The Heirs by Susan Rieger: A Review

When Rupert Falkes dies of cancer, his wife and children are devastated.  As they are mourning, a woman claiming to be a mistress of Rupert's encourages her sons to file a lawsuit against the family for a portion of the inheritance.  The family must decide whether they want to investigate the woman's claims, provide her money regardless of the circumstances or fight the claims.

When I put this book on my to-be-read list, I believed that it would be more about the claims of additional heirs.  Instead, it was really more of a saga of a family and their friends.  The stories of the lives of the various members of the family were interesting but I think I would have been more interested if the book centered more on the drama of the woman's claims of being the mother to Rupert's children.

Most of the characters were upper-class, old moneyed New Yorkers.  Eleanor was very likeable but the other characters seemed to complain too much.  At one point, one of her (millionaire) sons complains about having too much money when he says, "I can't get rid of the money, it's like a sin, 'a huge heap increasing under the very act of diminishing'".  They come off as elitist and out-of-touch.  That is not to say that the characters were not complex, though.  On the contrary, Rieger did a wonderful job building unique and developed characters.

The ending really bothered me as I felt that the story really started to get interesting at the very end of the book but questions were asked that failed to be answered.  While I was a bit disappointed by some of the parts of the book, I did enjoy reading it.  The writing is very fluid and easy to read and I found myself finishing the book quickly.  While it wasn't one of my favorite books of the year, I would recommend it to a reader who enjoys books about characters more than stories.

My rating:
★★★☆☆

Reviews of books like this one:
Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
This Is How It Always Is by Laurie Frankel

This book is currently available and can be purchased from major booksellers.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.  Visit the publisher, Penguin Random House, for booksellers and information about the book.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am not associated with Goodreads in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 

I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.

The Confusion of Languages by Siobhan Fallon: A Review

Cassie is living with her husband, Dan, in Amman while he works.  She has been looking forward to adding to her family with Dan but the couple have failed to conceive, thus far.  When Margaret and her husband move to the embassy, Cassie and Dan are asked to be their sponsors, showing them around and helping them adjust to life in a foreign country.  When Margaret gets into a fender-bender and must go to the police station to fill out paperwork, Cassie agrees to watch Margaret's baby, Mather.  After Margaret does not show up for hours, Cassie becomes worried and begins to read Margaret's journal to gain insight into the mind of her new friend.  Margaret is more of a mystery to Cassie than she realized.

Cassie is a bit annoying.  She is so cautious that she comes off as culturally insensitive.  She assumes that all of the men in Jordan wish her harm and all of the women are judging her for not being conservative enough.  Margaret is more open-minded and caring about others, regardless of their nationality.  Margaret may be a little too trusting but she does so with the aim of being kind to other people.  This book was really interesting and unique but could be slow, at times.  Rarely have a I read a book about living in an embassy in another country from the perspective of the wives, though.  I really appreciated that angle and the story kept me moving along.  The writing was interesting but the constant references to the origin and definition of words quickly turned from interesting to annoying.  Overall, I really enjoyed this book.  It is a great work of Women's Fiction with a bit of multiculturalism thrown in and any reader who enjoys books like that will enjoy this book.

My rating:
★★★★☆

Reviews of books like this one:
Best Intentions by Erika Raskin
You Were Here by Gian Sardar
The Women in the Castle by Jessica Shattuck

This book will be available on June 27, 2017 and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads. 

I received an advanced copy of this book from Penguin's First to Read program.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 

I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.

The Windfall by Diksha Basu: A Review

Windfall is a classic story of keeping up with the Joneses.  The Jha's are hardworking parents to Rupak, living in a working class neighborhood in Delhi, when Mr. Jha creates and sells a website for millions of dollars.  The unexpected windfall it creates leads to the couple moving to a more upscale neighborhood and Mr. Jha struggles to show off his wealth.  All of the mothers from the old neighborhood vie for Mrs. Jha's time so that they can show off their eligible daughters, in hopes that Rupak will marry one of them.  Mrs. Ray, a widowed friend of Mrs. Jha, also has a life-changing experience from the windfall when she meets an eligible bachelor in the Jha's new neighborhood.

