Category Archives: 2023 Fiction

Eskens has written 6 novels and I’ve read 5 now.  I’ve been deliberately skipping the one about ex-military people. I’ve enjoyed all of them although a couple weren’t quite up to the level of the first two.  They’re mostly pretty … Continue reading →

This book is said to be ground-breaking work on the level of Pinker or someone (not quite up to Rousseau or Hobbes).  Yes – maybe but … with a lot of buts, actually.  I’m not an expert on current thinking … Continue reading →

This is an old one (1993) but it was on sale at Audible and it looked pretty good. I’m a fan of good True Crime and Jack Olsen used to be among the best of crime reporters. By the time … Continue reading →

I don’t know about James Patterson,  but I do enjoy the collaboration between him and Maxine Paetro for The Women’s Murder Club mysteries – I’ve previously read two books by Patterson alone and they seem rather dry and extra violent … Continue reading →

Confession time –  one of the reasons I read/listen to books so much is that I have tinnitus (ringing in ears) and I often can’t do silence. I can fall asleep (usually) but just sitting around in an empty house … Continue reading →

Let me start off by saying that I’m becoming a huge fan of Olga Tokarczuk.  This book, having taken six or seven years to write, was first published in Poland in 2014, but it wasn’t translated into English until after … Continue reading →

I reread this for a discussion group and as usual, I got a whole lot more out of it the second time.  A WHOLE LOT MORE!!!! (1st review is here)  Now I’m might have to have to read The Sixth Extinction … Continue reading →

I don’t know why I hadn’t tried any of Anne Perry’s books but for some reason I never had.  The English author has been publishing novels since 1979 (43 years?) at the rate of  about 2 a year and they … Continue reading →

I’d seen this at Audible for a long time and it was on my Wish List and suddenly one day it was on sale!   Oh, oh, oh! And as soon as I finished Blood and Treasure I opened it … Continue reading →

It’s a good thing I’m reading this because I’m one of those folks who would get Daniel Boone and Davy Crocket mixed up from time to time.  No more of that!  Daniel Boone was a real pre-Revolutionary War pioneer, helping small … Continue reading →

“It’s harder than you might think to take people hostage when they’re idiots.” Anxious People by Frederick Backman – Norway 2020 (349 pages)Read by Marin IrelandRating 7.5 / general fiction  In a very small city in Sweden, a bank robber is … Continue reading →

Well, I finally read a Sjöwall and Wahlöö crime novel after all these years of hearing how great they were.  It is a bit dated, for instance the detectives seem to be talking on cell phones in 1965 (Huh!?!) but … Continue reading →

Before I finished Chapter 1 I was laughing with tears running down my cheeks. I love funny books – I can be reading a gritty and noir tale of murder and mayhem,  but if there’s a line of humor I’ll snatch it … Continue reading →

I saw this reviewed so many times and on so many book blogger sites as well as best of year sites and even some awards.  So it went on my Wish List for awhile but I didn’t get it and … Continue reading →

I enjoyed the Andy Carpenter book I read last month for the Christmas season, but over the years I’ve limited myself, mostly, to the Christmasy Carpenter books. I figured they were about dogs and … well … I’m not a … Continue reading →

This was in Monday’s paper, the day after that horrendous synagogue incident in Texas:  I posted it on Keith’s site at https://musingsofanoldfart.wordpress.com and he suggested I post it here – (thank you, Keith). Faith in action: Colleyville churches, other heroes … Continue reading →

As I often do with new books from Richard Powers I read (listened to) this when it first came out back in September of 2021. Sad to say, I wasn’t terribly impressed and only rated it a 7.5 out of 10. … Continue reading →