Category Archives: books

The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje 2011 / 269 pgs Rating – 8.5 An 11-year old boy is sent from family in Ceylon to his mother who is in London.  He travels alone aboard the cruise ship Oronsay,  but there are people he knows … Continue reading →

The Song of the Lark by Willa Cather 1915 / classic 8.5 This is a very fictionalized version of the life of Olive Fremstad (Anna Olivia Rundquist), an opera star of the times – Cather was a good friend. >>>MORE>>>

The Brothers K. by David James Duncan 1992 / 636 pages Rating – 8 This book feels dated but it’s still good in it’s own way – I would have loved it in my 20s,  it came out in my … Continue reading →

How It All Began by Penelope Lively 2011 / 220 pages Rating 8.5 I truly enjoyed this book. I think it’s about the interrelatedness of things and other issues, especially language. “It’s about accidents.” (page 121) Or “circumstance” as Henry … Continue reading →

Dr. Zhivago – the movie Produced 1965 – David Lean Video 2005 / Turner Yes,  I’m very familiar with the book – overly familiar,  perhaps.  It’s a good book. BUT!  I’d never, ever,  seen the movie.  (There’s no good reason … Continue reading →

Sacred Hunger by Barry Unsworth 1992 / 640 pages Rating 9 In the mid-17th century there was,  as now,  an almost all-consuming passion to make money.  This greed was acceptable to the Church as well as the state. A man’s … Continue reading →

The Sisters Brothers by Patrick de Witt 2011 / 336 pages narrated by John Pruden 7h 42m rating – 8 This book is totally hilarious – Eli Sisters, the first person narrator is a dirty, merciless killer of the wild … Continue reading →

Candide by Voltaire 1759/  95 pages – rating 9 Written in 1759 (the same year as Tristram Shandy) this Enlightenment inspired satire is basically a statement in opposition to “”Therefore this is the best of all possible worlds,” a statement … Continue reading →

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker 2012/  268 pages narrated by Emily Janice Card 9h. 3m. rating – 7.5 I don’t believe I’ve ever read a dystopian novel in which the emotional content is quite so interwoven with … Continue reading →

A Nail Through the Heart by Timothy Hallinan 2007/336 pages narrated by Victor Bevine 10h 52m rating:  7 (top for crime) How can a story break and warm your heart at the same time?  Set in post-tsunami Thailan,  Hallinan’s first … Continue reading →

The Case of the Man Who Died Laughing by Tarquin Hall read by Sam Dastor 8h 25m Rating – 6.5 Visha Puri is a highly respected detective who one day gets called to investigate the death of  a Dr. Jha … Continue reading →

Open City by Teju Cole 2011/ 272 pages rating – 8.5 Teju Cole is an amazing author and this is his first full length novel.   It’s generally about an almost unnamed 1st person narrator,  a single, 30-something year-old immigrant … Continue reading →

We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson 1962 / 160 pages read by Bernadette Dunne 5h 32m rating 9 Reread – I do enjoy this book – I read it for a holiday challenge several years ago … Continue reading →

The Poisoner’s Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York by Deborah Blum 2011/ 334 pages (Kindle) Rating: I didn’t know if I’d be interested in this book or not – it seemed rather gruesome … Continue reading →

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson 2010 / 627 pages Rating 10 This is really an amazing book!  I accidentally bought it months ago when it was still a new release and rather than return it,  I kept it even though … Continue reading →

A Stitch in TIme by Monica Ferris 2000 / 256 pages Read by Susan Boyce 8h Rating – 7 (top for cozies) Last December I read  Monica Ferris’ Crewel Yule as part of a holiday reading challenge.  Oddly enough,  I … Continue reading →

Doctor Zhivago: A Critical Companion by Edith W. Clowes Northwestern Critical Companions to Russian Literature 1995 – 169 pages Rating 8.5 An examination of several issues which come into play for the post-Soviet Western reader of Doctor Zhivago. Included are … Continue reading →