Sad, strange events are brought to life in Monica Hesse’s “American Fire”. Hesse takes what would probably be just an average true crime story and elevates it to something more by providing social, economic and historic context. The result is a very interesting and sometimes sympathetic look at a crime wave that shook a small Virginia community. Continue reading
Book Review: Kindred by Octavia Butler
First published in 1979, Kindred is a novel that has aged well, still feeling fresh and current. It’s both a time travelling novel and a slave narrative, as well as being a bonafide page turner. I honestly woke up every morning looking forward to reading more. Continue reading
Book Review: The Lost City of the Monkey God: A True Story by Douglas Preston
The Lost City of the Monkey God is a fascinating mash-up of archaeology, cutting edge technology, treasure hunting, history, Central American politics and epidemiology. Author Douglas Preston, who also writes about archaeology for National Geographic, covers some complex topics in a manner that’s easy to understand and also very interesting. Continue reading
“Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore”, by Matthew Sullivan
Lydia works at a large, independent bookstore in Denver. She’s extremely compassionate, especially toward the “sad men” who populate the bookstore (if you’ve spent any time at all in an urban Barnes and Noble, you’ll be familiar with this type of customer). One night, one of these “sad men”, Joey, kills himself in the bookstore and leaves behind clues that surprisingly tie him to Lydia’s troubled past. Continue reading
Book Review: Enemy Women by Paulette Jiles
In Enemy Women, Paulette Jiles reminds us of the great suffering that occurred during the American Civil War, particularly among the civilian population. But the message is also that even in the midst of such suffering, examples of great strength and love can be found. Continue reading
Book Review: Still Life by Louise Penny
Still Life is the first book in Louise Penny’s Chief Inspector Armand Gamache series. She’s now up to Book 13, so this was published awhile ago. Since I typically like to start a series at the beginning, I checked out Still Life, and now I’m pleased to say that I have 12 more books in this wonderful series that I’m looking forward to reading. Continue reading
January’s Kind of Like a Book Club Book
I thought it would make sense for the group read to take a hiatus over the holidays, so the next “kind of like a book club” book will be discussed at the end of January. I seem to have lost a few participants with the last pick (Ready Player One), so hopefully this one will appeal to more people. Continue reading
“Ready Player One”, by Ernest Cline
Well, that was different. And not quite what I expected.
“Ready Player One” was October’s Kind of Like a Book Club book. Did you read it? Did you make it through? I almost didn’t, but I’ll get to that in a minute. Continue reading
Book Review: The Alice Network by Kate Quinn
The Alice Network is a gripping novel about women who risked everything in service of their country. By turns harrowing and suspenseful, it’s overall a very satisfying read. Continue reading
“The Child”, by Fiona Barton
The discovery of a baby’s skeleton at a construction site in London is the focus of the mystery novel “The Child”. How long had the baby been buried? How had the baby gotten there? Most importantly, who is this baby? These are questions journalist Kate Waters tries to answer as she chases her next front page story. Continue reading
Book Thoughts from Bed 