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Writer, Reader, English Teacher

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My Book Reviews

I love novels! My favorite genres are high-end women's fiction, suspense, and psychological thrillers, but occasionally I'll also pick up some chick lit or YA. I mostly read books on my kindle, and I also listen to audio books every morning when I go for my run.

I do NOT love star ratings for novels. For each book I review, I will give a bit of background, my thoughts, and end by saying if I would recommend it or not. Full disclosure: if I'm not into a book, I don't finish it. Since I'll only be reviewing books I finish, most of the reviews posted will be positive.

Women’s Psychological Fiction? What’s That?

Laurel Osterkamp · February 25, 2023

Recently, I’ve made a habit of combing through Amazon’s book categories, in an effort to finesse my marketing efforts. That’s how I noticed the category, women’s psychological fiction. I’d heard of the psychological thrillers, and of course, of women’s fiction.

But women’s psychological fiction? Tell me more.

I did a bit of research, and this is what I found: Women’s psychological fiction is a genre of literature that explores the complexities of the female mind, …

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Cats and Literature: The Purrfect Combination?

Laurel Osterkamp · February 6, 2023

What is it about cats that makes them so literary? It just seems like books and cats are the purrfect combination! From the ancient Egyptians who kept cats as sacred animals, to the medieval folks who believed cats were a symbol of witchcraft, to modern-day readers who adore cats' mystique and intelligence, cats have an undeniable presence in literature. In ancient Egyptian culture, cats were seen as sacred animals associated with the goddess Bastet. Bastet was believed to be the protector of …

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The Five Strongest Heroines from Modern American Novels, according to Chat GPT

Laurel Osterkamp · January 19, 2023

Has chat GPT taken the place of bloggers? To find out, I gave it a prompt similar to something I'd post about here on Laurellit.

The prompt: List and describe the five strongest  heroines from modern American novels.

Here was its response: Katniss Everdeen from The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins – Katniss is a brave and resourceful young woman who is willing to risk her own life to save her family and friends. She …

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All About Anna Karenina: Part 1, ch 24-34 HAIKUS!

Laurel Osterkamp · December 18, 2022

I've decided to switch gears. My chapter summaries take too long for y'all to read, and for me to write. While I still plan to adapt the pivotal scenes into first person POV, the rest of the summaries will be written as haikus. Thus, here is what's left of part one: 11 haikus for ten chapters. (Chapter 30 was too eventful and needed an extra haiku to capture it all.)

Levin goes to see his derelict brother, Nicholay Bro’s thin like a …

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All About Anna Karenina: Part 1, chapters 22 & 23–The Ballroom Scene

Laurel Osterkamp · December 15, 2022

Although I am still only posting about part one of Anna Karenina, reading-wise, I am well into part three. And I can tell you, I still dislike Levin. Vronsky and Anna are okay, but my favorite character by far is Kitty. I find it so interesting the scene where Vronsky and Anna fall in love is mostly seen through her eyes. After adapting it into first person, I got a really good sense of who Kitty is, and she's awesome. But don't take my word for …

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My Favorite Authors

Reading novels is more than a pastime to me; it’s a way of life. I love escaping into a captivating story, and when that story is well written, I find myself learning about all sorts of things, like how to be a better writer, how to understand others, and how to understand myself. I mostly read books on my Kindle or listen to them on audio, but sometimes I’ll read from a hard copy. When I like a book, I’ll review it. Since you’re required to give star reviews on places like Goodreads, I will give every book I like enough to review five stars, even if I get nitpicky in my written review. (I HATE giving books star ratings since I don’t think good writing can really be quantified. But as an author myself, I know how devastating anything less than a five star rating can be, so I’m never going to do that to a fellow author.)

Below is a list of some of my favorite authors and links to their sites. You’ll find a mix of Women’s Fiction, YA, Psychological Suspense, and Literary Fiction. This list is always growing, so please check back as I continue to add to it.

Links to my favorite authors:

Curtis Sittenfeld

Hank Phillippi Ryan

Ruth Ware

Kate Moretti

Renée Rosen

Anna Pitoniak

Tracy Chevalier

Catherine McKenzie

Kara Thomas

J. Courtney Sullivan

Kelly Simmons

Jessica Strawser
Jessica Goodman

Jacquelyn Mitchard
Katherine St. John

Ann Garvin
Chandler Baker
Lori Rader-Day
Carol Goodman
Megan Miranda

Amy Impellizzeri

Ali Hazelwood

Karen McManus

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