The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store by James McBride

 First sentence:

"There was an old Jew who lived at the site of the old synagogue up on Chicken Hill in the town of Pottstown, Pa., and when Pennsylvania State Troopers found the skeleton at the bottom of an old well of Hayes Street, the old Jew's house was the first place they went to."

Description:

In 1972, when workers in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, were digging the foundations for a new housing development, the last thing they expected to uncover was a human skeleton. Who the skeleton was and how it got buried there were just two of the long-held secrets that had been kept for decades by the residents of Chicken Hill, the dilapidated neighborhood where immigrant Jews and African Americans lived side by side, sharing ambitions and sorrows.

Chicken Hill was where Moshe and Chona Ludlow lived when Chona ran the Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, which served he neighborhood's quirky collection of blacks and European immigrants, helped by her husband, Moshe, a Romanian-born theater owner who integrated he town's first dance hall. When the state came looking for a deaf black child, claiming the boy needed to be institutionalized, Chicken Hill's residents--roused by Chona's kindness and the courage of a local black worker named Nate Timblin--banded together to keep the boy safe.

As the novel unfolds, it becomes clear how much the people of Chicken Hill have to struggle to survive at the margins of white Christian America and how damaging bigotry, hypocrisy, and deceit can be to a community. When the truth is revealed about the skeleton, the boy, and the part the town's establishment played in both, McBride shows that it is love and community--heaven and earth--that ultimately sustains us." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This is a very good book about community, compassion, strife and courage in facing adversity. I liked the characters - well most of them except for Doc and Gus Plizska. I especially liked Moshe and Chona and their relationship with Nate and Addie. I also liked how people worked together to help Dodo.

Date read: 4/26/2026
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 0593422945
ISBN-13: 9780593422946
Imprint: Riverhead Books
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Year: 2023
# of pages: 381
Binding: Hardcover
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Refugee by Alan Graff

First sentence:

Crack! Bang!

Description:

"Three different kids. One mission in common: Escape

Josef is a Jewish boy living in 1930s Nazi Germany. With the threat of concentration camps looming, he and his family board a ship bound for the other side of the world. . .

Isabel is a Cuban girl in 1994. With riots and unrest plaguing her country, she and her family set out on a raft, hoping to find safety in America. . .

Mahmoud is a Syrian boy in 2015. With his homeland torn apart by violence and destruction, he and his family begin a long trek toward Europe. . .

All three kids go on harrowing journeys in search of refuge. All will face unimaginable dangers--from drownings to bombings to betrayals. But there is always the hope of tomorrow. And although Josef, Isabel, and Mahmoud are separated by continents and decades, shocking connections will tie their stories together in the end." -- from the inside flap

My thoughts:

This is a compelling book about hope, despair, and survival through tough times. While not every story ends well, I admired the courage of the characters throughout.

Date read: 3/16/2026
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 0545880831
ISBN-13: 9780545880831
Imprint: Scholastic Press
Publisher: Scholastic Inc.
Year: 2017
# of pages: 317
Binding: Hardcover
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The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch

First sentence:

"At the height of the long wet summer of the Seventy-Seventh Year of Sendovani, the Thiefmaker of Camorr paid a sudden and unannounced visit to the Eyeless Priest at the Temple of Perelandro, desperately hoping to sell him the Lamora boy."

Description:

"An orphan's life is harsh—and often short—in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains—a man who is neither blind nor a priest. A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected "family" of orphans—a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting. Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld's most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful—and more ambitious—than Locke has yet imagined. Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi's most trusted men—and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr's underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game—or die trying."

My thoughts:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book about Locke Lamora and his friends in the city of Camorr. Their con games become more elaborate and dangerous as the mysterious Grey King becomes more powerful. I look forward to reading the next book in the Gentleman Bastards series, Red Seas Under Red Skies.


Date read: 9/9/2025
Series: Gentleman Bastards, #1
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 055358894X
ISBN-13: 9780553588941
Imprint: Bantam Spectra
Publisher: Random House
Year: 2007
# of pages: 719
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
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Chaos Terminal by Mur Lafferty

First sentence:

"A sentient space station should have perfect temperature, Mallory Viridian thought."

Description:

"Mallory Viridian would rather not be an amateur detective, thank you very much. But no matter what she does, people persist in dying around her--and only she seems to be able to solve the crime.

Now the law enforcement agent who hounded Mallory on Earth has come to Station Eternity, along with her teenage crush and Mallory's best friend from high school. Mallory doesn't believe in coincidences, and so she's not at all surprised when someone in the latest shuttle from Earth is murdered.

