Rosh's Reviews

AUTHOR: Sarah Wynn-Williams GENRE: Memoir, Business PUBLICATION DATE: March 11, 2025 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: An insider account of the allegedly nefarious people and practices at Facebook, written by one of its key ex-employees. Some familiar reveals, some worrisome ones. Slightly lopsided and selective in its narration – a common issue in memoirs. A decent nonfiction option for those interested in the topic, though it might be more impactful to those who still believe that social media is good for people and that corporations such as Meta don’t abuse user privacy. (Is anyone still living under this rock?) As with all memoirs, take it with a pinch of salt because there’s a lot left unsaid. Sarah Wynn-Williams is a New-Zealand-born lawyer and public policy expert. Her childhood was noteworthy in one thing: she survived a brutal shark attack. Following a stint with the NZ government and with the UN after her law studies, Williams realised that she could make a bigger impact at a ...

AUTHOR: Shauna Robinson GENRE: Contemporary Romance-Drama. PUBLICATION DATE: November 1, 2022 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary romance-drama, though the romance is secondary to the drama. Book about books. Annoying main character. Straightforward plot with some loopholes and some convenient developments. Plenty of humour and heart, but also plenty of judgement and aggravation. A decent pastime option when you want a light read that doesn’t tax your brain. Plot Preview: When twenty-eight-year-old Maggie, frustrated at not having a successful career path, gets a call from her best friend asking for help taking care of her bookstore for a few months while she goes on maternity leave, Maggie accepts, even though she isn't fond of reading. It’s not just this lack of interest in books that makes Maggie’s task difficult. The bookstore is one of the central attractions in a town with a strong literary history, and as such, its governing body, the Bell Society, doesn’t all...

AUTHOR: Barbara O'Connor NARRATOR: Suzy Jackson GENRE: Middle-grade Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: August 30, 2016 RATING: 2.75 stars. In a Nutshell: A middle-grade novel about a little girl with a secret wish. A nice mix of characters though the lead character is not exactly typical middle-grade material. Somewhat bittersweet themes, and a good ending as befits the genre. Can lead to a thought-provoking discussion with kids. Not a perfect read, though. Plot Preview: Colby, North Carolina. Charlie Reese, who is almost eleven, has been making the same wish every single day since more than a year. By now, she is an expert at knowing all the ways possible to make a wish. However, when she is sent away to the Blue Ridge mountains to stay with her maternal aunt and her husband, whom Charlie hasn’t even met before, the little girl is sure that her wish won't ever come true in a backward town filled with “hillbillies”. But as we know, life has a way of throwing surprises your way when you ...

AUTHOR: Maurice Sendak GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: April 9, 1963 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: Finally read this classic picture book! Good story, great illustrations. Quite imaginative and entertaining but many of the points will work better on discussion. Plot Preview: One night, young Max is wearing his wolf suit and making mischief in the house. His mother calls him “Wild Thing!” in anger, so he retaliates and declares that he will eat her up. As expected, he gets punished for his cheek, and is sent to his room without food. But something special happens in his room, and he soon finds himself sailing to where the wild things are and having much fun with them. Should he continue to stay there, where he can be the King of the Wild Things? I have had this classic on my TBR since a few years now. Considered by many to be among the greatest picture books ever and the Winner of the Caldecott Medal for Most Distinguished Picture Book in 1964, this book came at...

AUTHOR: Shiori Kanaki GENRE: Graphic Novel, Fairy Tale Retelling, Manga PUBLICATION DATE: September 12, 2017 RATING: 2 stars. In a Nutshell: A manga version of ‘Tangled’, Disney’s take on Rapunzel. Stick to the movie. I am not a manga fan, but I am a ‘Tangled’ super-fan. It is one of my favourite animated movies, and I have watched it umpteen times with my kids. Though not that faithful to the Brothers Grimm version of the fairy tale, this original retelling enhances the best of the tale and expands the universe to a wider and funnier level. It helps that Flynn Rider is the best MMC in the entire animated fairytales universe. 🥰 Given the above, it would anyway be challenging for this manga adaptation to match up to the movie. There’s no way a B&W comic adaptation can do justice to an animated movie that was six years in the making and involved the creation of a special animation program to simulate the movement of 70 feet of hair. So I didn’t go in expecting a similar experience. ...

AUTHOR: Roisín O’Donnell NARRATOR: Louisa Harland GENRE: Contemporary Irish Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: February 18, 2025 RATING: 4 stars. In a Nutshell: A contemporary Irish drama about a woman’s attempt to get away from her abusive marriage. Hits the right mark in terms of characters and plot, and most of all, in the depiction of psychological domestic violence. The last quarter was a bit frustrating, but other than that, this debut is worth a try. To anyone who ignorantly asks such women sufferers, “Why don’t you just walk out of your marriage?”, you need to read this novel. Plot Preview: 2018. Dublin, Ireland. One day, after what can be called a final-straw incident, Ciara takes a life-changing decision. She packs a few essentials, grabs her two toddlers Sophie and Ella (aged four and two, respectively), and walks away from her marriage. In a city struggling with homelessness, starting anew, especially with no savings and no family nearby, isn't easy. But Ciara is determined that...

AUTHOR: Paul Marriner NARRATOR:  Colleen MacMahon GENRE: Contemporary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: June 30, 2025 RATING: 3.5 stars In a Nutshell: A contemporary fiction with an element of magical realism. Didn’t like the main narrator but the other characters make up for her judgemental attitude. Themes of found family and caregiving explored well. A good option for those looking for a realistic story narrated through otherworldly eyes.  Plot Preview:  2019. Beverley Cooper has been dead since eight years, but she hasn’t yet moved on. She watches over her eighty-nine-year-old widower Kevin as he is struggling through Alzheimer’s and dementia, and her fifty-eight-year-old divorced daughter Philippa as she willingly looks after her ailing father’s needs at the cost of her own requirements. When a new thirty-something caregiver named Kaska enters the household, Phillippa finally acknowledges that it is okay to have some me-time away from her dad. But Kevin’s health isn’t g...

