Category Archives: 2023 Fiction

The 19th Centry Reading Group is trying to get going again and these two novellas were chosen for our first selections. I wanted to both read and listen to these novellas, but I got two different translations of each. I … Continue reading →

I saw this while browsing on Audible and it looked quite interesting and (!) it was narrated by Will Patton! So I put it on ye olde wish list and there it sat for quite a long time – several … Continue reading →

I’d never read this and I’m a pretty big Faulkner fan, so I nominated it for the Modern Fiction Group and it got selected. I read it. Parts are excellent but it’s a bit confusing because it was originally written … Continue reading →

The winner of the Pulitzer Award for history about a decade ago, I’ve wanted to read this book ever since, but there were always other books or something else in the way. Now I found it at my new source, … Continue reading →

Not my usual fare, but a friend recommended it and I thought, why not? – I read The Da Vinci Code when it first came out and enjoyed it quite a lot, but then got upset a very short time … Continue reading →

Just yesterday this was on sale from Audible and as it so happens, I was ready for a new book – pronto. Yay! I’d read one of Alistair Burke’s books prior and don’t remember being impressed, but it was okay … Continue reading →

Chosen for my non-fiction group I nominated it because I enjoy an occasional travelogue and this is supposed to be a good one. I was puzzled though because there are no maps or pictures in the book which is supposed … Continue reading →

The followup to Hawkins’ excellent debut novel, The Girl on the Train is a rather annoying disappointment in some ways. No wonder there was no wait at the library, heh. In spite of that, it stayed out of my DNI … Continue reading →

Oh my – touch my heart then, will ya’? – Back towards the end of last year I’d been wondering about the troubles of Northern Ireland, historically with an emphasis on the troubles of the 1960s and early ’70s. And … Continue reading →

I procrastinated about buying this book although it was widely touted. It was on my wish list for months. I read Egan’s A Visit From the Goon Squad and was not terribly impressed although it was award winning. Then Manhattan … Continue reading →

Who would think that patent law could be interesting? It is, in bits. And that’s the background for this legal thriller but because patent law is mainly interpretation and analysis it can get dry. So we have a couple of … Continue reading →

I loved Steig Larsson’s “The Girl Who…” series (formally known as the Millennium series). But then I read the first of David Lagercrandtz’ continuation of Steig Larsson’s books. I was not impressed at all by them and I vowed off. … Continue reading →

Okay – so I had to try it again and yes, the book was a LOT better the second time. I even suppose that yes, it does belong on the Booker List, maybe even the Short List, but it’s not … Continue reading →

This book was available in audio form via Overdrive from my library. Yay! I hope to get more that way but the wait time is usually prohibitive so except for some older crime novels and nonfiction I’ll likely not use … Continue reading →

Okay – like this is a fantastical and experimental spin on Oedipus. I’ve quite enjoyed many of the spins on classical lit I’ve read, Circe (by Madeline Miller) and Nushell (by Ian McEwan) and others. But I did NOT appreciate … Continue reading →

Hmmm…. I wasn’t impressed by the hype so I delayed on reading this one. Silly woman (me)! The book actually lives up to the hype and maybe surpasses it. It’s a memoir, not a confessional, certainly the honest portrayal of … Continue reading →

This was a fine, fine book, but I forgot to write a review and now I barely remember. I’ll just copy the publisher’s summary and add my comments. (First time I’ve done that – ) I read the second in … Continue reading →