Catherine, Author at Your Book Group

The Plaid Scarf

CatherineSeptember 24, 2023September 24, 2023

Sheila Solomon Shotwell 2023 Can a garment be a time portal? Well, maybe – but not in The Plaid Scarf. Sheila Solomon Shotwell comes close, though, and her story feels like magic. 2018: Johanna, a Michigan girl, is preparing for her bat mitzvah under the tutelage of her many-faceted, blues-loving … Continue ReadingThe Plaid Scarf

Fiction

True North

CatherineSeptember 4, 2023September 4, 2023Leave a comment

Randall DeVallance, 2023 What would it take for you to discover your true potential? Do you have the guts to go for it? Do you need to be thrown into a position of power to show that you’ve got what it takes? Or does lightning have to strike? You might … Continue ReadingTrue North

Mystery

Dead On Target

CatherineAugust 1, 2023August 1, 2023Leave a comment

An Agatha Raisin Mystery by M.C. Beaton with R.W. Green Although Agatha Raisin is perpetually in her early 50’s – the Bart Simpson of cozy mysteries – her creator, M.C. Beaton, is with us no more. R.W. Green has taken over, and here’s the problem: R.W. Green, unfortunately, knows how … Continue ReadingDead On Target

Uncategorized

How to Stay Productive When the World is Ending

CatherineAugust 1, 2023August 1, 2023Leave a comment

by Reductress – 2023 I’ve always gotten a kick out of Reductress, so when I saw that the audio of this short book was available for review on NetGalley, I jumped at the chance. After finishing my listen, I’m underwhelmed. The endless cleverness and satire got repetitive, and I only … Continue ReadingHow to Stay Productive When the World is Ending

Off Topic

Cookies – Not the Chocolate Chip Kind

CatherineJuly 26, 2023July 26, 2023Leave a comment

It’s recently come to my attention that just having a cookie consent popup on this website does not customize cookie settings based on the viewer’s response, so I’m just going to be very transparent here about how I use cookies. I don’t use cookies at all. I’m a reader and … Continue ReadingCookies – Not the Chocolate Chip Kind

Fiction

Summer’s Second

CatherineJuly 26, 2023July 26, 2023Leave a comment

Jeff Billington 2022 In this coming of age novel we meet Asher (Ash), a teenager in the Ozark town of White Oak, who is working toward recognition of both his potential and his identity as a gay man. As Asher deals with self-doubt, bullying, poverty, and food insecurity while navigating … Continue ReadingSummer’s Second

Fantasy

The Searcher’s Lament

CatherineJuly 3, 2023July 26, 2023

Saige Denmark, 2022 – Nocturne of Oblivion #1 What if you woke up in unfamiliar surroundings with no memories, barely aware of your name? This is what happens to Kian. Finding himself on Ghede, a planet peopled by starving inhabitants who subsist among the trash piles from other planets, Kian … Continue ReadingThe Searcher’s Lament

Fiction

Chicken Dinner News

CatherineJune 28, 2023July 26, 2023

Jeff Billington 2023 Ryan Shipley wants to go home, and everybody except Ryan knows that. Raised in California where he works for a Los Angeles newspaper, Ryan travels to his deceased father’s Ozark hometown of White Oak, Missouri to attend his grandfather’s funeral, only to learn that he has inherited … Continue ReadingChicken Dinner News

Fiction

Demon Copperhead

CatherineJune 26, 2023July 26, 2023

Barbara Kingsolver 2022 – Pulitzer Prize Winner It sneaks up on you, this book. Damon Fields, better known as Demon Copperhead, is no shrinking violet. His voice is a stream-of-consciousness monologue, delivered at sometimes-manic locomotive speed. Unlike the timid protagonist of David Copperfield, on which Barbara Kingsolver loosely based this … Continue ReadingDemon Copperhead

