Category Archives: books

Just thought of another “walking” book!   The Lighthouse by Alison Moore – read in February of this year.   Oh my –  that book has another male protagonist taking off on a foot-tour, this time in Germany.  He planned the … Continue reading →

Currently well involved in “The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry” by Rachel Joyce and want to stop to reflect. It’s another “walking wanderer” book. I’ve read several of these “trek” books lately (6 months!): “The Year of the Hare” (Arto … Continue reading →

Moo by Jane Smiley 1995 / 432 pages rating – 7 This is a hard one!  If I’d read it back in 1995 I would have laughed and laughed – thoroughly enjoyed it.   But I read it in 2013 … Continue reading →

The Second Death of Goodluck Tinubu by Michael Stanley (southern  Africa) 2009 / 496 pages read by Simon Prebble 13h 52m rating: B+ When two tourists and guests are viscously murdered in their tents at a Botswana remote bush camp … Continue reading →

A Cold and Lonely Place by Sara J. Henry 2013 – 304 pages read by Abby Craden 8h 32m rating A- This is the second in a possible series featuring Troy Chance,  a freelance writer who lives in upstate New … Continue reading →

All That Is by James Salter 2013 / 304 pages rating:   6 Boring.   One Amazon reader said “Salter is often mentioned in the breath just after American masters like Philip Roth, John Updike, and Norman Mailer.”   Well … Continue reading →

God’s War: A New History of the Crusades by Christopher Tyerman (England) 2007 / 1056 pages – Kindle (and no page numbers) rating: “We are still living with the images and legends of the crusades Tyerman tells us how the Church … Continue reading →

Praxis by Fay Weldon (England) 1978  / 256 pages Rating: 5 – feminist What did I not enjoy about Praxis?  Basically, it felt really dated to me.  This is a book from the “consciousness-raising” era of women’s lit.   The … Continue reading →

Well,  I’ve been away for a week in North Dakota and although I read a bit,  it wasn’t as nearly as much as usual due to dealings with family – (a good time was had by all).   And I … Continue reading →

Today,  May 8,  is the birthday of Thomas Pynchon, a hugely favorite author,  so in honor of that someone dreamed up Pynchon in Public Day.  This is quite funny because the author himself is pretty much of a recluse. This … Continue reading →

The Thief by Fuminori Nakamura 2012 / 211 pages read by Charlie Thurston –  4h 1m Nakamura’s first novel to be translated into English is a very dark tale, gritty and graphic, about a pick-pocket in Tokyo.  The first person narrator (unnamed … Continue reading →

Cocaine Blues by Kerry Greenwood (Australia) 1989 / 175 pages read by Stephanie Daniel / 5h 50m rating: C- Well I’ve been wanting to try a Phryne Fisher book and at the moment I found I could use a book … Continue reading →

End Zone by Don DeLillo 1972 / 242 pages read by Fleet Cooper / 6h. 38m rating:  5  (liked parts of it) Good thing I’m already so in love with DeLillo that I can overlook a dud (to me).   … Continue reading →

The Stranger by Camilla Lackberg 2006 (2011)/ 384 pages read by Simon Vance 11h 24m rating:  A Very interesting 4th book in Lackberg’s popular Fielbacha series.  In the background Patrik and Erica continue to make a home for their daughter, … Continue reading →

The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna 1975 / 194 pages rating: 9.0 One day whilst on vacation a middle-aged man named Kaarlo Vaatenen  and his photographer buddy (who was driving) ran over a hare in the road.  The … Continue reading →

Black Fridays by Michael Sears 2012 / 352 pages read by Erik Bergmann 11h 1m Rating:  A- This great book has a couple of major problems and that’s really a shame because there is so much to enjoy. Jason Stafford … Continue reading →

Angel by Elizabeth Taylor 2012 by NYRB Classics 272 pages / orig. 1957 Rating:  9 Although Angel is an interesting book,  I was somewhat disappointed because I really enjoyed Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont and had read that this was Taylor’s best work … Continue reading →