Monthly Archives: July 2013

Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller Read by Sean Mangan 10h. 36m. 2013 / 306 pages Rating:  A / crime (basically) Sheldon Horowitz,  an 82 year-old Jewish-American,  has been transplanted to Oslo to live with his granddaughter, Rhea and her … Continue reading →

I really do NOT like war books but war books are pervasive now,  pervasive and innocuous and you can’t tell from the cover or the blurbs.  But many,  many mainstream and detective novels have  huge chunks of war scenes in … Continue reading →

Reef by Romesh Gunesekera (Brit/Sri Lanka) 1994/190 pages rating:  9 / contemp fiction I suppose this is a sort of coming-of-age story,  set in Sri Lanka roughly between  1962 and 1971 and later.   The 1st person protagonist is a Sri … Continue reading →

Wind, Sand and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry  (French) 1939/103 pages rating:  6/classic I’m not a fan of this book – imo it’s not meant for women – the author likely would have thought his ideas would just confuse women.   … Continue reading →

River Thieves by Michael Crummey  (Canada) 2001/352 pages rating: 9 / historical fiction I read Michael Crummey’s more recent work,  Galore (2012), last year and thoroughly enjoyed it,  so when another group selected River Thieves, his first novel,   for discussion I was … Continue reading →

Light of the World by James Lee Burke  (US) 2013 / 560 pages read by Will Patton 19h 3m rating:  A+ (crime) (# 20 in Dave Robicheaux series) Oh I waited for this one and got it within minutes of it’s … Continue reading →

The Stockholm Octavo by Karen Engleman  (US) 2012/ 433 pages rating  7.75 /   historical fiction Octavo:   a book or pamphlet made up of one or more full sheets of paper on which 16 pages of text were printed, … Continue reading →

The Science Fiction Omnibus Great Books Foundation 2007 / 592 pages Rating:   A  (Sci-Fi short stories) I have no idea why these works were selected for the Omnibus – perhaps for marketability,  perhaps for relevance to today’s readers,  perhaps … Continue reading →

Mortimer Gray’s History of Death by Brian Stableford; 1995 /  67 pages Rating: A+  (sci-fi/novella) (first appeared in Asimov’s Science Fiction: 4/1995) Mortimer Gray is an Earth historian in the early 29th century who is concerned primarily with death – specifically,  he … Continue reading →

The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher: The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis by Tim Egan  (US) 2012/384 pages rating  9.25 /history-biography I love reading about American Indian history and culture and I don’t feel I’ve read … Continue reading →

I’m currently reading  “The Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher” by Tim Egan and keeping my little notes and doing my little searches.  I came across the name Alexander Upshaw which was vaguely familiar but I wanted a refresher and … Continue reading →

Vanity Fair: A Novel without a Hero by  William Makepeace Thackeray (English) 1847-48 (serial) 564 pages started 7/10 – finished 7/ rating:  10 / classic This is basically the story of two young women in early 19th century England,  Becky Sharp and … Continue reading →

Houston, Houston, Do You Read? by James Tiptree Jr. 1976 /  56 pages Rating:   7.75 / classic sci-fi novella (included in Great Books Science Fiction Omnibus) Three men are on their way home to Earth from a trip around … Continue reading →

Final Theory by Mark Alpert (US) 2009/480 pages Read by Adam Grupper 12h 50m Rating A- /crime & sci-fi/techno-thriller Finished 7/17/2013 My son recommended this (Thank you,  Isaac!)  and my kids rarely recommend books to me so I try to … Continue reading →

The Winter of Frankie Machine by Don Winslow 2006 / 320 pages read by Dennis Boutsikaris 9h 12m rating: B / crime Why would anyone want Frank Machianno,  a bait-shop owner and aging surf-bum in San Diego,  dead?   He’s a nice … Continue reading →

Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria/US) 2013/ 496 pages rating: 9.5 / contemp. immigrant fiction I read both of  Adiche’s prior novels,  Purple Hibiscus and Half a Yellow Sun,  years ago – when they were published to much acclaim.  This one is … Continue reading →

The Second Chair  (Dismas Hardy #10) by John Lescroart (US) 2003 / 624 pages read by David Colacci – 14h 11m rating:  A / crime fiction I was reading he Dismas Hardy books in order until I came to the … Continue reading →