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Your Goodreads Reviews August 5, 2021 |
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Thank you to all who have shared reviews, please keep them coming! Below are some already shared. You can submit your reviews here or with the paper form by staff mailboxes. Find Bloomingdale Public Library on Goodreads here. |
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The Red Lotus: A Novel
by Chris Bohjalian
Reviewed by Soon Har
Young American ER doctor Alexis goes on a biking trip to Vietnam with her colleague-boyfriend -- who disappears a few days before the end of the tour. What really happened to him -- and why was he lying about the reason he came to Vietnam? Even as Alexis is grieving she is drawn into a mystery that is increasingly dangerous and horrifying.
The Red Lotus was published in March 2020; reading this book before the COVID-19 pandemic is over is eerie -- how prescient was Bohjalian? While the 'mystery' at the core of the book is nothing new, it is still disturbing and its unravelling makes for an exciting and gripping read.
This is NOT Science Fiction; for fans of realistic mystery-thrillers set in a world where medicine/science meet capitalism/greed.
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The Memory Police
by Yōko Ogawa
Reviewed by Krista
By the time I finished this book, I couldn't decide if it was one of the best I'd ever read, or if I was going to throw it across my room.... This diverse dystopic novel is set on an island which is under constant surveillance by the Memory Police. They control what the residents are allowed to remember, and it is illegal to keep memories or objects that are not deemed "safe" by the police. If you enjoyed "The Giver" by Lois Lowry, then you will love this work in translation. It's haunting, unsettling, and thought-provoking. I would read it again in a heartbeat.
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The Lost Apothecary
by Sarah Penner
This debut novel about poison, revenge, and women helping women is an engrossing, well-written read. I couldn't put it down!
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The Silent Companions
by Laura Purcell
Reviewed by Kristina
Silent Companions were clever curiosities, first created in Amsterdam and sold throughout northern Europe; flat wooden cutouts, painted to look like real people so that when you walked through a stately home you might think the maid was dusting the fireplace or the cook was chopping meat with a cleaver, but then you are shocked to discover these aren't real people at all.
When a woman, recently widowed under mysterious circumstances, moves into her dead husband's country estate, she is surprised to find these silent companions popping up all over the house. Are they watching her, moving when she's not looking, and waiting until the right moment to strike? Or is she simply a madwoman who killed her household staff and refuses to remember what actually happened?
If you love ghost stories, you're going to die for The Silent Companions!
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Bloomingdale Public Library
101 Fairfield Way
Bloomingdale, Illinois 60108
630-529-3120www.mybpl.org |
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