Category Archives: books

The Snake Stone by Jason Goodwin 2008/320 pages read by Stephen Hoye 10h 49m rating:   B- I so looked forward to this at the time I started and it started very, very well.  But somehow,  for some reason,  I … Continue reading →

The Glass Palace by Amitov Ghosh 2000,  512 pages read by Simon Vance 17h 59m Rating – 8 It’s about time I got around to reading this book!   I totally loved Sea of Poppies and River of Smoke was … Continue reading →

All Our Worldly Goods by Irène Némirovsky  (France) 1947 / France / 264 pages rating: 8.5  / classic First a word about Némirovsky.  The 20th century French writer (novelist, journalist, refugee, Jewish-Catholic) was arrested by the occupying German forces in 1942 and died … Continue reading →

Mrs. Palfrey at the Claremont by Elizabeth Taylor 1971 / 224 pages rating:  8.5 The widowed Mrs. Palfrey is getting on into her 60s and since her daughter lives in Scotland which is too cold and she’s not invited anyway, … Continue reading →

The One Hundred Year Old Man Who Climbed Out of the Window and Disappeared by Jonas Jonasson 2012/ 402 pages rating – 8 This is a very funny novel.  It’s fast paced and easy to read yet the story twists … Continue reading →

Joseph Anton: A Memoir by Salman Rushdie 2012 / 656 pages Rating:  9 I’ve read a number of Rushdie’s novels,  Midnight’s Children,  The Satanic Verses,  and  The Enchantress of Florence twice each –  Fury,  Shame,  The Ground Beneath Her Feet and Shalimar … Continue reading →

Ready,  Player One by Ernest Cline sci-fi / 2012/364 pages read by Wil Wheaton 15h 46m rating:  8.5 (for enjoyment) In the year 2040 the world has become inundated with poverty and a computer mentality/reality apparently dominated by the freely available … Continue reading →

So it looks like it’s that time again – sum up the year in various ways –  First I suppose are the basic stats: I read 158  books this year  –   54 (34%) were audio books, 22 (14%) were … Continue reading →

Istanbul Passage by Joseph Kanon 2012/ 401 pages Rating:  7.5 I don’t *usually* read spy-novels but I’ve read enough to know a good one when I see it.  Kanon’s latest is one of these. Set in Istanbul circa 1945 WWII … Continue reading →

The End of the Affair by Graham Greene – 1951 / 192 pages read by Colin Firth 6h 28m rating – 8.5 Greene writes from a confused Catholic perspective about a man who is having an affair with a woman … Continue reading →

The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas – 1854 Read by John Lee –   47 hours (Oxford Edition – 1130 pages) Rating – 10  (they just don’t write them like this anymore) I enjoyed this book far far … Continue reading →

Care of Wooden Floors by Will Wiles 2012/299 pages rating  8 When the unnamed narrator house-sits his friend’s flat in an unnamed Eastern European city he should have known it might be a bit of trouble.  The two friends are … Continue reading →

Slouching Toward Bethlehem by Joan Didion 1968 / 256 pages audio / Diane Keaton / 6h 53m rating – 7 I’ve wanted to read this since probably 1968 (when I heard of it) but the book and I were never … Continue reading →

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes 2011 / 165 pages rating 8.5 Another group is reading this Booker winner so I’ll play and reread it. I give it that high of a rating because it’s well written for … Continue reading →

NW by Zadie Smith 2012/416 pages read by Karen Bryson 10h 58m rating – 10 So many interconnected characters – all from the same lower class neighborhood of very mixed ethnicities.  Leah and Natalie/Keisha have been best friends since a … Continue reading →

Split Second by David Baldacci 2003 (1st of series) audio – Scott Brick / 11h 40m rating B+ My son recommended this series to me and the first book is a good start for it.   Political intrigue is the … Continue reading →

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath 1963 / 234 pages Rating – 9 The Bell Jar is a moderately short novel.  It’s based on Plath’s experiences as a student in New York when she was about 20 or so (1953) … Continue reading →