Author Archives: beckylindroos

The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry 2011 / Kindle / 306 pages Rating –  8 (very good / fun) Well I’m not sure what I was expecting but this wasn’t it.  I only read this because a reading group was … Continue reading →

Hanging By a Thread by Monica Ferris  (6th in the Needlecraft series) 2003 / 272 pages read by Susan Boyce / 6h 19m A- (if you like cozies) Oddly enough this came up for me at Halloween and there is … Continue reading →

Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel 2009 / 256 pgs read by Alyssa Bresnahan ~ 8h 19m rating – 7.5  (very high for crime novels) A divorcing father has kidnapped 7-year old  daughter Lilia as he leaves … Continue reading →

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving 1820 – short story I know I read this in high school but I think I thought it was pretty stupid.  This time I really enjoyed it but it was from more … Continue reading →

New Finnish Grammar by Diego Marani 2000/2011 (Eng.) – 196 pgs Rating – 9 Wow!  This book is about memory and identity and language all mixed together.   During WWII a man is found near the exploded wreck of a … Continue reading →

The First American: The Life and Times of Benjamin Franklin by H.W. Brands 2000 / 784 pages Read by Nelson Runger 36h 38m Rating:  8.5 Whew –  I finished!  This is a really long book but listening to Nelson Runger … Continue reading →

The Nose by Nikolai Gogol 1836 / short story Rating – 9 This is a VERY peculiar short story about a barber who finds a nose in his bread and the man who has lost his nose.  The nose gets some … Continue reading →

A Murderous Yarn by Monica Ferris 2002 / 256 pages Read by Susan Boyce – 6h 52m Rating – B This is number 5 in the Needlecraft series –  I do NOT know why I like them – they’re kind … Continue reading →

In the Time of the Butterflies by Julia Alvarez 1994 / 352 pages Rating: 6 I’ve been wanting to read this for some time –  probably ever since I read The Feast of the Goat by Mario Vargas Llosa,  a Peruvian writer.   … Continue reading →

Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan 2012/ 304 pages read by Ari Fliakos / 7h 41m Rating 4 This book started out on such a great premise – a premise worthy of Umberto Eco or Neal Stephenson or even … Continue reading →

Galore by Michael Crummey 2009 / Kindle /  338 pages Raing – 9 Wow –  I just finished and I’m flabbergasted –  at a loss for words.  No,  it’s not a 10,  not even a  9.5 like Bring Up the … Continue reading →

A Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling 2012 / 512 pages read by Tom Hollander 17h. 55m. rating – 8 Don’t let the review by Michiko Kakutani fool you – there are plenty of great reviews of this book out there. … Continue reading →

Travels With Charley: In Search of America by John Steinbeck 1962 / 283 pages – re-read Rating 8.5 I am sooo glad I reread this book.  I wasn’t all in love with it the first time round (a 7!)  but … Continue reading →

Half-Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan 2012 / 343 pages Rating – 8.5 This should be interesting –  it’s kind of an historical novel – set in Paris – 1940,  Berlin – 1992,  Berlin – 1939, Paris – 1939,  and Poland – … Continue reading →

The Cossacks by Leo Tolstoy 1863 / 104 pages rating 9 I’ve wanted to read this book for ever so long and finally I get the chance!  I loved War and Peace and very much enjoyed Anna Karenina –  I’ve … Continue reading →

Scumbler by William Wharton 1985/288 pages rating – 5 Stupid, stupid, stupid.  I was either bored or annoyed by so much of this book.  Imo,  the 1st person is a selfish and unreliable person (by his own accord) and his … Continue reading →

The Ruby In Her Navel by Barry Unsworth 2006 / 399 pages rating 9.5 In the 12th century Sicily was Christianized by the Norman King Roger II.  He tried to get the Normans, Byzantines, Greeks, Muslims, and Jews to live together in relative harmony but … Continue reading →