top of page

Search Results

405 items found for "maine"

  • Review of Burn by Peter Heller

    This summer they head to Maine to camp, fish, and hike. Maine, like other states across the country, has been swept by a secession movement, but Jess and Storey I felt like the fascinating build-up in so many areas of the story warranted much more at the novel's

  • Review of How to Read a Book by Monica Wood

    opens in a prison, with female inmates participating in their weekly book club in rural Abbott Falls, Maine Main protagonist Violet Powell is being released after 22 months' imprisonment for the drunk-driving The summary of Violet's future at the end felt unnecessary to me, but readers may like the neat closing I love reading a book that takes place in Maine, but I didn't get a significant Maine feel to the characters Check out these links for more Bossy reviews of books about books or books set in Maine .

  • Review of Happy Place by Emily Henry

    Six longtime friends gather for one last Maine vacation--but each of them has been keeping secrets that For years they've taken annual trips to their friend Sabrina's cottage in Maine with the rest of their As a former Mainer, I loved that the book was set in Maine, but I didn't get a strong sense of the place

  • Review of The Spy Coast (The Martini Club #1) by Tess Gerritsen

    A former CIA operative retires to small-town Maine--along with other former agents--to live out a quiet Maggie Bird is a retired CIA operative who has made a simple home for herself in rural Maine. Unbeknownst to the other citizens in Purity, Maine, the town has drawn multiple former intelligence agents The dogged local acting sheriff, Jo Thibodeau (a great and legit Maine last name), is complicating things I was intrigued by the early pages, centered around the quiet Maine life of a group of retired CIA agents

  • Review of The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon

    I loved the 1700s wintry Maine setting and the convictions of the historical fiction novel's strong midwife Maine setting? Check. Female character in the medical profession? Check. It's 1789, and in a rural Maine community, a local man turns up dead--frozen face up in the Kennebec There are no Maine accents in evidence in the audiobook, nor terminology that felt Maine-specific. The bulk of the Maine setting is established by the cold and by the mentions of the Kennebec River flowing

  • Review of Landslide by Susan Conley

    wild teenage sons and to cope in the wake of her husband's serious accident, all on a tiny island in Maine Susan Conley's novel Landslide offers a portrait of a family in a remote fishing village in Maine after She does all of this in the frequently unforgiving Maine climate on the isolating island where the family

  • Review of Lucy by the Sea by Elizabeth Strout

    Sea, familiar Strout characters Lucy Barton and her ex-husband William flee New York City for rural Maine Barton and her ex-husband William, characters from earlier Strout novels, leave New York City for rural Maine But I love Strout's books, so I was delighted to dive back into the many reflections, vulnerabilities

  • Review of When We Were the Kennedys: A Memoir from Mexico, Maine by Monica Wood

    In 1963 the Woods were a typical Catholic immigrant family in Mexico, Maine. Wood gorgeously evokes the many characters and unfathomable events that changed her family's existence

  • Review of Evvie Drake Starts Over by Linda Holmes

    Over, by the author of Flying Solo, is sweet, with funny dialogue, surprises, best-friendship, and a Maine Evvie Drake has become something of a recluse in her quiet seaside Maine town ever since her husband's They may be able to help the other find some version of peace, just by being there. Oh, this book!

  • Review of This Other Eden by Paul Harding

    historical fiction novel This Other Eden on a real-life, racially integrated island off the coast of Maine Back in 1792, a formerly enslaved man Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife found a safe haven on an island off the coast of Maine. The story is inspired by the real-life, formerly integrated Malaga Island off the coast of Maine (in may take art classes, with his teacher's unspoken hope that he will pass for white, but his past--about

  • Review of Flying Solo by Linda Holmes

    Because I was back in my old stomping grounds of Maine last week, seeing family and old friends in my former hometown, it seemed like the perfect time to read Flying Solo, Linda Holmes's Maine-set title In Flying Solo, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown, stinging from her recently canceled wedding each other, knowing themselves, wanting each other, yet recognizing that their differing life plans may

  • Review of Olive, Again by Elizabeth Strout

    Through Olive and other connected characters in Crosby, Maine, we see secrets, pain, and disappointments Yet she is strong enough to cut to the heart of tough situations and to sit within the pain of them--

  • Review of The Maid by Nita Prose

    Nita Prose offers a surprising amount of heart and a unique main protagonist in this lighthearted murder The Maid, main protagonist Molly finds a hotel guest dead in his room, and her access to the room, her eccentric manner, and other's manipulations of her innocent vulnerability may mean that she's the prime Prose has built an interesting premise with Molly as an unreliable main protagonist. Nita Prose is a longtime book editor, and The Maid is her first book.

