Jeff's bookshelf: all en-US Fri, 20 Jun 2025 18:32:01 -0700 60 Jeff's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg The Book of Two Ways 50265329
Dawn, miraculously, survives the crash, but so do all the doubts that have suddenly been raised. She has led a good life. Back in Boston, there is her husband, Brian, her beloved daughter, and her work as a death doula, where she helps ease the transition between life and death for patients in hospice.

But somewhere in Egypt is Wyatt Armstrong, who works as an archaeologist unearthing ancient burial sites, a job she once studied for, but was forced to abandon when life suddenly intervened. And now, when it seems that fate is offering her second chances, she is not as sure of the choice she once made.

After the crash landing, the airline ensures the survivors are seen by a doctor, then offers transportation wherever they want to go. The obvious option for Dawn is to continue down the path she is on and go home to her family. The other is to return to the archaeological site she left years before, reconnect with Wyatt and their unresolved history, and maybe even complete her research on The Book of Two Ways--the first known map of the afterlife.

As the story unfolds, Dawn's two possible futures unspool side by side, as do the secrets and doubts long buried beside them. Dawn must confront the questions she's never truly asked: What does a life well-lived look like? When we leave this earth, what do we leave behind? Do we make choices...or do our choices make us? And who would you be, if you hadn't turned out to be the person you are right now?]]> 416 Jodi Picoult 198481835X Jeff 0 to-read 3.61 2020 The Book of Two Ways
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2020
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> John Glenn: A Memoir 933195
John Glenn's autobiography spans the seminal events of the twentieth century. It is a story that begins with his childhood in Ohio where he learned the importance of family, community, and patriotism. He took these values with him as a marine fighter pilot during World War II and into the skies over Korea, for which he would be decorated. Always a gifted flier, it was during the war that he contemplated the unlimited possibilities of aviation and its frontiers.

We see the early days of NASA, where he first served as a backup pilot for astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom. In 1962 Glenn piloted the Mercury-Atlas 6 Friendship 7 spacecraft on the first manned orbital mission of the United States. Then came several years in international business, followed by a twenty-four year career as a U.S. Senator-and in 1998 a return to space for his remarkable Discover mission at the age of seventy-seven.]]> 422 John Glenn 0553110748 Jeff 4 His career as an US Senator outlasted his time as a Marine and astronaut , which surprised me but given his desire to help improve the lives of Americans, makes sense.
Nothing shocking or controversial about this fella but he still lived a fascinating life. Recommended.]]> 4.05 2000 John Glenn: A Memoir
author: John Glenn
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2025/06/20
date added: 2025/06/20
shelves:
review:
An engaging and enlightening memoir that told me much about the man that I didn’t know. He had a solid upbringing, a lifelong romance with his wife, and was/is a hero. Not bad.
His career as an US Senator outlasted his time as a Marine and astronaut , which surprised me but given his desire to help improve the lives of Americans, makes sense.
Nothing shocking or controversial about this fella but he still lived a fascinating life. Recommended.
]]> The Romanov Prophecy 75020
Moscow: Present Day. Atlanta lawyer Miles Lord, fluent in Russian and well versed in the country’s history, is thrilled to be in Moscow on the eve of such a momentous event. After the fall of Communism and a succession of weak governments, the Russian people have voted to bring back the monarchy. The new tsar will be chosen from the distant relatives of Nicholas II by a specially appointed commission, and Miles� job is to perform a background check on the Tsarist candidate favored by a powerful group of Western businessmen. But research quickly becomes the least of Miles� concerns when he is nearly killed by gunmen on a city plaza.

Suddenly Miles is racing across continents, shadowed by nefarious henchmen. At first, his only question is why people are pursuing him. But after a strange conversation with a mysterious Russian, who steers Miles toward the writings of Rasputin, he becomes desperate to know more–most important, what really happened to the family of Russia’s last tsar?

His only companion is Akilina Petrov, a Russian circus performer sympathetic to his struggle, and his only guide is a cryptic message from Rasputin that implies that the bloody night of so long ago is not the last chapter in the Romanovs� story . . . and that someone might even have survived the massacre. The prophecy’s implications are earth-shattering–not only for the future of the tsar and mother Russia, but also for Miles himself.]]> 387 Steve Berry 0345460065 Jeff 5 3.95 2004 The Romanov Prophecy
author: Steve Berry
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2004
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/17
date added: 2025/06/17
shelves:
review:
A galloping adventure that follows many historical trails but veers imaginatively off into fascinating what-ifs. A new Russian tsar? A conspiracy to profit mightily from that monumental shift? An American staff lawyer tossed into the middle? Sure, why not. I followed that lawyer with the grand name of Miles Lord willingly and happily. Shades of Dan Brown’s books, definitely, but still wildly imaginative and highly engaging. Great stuff with more in my future.
]]> <![CDATA[Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper]]> 29486 The Late Show to be the pick of “Dave’s Book Club 2006,� Candy Girl is the story of a young writer who dared to bare it all as a stripper. At the age of twenty-four, Diablo Cody decided there had to be more to life than typing copy at an ad agency. She soon managed to find inspiration from a most unlikely source� amateur night at the seedy Skyway Lounge. While she doesn’t take home the prize that night, Diablo discovers to her surprise the act of stripping is an absolute thrill. This is Diablo’s captivating fish-out-of-water story of her yearlong walk on the wild side, from quiet gentlemen’s clubs to multilevel sex palaces and glassed-in peep shows. In witty prose she gives readers a behind-the-scenes look at this industry through a writer’s keen eye, chronicling her descent into the skin trade and the effect it had on her self-image and her relationship with her now husband.

]]> 212 Diablo Cody 1592402739 Jeff 0 to-read 3.57 2005 Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper
author: Diablo Cody
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.57
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/06/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Pianos and Flowers: Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind]]> 52856568 A delightful compendium of short stories inspired by images in the renowned photographic archive of The Sunday Times.

A picture can paint a thousand words, but what about a vintage photograph?

In 2015 Alexander McCall Smith wrote a book entitled Chance Developments: Unexpected Love Stories, in which he imagined the stories behind five chanced-upon black and white photographs. Who were those people, why were they smiling, what made them sad? He so enjoyed the experience that when The Sunday Times generously offered him access to their early 20th century photograph archive he jumped at the opportunity.

]]> 192 Alexander McCall Smith 1788853253 Jeff 3 3.61 2019 Pianos and Flowers: Brief Encounters of the Romantic Kind
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.61
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at: 2025/05/30
date added: 2025/06/06
shelves:
review:
A big fan of his Botswana stories, I didn’t get the same buzz from this. Being a collection of short stories sounded good but I feel the author’s strength is the novel form, where his characters become our beloved friends. And was his method of creating these stories from archival photos a clever turn, or a bit of a gimmick? You decide.
]]> All the Light We Cannot See 18143977
In a mining town in Germany, Werner Pfennig, an orphan, grows up with his younger sister, enchanted by a crude radio they find that brings them news and stories from places they have never seen or imagined. Werner becomes an expert at building and fixing these crucial new instruments and is enlisted to use his talent to track down the resistance. Deftly interweaving the lives of Marie-Laure and Werner, Doerr illuminates the ways, against all odds, people try to be good to one another.

From the highly acclaimed, multiple award-winning Anthony Doerr, the stunningly beautiful instant New York Times bestseller about a blind French girl and a German boy whose paths collide in occupied France as both try to survive the devastation of World War II.

An alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here]]> 544 Anthony Doerr 1476746583 Jeff 5 4.31 2014 All the Light We Cannot See
author: Anthony Doerr
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.31
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2025/06/04
date added: 2025/06/06
shelves:
review:
This was a riveting read, poetic and heartbreaking. Suspend any preconceptions you have about Germans in WW2, blind children, and many other groups, this enlightens us (no pun intended) to bravery and kindness and perseverance. There is plenty of death and injury here, as war will do, but also the brilliance of the heart and of the mind. I was a bit hesitant to pick this up because of the war setting but am very glad I did. Having the book loaned to me by another book❤️er was sweet and satisfying. Fully recommended.
]]> Night of the Running Man 4442163 315 Lee Wells 0312573103 Jeff 5 3.80 1981 Night of the Running Man
author: Lee Wells
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.80
book published: 1981
rating: 5
read at: 2025/05/21
date added: 2025/05/21
shelves:
review:
4.5 rounded up to 5 stars. Only the implausible final scene kept this from 5, but it was a dandy and fast-moving story otherwise. The bad guys were really bad and the good guys were flawed but clearly the ones to root for. I call this an undiscovered gem, even tho they made a movie of it, because my review is only the fifth one on ŷ. Inconceivable!
]]> <![CDATA[Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory]]> 27384088
Tom Carew was a maverick, a left-handed stutterer, a law unto himself. As a member of an elite SOE unit he was parachuted behind enemy lines to raise guerrilla resistance in France, then Burma, in the Second World War. But his wartime exploits are only the start of it...

Dadland is a manhunt. Keggie takes us on a spellbinding journey, in peace and war, into surprising and shady corners of history, her rackety English childhood, the poignant breakdown of her family, the corridors of dementia and beyond. As Keggie pieces Tom � and herself � back together again, she celebrates the technicolour life of an impossible, irresistible, unstoppable man.]]> 384 Keggie Carew 1784740772 Jeff 4 3.89 2017 Dadland: A Journey into Uncharted Territory
author: Keggie Carew
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/19
date added: 2025/05/20
shelves:
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A big novel that brings you deeply into a daughter’s life that revolves around, and digs deeply into, her father’s past and eventual current adventures. He was a World War 2 intelligence officer who excelled in his career, assisting the Allies with behind-the-lines spying that enabled his local rebel warriors against the Axis. But he could never translate that success into a new career after the war. He later slipped into dementia, slowly and sadly, as she watched and tried to help with all the love a child has for her father. But this outline hardly scratches the surface of his character, as we see all his sharpness and his failures drawn in high relief. Multiple marriages and sketchy parenting result in family fractures that are hard to witness. The daughter grows from a touchy and rebellious youth into a deeply caring woman and we cheer her on, hoping against hope that she can make her dad well again. I think of many women I’ve known who loved their fathers, and see parallels and varying amounts of successes, wishing that they, and I, could’ve felt the vast admiration that she did. Not an easy read but a worthwhile one.
]]> Before I Wake 312626 387 Dee Henderson 1414308159 Jeff 4 3.97 2003 Before I Wake
author: Dee Henderson
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.97
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/14
date added: 2025/05/15
shelves:
review:
This was an unusual book, at least for me. For starters, the cover suggested an YA novel, but it’s not. It also resembled cover art for a romance, but even though it has aspects of romance between two characters, I don’t think it fits that genre. It might best fit the crime thriller genre, but with a twist, as there numerous religious discussions here and there, and crucially, no four-letter words. Put all this together and it was different enough to be interesting, and had plenty of crime drama to be engaging. I can see reading more about these folks, partly because I enjoyed not being jolted with F-bombs,and also because the ending was completely insufficient for a 300-some page story. No spoiler here by saying that it was a cliffhanger. “Leave ‘em wanting more!� surely was the author’s intention.
]]> The Palace of Illusions 220175416 This enchanting and atmospheric fantasy brings readers to a Paris breathless with excitement at the dawn of the twentieth century. But for a select few there is asecond, secret Paris where the magic of the City of Light is very real.

In the run up to the 1900s World’s Fair Paris is abuzz with creative energy and innovation. Audiences are spellbound by the Lumiere brothers� moving pictures and Loie Fuller’s serpentine dance fusing art and technology. But for Clara Ironwood, a talented and pragmatic clockworker, nothing compares to the magic of her godfather’s mechanical creations, and she’d rather spend her days working on the Palace of Illusions, an intricate hall of mirrors that is one of the centerpieces of the world’s fair.

