Knowing what this book was about, I wasn’t expecting a happy ending. What surprised me was how often I was moved to tears by the sheer bravery and strength of the men in this novel. What kind of inner strength does it take to go out into what will likely be deadly conditions, risking your own life, to rescue a… Read more
“To prohibit the reading of certain books is to declare the inhabitants to be either fools or slaves.” – Claude Adrien Helvétius, French philosopher and author Well, you know which category I think they fall into. I have long thought that the people who want to ban books are cowards. They are parents afraid to explain things to their children, preachers… Read more
Okay, a special treat today! I’ve got an excerpt for you from Christopher Buehlman’s latest novel, The Necromancer’s House. This one sounds fabulous and today, you get a chance to read the Prologue. Andrew Ranulf Blankenship is a handsome, stylish nonconformist with wry wit, a classic Mustang, and a massive library. He is also a recovering alcoholic and a practicing warlock,… Read more
The easiest way to tell that Jo Nesbo is not an American author is that in the US, you could never get away with naming a character Harry Hole. That’s just one of the things I love about this series. Harry is such a great character, and I think Nesbo is a fabulous writer, so I was thrilled to get… Read more
It’s kind of a funny thing. When I was telling some bookish friends about The Man, one of them commented that they hate it when books break all “the rules” of time travel. Seems silly to me – how could time travel have rules? Sean Ferrell’s Man in the Empty Suit breaks all the rules of time travel and has some fun doing… Read more
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. You know the rules: grab your current read, open to a random page and share a two sentence teaser with us (no spoilers!). Be sure to tell us about the book, so we can add it to our TBR list! This week, my teaser is from The… Read more
Oh, I was thrilled to see this one in the mailbox! I love a good memoir and this one certainly has potential – Nothin’ to Lose: The Making of KISS (1972-1975) by Ken Sharp with Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons. This is the Kiss era that I’m interested in, when the band was starting out and still keeping their faces hidden.… Read more
“You have to remember that it is impossible to commit a crime while reading a book.” – John Waters, eccentric genius Yet another reason to encourage young people to read! (And perhaps some politicians, too.) Read more
Goat Mountain by David Vann is one of those books where the writing is so lyrical, so poetic, that you keep going back to re-read passages because they are so beautifully written. The story drew me in immediately – the pivotal event in this book happens less than 20 pages in – and the aftermath was compelling enough to keep me… Read more
I’ve gotten some great new books in the mail lately, and I’ve decided to feature them one by one, rather than making all the tiny cover images work. Easier on me and probably easier to read as well. This new acquisition comes from the good folks at Atria Publishing Group. I can’t wait to get started on it! Game by… Read more