Book Reviews

Intrigued by the synopsis, I had rather high expectations for this book. The result was a bland, highly predictable, and unoriginal work. The writing was, to say the least, uninspiring and vapid. A major disappointment that will keep me from picking up another Shreve novel.

Rating: 1

Reviewed by Jen S.

Genius. Her writing is perfection. Nemirovsky pulls the reader in and does not let go. Though an unfinished masterpiece, the work is intense, exquisite, unforgiving, doleful, inspiring. An examination of the human condition set against the humiliating catastrophe of the invasion and occupation of France, Nemirovsky was an eye-witness and chronicler. She weaves a string of unlikely characters and their tribulations through the bedlam of war. A work of profound significance.

Rating: 5

Reviewed by Jen S.

Peter Ackroyd tears down myth and conjecture and presents the reader with an 'as accurate' account as possible of E.A. Poe's brief life, a literary figure who's chaotic life was as mysterious as his writings.

Though short in length, it is as intense, unforgiving, and analytical as any biography can be.

This book is a good read for anyone interested in Poe's private life, his works, and the psyche of a man misunderstood in his time.

Rating: 4

Reviewed by Jen S.

Entertaining, it gives the reader backdoor insight into the pretentious, vainglorious, and factitious life of the upper-echelon societal set of Park Avenue, as seen through the eyes of an average college student struggling to balance school, work, and private life, all while toiling away away in the thankless role of Manhattan nanny. A good 'beach book,' it is a distracting and satisfying read.

Rating: 4

Reviewed by: Jen S.