When her godfather sends Clara a hideous nutcracker for Christmas, she is puzzled until she finds a hidden compartment that unlocks amirror-world Paris where the Seine is musical, fountains spout lemonade, andmechanical ballerinas move with human grace. The magic of her godfather’s toys was real.

As Clara explores this other Paris and begins to imbue her own creations with its magic, she soon discovers a darker side to innovation. Suspicious men begin to approach her outside of work,and she could swear a shadow is following her. There’s no ignoring the danger she’s in, but Clara doesn't know who to trust. The magic of the two Parises are colliding and Clara must find the strength within herself to save them both.]]> 480 Rowenna Miller 0316571946 Jeff 0 to-read 3.86 2025 The Palace of Illusions
author: Rowenna Miller
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.86
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/05/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest]]> 63714 320 Sy Montgomery 0743200268 Jeff 4 3.83 2000 Journey of the Pink Dolphins: An Amazon Quest
author: Sy Montgomery
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2025/05/04
date added: 2025/05/04
shelves:
review:
This book showed me far more about pink dolphins and their environment that I guessed possible. The author is not a scientist but a writer, which means that the writing is quite literate and insightful, with as many insights into the local people as into the dolphins. She is curious, insightful and rather brave as she pursues her goal to learn all she can. A strong leaning into environmental conditions helps her explain the whole Amazon area and its current plight, whether following her animal subjects or interacting with the locals. And her resourcefulness is outstanding, or she would have seen and learned far less, much to our detriment. The ending was very satisfying and I recommend this highly.
]]> I’m Glad My Mom Died 59366244
Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,� eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?� She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries, email, and all her income.

In I’m Glad My Mom Died , Jennette recounts all this in unflinching detail—just as she chronicles what happens when the dream finally comes true. Cast in a new Nickelodeon series called iCarly , she is thrust into fame. Though Mom is ecstatic, emailing fan club moderators and getting on a first-name basis with the paparazzi (“Hi Gale!�), Jennette is riddled with anxiety, shame, and self-loathing, which manifest into eating disorders, addiction, and a series of unhealthy relationships. These issues only get worse when, soon after taking the lead in the iCarly spinoff Sam & Cat alongside Ariana Grande, her mother dies of cancer. Finally, after discovering therapy and quitting acting, Jennette embarks on recovery and decides for the first time in her life what she really wants.

Told with refreshing candor and dark humor, I’m Glad My Mom Died is an inspiring story of resilience, independence, and the joy of shampooing your own hair.]]> 304 Jennette McCurdy 1982185821 Jeff 3 Prurient material sold plenty of copies of this book, I imagine, and so I hope she was well paid for its popularity. And I wish her a calm and fulfilling life going forward.]]> 4.41 2022 I’m Glad My Mom Died
author: Jennette McCurdy
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2022
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/25
date added: 2025/04/27
shelves:
review:
Show biz autobiographies, or biographies, for that matter, often draw me in, and this was no exception. I recall the author in her first show, as it was one of several Nickelodeon series that I watched alongside my daughter. We enjoyed it but of course were as ignorant of the behind-the scenes stuff as anyone else. So having knowledge of the show made this a bit more interesting, and rather mortifying to hear of all the crap that girl went through. Surviving that phase of her life, she suffered possibly even more as a young adult and I also felt plenty of empathy for her troubles. Still and all, Jenette is a challenging person to like. She owns up to her flaws of brattiness and just plain mean spirited ways, which is a plus. But her complete blind spots to her mother’s awful treatment of her seem incomprehensible. What other teenager continues to allow her mom to give her showers and pubic exams?
Prurient material sold plenty of copies of this book, I imagine, and so I hope she was well paid for its popularity. And I wish her a calm and fulfilling life going forward.
]]> <![CDATA[Kill Alex Cross (Alex Cross, #18)]]> 10343389
The President's son and daughter are abducted, and Detective Alex Cross is one of the first on the scene. But someone very high up is using the FBI, Secret Service, and CIA to keep him off the case and in the dark.

A deadly contagion in the water supply cripples half of the capital, and Cross discovers that someone may be about to unleash the most devastating attack the United States has ever experienced. As his window for solving both crimes narrows, Alex makes a desperate decision that goes against everything he believes � one that may alter the fate of the entire country.]]> 375 James Patterson 1846057647 Jeff 4 4.02 2011 Kill Alex Cross (Alex Cross, #18)
author: James Patterson
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/21
date added: 2025/04/22
shelves:
review:
Mix Mid-East terrorists with two presidential children and blend in the alphabet agencies and there’s a lot going on. But Alex also has a private life and that is relatable and almost more interesting. Patterson can craft a story as well as anyone and this one seems believable if not too likely. But I was happily drawn in and looked forward to each chapter like a candy lover can’t wait for the next bag of chocolates.
]]> <![CDATA[Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo, #2)]]> 33507 269 Jules Verne 076072850X Jeff 4 3.92 1869 Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (Captain Nemo, #2)
author: Jules Verne
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1869
rating: 4
read at: 2025/04/17
date added: 2025/04/17
shelves:
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A fascinating, incredible, imaginative, and engrossing book. Verne’s brain dreamed up a whole world in under 300 pages. I was towed along at speeds from a dawdle (during lengthy descriptions of dozens of ocean creatures) to a supercharged romp through battles and deathly crises. The characters shine with specific personalities and very human tendencies, giving us heroics and failures aplenty. And then there’s the ship, Nautilus, a marvel of imagination. The science behind it is, fittingly, fictional, but what great science fiction it is. The most iconic of all is Captain Nemo, a man you’d love to meet and at the same time hope you never do. Mad, brilliant, egotistical, curious, and even probably insane, he’s unmatched in his originality. An outrageous book, here.
]]> <![CDATA[Once a Wolf: The Science Behind Our Dogs' Astonishing Genetic Evolution]]> 40180044 304 Bryan Sykes 1631493795 Jeff 3 3.44 Once a Wolf: The Science Behind Our Dogs' Astonishing Genetic Evolution
author: Bryan Sykes
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.44
book published:
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/12
date added: 2025/04/13
shelves:
review:
I judged this book’s cover and got what I deserved: a scientific look at the link between wolves and dogs. I suppose I was dazzled by the beautiful German Shepherd and by the use of ‘amazing� in the subtitle. Some folks may have been amazed but I was frequently dazed instead, as the scientist writing this did not water it down much. He gives perfectly sound (I assume) explanations of chromosomes and genes and such science-y stuff, while I kept waiting to find out how my couch potato can be persuaded to spend more than 5 minutes outside. Eventually the tone of the book shifts to an interview format, where the writer turns over the duties to his wife, who chooses, often randomly, dog owners and asks a series of questions. This adds steam to the sometimes sluggish parts describing the aforementioned science-y stuff. “What breed is your dog?� “How did you come to choose him?� “Is she considered part of your family?� “Would you consider having your dog cloned after it has died?� This all has less to do with wolves than it does our current relationships with dogs, which can in its own way be food for thought.
]]> <![CDATA[A Thousand Trails Home: Living with Caribou]]> 58656969 Ordinary Wolves, a debut novel Publisher's Weekly called "a tour de force" Conservation-based story of changing Arctic from an on-the-ground perpective Features full-color photography throughout A stunningly lyrical firsthand account of a life spent hunting, studying, and living alongside caribou, A Thousand Trails Home encompasses the historical past and present day, revealing the fragile intertwined lives of people and animals surviving on an uncertain landscape of cultural and climatic change sweeping the Alaskan Arctic. Author Seth Kantner vividly illuminates this critical story about the interconnectedness of the I�upiat of Northwest Alaska, the Western Arctic Caribou Herd, and the larger Arctic region. This story has global relevance as it takes place in one of the largest remaining intact wilderness ecosystems on the planet, ground zero for climate change in the US. This compelling and complex tale revolves around the politics of caribou, race relations, urban vs. rural demands, subsistence vs. sport hunting, and cultural priorities vs. resource extraction--a story that requires a fearless writer with an honest voice and an open heart.]]> 392 Seth Kantner 159485971X Jeff 3 4.26 2021 A Thousand Trails Home: Living with Caribou
author: Seth Kantner
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2021
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/04
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:
A gift that challenged me and also enlightened me, written from the Alaskan tundra. The author grew up revering not only caribou but the hunting of caribou, learning how and where subsistence hunting worked best. He became a journalist and returned to his birthplace in order to avidly pursue the photography of all the fauna in northwest Alaska, meanwhile continuing to hunt for his meat. And that is the main focus of this book, which is a personal dislike for me and so required skipping pages of graphic descriptions. You may be better suited to tales of the hunt, but I did appreciate his great concern for his land amid modern changes of oil exploration, governmental hijinks and climate change.
]]> <![CDATA[All the Time in the World: New and Selected Stories]]> 8808148
A man at the end of an ordinary workday, extracts himself from his upper-middle-class life and turns to foraging in the same affluent suburb where he once lived with his family.

A college graduate takes a dishwasher’s job on a whim, and becomes entangled in a criminal enterprise after agreeing to marry a beautiful immigrant for money.

A husband and wife’s tense relationship is exacerbated when a stranger enters their home and claims to have grown up there.

An urbanite out on his morning run suspects that the city in which he’s lived all his life has transmogrified into another city altogether.

These are among the wide-ranging creations in this stunning collection, resonant with the mystery, tension, and moral investigation that distinguish the fiction of E. L. Doctorow. Containing six unforgettable stories that have never appeared in book form, and a selection of previous Doctorow classics, All the Time in the World affords us another opportunity to savor the genius of this American master.]]> 304 E.L. Doctorow 1400069637 Jeff 3 3.58 2011 All the Time in the World: New and Selected Stories
author: E.L. Doctorow
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.58
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2025/04/03
date added: 2025/04/04
shelves:
review:
A collection of a dozen or so stories that veer wildly in tone and subject. I was befuddled by several, thrilled with several others, and so-so about the rest. Your experience may differ greatly!
]]> Nana 371456 473 Émile Zola 3746611091 Jeff 0 to-read 3.87 1880 Nana
author: Émile Zola
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.87
book published: 1880
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/04/02
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Handmaid's Tale 34454589 320 Margaret Atwood 1328879941 Jeff 5 4.28 1985 The Handmaid's Tale
author: Margaret Atwood
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1985
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:
Challenging, fascinating, scary, outrageous. Many adjectives for this outstanding work. I’ll never be able to say anything about this that hasn’t been said a hundred times before, and am so glad the volume fell into my hands. Even the ending was unpredictable. Read it if you haven’t!
]]> Little Bee 6948436
Nevertheless, you need to know enough to buy it so we will just say this:

This is the story of two women.

Their lives collide one fateful day, and one of them has to make a terrible choice.

Two years later, they meet again - the story starts there...

Once you have read it, you'll want to tell your friends about it. When you do, please don't tell them what happens either. The magic is in how it unfolds.]]> 271 Chris Cleave 1416589643 Jeff 4 It will also lift you up, offer you hope, and open your eyes. Little Bee and her co-protagonist Sarah lead routine lives until major changes throw them into chaos. Their reactions, their survival methods, and their resilience are all powerful to see. With much of the plot set in and around London, these women’s challenges are even more starkly drawn when set in modern English society, tea shops and daycare centers being witness to the upheavals going on.
I am sensitized against suicide and this book threads the theme to some length and so I reserved a star in its rating. The ending was also not to my taste but that is clearly me being subjective. This was still an amazing book and worth your time.]]> 3.76 2008 Little Bee
author: Chris Cleave
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/30
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves:
review:
This book will break your heart. More than once.
It will also lift you up, offer you hope, and open your eyes. Little Bee and her co-protagonist Sarah lead routine lives until major changes throw them into chaos. Their reactions, their survival methods, and their resilience are all powerful to see. With much of the plot set in and around London, these women’s challenges are even more starkly drawn when set in modern English society, tea shops and daycare centers being witness to the upheavals going on.
I am sensitized against suicide and this book threads the theme to some length and so I reserved a star in its rating. The ending was also not to my taste but that is clearly me being subjective. This was still an amazing book and worth your time.
]]> The Widow 229004506 #1 New York Times bestselling author John Grisham is the acclaimed master of the legal thriller. Now, he’s back with his first-ever whodunit, even more suspenseful than his courtroom dramas, as a small-time lawyer accused of murder races to find the real killer to clear his name.

