Author Dominic Smith delivers beautiful prose and a melancholy mood in “The Last Painting of Sara de Vos”. Spanning three different time periods, the book tells the tale of a 17th century artist and the 20th century forger who copies one of her paintings. Continue reading
Author Archives: mmelland
“Killing the Rising Sun: How America Vanquished World War II Japan”, by Bill O’Reilly and Martin Dugard
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The 75th anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor seemed like a really appropriate time to read “Killing the Rising Sun”, so that’s what I did. Authors Bill O’Reilly (of Fox News fame) and Martin Dugard provide an interesting, 30,000 foot account of the war in the Pacific during WWII. Continue reading
Book Review: A Banquet of Consequences by Elizabeth George
A Banquet of Consequences is the 19th book in Elizabeth George’s Inspector Lynley series. It’s a good, traditional English murder mystery with a very strong focus on character development. Continue reading
December’s “Kind of Like a Book Club” Book
For the second month of the virtual book club experiment, we’ll be reading “The Last Painting of Sara de Vos”, by Dominic Smith. It came highly recommended and received good reviews. Here’s how the library describes it: Continue reading
Book Review: Lab Girl by Hope Jahren
In Lab Girl, author and scientist Hope Jahren mixes science and biography to tell a fascinating story about her life, her work and the very special relationship she has with her lab partner, Bill. Continue reading
Christmas Gift Ideas for the Readers in Your Life
Want to buy a book for someone but don’t know what to get?
I’ve read and blogged about a lot of good books this year. Here are five that I wouldn’t hesitate to give as gifts to my own family and friends. Put some of these on your black Friday shopping list and you’re sure to make someone happy. Continue reading
“The Defector”, by Daniel Silva
If you’re in the market for a really good international espionage/thriller series, I strongly recommend Daniel Silva’s Gabriel Allon series. “The Defector” is book nine of this, to date, sixteen book series. It provided what I’ve come to appreciate about Daniel Silva’s writing – great characters, an intriguing plot, a frank depiction of the current world order, and a sympathetic account of the struggles of Israel and her people. Continue reading
Bestsellers I’ve Abandoned
I used to think I was committing sacrilege if I didn’t finish a book. Part of it was because I’m cheap and it just seemed wasteful. But mostly it was the sheer principle of the thing. Abandoning a book was dishonorable! I’m not a quitter! Continue reading
Kind of Like a Book Club
I’m going to be trying something new, based on reader feedback. Some people have expressed an interest in knowing what I’m going to be reading in advance, so they can read it, too, and provide commentary.
I love the idea of more dialogue, so I’m going to try a kind of virtual book club format. Continue reading
Book Review: The Woman in Cabin 10 by Ruth Ware
The Woman in Cabin 10 is a very satisfying mystery with plenty of plot twists and red herrings. It will keep you on your toes and engaged until the very end. Continue reading
Book Thoughts from Bed 