In a novel that's sweetness served up with a side of realism, Walsh explores a small town's inhabitants desire to live the best version of themselves. When a simply plywood cubicle with the word DNAMIX shows up at Johnson's grocery story, it causes the good people of Deerfield to behave in outlandish ways. The machine, … Continue reading Book Review: The Big Door Prize by M.O. Walsh
Tender Morsels is a strange tale shaped by the interplay of real and magical worlds. As a response to trauma, Liga inhabits a magic world that protects her and her two young daughters. Urdda, who is the wilder of the two children, longs to leave the safe haven the moon "bab" has created for her mother. … Continue reading Book Review: Tender Morsels by Margo Lanagan
Do you know about Goodreads.com? Its a great way to create an electronic list of your favorite books, write reviews, and swap messages with fellow bibliophiles? They also have great lists like these below: Hottest new books for the summer season, https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2054 Author recommendations is a list of beach reads recommended by published authors, https://www.goodreads.com/blog/show/2074 … Continue reading Coming Soon–Summer.
The Secret of Lost Things is a captivating literary who-done-it. After her mother dies, an eighteen-year-old from Tasmania makes a transformative journey to New York. Rosemary takes a job at the Arcade, a bookstore that sells everything from paperbacks to valuable rare books. At the Arcade she begins her unique education. The Arcade's employees are each eccentric … Continue reading Book Review: The Secret of Lost Things by Sheridan Hay.
When Robert Preston's Hot Zone was published in 1994, it was an immediate best-seller. Written in the style of a thriller, Preston describes what happens when an unknown virus breaks out at a monkey house in Reston, Virginia. While it reads like fiction, the events actually happened. Nearly five hundred monkeys at a Reston research … Continue reading Book Review: The Hot Zone by Richard Preston
The opening novella, "Evil Eye," is a powerful story about a woman who could be on the verge of losing her mind. In a fit of despair, she has married an older man who crushes what is left of her spirit. One of the man's ex-wives tries to warn her to no avail. The best … Continue reading Book Review: Evil Eye by Joyce Carol Oates
Readers who like stories about odd characters who find themselves in strange situations, will love this new collection by Rivka Galchen. As strange as the characters are, though, it's easy to relate to them.Who hasn't felt what this character in "The Lost Order" feels so keenly? "But one day I woke up and heard myself … Continue reading Book Review: American Innovations by Rivka Galchen
In a book that reads like a thriller, Neal Bascomb explains how Norwegian commandos effectively prevented Nazi Germany from getting their hands on an atomic bomb. A small group of Norwegians, trained in Britian, returned to their homeland to sabotage Vemork, the plant that was supplying Germany with heavy water. Germans needed heavy water, or Deuterium, … Continue reading Book Review: Sabotage by Neal Bascomb.
Through The Narrow Gate is an intriguing memoir by a woman who spent seven years in a convent and who later became a pre-eminent writer and speaker on religous topics. Determined to find God, Armstrong leaves a comfortable life in Birmingham, England for an austere convent at 17. She struggles with homesickness, the weekly baths, the sewing, the "rule of silence" and … Continue reading Book Review: Through the Narrow Gate by Karen Armstrong.
On his way back from a client on the coast, Andrew Snow, a rare book dealer, cuts through the Downs and has an odd experience. After leaving the main road, he gets lost and finds himself inexplicably stopping at a dilapidated mansion. On The White House grounds, he feels the presence of a small hand gripping his … Continue reading Book Review: The Small Hand by Susan Hill
