One of the problems with reading historical fiction is that you usually know how the story ends. You can write a book about the Titanic, but everyone knows that the boat sinks. The same is true, to some extent, about Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman: most people know at least a little about the Scottsboro Boys, nine young black men, falsely… Read more
Finally, someone who comes from an even smaller hometown than mine! Michael Perry tells the story of coming back to his hometown (New Auburn, WI) and working as an EMT and volunteer fireman in Population: 485, Meeting Your Neighbors One Siren at a Time. As a small town girl myself, I could relate to a lot of the stories Perry… Read more
In the late 18th century, a fabulous new scientific oddity was the toast of Europe. The Turk, a chess-playing automaton built by Wolfgang von Kempelen, was defeating chess masters across Europe. It was a true marvel of the times — a machine, built after the fashion of a Turkish ruler, that was capable of thought. Built for the amusement of… Read more
First of all, an apology. I wrote this review ages ago and it has been stuck in Draft mode. I’m really annoyed about that because it’s a book I’ve been telling friends to go out and buy right away! Luckily, it’s not too late… Web Goodhue is a jerk. He’s down to his last friend, he’s got no job, he… Read more
I live in a college town and we have our fair share of tattoo parlors. There are 2 shops almost next door to each other on the main drag through town and a tattoo and body piercing place down at the end of a row of bars, near where I turn onto my street. That one has an interesting crew… Read more
If you work in an office, you have probably watched the bigwig’s desks to see which management self-help books are in vogue. Whether it’s The One Minute Manager or Who Moved My Cheese or First, Break All the Rules, managers like to look like they are up to date on the latest management theories. Rubies in the Orchard is a… Read more
I really wanted to like this book. After all, “A Scotsman’s Tale of World Travel, Whiskey and Crime” sounds right up my alley. I love colorful memoirs, adventure stories, all that, and I thought I would really enjoy this one. I didn’t even make it through 100 pages. There are a lot of reasons I was disappointed in the book.… Read more
“This is a bawdy tale. Herein you will find gratuitous shagging, murder, spanking, maiming, treason, and heretofore unexplored heights of vulgarity and profanity, as well as nontraditional grammar, split infinitives, and the odd wank . . . If that’s the sort of thing you think you might enjoy, then you have happened upon the perfect story!” Apparently, this is going… Read more
I honestly thought that nothing – nothing – could get me to read Jane Austen again. I know that she has some rabid fans, but those Victorian manners-and-money romances were really not my thing. I was frustrated, even as a teenager, by female characters who seemed completely powerless. Elizabeth Bennett, her life ruined because some man she doesn’t even like… Read more
The Glassblower of Murano is an exceptional first novel written by Marina Fiorato, who is herself half Venetian and a graduate of the University of Venice. Her love of the city and its history comes through clearly. It’s a very romantic story, full of intrigue and heartbreak; to understand it, a little history is helpful. Murano is well-known for its… Read more