Login
Don't have an account? Register now
Did you forget your password? Get it by email
GET THE READsquared APP
Easily log your activity using the READsquared app. The app is free for both Android and iOS mobile devices.

  
Book Reviews
Search All Book Reviews
I Was Anastasia
by Ariel Lawhon
View in Library Catalog
book cover


For nearly 60 years, until her death in 1984, Polish born factory worker Franziska Schanzkowska offered solace and comfort to a grieving international community with her identity claim as Anastasia Romanov, the youngest daughter of Czar Nicholas II, who was assinated in 1918. American author Ariel Lawhon has written this superb chronicle of Ms. Schanzkowska's daily struggles to achieve both the aristocratic status and the wealthy lifestyle with her impersonation of the tragic Russian teenager during the years 1917-1970. Everyday details of Anastasia's life are included in alternating chapters, culminating in the brutal execution of the Imperial family in July 1918. This is an exceptional historical novel: well-constructed and imaginatively crafted- and nearly impossible to set down, ever for an hour or so.

I Could Be Yours
by Helena Hunting
View in Library Catalog
book cover


I liked the concept but I got pretty tired of the main characters not just saying how they felt. I also wanted to see more of their friendship develop after the vacation. Overall, decent read.

Harry Potter And The Goblet Of Fire
by J.K. Rowling
View in Library Catalog
book cover


Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire is the fourth book in the series. In this book it is Harry Potter's fourth year at Hogwarts. He is chosen to be a competitor for the Triwizard Tournament. The Triwizard Tournament is a competition for wizards between three different wizard schools. I really enjoyed reading this book and would rate it five stars.

We Live Here Now
by Sarah Pinborough
View in Library Catalog
book cover


This was pretty good, but not as great as Behind her eyes (by same author) which is one of my top faves.

Beach Reads and Deadly Deeds
by Allison Brennan
View in Library Catalog
book cover


Just okay. Could be made into a Hallmark movie - a bit predictable.

The Girl With All The Gifts
by M. R. Carey
View in Library Catalog
book cover


The Girl With All the Gifts is a dystopian story akin to The Walking Dead. The military has kidnapped several children to undergo scientific observations in order to understand a disease that has taken over London. The disease has spread further, however, due to humanity being more or less wiped out, only a small group of people still exist. As the story progresses, humanity shows up in the most likely of sources.

The Lilac People
by Milo Todd
View in Library Catalog
book cover


The Lilac People is a story about a transvestite (term used in the book) man who escaped from the Nazis to live a quiet life on the outskirts of the German Countryside only to come under scrutiny 12 years later by American allies. A survivor from a concentration camp stumbles onto his property and Bertie takes it upon himself to help this young man successfully transvest so that he can successfully live amongst the people without being targeted since it was considered a crime. Between a mixture of truth and fiction, the author brings a story that gives the reader an array of emotions.

South Of Nowhere
by Jeffery Deaver
View in Library Catalog
book cover


Love the tv show Tracker. Great to read !

Giovanni's Room
by James Baldwin
View in Library Catalog
book cover


5 stars. Again, James Baldwin has done it. He has made me feel the need to scream and cry and punch this book so hard with love. Especially as someone who is very good at making scenes / movies in my head with what I read, it feels like heart has been ripped out. I feel for both Giovanni and Hella in all honesty. I feel terrible for the predicaments they have been put in, the outcomes and what they grew / lived around. And though David sucks, I understand how he felt as well being torn between not only his feelings for both Giovanni and Hella, but America, and the people of France that he interacted with. This book really opens the readers eyes on intimacy such as making love with the body and not the person (or vice versa), how the room is not only literal, but a metaphor for how Giovanni is trying to change, or accommodate his life to make one for him and David though it is cluttered with his past. And even at the end, Hella making suggestions to accommodate herself for David to “replace” the feeling he had with Giovanni. Finally, the way I take that ending (which James Baldwin is a master at his endings) is no matter how hard David tries to forget Giovanni: he will always be with him, and the guilt that if David never left, Giovanni would still be here.

James: a novel
by Percival Everett
View in Library Catalog
book cover


Percival Everett writes the story of an enslaved man as he faces one terrifying situation after another in pre-Civil War Missouri. Ever aware of his assigned place in society, he none-the-less taps into a seemingly endless supply of agency to first flee his current "mass," and finally return with a full sense of self. At his side throughout most of the story is Huck, of Huckleberry Finn fame. Their relationship, as the story slowly reveals, is held together by a shared hometown, common respect for one another, and a secret finally revealed when "Jim" is forced to make a terrible choice. Fast-paced, suspenseful, first-person narrative. Excellent!
Copyright (c) 2013-2026    ReadSquared