“When looking for a house, you’re not looking for mere lumber and plumbing but rather for spirit and community. You’re not looking for a location but a locus, a place that will be your center.” Before I begin this review I need to issue a disclaimer. I don’t know Matthew Batt but as one non-Mormon living in Salt Lake City, UT, to another, I do. In fact, we lived there at the ... Read More...
Gossip
I’m fairly certain that Tolstoy spent less time on War & Peace then I have spent trying to review Gossip. My problem is this: on the surface you have a cool-toned, witty look at three women living in the upper echelon of New York society. They are each interesting, diverse women, wearing fabulous clothes, and if that’s all you need from a book, then stop right here and go ... Read More...
The Leftovers by Tom Perrotta
Was it The Rapture or not? This is the launch point for Tom Perrotta’s new novel The Leftovers and his take on the possibly apocryphal event is so well done it’s one more reminder to me that I’ll never be a novelist. This theme has been cartoonized by every fundamentalist/zombie writer in the world with heavy emphasis on the horror and suffering that such an event would ... Read More...
The Submission by Amy Waldman
An anonymous competition to design the 9/11 memorial in NYC. A panel of 13 judges including the widow of a man who died in one of the towers. A winner who turns out to be a Muslim. With these straightforward facts begins a book that is anything but straightforward: Amy Waldman's debut novel, The Submission. Even at first glance it's clear that the opportunity for ... Read More...
The Dovekeepers
I’ve read enough Alice Hoffman to believe that she is one of the world’s best writers about women. Her plots may be fantastical but even as her female characters behave in magical and mystical ways their deepest mystery lies in their female essence. Imagine then, taking a subject as masculine and obscure as the decimation of the Jews at the siege of Masada- the ... Read More...
11/22/63 by Stephen King
Writing a review about a Stephen King book feels almost as daunting and futile as deciding to climb Everest. What is left to say that hasn’t been said by professional reviewers the world over? His background, writing style, mental stability and more have been discussed and dissected ad nauseam so I won't go there. The man has written 50 books and whether you like the ... Read More...
