You Are Here : Home / Books & Media/Book Reviews

Book Reviews

Looking for a new book to read? Check out book reviews from Morris County librarians!

A Spy Among Friends by Ben Macintyre

Ben Macintyre, a British historian, author, and columnist for The Times, has made a career writing about the art of espionage, primarily focusing on the period leading up to and including the second World War. His 2014 book A Spy Among Friends chronicles the life of Kim Philby, one of the most successful and notorious double agents in history.

Beach Read by Emily Henry

January Andrews writes best-selling romances while her college rival Augustus Everett is trying to write the next great “serious” novel.

Beautiful World, Where are You by Sally Rooney

In Sally Rooney’s highly anticipated third novel, friends Eileen and Alice strive to find meaning in the world beyond the trivialities of romance.

Death on the Nile by Agatha Christie

First published in November 1937 as Agatha Christie’s 25th novel, Death on the Nile continues to be one of the author’s most familiar and revered tales. The intricate plot involves a celebrity heiress, a jilted lover, a river cruise, and a cold-blooded murder, with the famous detective Hercule Poirot attempting to piece it all together.

Dial A for Aunties by Jesse Q. Sutanto

What’s worse than running a business with your mom and three aunties? Disposing the body of the date you accidentally killed with your mom and three aunties during your biggest contract of the year.

Half Lives by Lucy Jane Santos

Half Lives: The Unlikely History of Radium (2021) by Lucy Jane Santos provides an enlightening look into radium’s checkered past. Known by the symbol Ra, radium was referred to by Marie Sklodowska Curie as “my beautiful radium.” An earlier fascination and intrigue with the substance, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century and predating Curie’s work...

Magic For Liars book review

Magic for Liars (2019) was Sarah Gailey’s highly anticipated first full-length novel. A book to be enjoyed by adults and teenagers alike, Gailey places a murder mystery within a fantasy magical world, one where the main character must learn the rules before she can crack the case.

Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin

Morningside Heights by Joshua Henkin: This is the story of a family in transition: their relationships and their hardships. While the events in the novel span the lifetime of Spence and Pru Robin, from the time they first fall in love to Spence’s decline and subsequent surrender to Alzheimer’s disease, it is the day-to-day struggles that make the characters relatable.

Murder Most Fowl, A Meg Langslow Mystery By Donna Andrews

Murder Most Fowl (2021) is Andrew’s twenty-ninth mystery in the Meg Langslow series. At the opening of the latest Meg Langslow novel, Murder Most Fowl, sets the stage for the real mystery that is soon to unfold in the town of Caerphilly.....

Names of New York written by Joshua Jelly-Shapiro

Names of New York written by Joshua Jelly-Shapiro (2021) is a fascinating nonfiction work that delves into the history of New York’s most iconic and familiar places. As a geographer and writer, Joshua Jelly-Shapiro views his interest in toponymy--the study of place-names--as important to the study of history and to the meaning people attach to places.

Robert B. Parker's Payback, A Sunny Randall Novel by Mike Lupica

The Sunny Randall detective series was originally launched by renowned author Robert B. Parker in 1999. Payback, published in 2021, was written by Mike Lupica. It is the ninth book in the series.

Payback is told from the point of view of Sunny Randall, a Boston-based, Glock-toting, private eye with conflicting love interests....

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige

Sea Wife by Amity Gaige (2020) is a transporting read, following a young family who are sailing off on an adventure from Panama.

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Erotic fantasy writer Eva Mercy is suffering from a major lack of spice in her life when her former flame, award winning author Shane Hall, bursts back into her world 15 summers after their initial meeting.

The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue by V. E. Schwab

When Addie finally finds someone who can remember her, someone beyond the grasps of the darkness, she holds onto those moments and chooses to live in the now with the only person who can remember her name. But what price will she have to pay for those treasured moments?

The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

Jeffers’ epic tells the tale of the many generations of a family living on the same land in the fictional town of Chicasetta, Georgia.

The Maidens by Alex Michaelides

Set on the historic Cambridge campus, The Maidens is an eerie murder mystery.

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles

The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles is based on research and tells an important WWII story. Janet Skeslien Charles does a wonderful job developing the characters as the circumstances in the story become increasingly dire. This is a great book –one that is hard to put down....

The People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry

Poppy, a NYC travel writer, and Alex, a small-town Ohio teacher, are best friends who take a vacation every summer.

The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan

What would be the verdict if your worst parenting moment were put in front of a judge?

Secret Life of Stars, Astrophysics for Everyone by Lisa Harvey-Smith

Published in 2021, The Secret Life of Stars: Astrophysics for Everyone is a non-fiction book written by award-winning astrophysicist Lisa Harvey-Smith from South Wales. Harvey-Smith’s research interests focus on the birth and death of stars, and supermassive black holes. Her knowledge and fascination with the celestial universe are conveyed in this detailed and revealing book about the stars......