*** NOVEL: The Rook AUTHOR: Daniel O’Malley YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2012 REVIEW:  *** The Rook is a little bit Harry Potter, and a bit of James Bond, and a lot of Jason Bourne, with a female lead.  Myfanwy Thomas is an operative in a secret supernatural agency in London, and also an amnesiac.  Can she … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: The Rook →

*** NOVEL: The Impossible Us AUTHOR: Sarah Lotz YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 2022 REVIEW:  *** This book is an awful lot of fun.  I happened upon a post about The Impossible Us on tor.com last year, and on the strength of the preview, pre-ordered it. *** Naturally, I forgot all about the matter, but was delighted … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: The Impossible Us →

*** NOVEL: Silverlock AUTHOR: John Myers Myers YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1949 REVIEW:  *** Silverlock has a terrific opening line: “If I had cared to live, I would have died.” A. Clarence Shandon didn’t panic and exhaust himself during a shipwreck.  Being depressed, isolated, and indifferent to his own life (and others’ lives), he survived–and was … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: Silverlock →

I enjoyed The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society quite a bit, and should not have waited so long to read this charming novel.

*** Thanks to social media, I saw that Lorie Lewis was working on an art project to help combat gun violence. (Unsurprisingly, if you know Lorie, we met some years ago volunteering for an arts organization.) She was kind enough to meet me at a cafe to tell me about what she’s been up to … Continue reading Wings4Peace: Our Q&A with Founder Lorie Lewis →

*** NOVEL: Beezus and Ramona AUTHOR: Beverly Cleary YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1955 REVIEW:  *** My younger daughter is a big fan of the Junie B. Jones series of books.  I don’t mind them, particularly, but they’re not my favorite, so I thought I’d introduce her to some older books about a difficult girl. As we … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: Beezus and Ramona →

This isn’t quite a picture book.  It isn’t quite a chapter book for children.  And it’s not quite a graphic novel, either. 

A friend of mine said that The House in the Cerulean Sea was a hug in book form.  And that is pretty much an accurate description of this sweet and comforting novel.

*** BOOK: The Art of Eating AUTHOR: M.F.K. Fisher YEAR OF PUBLICATION: 1954 REVIEW:  *** I recently read M.F.K Fisher’s As They Were, a collection of essays written between 1935 and 1982, which at least purports to be an informal autobiography.  It’s not: it’s a collection of disparate pieces, some excellent, some less so, and … Continue reading On Our Bookshelves: The Art of Eating →

Lives in Writing is a rather good compendium of essays about authors and their work, written by David Lodge, a fine writer himself, with illuminating insight on biographies, autobiographies, biographical fiction, memoirs, correspondence, and diaries.