Mystery

Naked Once More

CatherineJune 6, 2023July 26, 2023

Elizabeth Peters 1989 – 4th and final book of the Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries Of the four volumes in the Jacqueline Kirby series, this one is probably the best-developed: Jacqueline, in an unlikely career change, has written a couple of romance novels, become a bestselling author full time, quit her libarian … Continue ReadingNaked Once More

Mystery

Die For Love

CatherineJune 3, 2023July 26, 2023

Elizabeth Peters – Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries #3 Jacqueline needs to get out of town, and she’s looking for a way to use her trip as a tax write-off. So, the librarian gets a ticket to a romance novelist convention and heads from Nebraska to New York City. The convention has … Continue ReadingDie For Love

Mystery

The Murders of Richard III

CatherineJune 2, 2023July 26, 2023

Elizabeth Peters – Book 2 of the Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries This book has a novel premise (get it?) but there was little enticement to follow the convoluted relationhips of the characters, referenced by both their real and their “pretend” names. All were all in costume, playing characters in the historic … Continue ReadingThe Murders of Richard III

Mystery

The Seventh Sinner

CatherineMay 31, 2023July 26, 2023

Elizabeth Peters 1972 – Book 1 of the Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries. For more information and an in-depth review of the series, visit the Jacqueline Kirby Mysteries page. Readers are introduced to Jacqueline Kirby, midwestern librarian and woman of mystery, as she assists a small group of Fellows in Rome when … Continue ReadingThe Seventh Sinner

Book Clubs & Book Groups

I Don’t Like My Book Club’s Latest Selection.

CatherineMay 29, 2023July 26, 2023

Mystery

A Superior Death

CatherineMay 13, 2023July 26, 2023

Nevada Barr – 1994 – Anna Pigeon #2 From my review of the first book in this series, Track of the Cat: “Anna Pigeon is one of the most intriguing protagonists I’ve met in a mystery series, and I can’t wait to see where she goes.” Anna went to my … Continue ReadingA Superior Death

Mystery

Witch

CatherineMay 12, 2023July 26, 2023

Barbara Michaels 1973 In preparation for a cross-country train trip, I loaded my Kindle with library books – mostly by Barbara Michaels, as it turns out. This is the first of several reviews. Ellen March, who has spent the last several years raising both her own child and her nephews … Continue ReadingWitch

Book Clubs & Book Groups

You Found a Book Discussion Group! Now What?

CatherineApril 20, 2023July 26, 2023

You’ve done your research, and you’ve found a book discussion group you’d like to try. How can you make the most of the experience? Read the Book Read the Room Read Your Reactions So, how’d it go? Did you feel welcome and included? Was the group well-moderated? Was the discussion … Continue ReadingYou Found a Book Discussion Group! Now What?

Book Clubs & Book Groups

What About YOUR Book Group?

CatherineApril 16, 2023July 26, 2023

Whether you’re a regular member of a book group, an occasional drop-in onbook discussions that are open to the public, or a book group facilitator, youwill benefit from this series of posts that explore how to find, participatein, and lead a book group. Unlike oral storytelling, which involves speakers and … Continue ReadingWhat About YOUR Book Group?

Mystery

Grey Mask

CatherineApril 1, 2023July 26, 2023

Patricia Wentworth – 1928 – #1 in the Miss Silver Mysteries So many questions . . . Margaret and Charles – whatever happened to their love? Who are those men in disguise sitting in Charles’ mother’s sitting room? And why is Margaret with them? Margaret and Charles parted ways years … Continue ReadingGrey Mask

Historical Fiction

Hamnet: A Novel of the Plague

CatherineMarch 25, 2023July 26, 2023

Maggie O’Farrell – March 31, 2020 What does the death of a child do to a marriage? To a family? Those questions are timeless, and difficult to face even in fiction – but viewed at a remove of 450 years, and without modern-day medical terminology, the topic might be considered … Continue ReadingHamnet: A Novel of the Plague