As the fall weather settles in and Halloween approaches what better time to discuss thrillers? The kind of books that make you settle into a favorite chair with a hot drink while it’s grey and rainy outside. Given that new releases have been a bit flat this year, I’m mixing up my reviews with three backlist books that are guaranteed to keep you looking over your shoulder. Extra ... Read More...
A Column of Fire by Ken Follett
In the eyes of the church, the Bible was the most dangerous of all banned books...Priests said that ordinary people were unable to rightly interpret God's word, and needed guidance. Protestants said the Bible opened men's eyes to the errors of the priesthood. A Column of Fire is the third book in Ken Follett’s Kingsbridge series and he goes big in this final ... Read More...
A Gentleman in Moscow
When he is thirty-three Count Alexander Rostov finds himself sentenced by the Bolsheviks to house arrest at the Metropol, a prestigious hotel in the theater district of Moscow. Initially, it doesn’t seem a particularly harsh sentence because he has already been living there in a posh suite for four years. But now, he may not leave and the suite is no more. Instead, he is ... Read More...
It’s Not You, It’s Me: Commitment Issues
When I was young, I got around—reading three or four books at the same time, juggling plots, themes, and characters with abandon, but now I’m a responsible reader—no longer one of those flighty, ‘I’m-going-to-read-around’ kind of gals. Or so I thought, but the last two months have found me playing fast and loose with my reading again. Starting a book, then ignoring it ... Read More...
In the Language of Miracles
The American Dream is portrayed in any number of novels, often from the perspective of the struggle to reach it, but In the Language of Miracles Samir and Nagla Al-Menshawy are Egyptians who have already achieved the dream. He is a doctor and they live in a nice New Jersey suburb with their three children. They have been close friends with their next-door neighbors the ... Read More...
Author Q&A: Val Brelinski
Yesterday I reviewed The Girl Who Slept with God by Val Brelinski. It is a touching novel about the mysteries of God, religion, life, family, and growing. In short, one of those books guaranteed to engender conversation (a great book club pick!). One of the more intriguing aspects of the novel is that Brelinski herself grew up in a strict evangelical Christian household. The ... Read More...
