I started 2023 strong with The Light Pirate, a book I found riveting, but before I go full bore into the year, I need to wrap up 2022 as I read a lot more books (180 to be exact) and never reviewed some of them. I’m also going to do something I’ve never done before: recommend a book without a real review, just a sentence or two. Basically, you take my word for it that this is a ... Read More...
Ten Best Books of 2019
Well, what do you know. Rather than being my usual contrarian self, I actually have ten books I consider to be the best of 2019. Of course, that doesn’t include the eight debut novels I wrote about on Wednesday, but let’s not split hairs. The point is: ALL of these books are marvelous. Even better, you still have time to get any one of them before Christmas for your ... Read More...
If You Want to Make God Laugh: A Novel
Delilah hasn’t been home in forty years, but when she arrives on her family’s farm in South Africa it’s to find her sister Ruth drunk on the couch and getting ready to sell the place. The sisters are polar opposites. Literally. Delilah left the family at 17 to become a nun and when that didn’t happen devoted herself to working in an orphanage in Zaire. Ruth became famous as a ... Read More...
It’s Not You, It’s Me: Mini-Reviews
Plausibility is a subjective concept, especially in reading. There are premises, plots, and characters in novels I love that make other readers put the book down. Today’s mini-reviews exemplify the term because both novels contain characters and situations that I could not believe in and so impacted my ability to enjoy the book as much as someone else might. In other words, ... Read More...
