book review | Heidi Slowinski

[Book Review] The Hotel on St. James Place: Growing up in Atlantic City between the Boardwalk and the Holocaust by Molly Golubcow

Posted on March 31, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Molly Golubcow Molly Golubcow’s memoir focuses on growing up in Atlanta City in the early 1970s between it’s early hay day and the modern day casino boom. Her parents, Holocaust survivors who grew up in a Polish shtetl, become the proprietors of the Seacrest, near the boardwalk, which was home to a colorful cast […]

[Book Review] Trojan Horse by S. Lee Manning

Posted on March 31, 2021 Leave a Comment

By S. Lee Manning Operative Koyla Petrov is tracking Mihai Cuza, a decedent of Vlad the Impaler. Cuza is suspected of plotting meltdowns at nuclear power plants around the world. But whenever Petrov closes in on his target, he loses a member of his team. Petrov’s agency decides to deploy a ‘trojan horse’, or a […]

[ARC Review] The Flip Side of Sad by Amber Ashley

Posted on March 30, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Amber Ashley James Letta is a breakout star in the music industry. Despite amazing success as a vocalist, behind the scenes, James is sad. While on a tour, promoting his latest album, James experiences a particularly rough day. That is until he is visited by a ghost who takes him on a tour of […]

[Book Review] Mannahatta: A Sequel by Sherry V. Ostroff

Posted on March 24, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Sherry V. Ostroff A sequel to Caledonia, we rejoin Hanna Duncan three years after the original book, pursuing her doctorate in archeology. Her studies take her to Central America where she finds herself in danger at the hands of a gang. Meanwhile, her ancestor, Anna’s story continues in the new world. She encounters danger […]

[Book Review] I Wish My Father by Lesléa Newman

Posted on March 17, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Lesléa Newman This poetry collection explores the father-daughter relationship based on the author’s relationship with her own father. The collection is progressive in time as her father ages and reaches end of life. Newman’s writing is emotional and raw as she wrestles with issues so many face as parents age. Coping with difficult issues […]

[Book Review] King Genghis I by Jonathan Yalon

Posted on March 17, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Jonathan Yalon Set in a fictional kingdom, in Eurasia, King Genghis I is a satirical rom-com with a political twist. Turan was born in this kingdom but raised in New York. The kingdom is led by a monarch who is more like a modern-day dictator. Turan is persuaded to return home through an invitation […]

[Book Review] Find Home: In the Footsteps of the Jewish Fusgyers by Jill Culiner

Posted on March 10, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Jill Culiner An 1866 change to the constitution of Romania eliminated the right to citizenship for all non-Christians, leaving Romanian Jews with limited rights. On-going anti-semitism across Europe eventually made it necessary for Jews to immigrate away from Europe. By the early 1900s, a group of Romanian Jews, known by the Yiddish name of […]

[ARC Review] At the End of the World, Turn Left by Zhanna Slor

Posted on March 3, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Zhanna Slor Masha and Anastasia are sisters who immigrated to the United States from the former USSR as children, in the 80s. The two spent their adolescents in the gritty counter-culture neighborhood, Riverwest, of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In her early twenties, Masha makes a journey of self-discovery, immigrating to Israel but returns to Milwaukee, at […]

February 2021 Book Review Wrap Up

Posted on February 24, 2021 Leave a Comment

So many books, so little time! I am an avid reader and love to share recommendations with fellow readers. My choice in books tend to vary by my mood but some of my favorites are mystery, suspense, thriller, and humor. Get my reviews direct to your inbox every Wednesday and check back here for monthly […]

[Book Review] Adele and Tom: The Portrait of a Marriage by Chella Courington

Posted on February 24, 2021 Leave a Comment

By Chella Courington Adele and Tom: The Portrait of a Marriage is a work of short fiction, exploring the nuances between two very different writers. Tom is an economist, orderly and exacting. Adele is a creative-type, struggling in her own way. Courington’s lyrical and poetic writing style had be engrosed from the first page. This […]