Readers' Favorite

January 20, 2018

Review: The New Dark by Lorraine Thompson

by MK French

Sorrel lived in a village that was attacked by mutants, people so horribly disfigured that most of the time babies born with that appearance that they are considered "not viable" and not allowed to live. In trying to find her younger brother and the boy she loved, she fell ill and was rescued by people of the Free. Not willing to stay in a society that sees nothing wrong with forcing her to marry against her will, Sorrel escapes and goes to the city. Danger still lurks there, especially when those of the Free are looking for her and a group of people feels that her birthmark can be used as a call to arms.

January 19, 2018

Review: The Keeper of Lost Things by Ruth Hogan

by Susan Roberts

Anthony Peardew is the keeper of lost things. When he finds something on his walk - a button, a glove, an earring - he takes it home to his study and writes a note on where he found the item in hopes that he can somehow, someday connect the item with its owner. He is also a famous author who has written stories based on the items that he's found. He is getting old and feeble and decides to turn his house and his quest for the owners of lost things to Laura when he dies. Laura, Sunshine (the girl across the street who has Down's syndrome) and Freddy, the gardener, work together to give the lost things back to their owner and to lay the ghost in the house to rest.

January 18, 2018

Review: Mona Ashleigh by Richard Levine

by MK French

Josh, also known as Bugboy, is friends with a group of "Defectives" in a New Jersey school in the early 1960's. When Ashleigh first comes to sit at his table for lunch, he can't see any visible defects and is sure that it's a trick being played on them by the "Normals." But Ashleigh has her own issues and insists she belongs with their group. Their friendship unfolds over the years, and Josh soon learns for himself why she feels the way she does.

January 17, 2018

10 Quick Book Reviews

by Susan Roberts
A Week in Time
November 2017; 978-1973253198
ebook, print (151 pages); historical fiction

Here are some short reviews of books that I read in 2017 that were requested by the authors.

January 16, 2018

Review: The Girls in the Picture by Melanie Benjamin

by MK French

Frances Marion came to Los Angeles in 1914 to be an artist and was drawn to the burgeoning motion picture industry. She became friends with Mary Pickford and was drawn into the shining circle of stars at the dawn of the silent film era. She was a screenwriter, and Mary Pickford was America's Sweetheart. Their friendship and lives changed over the years as Hollywood became the system we know it today.

January 15, 2018

Review: The Promise Between Us by Barbara Claypole White

by Susan Roberts

Society would have us believe that any woman who left her baby for ANY reason must be a terrible mother. This novel delves deep into the issue of a mother with HARM OCD who left her baby to protect her. It shows the true love of motherhood and family set against the problems that are caused by OCD in any form.

January 14, 2018

Review: Artefacts and Other Stories by Rebecca Burns

by MK French

The summary of Artefacts and Other Stories mentions the "stubborn yellow" of the dandelion in the opening story of this book, but the theme of items left behind or meaning more than its surface definition runs through all of the stories.

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