into the middle of the story and wades around in it. Our main character, you see... dies on Page One. And I figure if someone dies on Page One, there's a good reason for it and a good story behind it.

• Rainwater, Sandra Brown [Review]

  I'm a huge fan of period pieces, especially if the author does a superb job of transporting the reader back to a simpler time. I'm not really a thriller reader, so I had never even thought to read Sandra Brown before. It was a recommended novel on a Kindle list so I picked it up one day a few weeks ago.

• The Chosen One- [Review]

  arol Lynch Williams presents a heart pounding, engaging novel about a girl growing up in a Polygamist community, under the watchful eye and controlling thumb of a God-like figure, The Prophet. The Chosen One seems ripped from recent headlines about the infiltration of these communities and rescues of children ordered to marry men more than twice their ages, bear children, and become one of several wives.

• Dark Places- Gillian Flynn [Review]

  Here's what I can say: the plot is intricately weaved and the imagery is VIVID. Flynn is... OMG... I think my new favorite author right now. Grisly and gory but nail bitingly exciting. I'm still spinning from this book. We meet Libby Day immediately in the book and we're shocked by such an unlikely protagonist. I think Flynn's golden arrow is an unlikeable hero, because Libby is just as or more unlikable than the protagonist in Sharp Objects.

• Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn [Review]

  Sometimes my method of picking books is really calculated. And then sometimes I just see something and think, 'hmph. I'll read that, I guess.' Sharp Objects was chosen via the latter method. Suffice it to say,I think I started this book sometime last week, maybe over the weekend. It's Tuesday and I just finished it. Literally a few minutes ago... I've been buried in it all weekend.

• The Help- Kathryn Stockett [Review]

  This book was a slow start for me, but once it got going, it was hard to put down. I was almost late for work one morning, because I had started reading and couldn't stop. I literally sat down 4 hours ago to finish it, because I just couldn't stand not knowing what happened anymore. The Help is a riveting, entertaining first novel-- I think Ms. Stockett should be quite proud of herself.

• Stephen King- On Writing [Review]

  On Writing by Stephen King My goodreads review rating: 4 of 5 stars I picked up this book on a whim from Amazon, while searching for some books on Writing. It comes pretty highly recommended from those who have read it. I have to admit I really only read 1/3 of it but I will read the rest. Part 2, On Writing, is basically King's best advice to writers.