Biblio Reviews

There was a heaviness to my chest after I finished Skloot's  The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks  (2010). I was in the midst of what felt like a social, emotional, philosophical, and moral gyre that highlighted the uglies of science, race, poverty, and many -- isms . I couldn't put into words what I was feeling because there was just too much. Skloot, however, had already put into words what overwhelmed me so much by addressing the following questions in the  FAQ  section of her website about this book: Q:  Why is the story of Henrietta Lacks so important? The story of the HeLa cells is important for many of reasons: It’s about race and class and science and ethics and the importance of access to education and health care, all of which are vital current issues. Q:  What messages should be taken from the story? Some of that depends on each individual reader, because there are a lot of potential messages from the book: it’s about trust, race and medici...

Mary Higgins Clark and Alafair Burke's The Cinderella Murder  (2014), is an "Under Suspicion" novel. A fictionalized made-for-TV version of  Serial,  Under Suspicion is TV producer Laurie Moran's brainchild--a cold-case program that revisits unsolved crimes by recreating them with all the parties involved in the case--inspired by her own trauma. The program's debut led to the cold case being solved and had huge ratings. Rosemary Dempsey appeals to Laurie to take on her daughter's twenty-year-old case, known as The Cinderella Murder, for her next TV special with the hope that Laurie can produce the same result. Susan Dempsey was a beautiful and talented UCLA student and aspiring actress. She was found dead wearing only one shoe in a park near the home of then hot-shot, now Oscar-nominated Hollywood director with whom she was was set to audition. The plot revolves around the goings-on of Laurie's team as she prepares the production of the show along wit...

Heather Tullis' A Perfect Fit  (2014) is book one of her seven-book DiCarlo Brides series. Based on a good idea, the story ultimately falls flat due to immature writing. The Good The concept: At the reading of their billionaire father's will, two sisters born out of their father's marriage find out that four half-sisters exist. In addition, in order for them all to earn their inheritance, all six have to live together while they launch their late father's new resort. Through that journey, they also eventually meet each of the men their father had identified as their ideal match. To add another layer of complication, sinister figures attempt to destroy the empire the sisters are working to maintain. A Perfect Fit is Cami's story. She is the eldest daughter, the product of her parents' marriage who supposedly struggles the most coping with her father's duplicity. The Bad The execution, which is to say, the writing, the writing, the writing! Tullis...

What creates community? Paul Fleischman's Seedfolks (1997) is a gem of a novella that indirectly addresses this question (among others). Based on how the story ends, the answer seems simple: We build community by letting go of our prejudices and   getting to know people as individuals rather than as stereotypes. Narrated through the perspectives of thirteen ethnically diverse characters living on or near Gibb Street in Cleveland, Ohio, readers are taken on a journey of a neighborhood that transforms into a community--all because of a garden that flourishes from what was previously a vacant, rat-infested, trashy lot. Rich in language and symbolism with characters whose authentic voices and varying perspectives create a vivid portrait of the highs and lows of life,  Seedfolks  is also an uplifting read that highlights the power of storytelling in the hands of a skilled writer. As such, many truths can be gleaned from the story, the most important of which is that...

Night Shadow is the second story in the Exposed  (2016) repackaged first two stories of Nora Roberts' Night Tales Series. It features Cilla O'Rourke from book 1's sister, Deborah O'Roarke who has finished her studies and is now an assistant district attorney in the fictional city of Urbana. She meets her romantic interest, Gage Guthrie, when he saves her from being sexually assaulted in an alleyway...only she met him as alternate-ego-vigilante-superhero, Nemesis. What follows is a Batman inspired romance novel: There's a seemingly Playboy millionaire, his butler, a backstory, a secret cave, sinister criminals, and ruthless politicians who try to overtake the city. Deborah is the new, young, gorgeous, and successful attorney taking the city and its gossip pages by storm. Conflict arises when her ideals of law, order, and justice conflict with those of the man she's falling for. How do they reconcile those differences? On its own, Night Shadow is perfectl...

