fourandahalfstars | The Bossy Bookworm

2 days ago

Review of Be Ready When the Luck Happens by Ina Garten

Ina's memoir is personal and thoughtful. Her charm comes through in candid reflections about her fascinating life, and her young life's...

Nov 5

Review of The Wedding People by Alison Espach

Espach layers complex emotional challenges like suicidal thoughts, grief, and loneliness with funny, quirky, poignant moments in this...

Oct 30

Review of Trespasses by Louise Kennedy

Kennedy writes poignantly about the Irish Troubles through the point of view of Cushla, a young adult stretching her wings despite her...

Oct 24

Review of Intermezzo by Sally Rooney

Intermezzo is one of my favorite Rooney novels yet, exploring complicated families, grief, unconventional relationships, forgiveness, and...

Oct 9

Review of The God of the Woods by Liz Moore

I loved this summer-camp setting, the slow build of mystery in two timelines, the privilege and working class disparities, the eventual...

Sep 26

Review of Long Live Evil (Time of Iron #1) by Sarah Rees Brennan

Sarah Rees Brennan offers a funny, dark, clever story within a story in which the heroes and villains are redefined, redemption is always...

Sep 25

Review of The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith

Smith's historical fiction story in two timelines equally powerfully evokes the bleak Dutch winters of the 17th century and grimy,...

Sep 4

Review of Margo's Got Money Troubles by Rufi Thorpe

Thorpe's irresistible character of 19-year-old Margo discovers her strength, drive, creativity, and vulnerability after becoming...

Sep 3

Review of James by Percival Everett

Percival Everett's James is a fascinating retelling of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the point of view of enslaved Black character...

Aug 7

Review of You Are Here by David Nicholls

David Nicholls's characters, some of whom are strangers to each other, meander through the English countryside on a days-long jaunt--and...

Aug 1

Review of Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles

Amor Towles revisits a character from the wonderful Rules of Civility and also offers multiple New York-set tales. Towles's evocative...

Jun 6

Review of The Other Valley by Scott Alexander Howard

The Other Valley is literary fiction with a captivating setup: three adjacent valleys, each of which is a different timeline of the same...

May 28

Review of The Island of Missing Trees by Elif Shafak

Elif Shafak's The Island of Missing Trees explores past Turkish-Greek conflicts in a small island community while illustrating the...

May 22

Review of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

This captivating story involves time travel, but it's primarily about deep human connections, complete with fantastic, funny banter;...

May 10

Bossy Favorite Reads of the Year So Far

My very favorite Bossy reads so far this year! My Greedy Reading Lists are usually made up of six books, but I've had a wonderful start...

Apr 30

Review of We Must Not Think of Ourselves by Lauren Grodstein

Grodstein tells a poignant, powerful story of the Warsaw Ghetto--of making a life within its prison walls and of finding resistance and...

Apr 16

Review of Funny Story by Emily Henry

Funny Story is the perfect rom-com read. Henry offers funny banter that made me laugh, some steamy moments, and a sweet love story....

Feb 13

Review of Gwen & Art Are Not in Love by Lex Croucher

Lex Croucher's queer medieval rom-com--the author's debut young-adult novel--is an absolute gem; it's full of excellent banter and lots...

Feb 7

Review of Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertino

In Beautyland, Bertino offers a poignant, funny, strange story full of extraterrestrial observations of humans and their behavior that...

Feb 1

Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid

ICYMI: This is an irresistible story and set of characters, but with fascinating depth. The issues Reid explores are enormous and are...

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