Novels Now

Olive Kitteridge
By Elizabeth Strout
Completed August 13, 2008
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout was a novel comprised of thirteen short stories about people living in rural Maine. Several of the stories were based on the title character, but many of the stories only showed us a glimpse of Olive. From any perspective, Strout provided her readers with […]

Popularity: 18% [?]

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Mudbound by Hillary Jordan
My son just said to me, “Didn’t you just start that book yesterday?” Always the sign of a good book, one that I just race through. I’ve been reading some good reviews of this one in the Southern Reading Challenge. It’s a classic southern novel, tackling racist life in Mississippi just after […]

Popularity: 32% [?]

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“The world is full of miracles, Mama. All we have to do is find the ones that belong to us.” [pg 27]
Tarnished Beauty by Cecelia Samartin
Atria Books, 2008 (ARE)
Fiction; 339 pgs
Jamilet is a naïve and imaginative young woman who carries a burden, an ugly birthmark that stretches from her shoulders, down her back, reaching […]

Popularity: 26% [?]

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The Girl in Saskatoon: A Meditation on Memory and Murder by Sharon Butala
Pages: 260
First Published: March, 2008
Genre: memoir, True Crime
Rating: DNF
First sentence:
One soft spring evening in 1962 a young nurse named Alexandra Wiwcharuk wasmurdered and an entire city came to a stop: Alexandra’s murder was all anyonecould talk about.
Comments: With that promising first sentence, I […]

Popularity: 27% [?]

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First Sentence: Somewhere in her heart, Danielle Montgomery knew this was wrong, and her guilt had a face.
Detective Rebecca Montgomery is hanging by a thread emotionally and career wise. Her sister’s disappearance and the lack of progress in the investigation have the grieving San Antonio detective on edge. Her coworkers are tired […]

Popularity: 36% [?]

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Compulsion by Jonathan Kellerman
Mystery/Thriller
2008 Ballantine Books
Finished on 5/7/08
Rating: 3.5/5 (Good)

Product Description
Once again, the depths of the criminal mind and the darkest side of a glittering city fuel #1 New York Times bestselling author Jonathan Kellerman’s brilliant storytelling. And no one conducts a more harrowing and suspenseful manhunt than the modern Sherlock Holmes of the […]

Popularity: 31% [?]

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Procession of the Dead by D.B. Shan
The City: Book 1

Pages: 312
First Published: March 3, 2008 (Canada & UK)
Genre: urban fantasy
Rating: 5/5
Comments:
Capac Raimi arrives in the city to join his uncle’s business, that of small time gangster. He quickly learns the ropes but soon finds himself brought to the attention of The Cardinal. The Cardinal is […]

Popularity: 35% [?]

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Empress of Asia by Adam Lewis Schroeder
Pages: 409
First Published: 2006 CDN edition, 2008 US Edition
Genre: historical fiction, fictional memoir
Rating: 4/5
First Sentence:
A beefy-faced guy was pushing the gurney when they came to get you; he rolled it up the driveway and must’ve caught the corner of the Taurus just above the headlight because now there’s a […]

Popularity: 32% [?]

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Another Thing to Fall by Laura Lippman
Tenth Tess Monaghan Mystery
Pages: 325
Finished: Apr. 17, 2008
First Published: March, 2008
Genre: mystery
Rating: 3.5/5
First Sentence:
There she was.
Reason for Reading: I received this review copy from Harper Collins Canada.
Comments: Tess Monaghan is out rowing on the river when she inadvertently collides with the set of a TV Show. Once they […]

Popularity: 27% [?]

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Black Ships by Jo Graham
Pages: 411
Finished: Mar. 10, 2008
Reason for Reading: Review copy.
First Published: Mar. 10, 2008
Genre: historical fantasy
Rating: 5/5
First Sentence:
You must know that, despite all else I am, I am of the People.
Comments: Set in approximately 1200 BC along the coast of the Mediterranean from Egypt to Italy this tale is a retelling of […]

Popularity: 32% [?]

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