Jana L. Perskie
Jana L. Perskie has been an avid reader, with an eclectic taste in literature, since childhood and is a Top 100 Reviewer for Amazon.com. She lived and worked in Mexico and Latin America for 15 years, and in Iran for 3. She speaks Spanish fluently and loves Latin American/Spanish literature, music, dance and food. Collecting first edition, signed, 20th century American fiction is a passion she is trying to wean herself away from – a very expensive hobby. Other interests include sailing, painting (has a MFA), listening to jazz and classical music…and READING! She presently works as a Human Resource Consultant and resides in Manhattan.
Jana has reviewed the following for MostlyFiction.com:
2014
- North of Boston by Elisabeth Elo (5-11-14)
- The Cairo Affair by Olen Steinhauer (3-19-14)
- Redemption Mountain by Gerry Fitzgerald (3-12-14)
- Gemini by Carol Cassella (3-3-14)
- Europe in Sepia by Dubravka Ugresic (2-21-14)
- The Swan Gondola by Timothy Schaffert (2-14-14)
- Police by Jo Nesbo (2-7-14)
- The Ghost of Mary Celeste by Valerie Martin (1-30-14)
- Palisades Park by Alan Brennert (1-25-14)
- A Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd (1-20-14)
- Elizabeth of York: Â A Tudor Queen and Her World by Alison Weir (1-13-14)
- Above All Things by Tanis Rideout (1-6-13)
2013
- All the Land to Hold Us by Rick Bass (12-23-13)
- The Paris Architect by Charles Belfour (12-8-13)
2010
- Day After Night by Anita Diamant (05-30-10)
- Shadow of the King by Helen Hollick (04-1-10)
- Pendragon’s Banner by Helen Hollick (04-1-10)
- The Kingmaking by Helen Hollick (04-1-10)
- Game Change: Obama and the Clintons, McCain and Palin, and the Race of a Lifetime by by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (03-22-10)
- The Dragon Keeper by Robin Hobb (02-14-10)
- Sashenka by Simon Montefiore (02-01-10)
2009 (Top Picks)
- The Virgin Queen’s Daughter by Ella March Chase (12-29-09)
- The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters (12-19-09)
- Twilight by Stephanie Meyer (12-5-09)
- Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (11-23-09)
- Train to Trieste by Domnica Radulescu (11-16-09)
- From Dead to Worse by Charlaine Harris (10-31-09)
- Vicious Circle by Mike Carey (10-31-09)
- South of Broad by Pat Conroy (10-21-09)
- Past Imperfect by Julian Fellowes (9-23-09)
- The Caveman’s Valentine by George Dawes Green (8-19-09)
- The Devil You Know by Mike Carey (8-12-09)
- Godmother: The Secret Cinderella Story by Carolyn Turgeon (8-6-09)
- HeartSick by Chelsea Cain (8-1-09)
- The Last Nightingale by Anthony Flacco (7-24-09)
- Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji (7-17-09)
- Ravens by George Dawes Green (7-10-09)
- The Blue Notebook by James A. Levine (7-7-09)
- Renegade: The Making of a President by Richard Wolffe 7-4-09)
- East of the Sun by Julia Gregson (6-28-09)
- The Angel’s Game by Carlos Ruiz Zafon (6-15-09)
- The Late, Lamented Molly Marx by Sally Koskow (6-9-09)
- Shadow and Light by Jonathan Rabb (6-4-09)
- The Cutie by Donald E. Westlake (6-3-09)
- Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (5-26-09)
- Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See (5-26-09)
- The Book Thief by Markus Zusak (5-19-09)
- The Boy with the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne (5-19-09)
- People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (5-10-09)
- First Comes Love, then Comes Malaria by Eve Brown-Waite (5-07-09)
- Killing Castro by Lawrence Block (4-30-09)
- The Writing on My Forehead by Nafisa Haji (4-29-09)