This was a very light, fun read.  It had a bit of comedy, a bit of romance and a bit of culture.  It also contained an important lesson on jealousy and being satisfied with what one has in life.  Mr. Jha spends so much time trying to impress Mr. Chopra that it is hard to imagine that he has any time to enjoy himself and his new life.  He is also very insensitive to his wife's discomfort with their newfound wealth.  The characters were very likeable and interesting, though.  I really enjoyed the story and it was a fun book to read.  I would recommend it to those that enjoy books on romance, different cultures or women's fiction.

Watch Diksha Basu answer questions such as what kinds of books she is reading:

Read my review of the book that Diksha is reading, The Accusation by Bandi here.

My rating:
★★★★☆

Reviews of books like this one:
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Castle of Water by Dane Huckelbridge
June by Miranda Beverly-Whittemore

This book will be available on June 27, 2017 and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Penguin's First to Read program.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 


I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.

Here and Gone by Haylen Beck: A Review

Audra has been clean for awhile now but her abusive husband has convinced child services that she is not in order to gain custody of the children after Audra left him.  Audra is worried that her husband will be awarded custody in court so she decides to take the children to California after her friend offers her a place to stay.  As she is driving through Arizona, Audra is stopped by a police officer who finds marijuana in her car but there is something very fishy about the stop.  Audra hasn't smoked marijuana in years and doesn't know where it could have come from.  She is detained at the jail and her children are taken by another police officer but when she inquires where the children are taken to, the police refuse to give her answers.  The police state that they never saw any children in the car and accuse Audra of being the cause of the missing children.  Nobody seems to believe Audra except for Danny, a man who has experienced a similar fate.  Danny and Audra must work together to find the children before something really bad happens to them.

Since the second chapter, I could feel my heart start to beat a little bit faster and felt myself rushing to finish the page so that I could get to the next one and find out what was going to happen to Audra and the children.  This story, featuring missing persons cases and dangers of the Dark Web, is truly terrifying.  What happens to Audra is a nightmare for any parent.  This book reads very quickly and I finished it in one sitting, staying up all night to finish it.  The one criticism that I would have with this book is that the characters don't really have different voices and are not very complex.  They are somewhat predictable and all sound the same.  The small town sheriff is the typical bigot and Danny is a typical tough guy.  It is very unlikely that a six-year-old child would ask, "You nearly done?" as a detective would.  The ten-year-old seems to think and speak like a miniature adult, also, as he talks his mother into leaving his abusive father and believes that his father's money comes more from his grandmother than his father's hard work.   The cliched and unrealistic characters are made up for by the excitement that the book offers, though.  This psychological thriller will more than satisfy fans of Mary Kubica and Gillian Flynn.  I really enjoyed this book and I look forward to reading more by Beck in the future.    

My rating:
★★★★☆

Reviews of books like this one:
The Child by Fiona Barton
Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica
Little Deaths by Emma Flint

This book will be available on June 20, 2017 and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.

I received an advanced copy of this book from Penguin's First to Read program.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 


I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.

Tell Me How This Ends Well by David Samuel Levinson: A Review

In the not too distant future, after the fall of Israel, the Jacobson family is living in a time of intense antisemitism.  Jacob lives in Berlin with his partner and teaches English to displaced Israeli refugees, Mo is a washed-up actor who now has a reality show staring his children and Edith is a professor of Ethics that is facing questions about the ethics of her actions with a student.  The three siblings have come together to spend what is likely the last Passover with their mother and with a plan to kill their emotionally abusive father after learning that their mother is dying.

Levinson has written the most honest account of a dysfunctional family that I have read in a long time.  The satire is perfect but there isn't so much humor that it allows the reader to gloss over the true drama of a family in crisis or the horrors of antisemitism and racism.  There were some excellent one-liners, though; "You stupid motherf***er.  You got raspberry in my eye."

The book is told with each sibling in mind at a time.  The characters are really interesting.  I keep trying to figure out if the family patriarch, Julian Jacobson, has indeed changed from his bullying ways and is being kinder to his wife, Roz, or is playing a role.  Mo, Jacob and Edith say that they want to kill Julian for the benefit of their mother but they all seem to remember more unkind things that Julian did to them as children, as opposed to cruelties toward their mother.  They are also preoccupied with the money their mother has that will be controlled by their father if she passes before he does.  The siblings simultaneously harangue one another, as siblings will do, while also coming together in their hatred for their father.

The book read a little slowly for me but it was interesting.  It seemed to become more interesting as the story started to unfold.  Overall, I really liked this book.  It was very different from any other book I have read.  This would be a great book for someone who enjoys humor and satire.  Those who enjoy fiction by Maria Semple or Jen Lancaster will be sure to love this book.