Simon Latch is a lawyer in rural Virginia, making just enough to pay his bills while his marriage slowly falls apart. Then into his office walks Eleanor Barnett, an elderly widow in need of a new will. Apparently, her husband left her a small fortune, and no one knows about it.

Once he hooks the richest client of his career, Simon works quietly to keep her wealth under the radar. But soon her story begins to crack. When she is hospitalized after a car accident, Simon realizes that nothing is as it seems, and he finds himself on trial for a crime he swears he didn’t murder.

Simon knows he’s innocent. But he also knows the circumstantial evidence is against him, and he could spend the rest of his life behind bars. To save himself, he must find the real killer�.]]> 416 John Grisham 0385548982 Jeff 0 to-read 4.48 2025 The Widow
author: John Grisham
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2025
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/03/31
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story]]> 9583943
No American folk hero—not Davy Crockett, not even Daniel Boone—is better known than Johnny Appleseed, and none has become more trapped in his own legends. The fact is, John Chapman—the historical Johnny Appleseed—might well be the best-known figure from our national past about whom most people know almost nothing real at all.

One early historian called Chapman “the oddest character in all our history,� and not without cause. Chapman was an animal whisperer, a vegetarian in a raw country where it was far easier to kill game than grow a crop, a pacifist in a place ruled by gun, knife, and fist. Some settlers considered Chapman a New World saint. Others thought he had been kicked in the head by a horse. And yet he was welcomed almost everywhere, and stories about him floated from cabin to cabin, village to village, just as he did.

As eccentric as he was, John Chapman was also very much a man of his a land speculator and pioneer nurseryman with an uncanny sense for where settlement was moving next, and an evangelist for the Church of the New Jerusalem on a frontier alive with religious fervor. His story is equally America’s story at the birth of the nation.

In this tale of the wilderness and its taming, author Howard Means explores how our national past gets mythologized and hired out. Mostly, though, this is the story of two men, one real and one invented; of the times they lived through, the ties that link them, and the gulf that separates them; of the uses to which both have been put; and of what that tells us about ourselves, then and now.]]> 320 Howard Means 1439178259 Jeff 4 3.19 2011 Johnny Appleseed: The Man, the Myth, the American Story
author: Howard Means
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.19
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/21
date added: 2025/03/21
shelves:
review:
Very well researched but also highly readable, this biography has no problem calling out previous works and authors for inaccuracies about Johnny Appleseed’s life. I enjoyed the background info regarding his family, going back, including side stories of half-siblings and what have you. There’s also lots and lots of back story about the Swedenborgian religion and how it affected our hero. Having visited the site that is Johnny’s purported burial mound, I’m a bigger fan of the man for having read this.
]]> Hazards of Time Travel 36544571 An ingenious, dystopian novel of one young woman’s resistance against the constraints of an oppressive society, from the inventive imagination of Joyce Carol Oates

“Time travel� � and its hazards—are made literal in this astonishing new novel in which a recklessly idealistic girl dares to test the perimeters of her tightly controlled (future) world and is punished by being sent back in time to a region of North America � “Wainscotia, Wisconsin”—that existed eighty years before. Cast adrift in time in this idyllic Midwestern town she is set upon a course of “rehabilitation”—but cannot resist falling in love with a fellow exile and questioningthe constrains of the Wainscotia world with results that are both devastating and liberating.

Arresting and visionary, Hazards of Time Travel is both a novel of harrowing discovery and an exquisitely wrought love story that may be Joyce Carol Oates’s most unexpected novel so far.]]> 336 Joyce Carol Oates 0062319612 Jeff 4 2.94 2018 Hazards of Time Travel
author: Joyce Carol Oates
name: Jeff
average rating: 2.94
book published: 2018
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/16
shelves:
review:
The novel ended cleanly and I’ll dispute the claims of it being confusing. The story up to that point was dystopian and a bit challenging but I enjoyed it. I do wonder at Oates� frequent use of quotation marks on single words that seemed quite excessive, but that might be quibbling. She did create a scary world of the future but was prescient to our current times of topsy turvy politics. And then the time traveling part was in itself a great bit of science fiction, not too concerned with the scientific part of it but a great plot device. I recommend this.
]]> <![CDATA[Feared (Rosato & DiNunzio, #6)]]> 36187298 In the new thriller from New York Times bestselling author Lisa Scottoline, Mary DiNunzio’s ruthless nemesis Nick Machiavelli is back...with a vengeance.

When three men announce that they are suing the Rosato & DiNunzio law firm for reverse sex discrimination—claiming that they were not hired because they were men—Mary DiNunzio and Bennie Rosato are outraged. To make matters worse, their one male employee, John Foxman, intends to resign, claiming that there is some truth to this case.

The plaintiffs� lawyer is Nick Machiavelli, who has already lost to Mary once and is now back with a vengeance —determined not to not only win, but destroy the firm. It soon becomes clear that Machiavelli will do anything in his power to achieve his end…even after the case turns deadly. The stakes have never been higher for Mary and her associates as they try to keep Machiavelli at bay, solve a murder, and save the law firm they love…or they could lose everything they’ve worked for. Told with Scottoline's trademark gift for twists, turns, heart, and humanity, this latest thriller asks the question: Is it better to be loved, or feared...

Feared, the sixth entry in the acclaimed Rosato & DiNunzio series, expertly explores what happens when we are tempted to give in to our own inner darkness.]]> 386 Lisa Scottoline 1250099595 Jeff 5 3.89 2018 Feared (Rosato & DiNunzio, #6)
author: Lisa Scottoline
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2018
rating: 5
read at: 2025/03/15
date added: 2025/03/15
shelves:
review:
This book has it all- tension, humor, red herrings, and plenty of legal twists. When I finish a book in 5 days, that shows its worth. Scottoline may be similar to Grisham but with a lighter feel, as she brings a bit of fresh air to a legal thriller.
]]> These Lovers Fled Away 5203664 483 pages 512 Howard Spring 0002218178 Jeff 4 4.27 1955 These Lovers Fled Away
author: Howard Spring
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1955
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/05
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:
A book that captured my imagination with its scope and the variety of characters. A saga, yes, even a family saga, as many folks here call each other Aunt and Uncle, even if not related by blood. I greatly enjoyed the settings, also, from Cornwall by the sea, up to the Yorkshire dales, and then the metropolis of London, all with their unique feel and residents. Moseying through time, often slowly, the narrator and his chums of boyhood showed only vague signs of the men and women they were to become. Yet I became attached easily to him and his earliest crush, Rose, cheering their successes and despairing over their rough times. I recommend this for its breadth of wisdom and the observances of nature.
]]> <![CDATA[The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music]]> 2176660
But what Lopez begins to unearth about the mysterious street musician leaves an indelible impression." "More than thirty years earlier, Ayers had been a promising classical bass student at Juilliard - ambitious, charming, and one of the few African-Americans - until he gradually lost his ability to function, overcome by a mental breakdown. When Lopez finds him, Ayers is alone, suspicious of everyone, and deeply troubled, but glimmers of that brilliance are still there."

From an impromptu concert of Beethoven's Eighth in the Second Street tunnel to a performance of Bach's Unaccompanied Cello Suites on Skid Row, the two men learn to communicate through Ayers's music.

The Soloist is a story about unwavering commitment, artistic devotion, and the transformative magic of music.]]> 273 Steve López 0399155066 Jeff 4 3.91 2008 The Soloist: A Lost Dream, an Unlikely Friendship, and the Redemptive Power of Music
author: Steve López
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/03/06
date added: 2025/03/07
shelves:
review:
Very good tale that takes us into an area where we may never venture, and among folks we may never otherwise encounter. I am amazed at the talent that Nathaniel has, and by the depths of his world of demons. The author eventually realizes that his attempts to help are not as important as the friendship he forges. Much to ponder and learn here.
]]> <![CDATA[Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys]]> 15902792 Hilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America’s favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career

Billy Crystal is turning 65, and he’s not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like “Buying the Plot� and “Nodding Off,� Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Readers get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever “test positive for Maalox�), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion (“the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac�), grandparenting, and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal’s reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived.
]]> 288 Billy Crystal 0805098232 Jeff 4 3.92 2013 Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys
author: Billy Crystal
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/25
date added: 2025/02/26
shelves:
review:
It must be difficult to write a truly funny book, but when you’re a comic, maybe it’s a bit easier. This one had plenty of laughs, if sometimes cheapened by F-bombs (just my personal prejudice), all drawn heavily from his issues with aging. Sixty five years qualifies as aged, even early elderly, and so the material is there. I mostly enjoyed his memories of the many movies he’s made, along with TV appearances, full of behind-the-scenes info. Crystal has made tons of friends in the entertainment industry and many of them helped out when he wanted to throw a mahvelous party or wedding. Lots of backstage gossip, and he’s not shy about the occasional snark or worse. But overall he seems like a guy you’d love to hang out with, which is a good marker of a cool guy.
]]> Exactly 40037112
Simon Winchester seeks to answer these questions through stories of precision's pioneers. Exactly takes us back to the origins of the Industrial Age, to Britain where he introduces the scientific minds that helped usher in modern production: John `Iron-Mad' Wilkinson, Henry Maudslay, Joseph Bramah, Jesse Ramsden, and Joseph Whitworth. Thomas Jefferson exported their discoveries to the United States as manufacturing developed in the early twentieth century, with Britain's Henry Royce developing the Rolls Royce and Henry Ford mass producing cars, Hattori's Seiko and Leica lenses, to today's cutting-edge developments from Europe, Asia and North America.

As he introduces the minds and methods that have changed the modern world, Winchester explores fundamental questions. Why is precision important? What are the different tools we use to measure it? Who has invented and perfected it? Has the pursuit of the ultra-precise in so many facets of human life blinded us to other things of equal value, such as an appreciation for the age-old traditions of craftsmanship, art, and high culture? Are we missing something that reflects the world]]> 416 Simon Winchester 0008241775 Jeff 0 to-read 4.13 2018 Exactly
author: Simon Winchester
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2018
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Twist in the Tale 78976 No one can weave a web of suspense, deliver a jolt of surprise, or teach a lesson in living like bestselling author Jeffrey Archer. From Africa to the Middle East, and from London to Beijing, Archer takes us to places we've never seen and introduces us to people we'll never forget.

Meet the philandering husband who thinks he's committed the perfect murder; the self-assured chess champion who plays a beautiful woman for stakes far higher than cash; and the finance minister who needs to crack the secrets of a Swiss bank. Jeffrey Archer's collection of twelve spellbinding stories will sweep you on a journey of thwarted ambition, undying passion, and unswerving honor that you'll never forget.
]]> 320 Jeffrey Archer 0312933525 Jeff 4 3.88 1988 A Twist in the Tale
author: Jeffrey Archer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.88
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2025/02/15
date added: 2025/02/16
shelves:
review:
Short stories by a guy who knows his stuff. The Author’s Note says that 10 of the 12 are based on true events and it’s fun to guess which are which, but I enjoyed all of them, often ending in a great twist.
]]> Skinny Legs and All 9370 422 Tom Robbins 1842430343 Jeff 3 4.07 1990 Skinny Legs and All
author: Tom Robbins
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.07
book published: 1990
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2025/02/15
shelves:
review:
Wasn’t my cup of tea. Long drawn out plot about inanimate objects that can speak and will themselves to move didn’t resonate. Human characters were more interesting but the whole works moved quite slowly.
]]> The Truth According to Us 22551743
At the Romeyn house, twelve-year-old Willa is desperate to learn everything in her quest to acquire her favorite virtues of ferocity and devotion—a search that leads her into a thicket of mysteries, including the questionable business that occupies her charismatic father and the reason her adored aunt Jottie remains unmarried. Layla’s arrival strikes a match to the family veneer, bringing to light buried secrets that will tell a new tale about the Romeyns. As Willa peels back the layers of her family’s past, and Layla delves deeper into town legend, everyone involved is transformed—and their personal histories completely rewritten.]]> 486 Annie Barrows 0385342942 Jeff 0 to-read 3.71 2015 The Truth According to Us
author: Annie Barrows
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/02/10
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society]]> 39832183 #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER - NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE ON NETFLIX - A remarkable tale of the island of Guernsey during the German Occupation, and of a society as extraordinary as its name.

