No battle and no giants here. Instead, I’ve got quick reviews of two chunkster books I read this fall. Chunkster being the technical term for big-ass, over 500 pages each, tomes. Both are set in prehistoric times and are the kind of books you’ll either settle into or set aside. I’ve read a lot of Ken Follett’s historical fiction and he’s yet to disappoint me. His ... Read More...
February Reading Wrap-Up
Hello, lovely readers! February was an erratic month—probably the new normal, both for my reading and life in America. For the reading, I’m still finding focus to be a problem, but when I have been able to home in on the page I’ve been rewarded by some lovely character study novels. The larger issue is, as it’s been for a while now, my ability to write about the books I’ve ... Read More...
Aug 9- Fog: A Novel
What a pleasure to be able to start the week with a review for one of the most unusual novels I’ve read in a while. Not so much for its premise, but its backstory. The book is Aug 9- Fog and the author Kathryn Scanlan, who found a beat-up, mildewed, crumbling diary at an estate sale, took it home with her and forgot about it for 15 years. Until the day she started thumbing ... Read More...
My 8 Favorite Books of 2023
Finally! Let’s talk reading again, specifically my favorite books of 2023 so we can move onto what lies ahead in 2024. It was an interesting year in that I don’t remember another time when I had this many 5-star nonfiction books. I’m not even sure I’ve ever read so much great nonfiction in one year (and I’m too lazy to go back and check)! Somehow, 2023 came ... Read More...
Exit Interview: The Life and Death of my Ambitious Career
I’ve been on a roll with amazing memoirs and am thrilled to be back with another one. In Exit Interview Kristi Coulter leaves a secure, but boring marketing job in Ann Arbor, packs up her husband and their dog, and heads to Seattle. It’s 2006 and she’s decided she’s ready for the Wild West of the corporate world: Amazon. She thinks she knows what lies ahead, but she has no ... Read More...
March Reading Recap
March was a great month for reading in that I ran from one book to another, but not so good for reviewing as my interest in writing fled in the opposite direction. Which now means I have a head full of tangled plots, character confusion, and dense clusters of missing information about what I’ve read. There will have to be some rereading in my future, combined with cursing ... Read More...