  • Review of Rules of Civility by Amor Towles

    The post-Depression-era city of New York is such a powerful presence in this story, it feels like a main I loved the old-New York setting, which was so vivid, the city felt like a main character. ., were interesting but also extremely jarring; they didn't make sense to me when coming from the main And sometimes the "main protagonist is inexplicably well read and savvy" types of moments made me pause

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 8/12/24 Edition

    I'm listening to the first in Hafsah Faizal's Blood and Tea series, A Tempest of Tea , in which our main threatened by dark forces; I'm reading Peter Heller's upcoming wilderness adventure, Burn , which is set in Maine attempt at secession; and I'm reading Tell Me Everything , Elizabeth Strout's upcoming novel (also set in Maine This summer they head to Maine to camp, fish, and hike. Maine, like other states across the country, has been swept by a secession movement, but Jess and Storey

  • Review of A Murderous Relation (Veronica Speedwell #5) by Deanna Raybourn

    Throughout her Veronica Speedwell series, Raybourn proves herself an expert in providing a captivating main character with depth and flaws; a tantalizing attraction/sexual tension between her two main characters Hold on to your hats: the Veronica-Stoker relationship gains clarity at long last!

  • Review of The Paradise Problem by Christina Lauren

    to close out the summer, with a high-stakes fake marriage, comeuppances for the greedy bad guys, our main This is an adorable fake-dating-in-paradise setup with funny dialogue, a wonderfully imperfect main protagonist

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 11/4/24 Edition

    I'm Reading Now I'm listening to a story about redemption, forgiveness, and books, which is set in Maine opens in a prison, with female inmates participating in their weekly book club in rural Abbott Falls, Maine Main protagonist Violet Powell is being released after 22 months' imprisonment for the drunk-driving Amanda's history may not only shake up her future, but affect the MacInteers as well.

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 2/26/24 Edition

    I'm reading the first in Tess Gerritsen's Martini Club series about a retired CIA operative in rural Maine #1) by Tess Gerritsen Maggie Bird, a retired CIA operative who has made a home for herself in rural Maine But Purity, Maine, has drawn multiple former intelligence agents (the "martini club" in the series title

  • Review of Blue Hour by Tiffany Clarke Harrison

    relationship stresses, and issues surrounding race in a stream-of-consciousness account from a nameless main (Note that the main protagonist's miscarriages are described here in unflinching detail.) I loved the way the main-protagonist photographer viewed others around her and pieced together what felt

  • Review of Divine Rivals (Letters of Enchantment #1) by Rebecca Ross

    The gods' war provides the structure for the book's main conflict, but the story feels primarily focused When one main character becomes a war correspondent and the other comes to the front, they create a deep

  • Review of American Girl by Wendy Walker

    This is another whodunit winner from Wendy Walker: a character-driven mystery with a neurodivergent main I loved Charlie as our main protagonist. I appreciated the choice to have main protagonist Charlie be neurodivergent--and to name the book about

  • Review of All the Colors of the Dark by Chris Whitaker

    friendship between two young outcasts in small-town Monta Clare, Missouri: Patch, a pirate-playing young man disparate-seeming story that soon emerges, beginning with the premise of a serial killer whose actions haunt our main There are deep betrayals, long-term mysteries, and, finally, many revealed truths (some of which you may anticipate, including the biggies). might be real, and this didn't sit comfortably with me after the early devotion illustrated between our main

  • Review of Sleeping Giants by Rene Denfeld

    I was taken with the main characters of the past storyline here: a young boy at a children's home and love an Alaska storyline) and the polar bear-focused parts of the story, it felt far afield from the main

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 1/29/24 Edition

    Doesn't Find You; and I'm listening to a historical fiction mystery based on a real-life 18th-century Maine Maine setting? Check. Female character in the medical profession? Check. The Frozen River ticks so many Bossy boxes, I knew this one had to zip to the top of my to-read list. It's 1789, and in a rural Maine community, a local man turns up dead--frozen into the river. Many aren't sad to find that he is no longer a belligerent threat in town.

