Milo and the Calf

Category: Books

  • Review: Norris’s Between You & Me

    Between You & Me: Confessions of a Comma Queen Mary Norris Grammar books generally come in two stripes – clever, and not very helpful and helpful, but not very clever. Between you and me is the book that proves the rule. It’s exceedingly clever (perhaps the best written book on writing well I’ve ever read)…

  • Review: Mandel’s Station Eleven

    Station Eleven Emily St. John Mandel This is a wonderfully strange, somewhat SF, pretty dystopian, near future novel that’s also about the nature of love, what it means to be a family, and how to stay human, and creative, in a word stacked against you. I loved this book. Science fiction type books that deal…

  • Review: French’s In the Woods

    In the Woods Tana French The first of French’s Dublin Murder squad novels, this is the type of literary novel masquerading as a crime novel that I absolutely adore. On the surface, this is the story of an unsolved disappearance and an unsolved murder, decades apart. And on that level, it’s a very successful crime…

  • Review: Steinhauer’s All the Old Knives

    All the Old Knives: A Novel Olen Steinhauer Steinhauer is one of the best espionage writers working today. Maybe the best, actually. His books hit the sweet spot of fast-paced plotting with well-drawn characters and top-notch writing. This little book goes in a somewhat different direction from the action packed Tourist books. The concept is that…

  • Review: Lynd’s the Last Spymaster

    The Last Spymaster Gayle Lynds A poorly constructed and dreadfully written second rate spy novel. As I have said on many occasions, I have no taste. If a book’s plot moves along at a good clip and is engaging, I’ll overlook clumsy writing. If a book is beautifully written, I’ll overlook a lackluster plot. But…

  • Review: Lippman’s Baltimore Blues

    Baltimore Blues: The First Tess Monaghan Novel Laura Lippman The first book in Lippman’s Tess Monaghan Series of crime novels set in Baltimore. This was a bit of more breezy than I expected, but does what I want a crime novel to do – give me a sense of place, give me characters I believe,…

  • Review: Gregorio’s Critique of Criminal Reason

    Critique of Criminal Reason: A Mystery (Hanno Stiffeniis Mysteries) Michael Gregorio A perfectly serviceable murder mystery where one of the detective is Immanuel Kant. The author, Michael Gregorio is a pseudonym for two Italian academics with deep knowledge of Prussia during the Napoleonic wars. Their knowledge of the history of the Konigsberg give the book…

  • Review: Strayed’s Wild

    Wild: From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail Cheryl Strayed Lee Child aside, my reading tastes almost never intersect with the New York Times bestseller list, but when the best seller in question is about a completely unprepared hiker taking on the notoriously difficult Pacific Coast Trail, you know I’m going to check…

  • Review: Kaplan’s Jewish Meditation

    Jewish Meditation: A Practical Guide Aryeh Kaplan A bit of a disappointment. I was hoping to find here a reading of Jewish spiritual life as mediation. What I found instead was a book that, in my opinion, tried to squeeze Jewish tradition into the mediation framework in order to keep Jews from turning “Jewbu” (Jewish…

  • Review: Macintyre’s A Spy Among Friends

    A Spy Among Friends: Kim Philby and the Great Betrayal Ben Macintyre Its surprising that, until now, there hasn’t been a really thorough, well done, book about the fascinating possibly sociopathic, definitely alcoholic Kim Philby. Philby, as we all know, was a member (perhaps leader?) of the Cambridge spy ring who while working in the…