"I wonder how the book got to Guernsey? Perhaps there is some sort of secret homing instinct in books that brings them to their perfect readers." January 1946: London is emerging from the shadow of the Second World War, and writer Juliet Ashton is looking for her next book subject. Who could imagine that she would find it in a letter from a man she's never met, a native of the island of Guernsey, who has come across her name written inside a book by Charles Lamb...

As Juliet and her new correspondent exchange letters, Juliet is drawn into the world of this man and his friends—and what a wonderfully eccentric world it is. The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society—born as a spur-of-the-moment alibi when its members were discovered breaking curfew by the Germans occupying their island—boasts a charming, funny, deeply human cast of characters, from pig farmers to phrenologists, literature lovers all.

Juliet begins a remarkable correspondence with the society's members, learning about their island, their taste in books, and the impact the recent German occupation has had on their lives. Captivated by their stories, she sets sail for Guernsey, and what she finds will change her forever.

Written with warmth and humor as a series of letters, this novel is a celebration of the written word in all its guises and of finding connection in the most surprising ways.]]> 291 Mary Ann Shaffer 1984801813 Jeff 5 The short version: the letter-writing format of the book works surprisingly well. No narrator means the characters tell their own, unfiltered stories. Genius.
Bad guys are Nazis, but worse is the dude from London.
A highly satisfying finale to the book, not wholly unexpected, but the way it’s told was. And now, speaking of satisfying, I will be preparing a potato peel pie this evening. Bon apetit!]]> 4.27 2008 The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society
author: Mary Ann Shaffer
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2008
rating: 5
read at: 2025/02/07
date added: 2025/02/08
shelves:
review:
The review that doesn’t want to get written� somehow I’ve lost the previous two somewhere in iPad Land.
The short version: the letter-writing format of the book works surprisingly well. No narrator means the characters tell their own, unfiltered stories. Genius.
Bad guys are Nazis, but worse is the dude from London.
A highly satisfying finale to the book, not wholly unexpected, but the way it’s told was. And now, speaking of satisfying, I will be preparing a potato peel pie this evening. Bon apetit!
]]> <![CDATA[The Bishop and the Missing L Train (Blackie Ryan, #11)]]> 871481
The Vatican has just assigned auxiliary Bishop Gus Quill to the Archdiocese of Chicago over the violent protests of Archbishop Sean Cronin, and the not so silent protests of Bishop Blackie. Bishop Quill is under the illusion, one might say delusion, that he has been sent from Rome to replace the good Cardinal when in fact Rome was dying to get rid of him because of his incompetence. Immediately on arriving in Chicago, he manages to disappear while riding the L Train and it is up to Blackie to find him. As the Cardinal says, "The Vatican does not like to lose bishops, even auxiliaries."

And thus begins the search for the missing bishop who no one really wants to find.

Of course, none of this is too much for the intrepid little Bishop Ryan. He faces these problems squarely and, with the kind of deductive mind reminiscent of G.K Chesterton's Father Brown, manages to find solutions to some of the most baffling mysteries he has ever encountered.]]> 304 Andrew M. Greeley 0812575962 Jeff 4 3.71 2000 The Bishop and the Missing L Train (Blackie Ryan, #11)
author: Andrew M. Greeley
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2000
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/31
date added: 2025/01/31
shelves:
review:
My first Andrew Greeley novel was a pleasant introduction. Blackie seems like a fella I’d like to know, a mystery-solving pastor. Toss in one bad egg from the diocese, a Notre Dame connection, and all the Chicago characters you’ll need, and it’s a scenario ripe for drama, fun, and romance. I’m not a big mystery fan but this is light and entertaining, and serves well as my entry into more Blackie Ryan stories.
]]> <![CDATA[Most of P.G. Wodehouse, Story Collection]]> 134677883 0 P.G. Wodehouse Jeff 5 5.00 1960 Most of P.G. Wodehouse, Story Collection
author: P.G. Wodehouse
name: Jeff
average rating: 5.00
book published: 1960
rating: 5
read at: 2025/01/27
date added: 2025/01/28
shelves:
review:
700 pages of great British fun. Characters you’d never dream up, coincidences that could never happen, grand English country homes galore. After a while the comedy, unrelieved by any logic, becomes a bit much and one must take a break. But returning to these pages is like seeing your loving pup after a rough day, and all is well again. Highly recommended for whatever ails you, and especially if nothing ails you.
]]> The Bell Jar 56616095 (back cover)]]> 288 Sylvia Plath 0060837020 Jeff 4 4.08 1963 The Bell Jar
author: Sylvia Plath
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1963
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/25
date added: 2025/01/27
shelves:
review:
I get how this book came to become a classic. And it may still hold insights for current readers looking for a kindred soul, struggling to fit in. I enjoyed the New York and Boston settings and their school and social scenes, dated though they may be. The protagonist rarely enjoyed them, however, and my heart went out to her. I am, unfortunately, very sensitized to themes of suicide, and these play a big part in Esther’s feelings. Not an easy read for me, but an important story nevertheless.
]]> <![CDATA[A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier]]> 43015
My new friends have begun to suspect I haven’t told them the full story of my life.
“Why did you leave Sierra Leone?�
“Because there is a war.�
“You mean, you saw people running around with guns and shooting each other?�
“Yes, all the time.�
“CǴDZ.�
I smile a little.
“You should tell us about it sometime.�
“Yes, sometime.�

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived.

In A Long Way Gone, Beah, now twenty-five years old, tells a riveting story: how at the age of twelve, he fled attacking rebels and wandered a land rendered unrecognizable by violence. By thirteen, he’d been picked up by the government army, and Beah, at heart a gentle boy, found that he was capable of truly terrible acts.

This is a rare and mesmerizing account, told with real literary force and heartbreaking honesty.]]> 229 Ishmael Beah 0374105235 Jeff 4 4.16 2007 A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
author: Ishmael Beah
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/21
date added: 2025/01/23
shelves:
review:
A powerful story that was by turns difficult, sad, and uplifting. His transformation from an innocent boy, to hardened soldier, to enlightened youth is just plain amazing. His resourcefulness and bravery toward the end of the war is something to behold. I look forward to reading more from him.
]]> When Stars Rain Down 54287747 This summer has the potential to change everything.

The summer of 1936 in Parsons, Georgia, is unseasonably hot, and Opal Pruitt can sense a nameless storm coming. She hopes this foreboding feeling won’t overshadow her upcoming eighteenth birthday or the annual Founder’s Day celebration in just a few weeks. As hard as she works in the home of the widow Miss Peggy, Opal enjoys having something to look forward to.

But when the Ku Klux Klan descends on Opal’s neighborhood of Colored Town, the tight-knit community is shaken in every way. Parsons’s residents—both Black and white—are forced to acknowledge the unspoken codes of conduct in their post-Reconstruction era town. To complicate matters, Opal finds herself torn between two unexpected romantic interests, awakening many new emotions. She never thought that becoming a woman would bring with it such complicated decisions about what type of person she wants to be.

In When Stars Rain Down, Angela Jackson-Brown introduces us to a small Southern town grappling with haunting questions still relevant today—and to a young woman whose search for meaning resonates across the ages.]]> 368 Angela Jackson-Brown 0785240446 Jeff 4 4.12 2021 When Stars Rain Down
author: Angela Jackson-Brown
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2021
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/18
date added: 2025/01/19
shelves:
review:
I was carried along this tale but the very human joys, needs and sorrows by a handful of the kin that surround the protagonist, Opal. She also has a few white folks in her life, some that treat her well and a couple of seriously bad guys. Her church and even more, her faith, are so central to this book that I doubt it could’ve succeeded in any other form; secular society just doesn’t show the same iron backbone that the believers in this story have. With a plot that varies from young romance to murder, I was riveted from start to finish.
]]> <![CDATA[The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir]]> 3564962
Before there was Marley, there was a gleefully mischievous boy navigating his way through the seismic social upheaval of the 1960s. On the one side were his loving but comically traditional parents, whose expectations were clear. On the other were his neighborhood pals and all the misdeeds that followed. The more young John tried to straddle these two worlds, the more spectacularly, and hilariously, he failed. Told with Grogan's trademark humor and affection, The Longest Trip Home is the story of one son's journey into adulthood to claim his place in the world. It is a story of faith and reconciliation, breaking away and finding the way home again, and learning in the end that a family's love will triumph over its differences.]]> 352 John Grogan 0061713244 Jeff 4 3.92 2008 The Longest Trip Home: A Memoir
author: John Grogan
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/12
date added: 2025/01/12
shelves:
review:
This writer chooses subjects that, I feel, could be ho-hum in the hands of an ordinary writer, but are interesting, fun, and poignant in his. ‘Marley and Me�, about a family dog. This title, about growing up in a Detroit suburb and then watching his parents become elderly. Not exactly unusual or exciting, but they do have a relevance because many of us can relate. So Grogan just uses his outstanding talents of description and inner monologue to bring us into his house, his school, his life. The subtext of his Roman Catholic upbringing runs strongly through this memoir, opening a few doors for us non-Catholics to peer through. I recommend this, written as a bouquet to Grogan’s parents, as a nod to the Silent Generation.
]]> <![CDATA[Executive Privilege (Dana Cutler, #1)]]> 2396743
Meanwhile, an associate in a law firm in Portland, Oregon, gets assigned the appeal of a serial killer on death row. The convicted felon claims he didn’t kill one of the victims—a young woman who was working for the state governor at the time—the same man who is now president. Could the president be a serial killer?

Both story lines collide in this pulse-pounding thriller from genre veteran Margolin.]]> 358 Phillip Margolin 0061236217 Jeff 4 3.82 2008 Executive Privilege (Dana Cutler, #1)
author: Phillip Margolin
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.82
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2025/01/07
date added: 2025/01/07
shelves:
review:
PI Cutler is one tough lady, which becomes more and more clear as the story progresses. Up against very bad guys, and eventually the worst character in the book, she knows how to knock ‘em out. A subplot taking place across the country is a bit less engaging, but between the two locations, wraps up neatly with the help of the FBI. More of this in my future.
]]> The Catcher in the Rye 5107 It's Christmas time and Holden Caulfield has just been expelled from yet another school...

Fleeing the crooks at Pencey Prep, he pinballs around New York City seeking solace in fleeting encounters—shooting the bull with strangers in dive hotels, wandering alone round Central Park, getting beaten up by pimps and cut down by erstwhile girlfriends. The city is beautiful and terrible, in all its neon loneliness and seedy glamour, its mingled sense of possibility and emptiness. Holden passes through it like a ghost, thinking always of his kid sister Phoebe, the only person who really understands him, and his determination to escape the phonies and find a life of true meaning.

The Catcher in the Rye is an all-time classic in coming-of-age literature- an elegy to teenage alienation, capturing the deeply human need for connection and the bewildering sense of loss as we leave childhood behind.