  • Review of The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins

    other Hawkins novels I've read, the story's relationships, hidden truths, and setting feel like the main The Heiress has a satisfying ending that also retains some of the story's intrigue among the main characters

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 8/8/22 Edition

    Dragon Heart Legacy series; and I'm reading Flying Solo, Linda Holmes's light fiction caper set in Maine without being spotted by the Russians who have hacked the city's cameras and who are out to kill the man tension with Keegan. 03 Flying Solo by Linda Holmes Because I'm back in my old stomping grounds of Maine , it seems like the perfect time to read Flying Solo, a Maine-set title that's been on my to-read list In Flying Solo, Laurie Sassalyn returns to her Maine hometown, stinging from her recently canceled wedding

  • Six Great Stories about Robots, Humans and Alien Life, and AI

    SecUnit is a fantastic main character; it's grumpily and charmingly obsessed with keeping its people Lora Beth Johnson hooked me immediately with the premise of Goddess in the Machine and with main protagonist she's ready to be reunited with the team, which includes her mother and the rest of her family, plus many But Divya is too busy crafting strong female main protagonists (complete with working mother guilt, which A mysterious prisoner from the front arrives who could be friend or foe, and our main protagonist Talin

  • Review of Good Material by Dolly Alderton

    fiction rom-com is a funny, poignant, and sometimes frustrating deep dive into the emotionally stunted main Baby steps are hard-won progress for the often-clueless main protagonist.

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 2/27/23 Edition

    opera August Kitko and the Mechas from Space, about deadly AI robots coming to destroy space--until our main pianist, is tasked with saving humanity; and I'm listening to This Other Eden, historical fiction set in Maine group of underdogs saving the day. 03 This Other Eden by Paul Harding Back in 1792, a formerly enslaved man Benjamin Honey and his Irish wife found a safe haven on an island off the coast of Maine. scratch and claw to subsist--yet they remain on their island, safe from the judgment and danger of the mainland

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 3/4/24 Edition

    The Books I'm Reading Now I'm reading Rebecca Serle's upcoming novel in which the main protagonist receives of love-life predictions, Expiration Dates; I'm reading Amy Tintera's upcoming novel, in which the main protagonist may or may not have murdered her best friend and is tracked down by a podcast investigating Daphne Bell meets a potential love interest, she receives a mysterious slip of paper that details how many

  • Review of Tell Me Everything by Elizabeth Strout

    Elizabeth Strout examines the range of characters from her many books and their intersecting stories, In small town Crosby, Maine, acclaimed writer Lucy Barton and attorney Bob Burgess walk and talk about Bob is defending a man accused of a terrible crime: killing his mother, a mean, reviled lunch lady long But the young man, a self-taught artist, is counting on Bob and an unorthodox approach to figuring out

  • Review of All Her Little Secrets by Wanda M. Morris

    Morris offers some revenge-fantasy satisfaction, but there are some grave casualties in the world of our main Like her main protagonist, Wanda M. Morris is an attorney.

  • Review of Wellness by Nathan Hill

    Flawed main characters Jack and Elizabeth try to find their way back to an emotional connection in this

  • Three Books I'm Reading Now, 9/25/23 Edition

    Raybourn is masterful at providing a captivating main character with depth and flaws; a tantalizing attraction /sexual tension between her two main characters, and dialogue that makes me laugh out loud--all set against

  • March Wrap-Up: My Favorite Reads of the Month

    Listen for the Lie offers a fascinating story structure, dark humor, and deeply flawed characters as main liberate France during the war, surprising facts begin to surface about the sisters' past--and they may fiction rom-com is a funny, poignant, and sometimes frustrating deep dive into the emotionally stunted main Baby steps are hard-won progress for the often-clueless main protagonist. Main protagonist Frankie signs up to leave her idyllic, privileged Southern California life--and the

  • Review of A Restless Truth (Last Binding #2) by Freya Marske

    Marske doesn't skimp on presenting multiple magical elements, which I loved--and she includes many detailed , saucy, passionate encounters between our main characters. (This reminded me of the measures taken by the main protagonist in another book I recently read, A Study

