Monthly Archives: February 2016

This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs the Climate by Naomi Klein 2015 / 576 pages read by Ellen Archer / 20h 43m rating:  8.5 /  nonfiction – climate economics I don’t quite know what to think at this point – yes, … Continue reading →

I’ve decided to classify this book as a beautifully written and heartfelt memoir.  It’s about history and art,  but it’s more about the author’s search for the place of his physical inheritance,  the netsuke,  in his family’s history.  Furthermore,  the book does not … Continue reading →

Voices From Chernobyl: The Oral History of a Nuclear Disaster by Svetlana Alexievich 1997 / 244 pages rating – 9.25 Svetlana Alexievich is now a Nobel Laureate in large part because of this book which describes the horror which was (or … Continue reading →

I usually enjoy techno thrillers like those of Neil Stephenson or William Gibson, and many others,   but the emphasis here in Daemon by Daniel Suarez (2009)   was definitely on the thriller.  I did enjoy the gaming parts and … Continue reading →

The Dream of the Celt by Mario Vargas Llosa (Peru) 2010 / 358 pages rating:   8 Mario Vargas Llosa is another winner of the Nobel Prize for literature and considering his brilliant work,  The Feast of the Goat (2001) deservedly so. … Continue reading →

This is historical fiction about China and it’s quite well researched – as far as I can tell – and that’s what drew me to it.  Sad to say there were only parts which maintained my interest because to get … Continue reading →

Puke (!)  in general and as far as any redeeming literary value,  but I have to say that with some qualifiers because there are a few redeeming features to the novel – they’re just not at all literary.    Also,  and … Continue reading →

I love the cover of this book!   And inside,  although it starts a bit slow, it certainly doesn’t disappoint!  This is a very engaging, funny, intelligent, heart-warming, (perhaps bitter-sweet is the word I want but don’t like)   debut novel … Continue reading →

I am enjoying the Poke Rafferty crime series of Timothy Hallinan more and more with each novel.  The overarching background story of Poke, his wife Rose who is an ex-bar girl,  and Miao, an adopted street child, both unfolds and progresses as … Continue reading →

I recently read two very different novels about young female immigrants – the books were both rereads –my latest reviews:  Brooklyn by Colm Tóibín (2009) and Americana by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013).   Both authors are themselves immigrants, from Ireland and Nigeria respectively,  Adichie is young … Continue reading →

Americana  (x3) by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria/US) 2013/ 496 pages read by Adjoa Andoh-  17h 28m rating: 10  / contemp.  immigrant fiction (read and listened) A reading group decided to read this and although I’ve read it twice (back-to-back in 2013) I … Continue reading →

Avenue of Mysteries by John Irving 2015 / 480 pages read by Armando Duran  20h 50m rating:  8.5 (second reading – read and listened) So I decided to go ahead and read it a second time and I am so … Continue reading →