J.D. Salinger's (1919�2010) classic novel of teenage angst and rebellion was first published in 1951. The novel was included on Time's 2005 list of the 100 best English-language novels written since 1923. It was named by Modern Library and its readers as one of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. It has been frequently challenged in the court for its liberal use of profanity and portrayal of sexuality and in the 1950's and 60's it was the novel that every teenage boy wants to read.]]> 277 J.D. Salinger 0316769177 Jeff 0 to-read 3.81 1951 The Catcher in the Rye
author: J.D. Salinger
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.81
book published: 1951
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers]]> 428223
The narrow street where Harry Bernstein grew up, in a small English mill town, was seemingly unremarkable. It was identical to countless other streets in countless other working-class neighborhoods of the early 1900s, except for the "invisible wall" that ran down its center, dividing Jewish families on one side from Christian families on the other. Only a few feet of cobblestones separated Jews from Gentiles, but socially, it they were miles apart.

On the eve of World War I, Harry's family struggles to make ends meet. His father earns little money at the Jewish tailoring shop and brings home even less, preferring to spend his wages drinking and gambling. Harry's mother, devoted to her children and fiercely resilient, survives on her dreams: new shoes that might secure Harry's admission to a fancy school; that her daughter might marry the local rabbi; that the entire family might one day be whisked off to the paradise of America.

Then Harry's older sister, Lily, does the unthinkable: She falls in love with Arthur, a Christian boy from across the street.

When Harry unwittingly discovers their secret affair, he must choose between the morals he's been taught all his life, his loyalty to his selfless mother, and what he knows to be true in his own heart.

A wonderfully charming memoir written when the author was ninety-three, The Invisible Wall vibrantly brings to life an all-but-forgotten time and place. It is a moving tale of working-class life, and of the boundaries that can be overcome by love.]]> 297 Harry Bernstein 0345495802 Jeff 5 4.06 2006 The Invisible Wall: A Love Story That Broke Barriers
author: Harry Bernstein
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/28
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:
A fabulous memoir, written by a Brit in his nineties, remembering England in the time of World War I. Besides having a great memory and a way of describing characters, he is empathic and quite aware of religious and economic differences. Humor and pathos leaven the grim tale of grinding poverty and a brutal father. I recommend this as a story that shows ways to bridge gaps, particularly now with our strongly divided country.
]]> <![CDATA[Blue Shoes and Happiness (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #7)]]> 28184
All this means a lot of work for our heroine and her inestimable assistant, Grace Makutsi, and they are, of course, up to the challenge. But there’s trouble brewing in Mma Makutsi’s own life. When Phuti Radiphuti misses their customary dinner date, she begins to wonder if he is having second thoughts about their engagement. And while Mma Makutsi may be able to buy that fashionably narrow (and uncomfortable) pair of blue shoes, it may not buy her the happiness that Mma Ramotswe promises her she’ll find in the simpler things—in contentment with the world and enough tea to smooth over the occasional bumps in the road.]]> 227 Alexander McCall Smith 1400075718 Jeff 5 4.07 2006 Blue Shoes and Happiness (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #7)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2006
rating: 5
read at: 2024/12/27
date added: 2024/12/28
shelves:
review:
More bits of wisdom and humor from Mma Ramotswe and her crew. A new employee tries to become a detective with a tragic ending for a bird, showing a small bit of darkness that is needed to keep the story grounded.
]]> The Road to Wigan Pier 30553 215 George Orwell Jeff 3 But Orwell leaves his coal town fading in the background when he jumps feet-first into his complete version of socialism, which leaves us feeling woozy with his smugness. He’s got all the answers and will not be taking questions later. Plenty of pages got skimmed in order to finish this volume.]]> 3.92 1937 The Road to Wigan Pier
author: George Orwell
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.92
book published: 1937
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/30
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
A 3-star book that is actually an average between the first half, 4- stars, and the second, only 2-. When taken into the mines, around the backstreets, and lodged in a tripe house, the reader feels the crushing, filthy poverty. Reading of coal companies mind-numbing and horrific treatment of its workers, we feel all the sympathy we have. Practically inescapable conditions are enough to smother the miners� families and depress us as we read this. All in the service of shining a bright light, the book is brilliant.
But Orwell leaves his coal town fading in the background when he jumps feet-first into his complete version of socialism, which leaves us feeling woozy with his smugness. He’s got all the answers and will not be taking questions later. Plenty of pages got skimmed in order to finish this volume.
]]> Rocket Boys (Coalwood #1) 96642
So begins Homer "Sonny" Hickam Jr.'s extraordinary memoir of life in Coalwood, West Virginia - a hard-scrabble little mining company town where the only things that mattered were coal mining and high school football and where the future was regarded with more fear than hope.

Looking back after a distinguished NASA career, Hickam shares the story of his youth, taking readers into the life of the little mining town of Coalwood and the boys who would come to embody its dreams.

In 1957 a young man watched the Soviet satellite Sputnik shoot across the Appalachian sky and soon found his future in the stars. 'Sonny' and a handful of his friends, Roy Lee Cook, Sherman O'Dell and Quentin Wilson were inspired to start designing and launching the home-made rockets that would change their lives forever.

Step by step, with the help (and occasional hindrance) of a collection of unforgettable characters, the boys learn not only how to turn scrap into sophisticated rockets that fly miles into the sky, but how to sustain their dreams as they dared to imagine a life beyond its borders in a town that the postwar boom was passing by.

A powerful story of growing up and of getting out, of a mother's love and a father's fears, Homer Hickam's memoir Rocket Boys proves, like Angela's Ashes and Russell Baker's Growing Up before it, that the right storyteller and the right story can touch readers' hearts and enchant their souls.

A uniquely endearing book with universal themes of class, family, coming of age, and the thrill of discovery, Homer Hickam's Rocket Boys is evocative, vivid storytelling at its most magical.

In 1999, Rocket Boys was made into a Hollywood movie named October Sky starring Chris Cooper, Jake Gyllenhaal and Laura Dern. October Sky is an anagram of Rocket Boys. It is also used in a period radio broadcast describing Sputnik 1 as it crossed the 'October sky'. Homer Hickam stated that "Universal Studios marketing people got involved and they just had to change the title because, according to their research, women over thirty would never see a movie titled Rocket Boys" so Universal Pictures changed the title to be more inviting to a wider audience. The book was later re-released with the name October Sky in order to capitalize on interest in the movie.]]> 368 Homer Hickam 0385333218 Jeff 5 4.17 1998 Rocket Boys (Coalwood #1)
author: Homer Hickam
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1998
rating: 5
read at: 2024/11/14
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
A five-star memoir capturing so much of a youth spent pursuing a dream single-mindedly. No wonder that it became a film so quickly: this is great work. Get it!
]]> Lucky Jim 395182 An alternative cover edition for this ISBN can be found here

Regarded by many as the finest, and funniest, comic novel of the twentieth century, Lucky Jim remains as trenchant, withering, and eloquently misanthropic as when it first scandalized readers back in 1954. This is the story of Jim Dixon, a hapless lecturer in medieval history at a provincial university who knows better than most that “there was no end to the ways in which nice things are nicer than nasty ones.� Kingsley Amis’s scabrous debut leads the reader through a gallery of emphatically English bores, cranks, frauds, and neurotics with whom Dixon must contend in one way or another in order to hold on to his cushy academic perch and win the girl of his fancy.

More than just a merciless satire of cloistered college life and stuffy postwar manners, Lucky Jim is an attack on the forces of boredom, whatever form they may take, and a work of art that at once distills and extends an entire tradition of English comic writing, from Fielding and Dickens through Wodehouse and Waugh. As Christopher Hitchens has written, “If you can picture Bertie or Jeeves being capable of actual malice, and simultaneously imagine Evelyn Waugh forgetting about original sin, you have the combination of innocence and experience that makes this short romp so imperishable.”]]> 296 Kingsley Amis 0140186301 Jeff 3 3.76 1954 Lucky Jim
author: Kingsley Amis
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.76
book published: 1954
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/22
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
Compared to P G Wodehouse, touted as the writer of a ‘classic comic novel� and ‘a preposterously funny book�, Amis is indeed humorous, but, to me, only occasionally so. Just one paragraph caused out-loud and helpless laughter, describing the hangover Jim suffered one day. It was screamingly funny. But much more prevalent in the book was biting satire, dark brooding, even frequent exclamations of hatred by Jim. These colored the book for me, barely unrelieved by the humor. Yet overall Amis writes clearly (discounting the obscure and unfathomable British slang of the day) and has his moments of unique descriptions of Jim’s odd habit of inventing outrageous faces, to make an original tale quite memorable. Read it for a snapshot of college campus postwar, and appreciate the bits of slightly-sour humor, as you would the taste of a raisin in a cookie that you thought contained chocolate chips.
]]> The Judge (Paul Madriani #4) 398406
* Steve Martini's Undue Influence was a huge success as a CBS miniseries
* Brian Dennehy--one of the most popular actors on TV and the star of Undue Influence --returns as attorney Paul Madriani
* A Main Selection of the Literary Guild, the Mystery Guild, and the Doubleday Book Club]]> 512 Steve Martini 0515122157 Jeff 4 4.05 1996 The Judge (Paul Madriani #4)
author: Steve Martini
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.05
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/21
date added: 2024/12/22
shelves:
review:
This novel may have more courtroom scenes than any I’ve read in ages. The judge at the bench has a lively character, and isn’t even the same judge that the title refers to, and is only #2 of a total of 3 judges that figure in the plot. Naturally there are loads of lawyers playing their parts, with district attorneys and cops also well represented. My favorite parts were those that bordered on skullduggery: people creeping around where they shouldn’t be. I’ll also say that about John Grisham novels, whose books are a bit less convoluted than this. But overall a good story to keep you guessing.
]]> <![CDATA[Sea Cows, Shamans, and Scurvy: Alaska's First Naturalist: Georg Wilhelm Steller]]> 4278868 St. Peter, under the command of Vitus Bering. The crew was bound for America on the last leg of an expedition whose mission was to explore, describe, and map Russia’s vast lands from the Ural Mountains across Siberia to the Kamchatka Peninsula, and possibly lay claim to the northwest coast of America � if they could find it, for no European had ever reached America by this route. Officially, Steller was the ship’s mineralogist, but in practice he was its doctor, minister, and naturalist as well. Appointed to the expedition in 1737 by the Academy of Science in St. Petersburg, he was sworn to secrecy concerning any discoveries.


Making judicious use of Steller’s richly detailed journals and liberal use of illustrations and maps, Ann Arnold allows the reader to join Steller on this fascinating voyage and its final dangerous mission, which left half the crew dead and the rest suffering from scurvy.]]> 240 Ann Arnold 0374399476 Jeff 4 3.77 2008 Sea Cows, Shamans, and Scurvy: Alaska's First Naturalist: Georg Wilhelm Steller
author: Ann Arnold
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/15
date added: 2024/12/15
shelves:
review:
I should’ve guessed by the title, but the fact that this is a volume of YA caught me unawares. No matter, it was a quick read that enlightened me to a naturalist that I only knew of because his named was used for several species of animals. And his talents went much further than describing critters unknown to Europeans, by doctoring folks ill with scurvy, by befriending and protecting indigenous folks, and by taking command when needed and all about him was falling apart. He thrived in environments with virtually no modern conveniences, which is a big plus if you’re an outdoorsman and explorer, geologist and naturalist.
]]> Ҳá貹Dz 9593 Ҳá貹Dz takes the reader back one million years, to A.D. 1986. A simple vacation cruise suddenly becomes an evolutionary journey. Thanks to an apocalypse, a small group of survivors stranded on the Ҳá貹Dz Islands are about to become the progenitors of a brave, new, and totally different human race. In this inimitable novel, America’s master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry—and all that is worth saving.]]> 324 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 0385333870 Jeff 4 3.89 1985 Ҳá貹Dz
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.89
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/13
date added: 2024/12/13
shelves:
review:
Revisiting this old favorite, I’d forgotten what imagination pored out of Vonnegut’s pen. Science Fiction, yes, but also social commentary, satire, and maybe other genres. As a young man I was enthralled with his work, and while I’ve aged greatly, my enthusiasm is only slightly dimmed, possibly because I’ve seen much of the joys of the world by now, am not so much searching as I was in my 20s. But I can still appreciate the old boy’s style and his desire to shine a light on human foolishness and worse. My days of rose-colored glasses have faded, in part because Mr. Vonnegut offers sharper, clearer lenses.
]]> The Hours 11899 The Pulitzer Prize-winning novel that became a motion picture starring Meryl Streep, Julianne Moore, and Nicole Kidman, directed by Stephen Daldry from a screenplay by David Hare.

