Reviewed by L.D.Y. Hardcover, 409 pages, 2008 Rating: 9/10 Reason for Reading: I liked Hilderbrand’s novel Barefoot. Synopsis: Claire is a woman looking for something to do after her career as a professional glass-blower ended when she allowed herself to get swept up in her creative process and a tragedy occurred. Thinking the answer might […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Trade, 263 pages, 2007 Rating: 10/10 Reason for Reading: Part of my plan to read all of the Booker Prize Winners. Synopsis: When her brother Liam is found in the sea at Brighton, an apparent suicide, Veronica can’t quite believe it – or maybe she can. He was an alcoholic, something that […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Trade, 346 pages, 2008 Rating: 9/10 Reason for Reading: A summer read that had some buzz around it. Synopsis: Lois barely remembers her dad, who died when she was only five, but when she turns thirteen, she discovers that he thought ahead and left her a manual: tips, advice, and just chit-chat […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Trade, 422 pages, 2008 Rating: 8/10 Reason for Reading: Summer reading. Synopsis: Jennifer Hunter gets paid well for a job she doesn’t want anyone to know about – she’s a ‘fidelity inspector,’ which means women hire her to find out if their men would have every intention of cheating if Jennifer didn’t […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Hardcover, 277 pages, 2008 Rating: 8/10 Reason for Reading: I was drawn to the cover – the taped-up rose combined with the title made me think this was the sort of love/hate story I was in the mood to read. Synopsis: A group of college friends meet up again six years later […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Hardcover, 364 pages, 2008 Rating: 10/10 Reason for Reading: I love reading books set in India and Africa and this met the latter requirement. Synopsis: In this collection of five short stories (though I’d make the argument that two of them approach novella length), each story focuses on children in a different […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Hardcover, 404 pages, 2008 Rating: 9/10 Reason for Reading: I like to check out the occasional ‘aimed at teens but also for adults’ type of novel. Synopsis: 16-year-old Aslaug’s mother has mysteriously passed away and she finds herself living between two worlds: the harsh yet ethereal place of her mother and her […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Trade, 295 pages, 2008 Rating: 9/10 Reason for Reading: The plot sounded intriguing. Synopsis: Shanika Ann Jenkins is proudly African-American – and born fair, blonde and blue-eyed, thanks to what her grandmother calls ‘marrying well.’ When she’s turned down for a dream job in New York City because she’s not black enough, […]

Reviewed by L.D.Y. Trade, 321 pages, 2008 Rating: 9/10 Reason for Reading: I already read and enjoyed two of the three of Crane’s previous novels, Everyone Else’s Girl and Frenemies. Synopsis: Courtney Cassel has just gotten engaged to the most wonderful, just-right-for-her man in the world – now if only she could force her family […]