  • Review of The Nature of Disappearing by Kimi Cunningham Grant

    Grant's thriller is set in the wilds of Idaho, with a wilderness expert of a main character who has fought to trust others and be vulnerable--and who may find herself deeply betrayed again. estranged old friend Janessa goes missing under suspicious circumstances, Emlyn must team up with the man

  • Review of His Majesty's Dragon: Temeraire #1 by Naomi Novik

    ICYMI: This series by Naomi Novik introduces vain, strong-willed, talking dragons, their complex, wonderfully Temeraire is young, greedy, vain, and outrageously loyal to Will, and Will is attempting to civilize Naomi Novik is also the author of richly wrought fantasy novels featuring main protagonists I love: Uprooted

  • Review of August Kitko and the Mechas from Space (The Starmetal Symphony #1) by Alex White

    I loved the main characters' fashion, banter, and stubbornness. Murderbot (check out my rave review in Six Great Stories about Robots, Humans and Alien Life, and AI) may and the imminent demise of the human race that they seem perched to enact serve as a catalyst for the main

  • Six Rom-Coms Perfect for Summer Reading

    There's a health crisis and solution that involves the two main characters in key ways and which complicates Then Florence's beloved father dies, and she returns to her hometown for the first time in many years please see The Dead Romantics. 06 Happy Place by Emily Henry Six longtime friends gather for one last Maine I was impatient with the prolonged lack of communication but loved the main characters' interactions For years they've taken annual trips to their friend Sabrina's cottage in Maine with the rest of their

  • My Six Favorite Book Club Books of 2022

    amount of heart and a unique main protagonist in this lighthearted murder mystery, her debut novel. In Nita Prose's novel The Maid, main protagonist Molly finds a hotel guest dead in his room, and her access to the room, her eccentric manner, and other's manipulations of her innocent vulnerability may Prose has built an interesting premise with Molly as an unreliable main protagonist. story--as with the account of Patient Zero's experience and his two degrees of separation from the main

  • Review of The Ink Black Heart (Cormoran Strike #6) by Robert Galbraith

    The book includes many detailed accounts of tracking online tweets and online message board messages, His main interest, Robin, is strong and savvy, yet even she is coping with trauma and the aftermath of But the building of the mystery is satisfying, and having spent five prior books with the main characters

  • Six Lighter Fiction Stories Perfect for Summer Reading

    fiction read is that real, weighty issues can be raised within the satisfyingly sweet story: characters may cope with abuse or alcohol abuse; they may struggle to feel self-respect, a healthy body image, or to more; it's sweet and funny, it's about writing and books, there are wonderfully faulted love-crossed main After she drunk-blogs scathing comments about the unrealistic body images of the stars of Main Squeeze producer reaches out to her with an unexpected question: Would Bea consider starring in a season of Main

  • Review of Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

    I listened to Empire of Pain, Patrick Radden Keefe's exhaustive, revolting, fascinating history of the government); threatened political influencers in order to protect the company's profits; and ignored the many Meticulously researched, always interesting, and consistently infuriating, Empire of Pain is essential

  • Review of The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

    The main protagonist's focus in her work is Commander Graham Gore (a character based upon a real figure

  • Review of Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton

    weaves together timelines, threads of family history, and long-held secrets now revealed, while her main trail Nell has laid out for her, she discovers more about her family's history, uncovers secrets, and may In many ways this felt like a Secret Garden (a book I was obsessed with as a child) for grown-ups, with

  • Six More Four-Star Mysteries I Loved Last Year

    Emma is a marine biologist who's devoted to her husband Leo and their young daughter Ruby. surprising amount of heart and a unique main protagonist in this lighthearted murder mystery, her debut In Nita Prose's recent novel The Maid, main protagonist Molly finds a hotel guest dead in his room, and Prose has built an interesting premise with Molly as an unreliable main protagonist. Mary was a captivating main protagonist--alternately desperate and hopeful, but always dogged in her

  • Review of Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

    There's a health crisis and solution that involves the two main characters in key ways and complicates If you've agonized through the main relationship's ups and downs throughout the story, you might just

  • Review of Lady Tan's Circle of Women by Lisa See

    mother-in-law, who severely curtails her ability to practice medicine, as in the family's opinion, Yunxian's main See presents Yunxian as a feminist in many ways, but doesn't allow her to feel more modern than might

bottom of page