Category Archives: books

Stay Close by Harlan Coben 2012 / 480 pages read by Scott Brick rating A+ / crime-suspense Megan Pierce has lived the life of an upper middle class suburban loving wife and mom for 17 years,  but she has a … Continue reading →

The Turn of the Screw by William James 1898 / 117 pages (Kindle) Rating:  9 / horror I’m not a horror fan at all but I do enjoy Henry James,  so when this book was suggested as a Halloween read … Continue reading →

The Love Artist: A Novel by Jane Alison 2002/222 pages Rating:  7 /fantasy romance set in the past I’m taking the Coursera class in Historical Fiction and this is one of the highlighted books.  I’m going to try to get to some … Continue reading →

Mortal Bonds by Michael Sears 2013/352 pages rating A /crime Jason Stafford is a hired  financial investigator who works for the companies he worked for and did business with prior to his arrest and time in prison for fraud.   … Continue reading →

About Grace by Anthony Doerr 2004 / 402 pages (Kindle) rating: 5 (out of 10)  / 21st c. fiction This book tries to be a lot of things and I don’t think it succeeds at any.  From the beginning there … Continue reading →

Tracks by Louise Erdrich 1988 / 226 pages read by Anna Fields 6 h. 22 m. rating:  9 / magical realism – Native American This and Four Souls comprise the backstory of Fleur Pillager the mother of Lula, a major … Continue reading →

Four Souls by Louise Erdrich 2004/ 240 pages read by Anna Fields 6 h. 40 m. After falling in love with Erdrich’s  Love Medicine I decided to listen to try the next novel or two in the “series.”     The … Continue reading →

Swimming Home by Deborah Levy 2012 / 154 pages (K) rating 8.5 ? / 21st c. fic. Although it’s short,  this is not a quick and easy read –  well, duh,  it’s a Booker nomination so what did I expect? … Continue reading →

Heir to the Glimmering World by Cynthia Ozick 2004 / 310 pages rating 9 / 20th c. fiction I read this the first time back in 2004 – I know this because I have a hard cover copy.   It’s … Continue reading →

Daniel Martin by John Fowles (English) 1977 / 629 pages Rating 9.5 / 20th cent. lit This book is over-written,  it’s dated and it’s predictable.   But it got a 9.5 from me. Overwritten:   if Fowles can think of one … Continue reading →

The Brutal Telling (Det. Gamache #5) by Louise Penny 2009 / 386 pages read by Ralph Cosham 13h 12m rating – A Louise Penny writes such lush cozy mysteries – they have death but no gore.  Her Detective Armand Gamache is smart enough … Continue reading →

The Door by Magda Szabo (Hungarian) 1995 / 260 pages rating 9.5  /20th cent. lit What an amazing book!   This is the first I’ve heard of this Magda Szabo and this work seems to have got some attention in the … Continue reading →

The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson (Pulitzer) 2012/443 pages (Kindle) rating  9 / contemp fiction Started one time and got really frustrated.  Started over again on 9/20 and it’s working this time.   Pak Jun Do is the young … Continue reading →

The Metaphysical Club: A History of Ideas in America by Louis Menand 2002 / 546 pages rating 10 – US history I read this when it first came out in paperback and totally loved it.  I was prime reader for … Continue reading →

 The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth by Reza Aslan 2013 / 213 pages (Kindle) rating:  8  /non-fict- biography -religion One of many reasons I am a believer is because of the Jews who survived and have often  flourished in … Continue reading →

The Dark Winter (Det. Aector McAvoy #1) by David Mark 2012 / 304 pages rating  A- / crime- procedural Aector McAvoy is a big man and he apparently knows how to throw his weight around,   but he’s really not a … Continue reading →

Bleeding Edge by Thomas Pynchon 2013/477  pages (Kindle) rating 9.5 / literary cyber-crime Wow!  Oh my.  Yes!   Okay, so up to about page 45 my general feeling was that this does just not sound like the old Pynchon of … Continue reading →