Category Archives: books

The Art of War by Sun Tzu 2nd to 4th century BC (probably last revision) very short – less than 50 pages rating  10 (I guess)  – classic non-fiction, military strategy,  maybe theory translated by Lionel Giles – Interesting book, for … Continue reading →

The Ladies’ Paradise by Emile Zola 1883/ 480 pages rating 9.5  classic – French (Introduction, Notes and translation by Brian Nelson) Zola knew what he was talking about when he wrote page after page of busy and boisterous narrative about a … Continue reading →

The People on Privilege Hill by Jane Gardham 2008 (Europa)/ 196 pages rating 8 / short stories First,  only the eponymous first story in this book is related to the Old Filth trilogy.  Many of the other stories have been published elsewhere … Continue reading →

Last Friends by Jane Gardham 2013 / 213 pages rating 8.5 / contemp fiction (9.25 for the trilogy) I  have just needed to read this book ever since it came out.  I loved the prior two in the “Old Filth” … Continue reading →

The Lowland by Jhumpa Lahiri 2013/ 354 pages rating:  8.75 / contemp – India This looked and felt like promising from the end of the very short first chapter where it says: Certain creatures laid eggs that were able to endure … Continue reading →

Still Life With Bread Crumbs by Anna Quinlan 2014/272 pages rating 5 / romance This is a pretty “fluffy” type book for me to read, but it’s not as bad as I thought it would be … otoh, it’s a … Continue reading →

Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates 1961 / 355 pages rating – 8 (probably a 10 in 1961) – classic I guess this is a classic now as it’s older than 50 years – I used to say a classic was … Continue reading →

Ragtime E.L. Doctorow 1975 / 336 pages rating – 10 / classic (?) Back in 1975 this was a genre changing book and I think historical fiction was never quite the same again.  I read it when it was newly released … Continue reading →

May We Be Forgiven by A.M.Holmes 2012/ 496 pages rating 8 / contemp fiction   This  really strange (kinda bizarro) and twisty tale opens on Thanksgiving of probably “last year” when the not so All-American Silver family  attempts a traditional feast. … Continue reading →

Dear Life: Stories By Alice Munro 2012 / 336 pages rating: 8.5 / short stories Alice Munro is Alice Munro – her stories speak eloquently to the human condition and there are very, very few writers in the history of … Continue reading →

A Constellation of Vital Phenomenon by Anthony Marra 2013/ 397 pages rating – 9 / contemp fiction I generally hate war books but this is really different.  That said,  what IS this book  with a title which comes from a … Continue reading →

The Fear: Robert Mugabe and the Martyrdom of Zimbabwe by Peter Godwin 2010 / 384 pages rating 7.5 –  memoir/political Peter Godwin was born to English parents in Rhodesia part of which became Zimbabwe under Robert Mugawe.  He’s written about this … Continue reading →

The Infatuations by Javier Marias 2013 – 352 pages rating 8.75 / lit-crime  – Spain I just didn’t care much for this book at all until the plot got going, about half way through, and then I definitely took to … Continue reading →

Scenes From a Provincial Life (in one ebook) by J.M. Coetzee rating 9.5 / fictionalized memoir – a trilogy consisting of “Boyhood,” “Youth,” and “Summertime” This is a beautifully written fictionalized memoir (mostly) of the life of the author. The … Continue reading →

The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin 2013/ 928 pages rating:  9 / US history – 19th/20th century By the end of this remarkable book Goodwin had drawn me so close … Continue reading →

The Good Lord Bird by James McBride 2013/419 pages rating: 8 / historical fiction There are widely varying opinions about the sanity, mission and effects of John Brown who escalated the pre-war tensions of the Civil War to the point … Continue reading →

Chess Story (also – The Royal Game) by Stefan Zweig – tr. from German by Joel Rothenberg 1941 / 109 pages (NY Review of Books rating 9 / classic This is a very short work – a novella really, but … Continue reading →