In The Hours, Michael Cunningham, widely praised as one of the most gifted writers of his generation, draws inventively on the life and work of Virginia Woolf to tell the story of a group of contemporary characters struggling with the conflicting claims of love and inheritance, hope and despair. The narrative of Woolf's last days before her suicide early in World War II counterpoints the fictional stories of Samuel, a famous poet whose life has been shadowed by his talented and troubled mother, and his lifelong friend Clarissa, who strives to forge a balanced and rewarding life in spite of the demands of friends, lovers, and family.

Passionate, profound, and deeply moving, this is Cunningham's most remarkable achievement to date.]]> 230 Michael Cunningham 0312305060 Jeff 3 3.95 1998 The Hours
author: Michael Cunningham
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1998
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/06
shelves:
review:
I tried my best to enjoy this story. I was mildly confused when trying to recall which character was in which of the three plots. I also struggled to connect the three. And as a child of suicides obviously had a very difficult time with those parts. The final reveal was interesting, but not enough to redeem the whole book, Pulitzer winner or not. Perhaps you did or will relate better to this than I did.
]]> Lie Down with Lions 92371 332 Ken Follett 0451210468 Jeff 4 3.83 1985 Lie Down with Lions
author: Ken Follett
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2024/12/05
date added: 2024/12/05
shelves:
review:
My first experience with this author but not likely my last. He constructs a good thriller here, the recipe includes an exotic land with bad guys (Russians, boo!), good guys (Americans, yay!) and the Afghans, who are both and neither. Toss in a Frenchman, an English woman, and mix well. Don’t skimp on violence, spice with some passionate lovemaking, and the result is a winner. If Hollywood hasn’t turned some of his works into films, they should.
]]> <![CDATA[10th Anniversary (Women's Murder Club, #10)]]> 9436746
At the same time, Assistant District Attorney Yuki Castellano is prosecuting the biggest case of her life - a woman who has been accused of murdering her husband in front of her two young children. Yuki's career rests on a guilty verdict, so when Lindsay finds evidence that could save the defendant, she is forced to choose. Should she trust her best friend or follow her instinct?

Lindsay's every move is watched by her new boss, Lieutenant Jackson Brady, and when the pressure to find the baby starts interfering with her new marriage to Joe, she wonders if she'll ever be able to start a family of her own.]]> 395 James Patterson 0316036269 Jeff 4 4.08 2011 10th Anniversary (Women's Murder Club, #10)
author: James Patterson
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2011
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/20
date added: 2024/11/22
shelves:
review:
The subtitle threw me off a bit, as the Womens Murder Club doesn’t commit murders, it solves them. But it was an entertaining ride, with a nice variety of characters, both the club members, their varying romantic partners, and of course the bad guys, although some were bad girls. San Francisco is a reliably large and diverse city for this, giving us the exotic and the gritty locations. I look forward to finding more volumes.
]]> <![CDATA[The Metamorphosis and Other Stories]]> 7723 The Metamorphosis,� a story that is both harrowing and amusing, and a landmark of modern literature.

Bringing together some of Kafka’s finest work, this collection demonstrates the richness and variety of the author’s artistry. �The Judgment,� which Kafka considered to be his decisive breakthrough, and �The Stoker,� which became the first chapter of his novel Amerika, are here included. These two, along with �The Metamorphosis,� form a suite of stories Kafka referred to as “The Sons,� and they collectively present a devastating portrait of the modern family.

Also included are �In the Penal Colony,� a story of a torture machine and its operators and victims, and �A Hunger Artist,� about the absurdity of an artist trying to communicate with a misunderstanding public. Kafka’s lucid, succinct writing chronicles the labyrinthine complexities, the futility-laden horror, and the stifling oppressiveness that permeate his vision of modern life.]]> 224 Franz Kafka 1593080298 Jeff 3 4.08 1915 The Metamorphosis and Other Stories
author: Franz Kafka
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1915
rating: 3
read at: 2021/11/06
date added: 2024/11/18
shelves:
review:
I started this shortly before Halloween because the title story has a spooky connotation. And even with a modern translation, the old-fashioned creepiness is very much evident, a classic of psychological suspense. But most of the remaining stories are harder to fathom and even downright bizarre, like “Josephine the Singer, or The Mouse People�. I guess Kafka is just a bit obtuse for my liking.
]]> Contact 53000876
In December of 1999, a multinational team journeys out to the stars, to the most awesome encounter in human history. Who—or what—is out there? In Cosmos, Carl Sagan explained the universe. In Contact, he predicts its future—and our own.]]> 375 Carl Sagan Jeff 4 4.28 1985 Contact
author: Carl Sagan
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.28
book published: 1985
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/15
date added: 2024/11/15
shelves:
review:
This is science fiction with a brain, heart and guts. Sagan leads us into worlds on Earth in unexpected and thought-provoking ways, then sends us into the cosmos without letting up on the gas. All I knew about this was that it came from a revered scientist, and then became a big Jodie Foster movie, but it delivers far more than I expected. When several iconic religious leaders jump into the fray, the book carries us far from radio telescopes and mathematicians. Be prepared to consider moral and governmental issues, along with alien beings and black holes. Seat belts are not included, nor is a tidy ending, but satisfaction is.
]]> <![CDATA[The Full Cupboard of Life (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #5)]]> 97898
Mma Ramotswe herself has weighty matters on her mind. She has been approached by a wealthy lady, whose fortune comes from successful hair-braiding salons, and has been asked to check up on several suitors. Are these men just interested in her money? This may be difficult to find out, but Mma Ramotswe is, of course, a very intuitive lady.]]> 198 Alexander McCall Smith 1400031818 Jeff 4 4.03 2003 The Full Cupboard of Life (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #5)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.03
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/11/07
date added: 2024/11/07
shelves:
review:
I zoomed through this in 3 days, greatly enjoying the adventures, small and large, that these folks had. The ending was another example of nicely wrapped up stories, perhaps a bit nicer than a few others in the series. On the other hand, the main detective case that was investigated seemed a bit less than realistic, and realism is one of the author’s strengths.
]]> <![CDATA[We Reach the Moon: The New York Times Story of Man's Greatest Adventure]]> 3389563 x 333 John Noble Wilford 0552082058 Jeff 3 3.90 1969 We Reach the Moon: The New York Times Story of Man's Greatest Adventure
author: John Noble Wilford
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1969
rating: 3
read at: 2024/11/03
date added: 2024/11/06
shelves:
review:
This book started slowly and was in danger of losing my interest but picked up steam soon enough. Being alive for the early space program helped, as I could recall parts of it and then I felt fully invested with the growing enthusiasm of the many successes of the Apollo launches. My only real complaint, and that was clear from the zero attention paid to the brilliant female mathematicians, is that “men� this and that were fully responsible for the space accomplishments. When the author ignored the critical role played by women in reaching the moon, he lost much of my respect for his work.
]]> Never Leave Me 1885864 256 Harold Robbins 0708980236 Jeff 2 3.35 1953 Never Leave Me
author: Harold Robbins
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.35
book published: 1953
rating: 2
read at: 2024/10/27
date added: 2024/10/28
shelves:
review:
The cover tells us this is a shocking novel, but by 2024 it has aged poorly and only shocks by its ancient sexism. When your protagonist calls women “dames� all the time, expects little but either sex or slavish devotion from them, and is chock-full of misplaced machismo, he turns me off. The business machinations are somewhat interesting but are seemingly there to reinforce the gender stereotypes. Save your time and pass on this excuse to overuse the word ‘huskily�, as in “I replied huskily� after some dame asked him if he still loves her.
]]> Small Great Things 41021501
Ruth hesitates before performing CPR and, as a result, is charged with a serious crime. Kennedy McQuarrie, a white public defender, takes her case but gives unexpected advice: Kennedy insists that mentioning race in the courtroom is not a winning strategy. Conflicted by Kennedy's counsel, Ruth tries to keep life as normal as possible for her family—especially her teenage son—as the case becomes a media sensation. As the trial moves forward, Ruth and Kennedy must gain each other's trust, and come to see that what they've been taught their whole lives about others—and themselves—might be wrong.

With incredible empathy, intelligence, and candor, Jodi Picoult tackles race, privilege, prejudice, justice, and compassion—and doesn't offer easy answers. Small Great Things is a remarkable achievement from a writer at the top of her game.]]> 510 Jodi Picoult 034554496X Jeff 5 A harrowing tale that I’m quite glad was recommended to me.]]> 4.38 2016 Small Great Things
author: Jodi Picoult
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2016
rating: 5
read at: 2024/10/21
date added: 2024/10/21
shelves:
review:
A powerful book that works very well by using three narrators. As related at the end in the Author’s Note, this was a deliberately created story, well-grounded in actual events, and carefully crafted. I was drawn in immediately, happy to become immersed in several worlds that are only vaguely familiar: neonatal nursing and public defenders. As to the world of white supremacists, I’m only a bit more informed yet just as repulsed. Which is surely a likely goal of the author.
A harrowing tale that I’m quite glad was recommended to me.
]]> <![CDATA[I'm a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness]]> 352998 256 micky-dolenz 0815412843 Jeff 0 to-read 3.96 1993 I'm a Believer: My Life of Monkees, Music, and Madness
author: micky-dolenz
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/10/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Kalahari Typing School for Men (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #4)]]> 7036 here.

Life is never without its problems. Will Precious Ramotswe’s delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day? Find out in this, the fourth volume in the No.1 Ladies Detective Agency series featuring Botswana's first and only lady detective.

Now that The No. 1 Ladies� Detective Agency (the only detective agency for ladies and others in Botswana) is established, its founder, Precious Ramotswe, can look upon her life with pride: she’s reached her late thirties ("the finest age to be"), has a house, two children, a good fiancé -- Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni -- and many satisfied customers. But life is never without its problems. It turns out that her adopted son is responsible for the dead hoopoe bird in the garden; her assistant, Mma Makutsi, wants a husband and needs help with her idea to open the Kalahari Typing School for Men; yet Mma Ramotswe’s sexist rival has no trouble opening his Satisfaction Guaranteed Detective Agency across town. Will Precious Ramotswe’s delightfully cunning and profoundly moral methods save the day? Follow the continuing story of Botswana’s first lady detective in the irresistible The Kalahari Typing School for Men.]]> 210 Alexander McCall Smith Jeff 4 4.02 2002 The Kalahari Typing School for Men (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #4)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2002
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/16
date added: 2024/10/18
shelves:
review:
Fourth in the series, introducing several new, interesting characters. I greatly enjoy the humanity that this author gives so generously to his actors, showing us the bad and the good sides, equally. My only complaint this time is the way he neatly, too neatly, tied up a loose end concerning a budding love affair. We are possibly left thinking that he wanted to finish the book and had no other way than to snip the ends off in an unlikely fashion. Four stars out of five.
]]> Last Night in Twisted River 6323821
In a story spanning five decades, Last Night in Twisted River–John Irving’s twelfth novel–depicts the recent half-century in the United States as “a living replica of Coos County, where lethal hatreds were generally permitted to run their course.� From the novel’s taut opening sentence–“The young Canadian, who could not have been more than fifteen, had hesitated too long”–to its elegiac final chapter, Last Night in Twisted River is written with the historical authenticity and emotional authority of The Cider House Rules and A Prayer for Owen Meany. It is also as violent and disturbing a story as John Irving’s breakthrough bestseller, The World According to Garp.

