Monthly Archives: August 2015

The Columbus Affair by Steve Berry 2012 / 165 pages read by Scott Brick rating –  A- If you enjoy thrillers with a bit of  historical bent ala Dan Brown (and I did enjoy the first book but never believed … Continue reading →

The Morgesons by Elizabeth Stodard 1862 / 310 pages (K) rating:  4 / classic US Don’t bother unless you are really interested for some reason other than a good story, well written.  The plot is okay but after that any … Continue reading →

The Game of Silence by Louise Erdrich 2006 / 288 pages read by Anna Fields rating –  8 I searched for a book to read for Indigenous Literature Week celebrated at the ANZ LitLovers blog –   I wanted to read another … Continue reading →

Long Way Down by Michael Sears 2015/ (341 pages) read by David Chandler 10h 35m rating:  A / crime I’m a sucker for economics/financial books like Michael Lewis’ non-fiction Flash Boys or in fiction,  Michael Sears.  Long Way Down is the third … Continue reading →

One Second After by William Forstchen Jr. 2009 / 345 pages (K.) read by Joe Bennett Rating 6 / contemp.  dystopian sci-fi My son recommended this one to me (actually,  he gifted me with this and another book!  Yay!   … Continue reading →

So what the heck have I been doing posting review after review after review?   Well,  I was on holiday to North Dakota visiting the grandkids for 2 1/2 months so posting was difficult.   So I read and read … Continue reading →

The Green Road by Anne Enright 2014 / 312 pages (K) read by: Alana Kerr, Lloyd James, Gerard Doyle: 9h 45m rating:  8  Back in 1980,  in Ardeevin, Co. Clare 19-year old Dan Madigan told his family he was going to be a priest. … Continue reading →

Satin Island by Tom McCarthy 2015 / 208 pages rating 8 / contemp fiction Tom McCarthy has done it again.  His last novel was a hum-dinger of experimental fiction focusing on war and the letter “C”  in fact,  that was the title, … Continue reading →

A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James 2014/688 pages Rating 9.5 / contemp. fiction –  literary crime/historical Read by a “cast”  (I read and listened to this one) “And if a western needs an O.K. Corral, an O.K. Corral … Continue reading →

The Illuminations by Andrew O’Hagan 2014 / 305 pages rating – 8 / contemp. fiction Typical contemporary fiction with the frame in today’s world and the interior story (at least one of them) far enough in the past to consider … Continue reading →

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara 2015/ 734 pages Booker nominee Rating –9  (reduced .5 due to the emotional manipulation I felt as it ended).  Malcolm, JB, Wilhem, and Jude have been buddies since college days in the 1970s (I … Continue reading →

A Man Called Ove by Fredik Bachman (Sweden) 2014/ 364 pages Read by George Newbern 9h 9m Rating – 7.5  (but an enjoyment level of 9) The blurs and reviews generally say “heart-warming” and “life-affirming” and trite as they are, … Continue reading →

Island by Aldous Huxley 1962/ 354 pages rating 4 / sci-fi (utopian world creation) Well – I certainly can’t say much for this one.  There is only minimal plot and the same can be said for the character development. So … Continue reading →

Maps by Farah Nurruddin 1986 / 288 pages rating – 8.5 I really wish I knew more about the history of Somalia in order to make more allegorical  sense of Farah Nurruddin’s novel “Maps,” a part of his Blood in … Continue reading →

The Moor’s Account by Laila Lalami 2014/ 336 pages rating 9/ historical fiction Fascinating historical fiction regarding the taking of Floridaby the Spanish in 1555. The 1st person narrator is a Muslim slave from Morocco. Estevanico was a Moroccan-Berber and … Continue reading →

Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 2015/ 414 pages rating 5 (liked parts) anthropology  Really annoying. Can the “history of mankind” (starting with the big bang and continuing into the future) be told in 400 pages … Continue reading →

The Fishermen by Chigozie Obioma – Nigeria 2015/ 296 pages rating 8 – contemp lit Debut novel explores the ways old superstitions continue to permeate Nigerian families. It took me about 1/3 of the book to get into the swing … Continue reading →