Briar Patch Books

Category: Popular fiction

  • When the planes fell

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson I knew about Judy Blume, of course. She wrote all those children’s books. When my sons were early readers, they enjoyed the Fudge books, among others. Their childhood friends, the boys and especially the girls, read lots of Blume’s books. I did not know, however, that she’s also written books…

  • Mixed results

    By Linda C. Brinson I didn’t read Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel Water for Elephants, but I heard high praise for it from a number of people. Back then, I was editing and writing for a newspaper’s weekly book-review page, and I rarely had the luxury of reading a book that someone else was going to…

  • Frankly, my dear

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson A TOUCH OF STARDUST. By Kate Alcott. Random House Audio. Read by Cassandra Campbell. 11 hours; 9 CDs. $40. Also available in hardback from Doubleday. Kate Alcott has done it again. She’s written another historical novel that’s a romance – the adventures and travails of one fictional young woman –…

  • Beware the “undid”

    Victorian London, with its veneer of manners and morals and its dark realities of poverty and crime, is often depicted in fiction. In this first novel by a young English woman, the dark side of Victorian London is even darker – and more terrifying – than usual. THE QUICK. By Lauren Owen. Read by Simon…

  • Those binding ties

    In my mind, one of the great values of audio books is that I’ll try something that I wouldn’t normally sit down and read in the print version. Although I’ve abandoned audio books that were really bad or just not interesting to me, I’m more likely to give something I think I might not much…

  • The more things change …

    Anne Barnhill’s second historical novel, Queen Elizabeth’s Daughter, is set to be released March 18.  The indomitable Anne finished this novel and moved on to start work on her next book despite her recent battle with cancer. And now, I’m happy to say, she’s also managed to contribute another review to Briar Patch Books. Reviewed…

  • All you can read: delicious and satisfying

    Want to laugh, cry, shake your head and smile? Need a reminder about the good things in life, the things that help us rise above the setbacks? Then Edward Kelsey Moore’s debut novel is a book for you. By Linda C. Brinson THE SUPREMES AT EARL’S ALL-YOU-CAN-EAT. By Edward Kelsey Moore. Read by Adenrele Ojo…