Monthly Archives: November 2017

I’ve got a fair background in art history – about 12 graduate units for teachers via the Getty Program and Fresno State University  –  those were wonderful day-long summer classes filling 2 or 3 weeks for 2 separate years.  Plus … Continue reading →

In post-WWII Switzerland two boys meet in kindergarten.  One, Gustav Perle,  is the the only child of a widow,  Emilie Perle,  whose husband was killed during the war “saving the Jews.”  The other,  Anton Zweibel,  is the the only child of … Continue reading →

As I’ve said many times – my choice in nonfiction does NOT run to any form of the life sciences.   That said (again),  I do read whatever folks in the All-nonfiction group decide to read and over the years … Continue reading →

Amazing book!  I wanted to read slowly to fully savor and digest the material,  but I just couldn’t.  Hour after hour I sat listening via my Mac and reading via the iPad/Kindle.   I broke only to stretch and do … Continue reading →

Sad,  sad, sad.  Slaughter writes well using some creative devices and she contrives some interesting plots.  The trouble is that some of the material is so graphic and gory it’s ugly –  and  somewhat gratuitous (because it wouldn’t have to … Continue reading →

I’d been so tempted by this book but for some reason I waited and waited until finally it got nominated for the National Book Award.   Then I waited some more.  Why? Because the narrator was NOT going to be … Continue reading →

I read this just because I felt like it –  a book about a private investigator and gypsies just sounded intriguing.  And I was familiar with the author having read  The Tenderness of Wolves years ago,   so I thought … Continue reading →

I’ve been avoiding Alistair Burke because I love the work of her father,  James Lee Burke, so much (most recently read The Jealous Kind / 2016) and I was afraid of comparison assuming she’d come up short.   I was … Continue reading →

Once again FitzGerald plums the depths of a fascinating but highly complex subject,  this time  the  Christian Evangelicals of the US.    In using that term, the the author means the “Christian Right” in politics,  but the progressives are also … Continue reading →

About a year ago I read Christina Stead’s The Little Hotel (1973) and really appreciated it.  But I found out that her book,  The Man Who Loved Children,  was really Stead’s magnum opus, making the Time magazine “Best of All … Continue reading →

I’ve read several books by Graham Swift and enjoyed them all,  Waterlands most but the others as well,  Last Orders;   Wish You Were Here;  The Light of Day.    I know what to expect of Swift and he’s not disappointed … Continue reading →

So now I’m rereading a crime novel and I never do that (and can’t say that anymore).   I do love this series by Galbraith – the pseudonym of J.K. Rowling.   I don’t know what I expected when I … Continue reading →

I really enjoyed the Balson’s books Saving Sophie and The Trust  I read prior,  so I thought I’d read the first in the series because it is a series.   It’s called the Liam Taggart and Catherine Lockhart series and … Continue reading →

Oh my – be still my heart.   I love these The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency books and have been reading them as they came out in 1999.   So this is Book 18 and yes,  I suppose the … Continue reading →

The Trust takes place in about 2016 in the heart of Northern Ireland,  but parts of  the story go back to the time of “Troubles”  of the 1970s when the Catholic Irish wanted to reunite with their kin in the … Continue reading →

I have a long history with John Grisham –  love most of his books,  but a few have been less worthy.   He’s gone through phases ranging from very serious legal thrillers to rather formula courtroom thrillers to non-crime books … Continue reading →

I love that I can get older Kindle and Audio books at the click of a keyboard.  Bruno’s Dream  was first published in 1969 and is certainly a classic,  but that’s no guarantee that it’s  available in any of my … Continue reading →