What further distinguishes Last Night in Twisted River is the author’s unmistakable voice–the inimitable voice of an accomplished storyteller. Near the end of this moving novel, John Irving writes: “We don’t always have a choice how we get to know one another. Sometimes, people fall into our lives cleanly–as if out of the sky, or as if there were a direct flight from Heaven to Earth–the same sudden way we lose people, who once seemed they would always be part of our lives.”]]> 554 John Irving 1400063841 Jeff 3 All that being said, his love of cooking, which cannot be artificial, is very liberal here, and is a fun part of many settings. He also has a wonderful way with family relationships, and friend-relationships too.
This book didn’t come close to affecting me like Garp did, and to some degree Cider House Rules, but 3 stars seems fair enough.]]> 3.77 2009 Last Night in Twisted River
author: John Irving
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.77
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at: 2024/10/07
date added: 2024/10/08
shelves:
review:
From its 550+ pages, to its multitude of characters, to the frequent reiteration of certain details, this was a bit of a challenging read. Now I loved Garp, adored that book when I found it 30-some years ago. And Irving has a certain style, happy to toss in nearly-unbelievable actors and scenes. Plus his use of italics (overuse?) to emphasize, is plentiful here, enough to become noticeable.
All that being said, his love of cooking, which cannot be artificial, is very liberal here, and is a fun part of many settings. He also has a wonderful way with family relationships, and friend-relationships too.
This book didn’t come close to affecting me like Garp did, and to some degree Cider House Rules, but 3 stars seems fair enough.
]]> <![CDATA[Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched Since High School]]> 15897036 320 Kevin Smokler 1616146567 Jeff 4 3.46 2013 Practical Classics: 50 Reasons to Reread 50 Books You Haven't Touched Since High School
author: Kevin Smokler
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.46
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/10/06
date added: 2024/10/06
shelves:
review:
While an inveterate reader, I still have huge gaps in my ‘Have Read� list, as this book points out. However, I’m sure the purpose the author had in mind was to highlight books we may not have read, as well as those that are in our past. If so, it is a great guide for future reading. Since I mentally compiled a new ‘To Read� list, my view toward What shall I read next? looks rather rosy.
]]> <![CDATA[Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #3)]]> 7035 The third book in the multi-million copy bestselling No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency series

The one with the boy who might have been raised by lions

Facing financial trouble, the No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency is obliged to move into the same premises as Tlokweng Road Speedy Motors. And on top of her domestic complications with her fiancé Mr J. L. B. Matekoni and his adopted children, Motholeli and Puso, Mma Ramotswe faces several challenging cases. These include some unattractive behaviour among the contestants in a beauty pageant, and the perplexing discovery of a boy running wild, who smells of lion...

'Charming, delightful, feel-good stuff' Daily Express
'Unalloyed pleasure' Sunday Telegraph
'Charming' Scotland on Sunday
'One of the most entrancing treats of many a year' Wall Street Journal]]> 227 Alexander McCall Smith 1400031362 Jeff 5 4.00 2001 Morality for Beautiful Girls (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #3)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2001
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/22
date added: 2024/09/22
shelves:
review:
Number 3 in the series, existing mainly to set up new plots for upcoming volumes, apparently. But that takes nothing away from this book, which furthers the career of the Assistant Detective, giving us a fuller picture of her, and also showcasing Mma Ramotswe’s expanding detection skills. And as the dry season in Botswana is ending, concurrently our summer drought is relieved, today, by rain. Nice.
]]> <![CDATA[Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions]]> 7882096
Dewey's Nine Lives offers nine funny, inspiring, and heartwarming stories about cats--all told from the perspective of "Dewey's Mom," librarian Vicki Myron. The amazing felines in this book include Dewey, of course, whose further never-before-told adventures are shared, and several others who Vicki found out about when their owners reached out to her. Vicki learned, through extensive interviews and story sharing, what made these cats special, and how they fit into Dewey's community of perseverance and love. From a divorced mother in Alaska who saved a drowning kitten on Christmas Eve to a troubled Vietnam veteran whose heart was opened by his long relationship with a rescued cat, these Dewey-style stories will inspire readers to laugh, cry, care, and, most importantly, believe in the magic of animals to touch individual lives.]]> 306 Vicki Myron 0525951865 Jeff 4 4.06 2008 Dewey's Nine Lives: The Legacy of the Small-Town Library Cat Who Inspired Millions
author: Vicki Myron
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.06
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/18
date added: 2024/09/18
shelves:
review:
The follow up to “Dewey�, a big time bestseller, is similar but more wide-ranging, which is not necessarily better. Adding stories of other folk’s cats, the author gives us people who also love cats, along with their backstories, with her own twists to those tales. But taking their word for those animals, she also seems to be happy to anthropomorphize the pets. When I read about the cat who used at least 7 different meows, which each have a different English translation, that seemed to call for tighter editing. But the book is redeemed in the last chapter where she introduces us to her future fiancée, a wonderful story of a man, his history, and of course his feline. As she adds herself to his story, the narrative picks up and delivers a wonderful ending. She is still her own best story.
]]> <![CDATA[How the García Girls Lost Their Accents]]> 11208 286 Julia Alvarez 0452287073 Jeff 0 to-read 3.64 1991 How the García Girls Lost Their Accents
author: Julia Alvarez
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.64
book published: 1991
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Twisted: The Collected Short Stories]]> 28567 New York Times bestselling author Jeffery Deaver has long thrilled fans with tales of masterful villains and their nefarious ways, and the brilliant minds who bring them to justice. Now the author of the Lincoln Rhyme series has collected for the first time his award-winning, spine-tingling stories of suspense -- stories that will widen your eyes and stretch your imagination.
A beautiful woman goes to extremes to rid herself of her stalker; a daughter begs her father not to go fishing in an area where there have been a series of brutal killings; a contemporary of the playwright William Shakespeare vows to avenge his family's ruin; and Jeffery Deaver's most beloved character, criminalist Lincoln Rhyme, is back to solve a chilling Christmastime disappearance.
Diverse, provocative, eerie and inspired, this collection of Jeffery Deaver's best stories exhibits the amazing range and signature plot twists that have earned him the title "master of ticking-bomb suspense" (People). With nods to O. Henry and Edgar Allan Poe, these beautifully crafted pieces, never before compiled in one volume, pulse with subtle intrigue and Deaver's incomparable imagination.]]> 480 Jeffery Deaver 0743491599 Jeff 5 3.92 2003 Twisted: The Collected Short Stories
author: Jeffery Deaver
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.92
book published: 2003
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/16
date added: 2024/09/17
shelves:
review:
Now this is a page-turner, folks. Combine Deaver’s mystery chops with short, taut stories, and add a twist or two, and you have some yummy reading. His skill, or my lack of it, meant that I rarely had any idea what the plot twists would be, so it makes for an engaging time. As the author mentioned in the introduction, short stories don’t give us time to fully know a character, we just do our best, hang on for the ride, and thrill to the twists that are sure to surprise. Good fun.
]]> <![CDATA[The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge]]> 2567158
In the fall of 2001, deep in the jungle of Burma, a team of scientists is searching for rare snakes. They are led by Dr. Joe Slowinski, at forty already one of the most brilliant biologists of our time. It is the most ambitious scientific expedition ever mounted into this remote region, venturing into the foothills of the Himalayas. The bold undertaking is brought to a dramatic halt by the bite of the many-banded krait, the deadliest serpent in Asia. In the moment he pulled his hand from the specimen bag and saw the krait, Joe knew that his life was in grave and imminent peril. Thus began one of the most remarkable wilderness rescue attempts of modern times, as Joe's teammates kept him alive for thirty hours by mouth-to-mouth respiration, waiting for a rescue that never came.

A daredevil obsessed with venomous snakes since his youth, Slowinski was a modern-day adventurer who rose quickly to the top of his field, discovering many previously unidentified snake species in his brief yet exhilarating career. The Snake Charmer is at once brilliant biography and exotic travel literature, blended with an accessible introduction to the bizarre, fascinating-and sometimes controversial-world of snake science. The narrative transports the reader into primeval wilderness, from the Everglades to Peru to Burma, in search of rattlesnakes and boa constrictors, kraits and cobras.

Joe Slowinski's career was fast and exciting, his tragic final expedition a pulse-pounding struggle between man and nature. In The Snake Charmer , renowned journalist and author Jamie James captures the life and death of this charismatic, endlessly fascinating man. Exhaustively researched in interviews with Slowinski's colleagues and family, and the author's own trek into the wilds of Burma, this is narrative nonfiction in the tradition of Into the Wild and The Perfect Storm.]]> 260 Jamie James 1401302130 Jeff 4 3.95 2008 The Snake Charmer: A Life and Death in Pursuit of Knowledge
author: Jamie James
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/09/11
shelves:
review:
An adventure, a biography, and a cautionary tale, all revolving around snakes. The protagonist is someone you’d like to have known, albeit only when you’re not in venomous serpent territory, as he’d be wrangling them while he told you stories that would make your hair stand on end. I actually met one of his protégés way back when, who’s a character in his own right, so I guess herpetologists are just generally unusual. It all makes for a fascinating story, so go ahead and put your ophidiophobia aside and dive in.
]]> <![CDATA[Fallen Angels (Millwood Hollow Series #1)]]> 2980993 320 Patricia Hickman 0446691011 Jeff 4 3.56 2003 Fallen Angels (Millwood Hollow Series #1)
author: Patricia Hickman
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.56
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2024/09/10
date added: 2024/09/10
shelves:
review:
A beautiful story of lost souls and their journey to finding themselves. Plenty of spirituality and adventure, giving us a glimpse into small-town Arkansas during the Depression, it has lessons to be learned about the church’s place in our lives. As #1 in a series, the next may not come my way but I enjoyed it for the insights into human nature.
]]> A Season in Purgatory 18238 464 Dominick Dunne 0345430557 Jeff 3 Yet as the story moved along there were noticeable resemblances between the Bradley family and the mighty Kennedy clan, because Dunne used them as models. Comparisons are inevitable and a bit off-putting; and then there’s the guessing game as to how much of the author is represented by the protagonist Harrison Burns. “Write what you know� goes the old advice, so I suppose this was closely followed. At any rate, it’s a fun, and alternately chilling, ride through the thickets of homicide and coverups.]]> 4.09 1993 A Season in Purgatory
author: Dominick Dunne
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.09
book published: 1993
rating: 3
read at: 2024/09/05
date added: 2024/09/05
shelves:
review:
Is it distracting to read a novel and wonder how much of it comes from real life? This tale of a murder and the family that hides (or is ignorant of) it, is good reading and moves along nicely. I especially enjoyed the switch from first person to, midway through, third person, and then back to first person toward the end. It doubles the perspectives available to the reader and does not seem gimmicky.
Yet as the story moved along there were noticeable resemblances between the Bradley family and the mighty Kennedy clan, because Dunne used them as models. Comparisons are inevitable and a bit off-putting; and then there’s the guessing game as to how much of the author is represented by the protagonist Harrison Burns. “Write what you know� goes the old advice, so I suppose this was closely followed. At any rate, it’s a fun, and alternately chilling, ride through the thickets of homicide and coverups.
]]> <![CDATA[Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #2)]]> 7039 Librarian note: Older cover edition of 9780349116655.

In 1999 The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency received two Booker Judges' Special Recommendations and was voted one of the ‘International Books of the Year and the Millennium' by the Times Literary Supplement.

