Book review: Wake

Oddly, I’d had this book on my shelf for some time. I remembered it only after picking it up in French in a French bookstore and being drawn in by the story and the excellent blurbs – before realizing I shouldn’t buy it because I had the original version back home. : ) This novel…

Read More

Book Review: The Expatriates

I enjoyed this novel following the lives of three expatriate women living in Hong Kong. The Expatriates by Janice Y.K. Lee explores the lives of three women – all adrift in their own way –  living in Hong Kong’s expat community. Mercy is a Korean-American Ivy League grad who has been drifting ever since graduating…

Read More

Book review: Hidden

This is the third novel I’ve read – and enjoyed – by Canadian author, Catherine McKenzie. Hidden is the story of a love triangle that unravels slowly following the death of Jeff, beloved father of Seth and husband of Claire and possible lover of Tish, a colleague who works at the same corporation, in another…

Read More

Book review: The Two-Family House

I devoured Lynda Cohen Loigman’s debut novel, The Two-Family House, this past weekend. I spent last Saturday on the beach reading about this complicated, large Brooklyn Jewish family in the 1950s. I loved getting into the minds of these well-drawn characters and watching how attitudes and thinking changed along with the changing times. The main…

Read More

Women’s fiction vs romance. One author’s discovery

In this very informative post on the Writer’s Digest site, romance author Linda Goodnight discovered, once she submitted a story proposal to her editors, that her story was not romance but women’s fiction. In this post, Women’s Fiction or Romance? The Differences, and 5 Reasons Why They Matter, Goodnight explores the differences between the genres. As…

Read More

Book review: Fractured

I greatly enjoyed Fractured, a novel by Catherine McKenzie. I understand the author prefers to give one-word titles to her novels, but perhaps, if she would consider sub-titles, Ode to city living might be appropriate. Although the book was a psychological thriller, it was the fear of ever finding myself within such a meddling, invasive suburb…

Read More

Women’s Fiction Reading Challenge

Funny that I just discovered this challenge (as 2016 comes to a close) over at the excellent Book Date web site. The Women’s Fiction Reading Challenge 2016 is a challenge to read a certain number of Women’s Fiction books in a year: you choose the level of your commitment, and it ranges anywhere from less than…

Read More