My rating:
★★★★☆

Reviews of books like this one:
Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
The Mothers by Brit Bennett
What To Do About the Solomons by Bethany Ball

This book is currently available and can be purchased from major booksellers.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.  Visit the publisher, Penguin Random House, for booksellers and information about the book.

I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am not associated with Goodreads in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 

I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.

The Perfect Stranger by Megan Miranda: A Review

Journalist Leah has to leave Boston due to being accused of libel and harassment of a professor.  Emmy has recently returned from a Peace Corps trip and is seeking a new home, as well, due to problems in her most recent relationship.  The two women have decided to move together to rural Pennsylvania where they can start anew.  Leah takes a job as a teacher and Emmy cleans hotels and houses until she can find something that she is more interested in doing.  At the same time that a young woman that looks eerily similar to Leah is beaten into a coma and left for dead, Leah finds that Emmy is missing.  Emmy must use her former investigative skills to help local detective, Kyle, find her friend but soon finds that what she thought she knew about her friend may not be true.

This book was okay.  There were some twists and turns but the ending was pretty predictable.  It was easy and quick to read but there was a lack of excitement to the book.  There were times when I doubted my initial instincts and was hoping for a certain outcome but it didn't work out that way.  While the characters of Emmy and Leah were interesting, it wasn't enough to make up for the lackluster story line.  I still had times when I enjoyed the book and think that it would be good for fans of suspense but realize that this is not the best suspense or thriller out there.

My rating:
★★★☆☆

Reviews of books like this one:
Don't You Cry by Mary Kubica
I See You by Clare Mackintosh
Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris 

This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.  The kindle edition is currently $2.99.

I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher in order to review it but that did not have an effect on my review of the book.  This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind.

The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood: A Review

I first heard about Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale in my high school English class during a lesson on banned books.  My teacher had lined up books that had been banned at one point in time or another and allowed us to choose from them.  I didn't get to the book that day and ended up choosing another book, The Cider House Rules by John Irving, but I wanted to read The Handmaid's Tale since that day and ended up reading it a few years later.  Since then, it has become one of my favorite books and I am a fan of Atwood's work.  It is easily one of the best examples of dystopian fiction, of all time. 

The United States is now the Republic of Gilead, a theocratic police state.  The Bible has now replaced the Constitution.  Due to a pandemic of infertility, the wives of the leaders are unable to get pregnant and populate the new country.  For this reason, the fertile women of the community are sought out and are used as surrogate mothers for the wives of the leaders.  Women of all ranks are oppressed in this society and we soon learn that "better never means better for everyone... It always means worse, for some."

Atwood's account should be seen as a warning to us all about the consequences of political and religious extremism.  While this book was written awhile back, it still feels very current and relevant today.  I have loved everything about this book.  I loved all of the characters but especially Offred.  She is faced with such horrific circumstances but she is so strong and resilient, no matter what happens to her.  Serena Joy, wife of the Commander of Offred, seems cruel and cold but we soon find out that there is much more to her than is at first glance.  She has had her fair share of pain and anguish, just like the rest of the women in Gilead.  The story is so interesting that it is easy to move through the book quickly and with ease.  This book should be on everyone's to be read list.  This is, by far, one of the most important books of all time.

The Handmaid's Tale is also a new series on Hulu.  I have seen all of the episodes that have been released thus far and I have felt that they have lived up to the original.  Watch a trailer of the show here:

The Handmaid's Tale is currently available on Amazon Prime and Amazon Unlimited to read for free.   Follow this link for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Prime and this link for a 30-day free trial of Amazon Unlimited.

Reviews of books like this one:
Perfect Little World by Kevin Wilson
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid
The Accusation: Forbidden Stories From Inside North Korea by Bandi and Deborah Smith

This book is currently available and can be purchased from Amazon and Barnes & Noble.  Read more reviews on this book on Goodreads.

This is my honest opinion of this book.  I am a participant in the Amazon Affiliates program.  By clicking on the Amazon link and purchasing this product, I receive a small fee.  I am not associated with Goodreads or Barnes and Noble in any way and the links provided are available strictly for your convenience and not to imply a relationship of any kind. 


I do not track activity of visitors beyond that which blogger already does.  If you click on an outside link, those websites may track your activity but I do not actively share any information with third-party websites.