- Flipping Out by Marshall Karp (4-17-09)
- The Sound of Building Coffinsby Louis Maistros (4-9-09)
- Etta by Gerald Kolpan (4-6-09)
- The Dead Man’s Brother by Roger Zelazny (3-29-09)
- Figures in Silkby Vanora Bennett (3-23-09)
- The Kommandant’s Girl by Pam Jenoff (3-20-09)
- The Diplomat’s Wife by Pam Jenoff (3-20-09)
- Almost Home by Pam Jenoff (3-20-09)
- Fault Line by Barry Eisler (3-10-09)
- The Little Giant of Aberdeen by Tiffany Baker (3-9-09)
- A Grave in Gaza by Matt Benyon Rees (3-1-09)
- Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb (2-28-09)
- Mad Ship by Robin Hobb (2-28-09)
- Ship of Destiny by Robin Hobb (2-28-09)
- A Grave in Gaza by Matt Benyon Rees (12-25-08)
- Portrait of Unknown Womanby Vanora Bennett (2-23-09)
- Defiance by Nechama Tec (2-15-09)
2007
- A Black Englishman by Carolyn Slaughter (01-27-07)
- The Bottoms by Joe R. Lansdale (01-14-07)
2006
- Hopscotch by Julio Cortazár (11-16-06)
- Kushiel’s Scion by Jacqueline Carey (9-30-06)
- Havana Red by Leonardo Padura (9-30-06)
- Raymond + Hannah by Stephen Marche (8-26-06)
- The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue (8-26-06)
- Proof Positive by Phillip Margolin (8-26-06)
- Pedro Páramo by Juan Rulfo (8-26-06)
- Summer Snow by Rebecca Pawel (6-4-06)
- Strange Affair by Peter Robinson (6-4-06)
- Backward Facing Man by Don Silver (6-4-06)
- My Life So Far by Jane Fonda (6-4-06)
- Crazy Horse by Larry McMurtry (6-4-06)
- The Secret Memoirs of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis by Ruth Francisco (5-1-06)
- The Rabbit Factory by Marshall Karp (5-1-06)
- The Turquoise Ring by Grace Tiffany (5-1-06)
- Beautiful Lies by Lisa Unger (5-1-06)
- The Last Cato by Matilde Asensi (5-1-06)
- The Secret Supper by Javier Sierra (5-1-06)
- Vodka by Boris Starling (5-1-06)
- The Last Templar by Raymond Khoury (5-1-06)
- The Mercy of Thin Air by Ronlyn Domingue (3-20-06)
- The Wall by Jeff Long (3-20-06)
- The House of Scorta by Laurent Gaude (3-20-06)
- The Sultan’s Seal by Jenny White (3-20-06)
- Leonardo’s Swans by Karen Essex (3-20-06)
- Zero to the Bone by Robert Eversz (3-20-06)
- Eve Green by Susan Fletcher (1-29-06)
- Pursuit by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza (1-29-06)
- Crescent by Diana Abu-Jaber (1-29-06)
- Bad Debts by Peter Temple (1-29-06)
- Tilt A Whirl by Chris Grabenstein (1-29-06)
- Kushiel’s Avatar by Jacqueline Carey (1-29-06)
- Kushiel’s Chosenby Jacqueline Carey (1-29-06)
- Kushiel’s Dart by Jacqueline Carey (1-29-06)
2005
- Matches by Alan Kaufman (12-12-05)
- A Breath of Snow and Ashes by Diana Gabaldon (12-12-05)
- The Stranger House by Reginald Hill (12-12-05)
- Out by Natsuo Kirino (12-12-05)
- The Jungle Law by Victoria Vinton (12-12-05)
- A Wedding in December by Anita Shreve (12-12-05)
- The Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula LeGuin (12-12-05)
- Perdido Street Station by China Mieville (12-12-05)
- Blue Belle by Andrew Vachss (12-12-05)
- Dermaphoria by Craig Clevenger (10-30-05)
- The Point of Fracture by Frank Hollon (10-30-05)
- Deadly Slipper by Michelle Wan (10-30-05)
- Origin of Haloes by Kristen Den Hartog (10-30-05)
- Envy by Kathryn Harrison (10-30-05)
- Exposure by Kathryn Harrison (10-30-05)
- The Kiss by Kathryn Harrison (10-30-05)
- The Seal Wife by Kathryn Harrison (10-30-05)
- Spell of the Highlander by Karen Marie Moning (10-30-05)
- The Great Inland Sea by David Francis (9-5-05)
- The Night Garden by Pamela Holm (9-5-05)
- What Happened to Henry by Sharon Pywell (9-5-05)
- Pretty Birds by Scott Simon (9-5-05)
- Birds Without Wings by Louis de Bernières(9-5-05)
