Katabasis - R.F. Kuang (Harper Voyager, 2025) Alice Law is a focused, hard-working, and super intelligent student of Analytic Magic at Cambridge University. She has worked hard to reach her current position, working with advisor Jacob Grimes. Professor Grimes is brilliant, respected, and insanely difficult. Alice will do anything to please him, to make sure… Continue reading Book Review: Katabasis by R.F. Kuang
The Doll Factory - Elizabeth MacNeal (Simon & Schuster, 2019) The Doll Factory is set in London in the 1850s, around the time of the construction of the Crystal Palace. Our main character is Iris, a young woman who, along with her twin sister, Rose, works at a doll manufacturer. Iris is artistic but the… Continue reading Book Review: The Doll Factory by Elizabeth MacNeal
The Infamous Gilberts - Angela Tomaski (Simon & Schuster Audio, 2026) I received an Advance Listening Copy of this book thanks to the publisher and to Libro.fm. All opinions are my own. The Gilberts are a family of 6 - mother and 5 children - in the rambling, increasingly decrepit family property called Thornwalk. With… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: The Infamous Gilberts by Angela Tomaski
Nesting - Roisin O'Donnell (Hachette Audio, 2025) Ciara's husband, Ryan, has never hit her. So when she decides, on the spur of the moment, to leave with her two young daughters, grabbing the laundry off the line and loading up the van, she isn't sure that she's made the right decision. Her mother and sister… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: Nesting by Roisin O’Donnell
Sunburn - Chloe Michelle Howarth (Verve Books, 2023) Sunburn is set in the early 1990s in a small village in Ireland. Our narrator is Lucy, a teenage girl at the cusp of adulthood. She lives with her parents, her brothers, and her granny on their farm. It's a similar life to almost all of her… Continue reading Book Review: Sunburn by Chloe Michelle Howarth
I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book thanks to the publisher. All opinions are my own. Available through Greenleaf Book Group Press 13 April 2026. Elly Sparrow didn't plan on having four children or that her life would be narrowed down to simply being their mother. But somewhere along the way, her life… Continue reading Book Review: Rules for Mothers by Julie Swendsen Young
I Hold a Wolf by the Ears - Laura van den Berg (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020) A short story collection was just the kind of palette cleanser I needed in the midst of my Goliath reads. Reading Laura van den Berg's collection reminded me a lot of the sort of short stories we would… Continue reading Book Review: I Hold A Wolf by the Ears by Laura van den Berg
Beautyland - Marie-Helene Bertino (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2024) I started listening to Beautyland on audio back in, I think, November, via the Libby app. My time lapsed and the wait was so long that I kind of gave up on it. But when I saw that it had no wait at the library in… Continue reading Book Review: Beautyland by Marie-Helen Bertino
Demon Copperhead - Barbara Kingsolver (Harper, 2022) Damon Fields is born to a single mother in the bathroom of a trailer. He is born into poverty in a small, Appalachian community. His childhood is unsteady but not necessarily unhappy. He quickly becomes known as Demon Copperhead instead of his legal name (just as his best… Continue reading Book Review: Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Seascraper - Benjamin Wood (Simon & Schuster Audio, 2025) I received an Advance Listening copy of this book thanks to the publisher and Libro.FM. All opinions are my own. I began listening to Seascraper just before the winter holiday and so even though it is a short novel - just over five hours listening time… Continue reading (Audio) Book Review: Seascraper by Benjamin Wood
Karissa Reads Books 