Barbara Stark-Nemon - author Even in Darkness- a novel

A Winner All Around

Revisado: 06-21-22

Erin Bartels does it to me again. Full disclosure, I am a Michigan author with a fascination for lake settings and an interest in the responsibility a writer has to protect the sources of characters and stories, so perhaps I was predisposed to love The Girl Who Could Breathe Under Water. Still, the careful plotting, (I didn’t mind AT ALL that it was slow and careful), the acceptance of complexity in the characters and relationships, and the gorgeous writing made this book a winner all around.

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Makes a novelist wonder... wny bother?

Revisado: 08-09-20

What a winsome, poignant gem of a novel. Nails the upper midwest angst and goodness, with a profound expression of the power of the natural world. And there were kites! Makes a novelist wonder: why bother?. Did notice a shift in the dialect mid-stream by the narrator, but still loved this audio version.

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An inspiring collection

Revisado: 12-04-18

Marlene Wagman-Geller's collection of stories about accomplished women from all walks of life and from many places in the world share the themes of resilience, persistence and the reality that we are products of our upbringing and our times, but that we need not be victims of them. With humor, candor and sass, Wagman-Geller reveals what inspires her about actresses, stateswomen, judges, nuns, and political activists, and in so doing inspires the reader to believe we can all have great second acts.

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A Do-not-miss

Revisado: 10-16-18

Bren McClain’s One Good Mama Bone is a brilliant tapestry of tribute to motherhood, South Carolina back-country, and the redemption of simple human kindness. There are cows. There is sewing. There is hunger. There are boys and their mothers. Be prepared for McClain’s beautiful writing to reach right down into your heart and build a world so poignant and real it will take your breath away. The audiobook is exquisitely narrated by the author. A do-not-miss!

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Heady Science with Artistic Sensibility

Revisado: 10-06-18

In the author’s note at the end of The Scribe of Sienna, Melodie Winawer’s time traveling historical fiction, she writes “this isn’t history- it’s fiction, and fiction, by definition, goes between and beyond the facts. That is the privilege and the heady pleasure of the novelist.” The pleasure extends bountifully to the reader. Winawer’s skillful combination of beautifully written sensory detail, meticulous research into 14th century Sienna, her knowledge as a neurosurgeon, and the complex story that results, are captivating. The time travel, and juxtaposition of heady science with artistic sensibility and doses of spirituality and hard political intrigue give Winawer a broad range within which to explore human character from the 14th century to our own, and the themes that bind all the best stories. Don’t miss this book!

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A Wonderful Audiobook!

Revisado: 04-06-18

Jeanne McWilliams Blasberg’s debut novel Eden poignantly proves the adage, all that glitters is not gold. The wealth and privilege of the Meisters give way to the reality of the secrets and sorrows that each family member harbors. All is played out in the beautifully described summer days at the family compound on the ocean in Rhode Island. Blasberg reminds us it’s never too late to learn from the past and redefine the meaning of family. A wonderful audiobook!

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Rachel Kadish "metabolizing life"

Revisado: 08-21-17

Rachel Kadish has written “I put words to paper because it's my way of metabolizing life,” and readers can be delighted with the nourishing and sustaining results in her novel, The Weight of Ink. As an historical novelist myself, I am awed by Kadish’s skill in balancing historic accuracy in thought and language to describe and create characters and dialogue from the 17th century, with the need to convey to a modern reader the synergistic themes and conflicts of identity, spirituality, love, passion and responsibility. Using another set of characters from the present to discover and interpret, with plotting to intersect the two centuries adds to the interest and complexity of this masterful work. Those with an interest in the history of Sephardic Jews in the European diaspora, and in epistolary novels will be particularly delighted. Favorite quote: “The greatest curse, he’d thought, was to be stuck in one’s own time- and the greatest power, to see beyond its horizons.”

Corrie James’ narration – first rate!

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A Multi-category Joy

Revisado: 07-27-17

With lush descriptions and an intricate plot, Amy Reacher's Simplicity of Cider is a special treat for hard apple cider aficionados who love strong female lead characters in their women's fiction, and authentic evocations of the charms of Midwest orchard country. Everyone else will love it too!

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Anna Quindlen at her Best

Revisado: 12-08-16

Not just a poignant coming of age story, Miller's Valley shines with the authenticity of a woman's attachments to her family, her past, her dreams, her loved ones and the land they all inhabit. Great narration.

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Superb literary excursion to Inquisition Spain

Revisado: 11-23-16

Spain, particularly Andalusia, was a maelstrom of religious, political and sociological upheaval in the late fifteenth and early 16th century. Mitchell James Kaplan’s By Fire, By Water is a superb literary excursion into that time and place. Engagingly written, and deeply researched, Kaplan convincingly transports the reader to the sights, sounds, and smells of Spain, to the desperate conflicts of religion and politics, and to a convincing set of relationships among a wide cast of characters, both real and imagined.

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