- The Politics of Truth by Joseph Wilson (9-5-05)
- The Company of Strangers by Robert Wilson (9-5-05)
- A Test of Wills by Charles Todd (8-29-05)
- The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova (7-15-05)
- The Watcher in the Pine by Rebecca Pawel (7-15-05)
- Death of a Nationalist by Rebecca Pawel (7-15-05)
- Law of Return by Rebecca Pawel (7-15-05)
- Killer Swell by Jeff Shelby (7-15-05)
- Arc of Justice by Kevin Boyle (7-15-05)
- The Hot Kid by Elmore Leonard (7-15-05)
- Blue Moon by Laurell K. Hamilton (7-15-05)
- Club Dead by Charlaine Harris (7-15-05)
- Lost Souls by Poppy Z. Brite (7-15-05)
- Zorro by Isabel Allende (06-12-05)
- In the Dark of the Moon by Suzanne Hudson (06-12-05)
- In a Temple of Trees by Suzanne Hudson (06-12-05)
- Living to Tell the Tale by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (06-12-05)
- The History of Love by Nicole Kraus (06-12-05)
- Towelhead by Alicia Erian (06-12-05)
- Fleshmarket Alley by Ian Rankin (06-12-05)
- Rosa by Jonathan Rabb (06-12-05)
- The Bewildered by Peter Rock (05-07-05)
- The Illuminator by Brenda Rickman Vantrease (05-07-05)
- Most Wanted by Michele Martinez (05-07-05)
- By a Spider’s Thread by Laura Lippman (05-07-05)
- Vanishing Acts by Jodi Picoult (05-07-05)
- Live Flesh by Ruth Rendell (05-07-05)
- From Doon with Death by Ruth Rendell (05-07-05)
- Angels & Demons by Dan Brown (05-07-05)
- Old Boys by Charles McCarry (4-3-05)
- After Moses by Karen Mockler (4-3-05)
- How to Be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward (3-27-05)
- Drama City by George Pelecanos (3-27-05)
- Bloodlines by Jan Burke (3-27-05)
- Blue Horse Dreaming by Melanie Wallace (3-27-05)
- French Women Don’t Get Fat by Mireille Guiliano (3-27-05)
- Night Fall by Nelson Demille (3-27-05)
- Confessions of an Economic Hit Man by John Perkins (2-19-05)
- Dangerous Women edited by Otto Penzler (2-17-05)
- Kiss Me, Judas by Will Christopher Baer (2-17-05)
- The Seas by Samantha Hunt (2-17-05)
- The Plot Against America by Philip Roth (2-17-05)
- The Jane Austen Book Club by Karen Joy Fowler (1-20-05)
- Empire of the Wolves by Jean-Christophe Grangé (1-16-05)
- Wives and Sisters by Natalie R. Collins (1-16-05)
- Downtown by Pete Hamill (1-16-05)
2004
- The Million Dollar Divorce by RM Johnson (12-19-04)
- Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke (12-19-04)
- Sandstorm by James Rollins (12-19-04)
- Beneath the Marble Sky by John Shors (12-19-04)
- Hour Game by David Baldacci (12-19-04)
- Split Second by David Baldacci (12-19-04)
- The Distance Between Us by Masha Hamilton (11-7-04)
- Seven Blessings by Ruchama King (11-7-04)
- The Qince Seed Potion by Morteza Baharloo (11-7-04)
- For the Dogs by Kevin Wignall (11-7-04)
- The Missing Peace by Dennis Ross (11-7-04)
- How Israel Lost by Richard Ben Cramer (11-7-04)
- Light on Snow by Anita Shreve (10-12-04)
- The Cajuns by Gus Weill (10-12-04)
- A Girl Like Che Guevara by Teresa de La Caridad Doval (10-12-04)
- Ten Big Ones by Janet Evanovich (10-12-04)
- In the Shadow of No Towers by Art Spiegleman (10-09-04)
- What We’ve Lost by Graydon Carter (10-09-04)
- One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez (9-16-04)
- Bushworld by Maureen Dowd (9-16-04)
- Against All Enemies by Richard Clarke (9-16-04)
- Fat Man Fed Up by Jack Germond (9-16-04)
- Plan of Attack by Bob Woodward (9-16-04)
- Losing America by Robert C. Byrd (9-16-04)
- The 9/11 Commission Report (9-16-04)
- White Russian by Tom Bradby (9-16-04)
- The Immortal Highlander by Karen Marie Moning (9-16-04)