Monthly Archives: March 2014

Ragtime E.L. Doctorow 1975 / 336 pages rating – 10 / classic (?) Back in 1975 this was a genre changing book and I think historical fiction was never quite the same again.  I read it when it was newly released … Continue reading →

May We Be Forgiven by A.M.Holmes 2012/ 496 pages rating 8 / contemp fiction   This  really strange (kinda bizarro) and twisty tale opens on Thanksgiving of probably “last year” when the not so All-American Silver family  attempts a traditional feast. … Continue reading →

Dear Life: Stories By Alice Munro 2012 / 336 pages rating: 8.5 / short stories Alice Munro is Alice Munro – her stories speak eloquently to the human condition and there are very, very few writers in the history of … Continue reading →

A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon by Anthony Marra 2013/ 397 pages rating – 9 / contemp fiction I generally hate war books but this is really different.  That said,  what IS this book  with a title which comes from a … Continue reading →

The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe by Peter Godwin 2010 / 384 pages rating 7.5 –  memoir/political Peter Godwin was born to English parents in Rhodesia part of which became Zimbabwe under Robert Mugawe.  He’s written about this … Continue reading →

The Infatuations by Javier Marias 2013 – 352 pages rating 8.75 / lit-crime  – Spain I just didn’t care much for this book at all until the plot got going, about half way through, and then I definitely took to … Continue reading →

Scenes From a Provincial Life (in one ebook) by J.M. Coetzee rating 9.5 / fictionalized memoir – a trilogy consisting of “Boyhood,” “Youth,” and “Summertime” This is a beautifully written fictionalized memoir (mostly) of the life of the author. The … Continue reading →

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin 2013/ 928 pages rating:  9 / US history – 19th/20th century By the end of this remarkable book Goodwin had drawn me so close … Continue reading →