Underrated Reads

Happy New Year 2023!

Posted on December 31, 2022 by J D Jung

(by JD Jung) We at UnderratedReads wish all our readers a safe and Happy New Year filled with health and love throughout 2023. We have discovered wonderful books during 2022, and since we only post reviews of books that we recommend, all books on our site are highly recommended. However, here's an abbreviated list of…

Posted in Let's talk | Tagged best books, fiction, New Year, Non-fiction | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Five-Alarm Fire (Cat Caliban Series Book 5) – D.B. Borton

Posted on December 29, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Pat Luboff) I have a friend named Dori. We don’t see each other or speak to each other often, but when we do get together, something special happens. We get into a rapid-fire back-and-forth that turns into laughter and the laughter feeds on itself and grows and grows until we don’t know why…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged cozy mystery | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: One for the Money (Cat Caliban Series Book 1) – D.B. Borton

Posted on December 26, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Pat Luboff) #ComissionsEarned ”Suspicion is second nature to any woman who’s raised three kids.” I’m going to say something about this book that I don’t think I’ve ever said about a book: I loved every word! It gave me such a feeling of joy as I read it. I felt like it was…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged cozy mystery, light humor | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: Christmas Eve Can Kill You – William Marantz

Posted on December 24, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned For many of us, ushering in the New Year serves as a letdown, following the joyous Christmas season. For Izzy Miller (aka Muddy Rivers, aka Val Virgo), the season represents the low points of his life. Not only did he feel like an outsider looking in as a Jewish kid,…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged Canadian fiction, Christmas Eve, crime fiction | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: My Part of Her – Javad Djavahery, Preface by Dina Nayeri, Translated by Emma Ramadan

Posted on December 22, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “For what reason did the people take to the streets to demand the Shah’s departure? I assure you that if we asked the question today, the majority of Iranians wouldn’t know how to respond. For liberty? I don’t think so. For a better life? I don’t think that’s it either.…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged Historical fiction, Iran, Islamic revolution, political history, Tudeh party | Comments Off

The Endless Rose – Carlos Maleno (translated by Eric Kurtzke)

Posted on December 19, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “Then he thought of that woman, of her writing, that disappeared into itself—chaotic, brutal, savage, suicidal---like automatic writing, or the writing of a lunatic.” Thirty-seven-year-old publisher Roberto Fate was totally mesmerized as he read a manuscript submitted by an unknown Argentinian writer, twenty-six-year-old Paula Boccia. Though his older partner, Jacobo…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Tagged crime fiction, murder, publishing, Spain | Comments Off

An UnderratedRead Revisited: A Drinkable Feast: A Cocktail Companion to 1920s Paris- Philip Greene

Posted on December 16, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommisionsEarned “When spring comes to Paris the humblest mortal alive must feel that he dwells in paradise.” - Henry Miller “… shining a spotlight on the Paris of the 1920s and the expats…

Posted in Revisited | Tagged 1920s, cocktails, culture, history, Paris | Comments Off

Hotel Splendide – Ludwig Bemelmans

Posted on December 12, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned The comical 1941 out-of-print memoir of author and illustrator Ludwig Bemelmans (1898- 1962) has just been re-released by Puskin Press. Bemelmans would later write the Madeline children’s book series. However, this memoir covers his few years after coming to the United States to work at an upscale New York hotel.…

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, History, Immigration, Non-fiction | Tagged American History, humor, immigration, memoir, New York | Comments Off

The Ones Who Don’t Say They Love You: Stories – Maurice Carlos Ruffin

Posted on December 8, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommisionsEarned “In New Orleans, culture doesn’t come down from on high, it bubbles up from the street.” - Jazz Pianist Ellis Marsalis (1934-2020) This quote that opens the book epitomizes these stories, as we meet New Orleans residents of all ages and gender identifications just trying to make it day by day.…

Posted in Short stories | Tagged gentrification, New Orleans, poverty, race relations, society | Comments Off

Uncle Charlie Killed Dutch Schultz: The Jewish Mob: A Family Affair – Alan Geik

Posted on December 4, 2022 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Don Jung) #CommissionsEarned There are a lot of family histories out there to read about, but this one is different. While Alan Geik’s parents were not directly in the mafia, many of their relatives and friends he met growing up were gangsters. This is an amazing story of the East Coast Jewish, Irish,…

Posted in Bios and Memoirs, History, Non-fiction, Reviewers' Top Picks | Tagged Crime, gangsters, Mafia, Prohibition, WWII | Comments Off