Author Archives: beckylindroos

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 →

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride 2013/419 pages rating: 8 / historical fiction There are widely varying opinions about the sanity, mission and effects of John Brown who escalated the pre-war tensions of the Civil War to the point … Continue reading →

Chess Story (also – The Royal Game) by Stefan Zweig – tr. from German by Joel Rothenberg 1941 / 109 pages (NY Review of Books rating 9 / classic This is a very short work – a novella really, but … Continue reading →

Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser 1900 / 352 pages (Kindle) rating 8.75 / classic US fiction Sometimes I’m just ready for a good old-fashioned classic and fortunately for me one of my reading groups has a goodie isted.  I’m a … Continue reading →

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo 2013/ 294 pages (Kindle) rating 9 / contemp fiction Africa This is another coming of age book about young adults and immigration.  This time the tragedies of African life and the difficulties of … Continue reading →

The Queen of the Tambourine by Jane Gardham 1991/227 pages rating: 8 / 20th cent. fiction I’ve had this on my TBR list for way too long and finally and for reals I needed a break from all the depressing fiction … Continue reading →

From the Mouth of the Whale by Sjon 2008 / 232 pages rating 8.5 /historical fiction (mythical?) Very unusual story of an Icelandic man, Jonas Palmeson (Jonas the Learned),  in the years 1635-1639 who along with his wife and children … Continue reading →

The Colour of Milk by Nell Leyshon 2014/ 176 pages rating 8.5 / historical fiction At only 176 pages, this is a novella, really, but those are often the best size for a deceptively simple story, well told, where every … Continue reading →

The Bookman’s Tale by Charlie Lovett 2013/353 pages rating B / historical crime Amanda is dead, but her husband, Peter Byerly, hasn’t quite come to grips with that even after two years. Peter is a book collector and antiquarian, Amanda … Continue reading →

Cold Comfort Farm by Stella Gibbons 1932 / 260 pages Rating: 9 / satire- classic “But there have always been Starkadders at Cold Comfort Farm,” screeches the aged and reclusive Aunt Ada Doom, who long, long ago saw something nasty … Continue reading →

The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford 2010 / 336 p. rating: 8.5 / non-fiction / Asia history Thanks to viscous vandalizing of the documents over the centuries, … Continue reading →

Morality Play by Barry Unsworth 1995 / 207 pages rating – 8.75 / historical fiction -crime Unsworth is a master of historical fiction and Morality Ply is likely one of his best. Taking place in northern England of the 14th … Continue reading →