Tag: books
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Review: Harrington’s I’ll Have What She’s Having
I’ll Have What She’s Having: My Adventures in Celebrity Dieting Rebecca Harrington When I decided to do this project where I reviewed every book I read, I thought about how embarrassing some of my selections would be. This is one of those embarrassing selections. A throw-a-away type book in which young comedy writer tries a…
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Review: Price’s The Whites
The Whites: A Novel Richard Price Richard Price is the best crime writer working today. Perhaps that is because he isn’t really a crime writer. Price is a writer of the lives of ordinary, damaged people trying to make sense of a confused, violent, world. In his books, those people tend to be cops and…
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Review: Side’s Hellhound on His Trail
Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History Hampton Sides Hampton Side’s gripping, almost moment by moment, recounting of the events surrounding the assignation of Martin Luther King is a must read if the history of the civil rights movement, and the attempts to destroy it, mean anything to…
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Review: Walton’s The Just City
The Just City Jo Walton Top notch speculative fiction, except here, the speculation is that Greek gods create a social experiment where they bring people from throughout human history to attempt to live out the ideas of Plato’s Republic. What to the who now? Exactly. This kind of thing can go off the rails very…
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Review: Bennett’s City of Stairs
City of Stairs (The Divine Cities) Robert Jackson Bennett As the brilliant and exceedingly well read Cosma Shalizi would say – mind candy. A well done fantasy (dare I say “urban” fantasy?) about the goings on in a once great city protected by ancient gods who may or may not be reappearing to save the…
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Review: Gifford’s Spring Chicken
Spring Chicken: Stay Young Forever (or Die Trying) Bill Gifford This will come as no surprise, but the older I get, the more obsessed I become with aging and how to stay physically and mentally healthy as the number pile up. Gifford does a good job here of reviewing the latest science and behavioral studies…
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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…
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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…
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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…
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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…
Milo and the Calf 