

Review of The Bletchley Riddle by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
This middle-grade writing collaboration inserts a clever young protagonist into the behind-the-scenes World War II British codebreaking...
Feb 6


Review of Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner
I loved the premise of Creation Lake , and I was captivated by the mocking, ruthless, fickle freelance spy "Sadie." But the story and...
Jan 8


Review of The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
ICYMI: My favorite Kate Quinn books center around strong young women proving their mettle during wartime crises, and The Alice Network ...
Oct 10, 2024


Review of The Trap (Alias Emma #3) by Ava Glass
In the third Emma Makepeace novel, British spy Emma goes rogue in order to save world leaders and prevent an assassination at the hands...
Sep 19, 2024


Review of The Whalebone Theatre by Joanna Quinn
The Whalebone Theatre begins with offbeat children's performances on a lazy, decadent English estate in the 1920s and builds to the...
Feb 21, 2024


Review of Unsinkable by Jenni L. Walsh
I loved each of the story's two timelines--following a stewardess on board The Titanic as well as a British spy working with the WWII...
Feb 6, 2024


Review of The Librarian Spy by Madeline Martin
I was interested in both of Martin's World War II storylines. The author's historical fiction romance-writing is evident here, in...
Nov 9, 2022


Six Great Books about Brave Female Spies
Tough women, secrets and smarts, and sneaky spying! I love a peek at a secret world, and each of these books offers that very thing. Only...
Jul 15, 2022


Six More Books about Brave Female Spies
Tough women, secrets and smarts, and sneaky spying! I love a peek at a secret world and books about spies specifically. My first Greedy...
Apr 22, 2022


Review of Our Woman in Moscow by Beatriz Williams
Williams's historical fiction mystery--based on real-life double agents in the Cambridge Spy Ring--is vividly set in Europe and Russia...
Mar 9, 2022


Review of Beneath a Starless Sky by Tessa Harris
Harris's action-packed World War II story moves between the terrors of 1930s Germany and the glamour of Hollywood, and it details the...
Dec 13, 2021


Review of Forty Autumns by Nina Willner
ICYMI: Forty Autumns offers fascinating, wonderfully detailed perspectives in a rich, layered family memoir that reads like fiction. The...
Nov 10, 2021


Review of The Invisible Woman by Erika Robuck
Robuck shaped the real-life figure of Virginia Hall into a courageous, idealistic, determined, and imperfect heroine I was intrigued by....
May 6, 2021


Review of Agent Sonya by Ben Macintyre
Ursula Burton, an unassuming mother and wife, was a legendary real-life spy who evaded capture by China, the Nazis, MI6, and the FBI. She...
May 4, 2021


Three Books I'm Reading Now, 5/3/21 Edition
The Books I'm Reading Now I'm listening to The Princess Diarist, Carrie Fisher's memoir focused on the early Star Wars years (and,...
May 3, 2021


Six Books about Brave Female Spies
Tough women, secrets and smarts, and sneaky spying! I love a peek at a secret world, and each of these books offers that very thing. Only...
Mar 12, 2021


Review of Machinehood by S.B. Divya
Space! Robots! Artificial intelligence! Divya has crafted strong female main protagonists who navigate the sometimes dark, always...
Mar 1, 2021


Six Great Stories about Brave Women During World War II
01 The Skylark's Secret by Fiona Valpy The Skylark's Secret has a dual timeline; the story is set in rural Scotland during World War II...
Feb 19, 2021


Six Historical Fiction Books I Loved in the Past Year
01 The Huntress by Kate Quinn I'm in for World War II-set books with tough, brave female protagonists, and I loved this book. Nina...
Dec 18, 2020


Review of The Course of All Treasons: An Elizabethan Spy Mystery by Suzanne M. Wolfe
Nick is an appealing character, I adored the detailed setting, and the mystery's resolution makes sense without seeming too easy. I'm...
Dec 8, 2020