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February 9, 2026

REVIEW: The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison by Meredith Jaffe

JayneA Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended ReadsAustralia / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / family relationships / Fiction / omniscient voice / present tense / prison / prisoners / self discovery / sewing13 Comments

Recommended Read

Can a wedding dress save a bunch of hardened crims? The Full Monty meets Orange is the New Black in a poignantly comic story about a men’s prison sewing circle. Derek’s daughter Debbie is getting married. He’s desperate to be there, but he’s banged up in Yarrandarrah Correctional Centre for ... more >

March 22, 2024

REVIEW: The Bookseller’s Wife (The Chiswell Street Chronicles, Vol 1) by Jane Davis

JayneB Reviews / Book Reviews18th-century / bookseller / class differences / England / fathers and daughters / Georgian / Historical / Historical fiction / London / omniscient voice / The Chiswell Street ChroniclesComments Off on REVIEW: The Bookseller’s Wife (The Chiswell Street Chronicles, Vol 1) by Jane Davis

Books have been her only solace. Now they’re about to change her life. London, 1775: The only surviving child of six, Dorcas Turton should have been heiress to a powerful family name. But after her mother’s untimely death, she is stunned by the discovery that her father’s compulsive gambling has ... more >

June 12, 2023

REVIEW: Charm City Rocks by Matthew Norman

JayneB Reviews / Book ReviewsBaltimore / Contemporary / contemporary fiction / father and son / Musicians / older heroine and hero / omniscient voice3 Comments

Billy Perkins is happy. And why wouldn’t he be? He loves his job as an independent music teacher and his apartment in Baltimore above a record shop called Charm City Rocks. Most of all, he loves his brainy teenage son, Caleb. Margot Hammer, on the other hand, is far from ... more >

May 17, 2022

REVIEW: Adult Assembly Required by Abbi Waxman

JayneB+ Reviews / Book ReviewsContemporary / estranged family / family relationships / found family / Los Angeles / omniscient voice13 Comments

When Laura Costello moves to Los Angeles, trying to escape an overprotective family and the haunting memories of a terrible accident, she doesn’t expect to be homeless after a week. (She’s pretty sure she didn’t start that fire — right?) She also doesn’t expect to find herself adopted by a ... more >

April 5, 2022

REVIEW: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus

JayneA Reviews / Book Reviews / Recommended Reads1950s / 1960s / American historical / chemistry / dog / family relationships / found family / Historical / Misogyny / mothers and daughters / omniscient voice / rowing / science / Scientist / single mother / strong heroine / Womens-Fiction14 Comments

Recommended Read

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Chemist Elizabeth Zott is not your average woman. In fact, Elizabeth Zott would be the first to point out that there is no such thing as an average woman. But it’s the early 1960s and her all-male team at Hastings Research Institute takes a ... more >

September 8, 2020

REVIEW: All Stirred Up: A Novel by Brianne Moore

JayneB Reviews / Book ReviewsChef / Contemporary / dysfunctional family / family relationships / literary adaptation / omniscient voice / restaurants / Scotland / second chance at love4 Comments

Inspired by Jane Austen’s Persuasion. She returned to save her family’s dying legacy–but found the ghosts of her past alive and well. Susan Napier’s family once lived on the success of the high-end restaurants founded by her late grandfather. But bad luck and worse management has brought the business to ... more >

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