Author Archives: beckylindroos

This book started out so good – and then there got to be too many characters which, because I thought to take notes, ended up being okay.  But then there were so many things happening that between the “too many’s … Continue reading →

It’s April of 1949 and the seven remaining Trustees of the Temple Academy for Boys have been living at the old school in Westchester County, New York for the 34 years since it closed.  That is, since 1915. These alumni are … Continue reading →

Originally published in 1916, this is the first of the 44 Hercule Poirot mysteries by Agatha Christie published between then and 1975 (she died in 1975 and the last volume was published posthumously). I read many (!) of them in … Continue reading →

I want to read this again because it’s different from any book, at least any history book, I’ve ever read. This is a history/memoir as an historian would write it and it’s about his own personal experience as it relates … Continue reading →

This is a really, really good book – an excellent book actually.  A powerful book if you read carefully.  I listened to it twice with no Kindle version involved.  The reader, McLeod Andrews,  is that good, too, made for a … Continue reading →

Oh this is a wonderful book,.  It’s the history of the Freemasons from the 17th or 18th century to modern times plus some folklore from misty ancient times. It’s easy to read often reading like a novel. Dickie, an expert … Continue reading →

If you liked The Martian by the same author, Project Hail Mary is better – especially if you’re listening.  If you didn’t much care for The Martian you might not like this, although it’s been widely praised.  *****Project Hail Maryby … Continue reading →

While Jon Keller is in Switzerland at an academic convention the world’s cities explode in nuclear warfare.  Meanwhile Jon’s wife and children are in San Francisco, probably one of the bombed cities.  John is staying at an upscale hotel/resort which … Continue reading →

I don’t know what I expected but this was a bit more on the rough side than I readily enjoy.  I’m not fond of anonymous serial killer books with fictional ones more objectionable.  That said, I got hooked into it … Continue reading →

At first this feels like a cozy but there’s another side – there are several threads and they only start kind of sweet and funny.  They turn suspenseful and bloody with a strongly sad and criminally serious side.  Cooney wrote … Continue reading →

I read this for the Booker Prize group.  It was interesting but confusing for my brain.  It’s a “magical realism” take on the Thirty-Years War as it played out in Germany and Central Europe. The lead character, Tyll, is based … Continue reading →

Reading this the first time I wasn’t too sure what to think. It seemed like science with a lot of literary aspirations – aka creative nonfiction. But the second time round I realized that this is a travelogue!  Macfarlane is … Continue reading →

I finally finished The Transformation of Virginia by Rhys Isaac.  Whew!  (I started this back in October, 2019 – put it down, picked it up, started again, and just kept going as long as I could on each sitting. I … Continue reading →

On October 22, 1989 10-year old Amy Mihaljevic was abducted from a shopping mall in Ohio. Her decomposing body was found by the side of a road February 8, of 1990, 3 1/2 months later. James Renner, a child at … Continue reading →

Translated from the French whose authors I usually enjoy – like Patrick Modiano or Michel Houellebecq but still,  so much French in this one. There are French names and places and things like food – lots of pop-culture.  It makes it a … Continue reading →

This is an oldie but I do enjoy good True Crime and it was on sale (or free with membership!) I fell in love with the whole genre after I tried to read the completely fictional Silence of the Lambs … Continue reading →

I read this crime book before!!!! Methos is not my favorite author of legal thrillers,  but he’s up there and getting better.  He often writes about social issues rather than murders which too often turn into standard who-done-its or chase stories. … Continue reading →