The Book Review Club (February 2022)
This month marks the thirteenth anniversary of The Book Review Club. Yes! We've been meeting for THIRTEEN LUCKY YEARS! Wow! Please scroll down below my post for links to great reviews of great books. Enjoy and Happy Lunar New Year! 🐯
THE MAID
by Nita Prose (adult, cozy mystery, contemporary)
It's not often I read an "it" book, hot off the presses. (THE MAID pubbed Jan 4.) It's not often I review a book that has already catapulted to the top of the charts. (THE MAID is a NYT bestseller, #1 Canadian bestseller, UK Sunday Times bestseller, a Good Morning America Book Club Pick, been optioned for a movie.) It's not often I review an adult novel. But...it's 2022, and, apparently, the year of living dangerously. After all, it is the Year of the Tiger.
The author: Nita Prose is the pen name for Nita Pronovost, VP/Editorial Director at Simon & Schuster in Toronto, Canada. THE MAID is her first novel.
The premise: 25 y.o. Molly Gray, a woman somewhere on the spectrum a la Elinor Oliphant, works proudly as a maid at the swanky Regency Grand Hotel. "I love cleaning. I love my maid's trolley, and I love my uniform." Molly's navigating life as best she can, cleaning obsessively, alone and lonely since her Gran died a few months earlier. She's holding it together, and then she finds the body of wealthy Charles Black, "very dead in his bed."
I mostly listened to this book. The narrator (actress Lauren Ambrose) is excellent. I listened in the grocery store, in the bank, while weeding, while cooking. You get the picture. I was hooked. It's a fun, quirky read. Lots of interesting characters. Humor. I was very invested in Molly the Maid with her social miscues and mishaps and her love of the Olive Garden and Colombo. This whodunit with heart is all about personal growth, trust, friendship and romance.
A final thought: The last twist threw me for a loop. Really threw me. So, if you read THE MAID (and I think you should!), and you have a free moment or two, I'd be curious to hear your reaction.
Here's a short story by the author: The Missing Mona Lisa
Here's the GMA interview with the author: Good Morning America
(Dear FCC: bought)
And now....onto the rest of our reviews. Please click through. You won't want to miss a single one!
MIDDLE GRADE/YOUNG ADULT FICTION BOOK REVIEWS
Jenn Jilks: STATE OF TERROR by Louise Penny and Hilary Clinton (thriller)
Lucy Sartain: WE ARE NOT LIKE THEM by Christine Pride and Jo Piazza (women's)
Margy Lutz: AMERICAN DIRT by Jeanine Cummins (contemporary)
Patti Abbott: HAMNET by Maggie O'Farrell (historical)
NONFICTION BOOK REVIEWS
Linda McLaughlin: YOUR BEST YEAR EVER by Michael Hyatt (adult, self-help)
Jody Feldman: THE WOMAN ALL SPIES FEAR by Amy Butler Greenfield (YA, biography)
Note to Reviewers: Any errors (broken link, missed review, etc), just shoot me an email or leave a comment. Thank you so much for your reviews!
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