Category Archives: 2023 Fiction

My site is currently under fairly heavy reconstruction – remodeling you might say. It’s NOT cosmetic. I upgraded and then the filing system changed and it’s really too cumbersome anyway,. A lot of the old posts/reviews are going to be … Continue reading →

This book is so dense and so good I had to read it twice. Yes! This time it gets a 10, but it takes work. The author is a legal scholar at Vanderbilt University so, as one might expect, the … Continue reading →

Great novel, inventive, ambitious, fun. It’s a bit wordy and convoluted, but still, one of the best I’ve read this year.   First, the subtitle is definitely meaningful – pay attention. There is a Prologue, but the story really kicks off … Continue reading →

I started reading Jonathan Letham back in the 1990s when he came out with Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude, both of which I greatly enjoyed. Then something turned me off, I have no idea what, and he dropped off my radar.  But here he is back … Continue reading →

Yes!  It’s every bit as good as the hype and reviews say it is and it’s on several “Best of 2018” lists.  I’ve been meaning to read it since it came out because the techie/true crime nature of it really … Continue reading →

This is the first of my Christmas readings this year.   It’s only a short story, (so it won’t count on my tally),  but it’s supposedly one of Doyle’s better Holmes tales, so I wanted to read it anyway,  and … Continue reading →

It’s time for dumb.  I’ve followed this series since book #1 which, being a mystery series, caught my attention and then it tickled my silly-bone.  But be warned,  it’s a stupid kind of humor and while the first one is … Continue reading →

A second read for me because the Booker Group chose it for our December discussion and I read it in March of 2017, which is probably 250 books ago. So although I do remember it, much was fuzzy and because … Continue reading →

Warning:   This is about 25% mystery and 75% romance of different sorts.   I didn’t get it for either reason,  but rather because of the hype.  And it was about 35% pretty good and 65% poor.  There’s a death … Continue reading →

Bottom line –  it’s a very good book if you can stand a bit of perversity.  Except for the yukkie parts,  which were not as indelicate as in Moshfegh’s other novels, I really rather enjoyed the book .   Our … Continue reading →

Yes, it’s as good as its hype – a fine, fine book.  If I’d known it was this good I wouldn’t have waited.  Seriously. And I darn near cried – not quite. I’d been looking at this widely acclaimed book … Continue reading →

I rarely watch movies,  this might be the second movie I’ve watched this year and it’s 2 days from December.  Oh well.   I’m not impressed.    I watched because I think  I saw it back in 1986,  when it … Continue reading →

I read this for a group, sometimes like Bellow, but other times I’m not so hot on him.  I did see the movie which is based on this book and I remember liking it,  but not being blown away.   … Continue reading →

This was a freebie for platinum members at Audible.com and it’s an “Original” so it’s not a simple reading of the book of the same title; it is acknowledged to be an adaptation. .  I rarely read these but this … Continue reading →

Overall I’d say don’t bother although parts are pretty good. It’s not what I expected at all,  but it was on sale and I’d enjoyed a couple of Finder’s books in the past.   This particular book is kind of … Continue reading →

On sale and listening only  –  I’d read one by her prior and enjoyed it and I was ready for a good crime novel so …  Yes,  this is good – not outstanding, but it’s fun and a worthy successor … Continue reading →

Don’t let the simple language fool you,  this is quite a good book,  inspiring even, if you finish.  After I got through the first,  1/3 arguing with the author like I was, I quite enjoyed it.  In some ways Rosling’s … Continue reading →