Hot and potent is apparently what a voice like hot whiskey is like, as described in Night Shift,  book 1 of Nora Roberts' Night Tales Series. Originally published in the early 1990's, the first two books have been repackaged in a two-for-one special entitled, Exposed  (2016). Night time DJ Cilla O'Roarke with the hot whiskey voice is being threatened by a sinister caller. Detective Boyd Fletcher is assigned to protect her. His attraction to Cilla is instantaneous and he has no problem letting her know of his desire to protect and pursue her. Insecure due to her failed marriage, embittered by her parents' deaths, focused on her work, and dedicated to supporting her younger sister, Cilla rejects Boyd's advances at first. But Boyd is unrelenting, as is Cilla's attraction to Boyd. What follows is a satisfying romance with a bit of mystery and suspense, though Boyd's approach to wooing Cilla may seem problematic to some today. A CBR8 Crossposted review.

The premise seems compelling: Two boys, same name, same background, same neighborhood. However, one becomes a Rhode Scholar and the other becomes an inmate serving a life sentence. What led to these boys' diverging paths? A reporting and analysis would be presented. Only, the final product did not deliver on that premise. Wes Moore's The Other Wes Moore: One Name, Two Fates (2010) is a New York Times  bestseller that is now common on many schools' summer reading list. That's how I came about purchasing it. In the end, I found the book stylistically bland, socially relevant, and politically irresponsible. In short, The Other Wes Moore does not deliver on its premise, for other than sharing the same name and being black, the two Moores have very little in common. This is because Wes Moore, the writer, comes from an environment rich in resources that enabled him to succeed: he was born from college-educated parents whose married partnership was intact, who had their ...

Pearl Cleage: sassy, seemingly self-assured and wise, I enjoyed her appearance on  The Oprah Winfrey Show  to promote her 1998 Oprah Book Club selection,  What Looks Like Crazy on an Ordinary Day  (1997), which I also enjoyed. Edwidge Danticat: a fellow compatriot, I've taken personal pride in her publishing success. James McBride: Winner of the 2013 National Book Award for Fiction for  The Good Lord Bird  (2013), his candidness during his acceptance speech and his interview with Anna Sale for her WNYC podcast  Death, Sex, & Money (one of my favorites)   drew me in. Cheryl Strayed: Best known for her memoir-turned-into-feature-film, Wild (2012), I mostly know of her wisdom and forthrightness in sharing thoughtful and empathic advice (along with co-host Steve Almond) on another of the best podcasts around, WBUR's  Dear Sugar Radio . What do these authors have in common--other than being published, successful writers? They are...

Tessa Dare's  A Night to Surrender  (2011) is the first of her Spindle Cove series. It stars Susanna Finch, the "spinster" mother hen of this village and Victor Bramwell, a recently wounded soldier who is intent on returning to active duty. That's what brings him to Spindle "Spinster" Cove, where he meets a group of emasculated men and unconventional women, the most alluring of whom for him is Susanna Finch. What follows is a humor-filled story full of hijinks and romance. Having read this title three months ago, I do remember enjoying it. Victor Bramwell, newly titled Earl of Rycliff, is a stubborn man but finds his match in Susanna, a woman way ahead of her time: She is an independent woman, and dare I say, a feminist (pun unintended). Together and apart, they are both fully fleshed characters. While the story dragged for me a little 3/4 of the way, there's enough heat and other interesting elements to make this romance overall very enjoyable. A N...

I didn't love Rose Lerner's  Sweet Disorder (2014) as much as Ellepkay  of CBR8 did, though her wonderful review is what sold me on reading it. Nonetheless, she is correct in identifying the nonstandard aspects of this romance as being its main appeal. Sweet Disorder is the story of Phoebe Sparks, a widow whose husband's voting rights get passed on to her new spouse, and Nick Dymond, an injured veteran and middle child of a politically active and ambitious family. Their paths cross when Nick's mom manipulates a depressed Nick to secure a political vote for his younger brother's campaign by marrying Phoebe off to a supporter of their political party. In the end, they both fall for each other which creates a bit of a problem for their family members. What I liked: Phoebe being a headstrong and adult heroine, though presented as foolishly too selfless Phoebe being a plumper heroine and that not being the driving force of the story Phoebe being a widow who was...