This is really beautiful writing and evocative. I wish the characters had been more developed and their relationships more detailed--it was hard to feel sorrow over the loss of characters' connections because they didn't feel very connected. I did really like all the sly references to scripture, and appreciated the author's personal experience of being raised in the church coming to life on the page, and how that shapes a person.
I would have liked a lot more of thomas' life and a lot of less of grace macaulay but what we got of Thomas was really lovely

Really fascinating and lots of interesting info about Jane Austen herself, her family and the society around her!

There's not a lot to the actual story and the characters aren't super developed, but I found it an intriguing book and definitely propelled me to learn more about Iran. I appreciated the nuance she gives to Iran's political situation under the Shah and after the Islamic revolution and the plot is not as predictable as I thought it would be, there were definitely some surprises and twists.
Also all the food sounds delicious! 

So good!! If you like the Grisha books and/or the Daevabad trilogy, you will like this!

I loved the descriptions of Paris and food and outfits. I wish there had been a comprehensible plot or character development of any kind. Also for a book about a book club there sure aren't a lot of actual book club meetings and we don't even get most of the people's names 😕
Weirdly I think the basic concept of this could be turned into a real good TV show

This was good until it wasn't. I was enjoying the travel and mystery, but when it got into real meta stuff about existence and life and the burden of eternity and knowledge it became very dull very quickly. So 3 stars for the first half

Really accessible and clear history even for people with no other background in Civil War history. I appreciated the depth and breadth of his research and learned a lot. I was surprised that not listed in his bibliography is Florence King's book "Southern Ladies and Gentlemen" which isn't a history, but builds on the same foundations he does.
I was really amazed at reading how much the early Lincoln administration did not really believe a war would happen and how much Union leaders didn't understand that the southern secessionists definitely were prepared to kill for their horrifying beliefs and system of enslaving other people. 
I'm docking a star for 2 reasons: 1)I don't know why he couldn't write "people" after describing folks' race, but it was jarring to keep encountering it and 2)he clearly got a little enamored with the secessionists he is writing about and I wouldn't have minded less of them and less of the tenuous line he tries to draw between their personal lives and their social and political positions. Folks weren't racists just because they were sad ab so many deaths in their families or they didn't make their fathers proud, but he tiptoes too close to that kind of argument for my liking 

I never would've believed I'd be offered a book so specifically in my wheelhouse: about World War I and the Book of Revelation!
What a beautiful and heart-breaking book. It is clearly really well researched and also brings to light parts of the war experience that don't always get much attention. It is about grief, and loss, and survival, and feeling like the world has ended but somehow we have to go on. Laura is such a great character and the magical elements added to evoke her grief and Freddie's trauma and PTSD were really well crafted, and added an interesting element to what was already a compelling plot. 
You do probably need to know a little bit about World War I to really love this book, but even without that knowledge, the story has a lot to offer. Also, don't sleep on Penelope Shaw, you meet her and if you're like me, kind of meh on the character, but she's so much more!
Definitely recommend

I am a fan and am predisposed to like her books, but I absolutely loved this! And was really impressed when I read how much research she did (there's a list in her acknowledgments at the end). 
I know very little about Spanish history or the Inquisition but even so she was able to bring a vivid world to life. And while her books are not predictable, there is often a pattern to them AND I am pretty good at guessing plots and yet this one had me guessing up until the very end! I had no idea how this would turn out and was enthralled to the end!