AUTHOR: Melissa F. Miller GENRE: Psychological Suspense Thriller. PUBLICATION DATE: September 2, 2025 RATING: 4.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A psychological suspense thriller with an undertone of a feminist fairytale retelling. A clever story with interesting but complex characters. Avoids most of the pitfalls of the genre such as unreliable narration. Had a couple of things been edited, this would have been an easy 5 star for me. Much recommended. Go in blind. Plot Preview: ( This is just a barebones version. The actual story is much more layered. ) Emily has spent many years keeping a secret from her husband Tristan. Now a writer with an anxiety disorder thanks to the past trauma and a looming deadline thanks to a writer’s block, Emily takes up Tristan’s suggestion of going to an isolated location away from networks and distractions in order to complete her retelling of a fairytale. However, a storm awaits Emily during her stay. A physical storm as well as a psychological one. The story ...

COMPILER: Kim Normanton GENRE: Children's Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: September 11, 2025 RATING: 5 super-great stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟 In a Nutshell: Believe the title! This is a collection of “Super Great Kids’ Stories”, taken from folktales and fables around the world. Great stories and morals. Excellent narrative technique, making it apt for readalouds. Thoroughly entertaining. Much, much recommended! Not being a podcast person (all my listening time is devoted to audiobooks and music), I was totally clueless about the award-winning podcast ‘Super Great Kids’ Stories’ . Reading this book assures me that the podcast must be award-winning for a valid reason. What a brilliant collection and presentation! The book begins with a beautiful intro by the podcast hosts who have curated this collection. They offer a background to their podcast as well as explain the structure of the book. The main content comprises thirty “traditional tales” taken from around the world. The stories are grouped in...

AUTHOR & ILLUSTRATOR: Agnes Lee GENRE: Graphic Novel PUBLICATION DATE: March 5, 2024 RATING: 2 stars. A graphic novel taking an idea from Buddhist tradition of a soul (in this case, that of a young Korean American girl) travelling for 49 days after they die before fully crossing over. This explanation is provided only in the blurb and in a note at the END of the book, so if you don’t already know it, you simply won't understand what’s happening. I had to stop the book midway and read the blurb to make sense of the girl’s seemingly limbo state. Somewhat minimalistic illustrations that work for the story. Good use of dual tone in the illustrations, blue-toned to show the soul’s progress and brown-toned to show the grief-stricken family left behind. Barely any text for the first half or so. Quite fast-paced as most of the pages contain only illustrations.  A decent option for those who want to explore stories of grief and post-death beliefs in other cultures. But to me, it would h...

AUTHOR: Julia Seales SERIES: Beatrice Steele, #2 GENRE: Historical Cozy Mystery. PUBLICATION DATE: June 24, 2025 RATING: 3 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical mystery set in Regency-era England. The second book in the Beatrice Steele series. I found this more like a typical cozy mystery with a dash of humour rather than an Austen satire, unlike the first book. That’s probably why I didn’t enjoy it as much; cosy mysteries aren’t my thing. Still, a good pastime option if you read it in the right spirit. Better to go in series order. Plot Preview: After the successful resolution of her first murder case, Beatrice has moved to London, with the indefatigable Miss Bolton acting as her chaperone. Inspector Drake and Beatrice have started their own detective agency, but their business is yet to flourish as Sir Huxley still gets all the prominent cases. When a famous opera singer approaches them to clear his name of a murder allegation, Beatrice and Drake know it is the golden opportunity to pro...

AUTHOR: Cecile Pin NARRATORS: Aoife Hinds, Ioanna Kimbook and Ainsleigh Barber GENRE: Historical Literary Fiction PUBLICATION DATE: March 21, 2023 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A historical literary fiction about a Vietnamese family trying to make a new life in the Western world. The characters and the plot are mostly of the tried-and-tested kind. Haven’t read a novel in this setting before, so it was enlightening in some ways. The writing approach though left me with mixed feelings. Too flat and distanced to be emotionally impactful and too hurried to be intellectually impactful. Not bad, but I anticipated far better from an OwnVoices work. This is an outlier review. Plot Preview: In 1978, a Vietnamese father decides to follow his brother and make a new life for his family in the USA. He sends his eldest three children – Anh, Minh and Thanh (16, 13 and 10 respectively) – ahead to Hong Kong, with a promise that the rest of them will arrive in a few weeks. However, an unexpected tr...

AUTHOR: Manu Delpech ILLUSTRATOR: Trần Hà Trang GENRE: Children's Picture Book. PUBLICATION DATE: August 14, 2025 RATING: 2.5 stars. In a Nutshell: A fantastical picture book about a little boy and his magical drum. This turned out to be more metaphysical than I prefer in this genre. The story has great potential, but a little finetuning might have served it better. The artwork is stunning. Not exactly my cup of tea ( whether now or in my childhood ), but I hope kids can appreciate its magic more. This is the kind of book not to be read with the head but to be appreciated from the heart. Plot Preview: Max finds his dream gift awaiting him outside his bedroom door – a big drum. When he receives a pair of sticks as well, Max drums his heart out with joy. His music draws an unexpected visitor from far away: a majestic lion who seeks his help. The stunning cover art first drew me towards this picture book. The illustrations inside are just as much a treat to the eyes. The story, sadly,...