Only this time she has more than a killer to deal with. Between her fugitive friends, a new threat arising from the Sundry, and the alarming behavior of the sentient space station they all call home, even Mallory's deductive abilities are strained. If she can't find out what's going on, a disaster of intergalactic proportions may occur. . .." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this second book in The Midsolar Murders series. I especially liked how Mallory had to convince the sentient ship Eternity that something was wrong and how the rambunctious Gneiss, Tina, played a very big part. I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Infinite Archive.

Date read: 8/25/2025
Series: The Midsolar Murders, #2
Genre: SF/Mystery
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 0593098137
ISBN-13: 9780593098134
Imprint: Berkeley
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Year: 2023
# of pages: 366
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

First sentence:

"When people ask me what I do--taxi drivers, dental hygienists--I tell them I work in an office."

Description:

"Meet Eleanor Oliphant: She struggles with appropriate social skills and tends to say exactly what she's thinking. Nothing is missing in her carefully timetabled life, where weekends mostly consist of from pizza, vodka, and phone chats with Mummy. But everything changes when Eleanor meets Raymond, the bumbling IT guy from her office, whose big heart will ultimately help Eleanor find the way to repair her own profoundly damaged one." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

While Eleanor Oliphant is not always a likeable character nor easy to get along with, I found her interesting and a worthy person to know. Her discovery of the world through her friendship with Raymond was a journey I will remember.

Date read: 8/20/2025
Genre: Fiction
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 0735220690
ISBN-13: 9780735220690
Imprint: Viking
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Year: 2017
# of pages: 325
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Station Eternity by Mur Lafferty

First sentence:

"Nobody ever believed murders 'just happened' around Mallory Viridian."

Description:

"From idyllic small towns to claustrophobic urban landscapes, Mallory Viridian is constantly embroiled in murder cases that only she has the insight to solve. But outside of a classic mystery novel, being surrounded by death doesn't make you a charming amateur detective -- it makes you a suspect and a social pariah. So when Mallory gets the opportunity to take refuge on a sentient space station, she thinks she has the solution. Surely the murders will stop if her only company is alien beings. Her new existence is peacefully quiet at first. . .and markedly devoid of homicide.

But when the station agrees to allow additional human guests, Mallory knows the break from her peculiar reality is over. After the first Earth shuttle arrives, and aliens and humans alike begin to die, the station is thrown into peril. Stuck smack-dab in the middle of an extraterrestrial whodunit, and wondering how in the world this keeps happening to her anyway, Mallory has to solve the crime--and fast--or the list of victims could grow to include everyone on board. . .." -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

I enjoyed this first book in The Midsolar Murders series. I liked how Mallory learns why murders happen around her and how important she is in solving them. I also liked the various aliens on the sentient ship, Eternity, particularly the Gneiss. I look forward to reading the next book, Chaos Terminal.

Date read: 7/24/2025
Series: The Midsolar Murders, #1
Genres: SF / Mystery
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 059309811?
ISBN-13: 9780593098110
Imprint: Ace
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Year: 2022
# of pages: 453
Binding: Trade Paperback
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Deadspawn by Brian Lumley

First sentence:

"'Harry,' Darcy Clarke's voice of twitchy on the phone, but he was trying hard to contain it. 'There's a problem we could use some help with. Your kind of help.'"

Description:

"There's a maniacal murderer on the loose, brutally slaughtering young women with a ferocity that rivals that of the vampires Harry Keogh has spent his life combatting. The Necroscope's been asked to solve the crimes. . .asked by the dead spirits of the madman's victims.

Harry cannot turn down a request from the dead. . .even if it costs him his soul. In the climactic battle with the vampires, mankind prevailed and purged the vampires from earth -- thanks fo Harry, his team of psychically-gifted spies, and Faethor Ferenczy, long-dead 'father' of the world's vampires, who betrayed his own kind.

But Harry's alliance with Faethor has a terrible cost -- Harry's very humanity is under attack from the vampire evil coiled in his mind!" -- from the back cover

My thoughts:

It was a long time since I had read this series, so I was glad to read an extensive recap at the beginning of this book. I enjoyed this book about Keough and how he's changing and I look forward to reading the next book in the series, Blood Brothers.

Date read: 6/26/2025
Genre: Horror
Series: Necroscope, #5
Rating: 4*/5

ISBN-10: 0812508351
ISBN-13: 9780812508352
Imprint: Tor Book
Publisher: Tom Doherty Associates, Inc.
Year: 1991
# of pages: 602
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