Category Archives: books

The House of Blue Mangoes by David Davidar 2002 / 421 pages rating – 7.5 I was disappointed in what could have been such a great novel.  This is the saga of three generations of the Dorais, a non-Brahmin, land-owning … Continue reading →

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle 1973/  Kindle/ 211 pages Rating – 6 (for adults – 9 for kids) This is an older children’s book – ages 10 and up,  I suppose – and although I’d heard plenty about … Continue reading →

A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block 2011 / 352 pages narrated by Tom Stechschulte  8h/30m rating – 6.5 Matthew Scudder has almost a year sober and his friend, Jack Ellery, also sober in AA is found dead. … Continue reading →

Crewel World by Monica Ferris 1999/256 pages read by Susan Boyce – 7h 51m (1st in Needlecraft Mysteries series – cozy) rating – 6 (this is a guilty pleasure book) Betsy Davenport moves to Excelsior, Minnesota after her latest divorce. … Continue reading →

Doctor Zhivago 1958 – translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky in 2010 673 pages Rating 9.5 I’m doing a second review on this book because I read both versions.  There’s not much difference – where Hayward would sometimes simplify things … Continue reading →

Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak 1958 – translated by Max Hayward Introduction by John Bailey 559 pgs Rating 9.5 This book could be War and Peace circa 1917 except that there’s not much peace in it – maybe the first … Continue reading →

God on the Rocks by Jane Gardham 1978/  195 pages rating 8 Margaret is an 8-year old girl living in a coastal resort community with her mother,  a very nice but apparently conflicted woman, and her father, a very stern … Continue reading →

Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski 2011 / 304 pages read by Pete Larkin 7h 37m rating 5 This book isn’t totally serious although it started out that way. Charile Hardy is an ex-cop who now house sits but when … Continue reading →

Defending Jacob by William Landay 2012/432 pages narrated by Grover Gardener rating 8 (high for crime) Andy Barber is a district attorney in a small suburban town where a teen-age boy is killed in the park. .  Jacob,  Andy’s 14 … Continue reading →

Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller 2011 / 384 pages rating I’m just not familiar enough with mythology to be able to read and really understand these books.  I’ve read The Illiad by Homer and Ransom by David Malouf,  The … Continue reading →

Break In by Dick Francis 1985 / 320 pages read by Simon Prebble 9h.15m Rating – 6 I do like a good Dick Francis book.  Because Francis was a horse jockey before his injury,  his books are about the horse … Continue reading →

Another blogger got me thinking about this.  I have a different “best of list for sci-fi” than my normal literary reads.    I don’t read so much sci fi anymore,  but when I was in about the 5th or 6th … Continue reading →

Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell 1864-1865 (serial) narrated by Patience Tomlinson 37h. 35m  (440 pages in the Empire edition) I’m finished the audio version.   It’s pretty boring until about half way.  After that it’s really rather interesting.  The … Continue reading →

Well – I volunteered today in World Book Night project: http://www.csmonitor.com/Books/chapter-and-verse/2012/0423/World-Book-Night-coming-your-way-but-no-room-for-Amazon And I had a really great time! My chosen book was Zeitoun by Dave Eggars – a book I read a few years ago and really enjoyed. First I … Continue reading →

Snowdrops A.D. Miller 2011 – 272 pages rating –  9 Okay – I’m rereading this as there is apparently more to it than I got from the first exposure – listening.   The first time I listened to  it as … Continue reading →

So I’d like to try reading a lot more slowly – read a book twice maybe.  I’m tired of trying to read every book that every group reads and comment intelligently.  I’m not going to drop more than 1 group … Continue reading →

Kafka on the Shore Haruki Murakami 2002 – Rating – 7 I first read this back in 2006 and very much enjoyed it but anymore I’m just not interested in the sexual fantasies of teenage boys.   I’m far more … Continue reading →