Tears of the Giraffe takes us further into the life of the engaging and sassy Precious Ramotswe, the owner and detective of Botswana's only Ladies' detective agency. Among her cases are wayward wives, unscrupulous maids and a challenge to resolve a mother's pain for her son, who is long lost on the African plains. Mma Ramotswe's own impending marriage to that most gentlemanly of men, Mr. J. L. B. Matekoni, the promotion of her secretary to the dizzy heights of Assistant Detective and new additions to the Matekoni family, all brew up the most humorous and charmingly entertaining of tales.]]> 233 Alexander McCall Smith Jeff 5 3.98 2000 Tears of the Giraffe (No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency, #2)
author: Alexander McCall Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.98
book published: 2000
rating: 5
read at: 2024/09/01
date added: 2024/09/02
shelves:
review:
McCall keeps me in his camp, firmly, with volume number 2 of his #1 Ladies Detective Agency series. When you want to meet a fictional character, you want to keep reading more. And Precious Ramotswe fits the bill as a bright and caring soul once again. Now engaged to be married, she continues to delight as the right woman for the job, whether as a professional or as a mate to a man that complements her so well. I will soon own every book in this fabulous series. And the author keeps us in suspense until the last page to explain the intriguing title.
]]> The Identicals 32498122 From New York Times bestselling author Elin Hilderbrand, a summertime story about identical twins who couldn't be any less alike.

Nantucket is only two and a half hours away from Martha's Vineyard by ferry. But the two islands might as well be worlds apart for a set of identical twin sisters who have been at odds for years. When a family crisis forces them to band together � or at least appear to � the twins slowly come to realize that the special bond that they share is more important than the sibling rivalry that's driven them apart for the better part of their lives. A touching depiction of all the pleasures and annoyances of the sibling relationship, Elin Hilderbrand's next New York Times bestseller, THE IDENTICALS proves once and for all that just because twins look exactly the same doesn't mean they're anything alike.


]]> 421 Elin Hilderbrand 031655247X Jeff 5 3.83 2017 The Identicals
author: Elin Hilderbrand
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.83
book published: 2017
rating: 5
read at: 2024/08/26
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:
“Beach read� must mean something that goes quickly, requiring little thought to understand the plot. Check. But that does not mean that it is shallow or silly or several other adjectives, as this tale does have some depth and value. But Hilderbrand is a talented writer who kept me engaged and awaiting the next twist, hence the quick read. Considering that my most recent book before this was a weighty non-fiction, I appreciated a lively story with slightly quirky characters. Unfortunately I read it too fast to be able to get to the beach with it.
]]> All the President’s Men 96123 Washington Post reporters who broke the story. This is “the work that brought down a presidency� perhaps the most influential piece of journalism in history� (Time, All-Time 100 Best Nonfiction Books).

This is the book that changed America. Published just two months before President Nixon’s resignation, All the President’s Men revealed the full scope of the Watergate scandal and introduced for the first time the mysterious “Deep Throat.� Beginning with the story of a simple burglary at Democratic headquarters and then continuing through headline after headline, Bernstein and Woodward deliver the stunning revelations and pieces in the Watergate puzzle that brought about Nixon’s shocking downfall. Their explosive reports won a Pulitzer Prize for The Washington Post, toppled the president, and have since inspired generations of reporters.

All the President’s Men is a riveting detective story, capturing the exhilarating rush of the biggest presidential scandal in U.S. history as it unfolded in real time. It is, as former New York Times managing editor Gene Roberts has called it, “maybe the single greatest reporting effort of all time.”]]> 480 Carl Bernstein 1416522913 Jeff 4 Conversely, I understand that there was a big surge in new journalism students in Watergate’s aftermath, which is not surprising. Those guys were fabulous.
Turning this beast of a book into an outstanding movie is also quite a feat, maybe one of the better book-to-film adaptations.]]> 4.17 1974 All the President’s Men
author: Carl Bernstein
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.17
book published: 1974
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/27
date added: 2024/08/29
shelves:
review:
This book fascinated from start nearly to the end. To get my complaint out of the way, the last chapter seemed sort of jumpy and less flowing than all the previous ones. That being said, the whole recounting of the Watergate saga is an amazing tale, possibly even more so with 50 years behind us. I mean, we now know who Deep Throat was. WOW! And seeing the long sticky web of deceit and lies that occurred, my faith in high-up government officials is certainly shaken.
Conversely, I understand that there was a big surge in new journalism students in Watergate’s aftermath, which is not surprising. Those guys were fabulous.
Turning this beast of a book into an outstanding movie is also quite a feat, maybe one of the better book-to-film adaptations.
]]> <![CDATA[Fall On Your Knees by MacDonald, Ann-Marie. (Touchstone,2002) [Paperback]]]> 123652310 Fall on Your Knees is the impressive first fiction from Canadian playwright and actor Ann-Marie MacDonald. This epic tale of family history, family secrets, and music centers on four sisters and their relationships with each other and with their father. Set in the coal-mining communities of Nova Scotia in the early part of this century, the story also shifts to the battlefields of World War I and the jazz scene of New York City in the 1920s.]]> 0 Ann-Marie MacDonald Jeff 4 3.83 1996 Fall On Your Knees by MacDonald, Ann-Marie. (Touchstone,2002) [Paperback]
author: Ann-Marie MacDonald
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.83
book published: 1996
rating: 4
read at: 2024/08/19
date added: 2024/08/20
shelves:
review:
A fine saga, amazing for a first-time novelist, encompassing 4 generations of a Canadian family that breaks every rule. A bit supernatural in its depiction of children that are all shades of brilliant, naughty, hard-working, and mystical. Adults mostly pale in comparison but keep the story chugging along, fortunately. 500 pages of surprises and deeply emotional twists and turns.
]]> <![CDATA[The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont]]> 50895445
But despite its mythic reputation, much of what has happened inside the Chateau’s walls has eluded the public eye—until now. With wit and insight, Shawn Levy recounts the wild revelries and scandalous liaisons, the creative breakthroughs and marital breakdowns, the births and deaths to which the hotel has been a party. Vivid, salacious, and richly informed, The Castle on Sunset is a glittering tribute to Hollywood as seen from inside the walls of its most hallowed hotel.]]> 384 Shawn Levy 0385543166 Jeff 0 to-read 3.64 2019 The Castle on Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, and Scandal at Hollywood's Chateau Marmont
author: Shawn Levy
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.64
book published: 2019
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Where the Red Fern Grows 10365 Billy, Old Dan, and Little Ann—a boy and his two dogs...

A loving threesome, they ranged the dark hills and river bottoms of Cherokee County. Old Dan had the brawn, Little Ann had the brains—and Billy had the will to train them to be the finest hunting team in the valley. Glory and victory were coming to them, but sadness waited too. And close by was the strange and wonderful power that's only found...

Where the Red Fern Grows—An exciting tale of love and adventure you'll never forget.

(from the back cover)]]> 272 Wilson Rawls 0375806814 Jeff 3 On the other hand, Billy and his hounds make a very good tale that most will appreciate. His obvious love and loyalty to his dogs drives the whole book. But his singleminded pursuit of raccoons blinds him to the things that may eventually come to mean much more to him: his siblings and his education. Hell, he goes the whole book and never gives his sisters names� ‘my youngest sister�, or ‘the oldest sister�. And schooling is for someone else, apparently.
No spoilers from me, but if you are a fan of ‘Old Yeller�, you’ll dig this one.]]> 4.11 1961 Where the Red Fern Grows
author: Wilson Rawls
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.11
book published: 1961
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/13
date added: 2024/08/15
shelves:
review:
2.5 stars from me, as this book hasn’t aged so well. Perhaps those who adore hunting will disagree, but I believe that the times require a higher respect for the creatures living in the wild, than this book offers. The thrill of the chase is clear, and universal, but the bloodlust toward raccoons, bobcats, and that evil scourge of the Ozarks, the mountain lion, overwhelms the story.
On the other hand, Billy and his hounds make a very good tale that most will appreciate. His obvious love and loyalty to his dogs drives the whole book. But his singleminded pursuit of raccoons blinds him to the things that may eventually come to mean much more to him: his siblings and his education. Hell, he goes the whole book and never gives his sisters names� ‘my youngest sister�, or ‘the oldest sister�. And schooling is for someone else, apparently.
No spoilers from me, but if you are a fan of ‘Old Yeller�, you’ll dig this one.
]]> <![CDATA[Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love]]> 1268357 271 Edward Ball 0743235606 Jeff 3 3.41 2004 Peninsula of Lies: A True Story of Mysterious Birth and Taboo Love
author: Edward Ball
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at: 2024/08/08
date added: 2024/08/09
shelves:
review:
A good writer in search of topics that are worthy of a full-length book. This biography teases and has plenty of research but ultimately has just a couple of fascinating sections. The author has a strong fixation on his subject’s sexuality and its roots, uncovering a couple of the lies in the title, and does present a bit of history of gender-swapping. But the title also seems to promise more than is delivered, perhaps suggesting that a less-lurid name for the book would reduce expectations.
]]> <![CDATA[Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon]]> 152834
The "official" version of Lennon's five-year tenure as househusband was one of domestic bliss. In reality, his daily life at the Dakota drifted between contradictory desires and minor obsessions--all magnified by the tedium of isolation.

Nowhere Man is an intimate journey through Lennon's last years, carrying us from his self-imposed seclusion to his re-entry into public life with the making of Double Fantasy . Each chapter offers a glimpse into a different aspect of Lennon's life, including his relationship with Yoko Ono, parenthood, drug use, and his pseudoscientific, esoteric, and religious forays. The portrait that emerges is a life during a time of turmoil that is just reaching creative renewal, only to be cut short by an act of delusional violence.

Nowhere Man reveals a very human side of a beloved cultural icon, giving the reader a compelling account of John's solitary struggle to create a meaningful life in the glaring spotlight of fame. Robert Rosen does not let us go until we've faced the abrupt and tragic fate of one of the most creative minds of our time.

The addition of photos throughout the book places the reader in Lennon's environs, adding a strong visual dimension.]]> 208 Robert Rosen 0932551513 Jeff 1 Hack job, zero stars 3.40 2000 Nowhere Man: The Final Days of John Lennon
author: Robert Rosen
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.40
book published: 2000
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2024/07/31
shelves:
review:
Hack job, zero stars
]]> <![CDATA[Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey]]> 17345207 Highclere Castle has a new resident, the daughter-in-law of Lady Almina, an American beauty from New York and a descendant of famous American families.

Catherine Wendell first met Lord Porchester (Porchey), son of Lady Almina, the heir to Highclere and 6th Earl of Carnarvon, in Gibraltar. At just 19 and utterly entrancing, she had already received many proposals of marriage and immediately caught 24-year-old Porchey's discerning eye.

They married in 1922, and after the unexpected death of Almina's husband, the 5th Earl of Carnarvon, they moved into Highclere Castle. Beset by death duties and money problems, the Earl and Countess were unsure they could keep Highclere. Thanks to the sale of the decade at Christies Auction House, hundreds of cherished paintings went under the hammer, from a Leonardo da Vinci to works by Reynolds, Gainsborough, and Romney. Porchey even sold the famous family pearls. By 1926 Catherine and Porchey knew they could stay.

Over the next few years, the young couple entertained at Highclere, sharing it with other royalty and friends from London society. Catherine was much loved by the staff and adored by her husband and two young children. Although Almina still occasionally came to stay, Catherine's own American mother, Mrs. Jacob Wendell, was the most regular visitor.

By 1936, Catherine and Porchey's marriage had become increasingly troubled. Devastated, Catherine bravely unraveled her marriage. Porchey hastily traveled to New York to marry his new lover, who, however, ran off the night before the wedding with a Hollywood mogul.

Now in London with her children, Catherine fell in love with a handsome and charming man, whom she married in 1938. Porchey continued at Highclere, having to find new staff (the old staff accompanied Catherine to London) and marrying the famous Austrian actress Tilly Losch on the day war broke out in 1939. Catherine's husband joined the navy while Porchey's new wife quickly left for America.

Highclere Castle was turned into a home for evacuee children as well as lodging for soldiers. Porchey joined the war effort as an army adjutant (later a liaison officer) and was commended by the Americans stationed near Highclere. Catherine and Porchey's son Henry also joined the war in 1943. Like other wives and mothers, Catherine endured the unbearable stress of waiting for news of two beloved people in her life.

Using copious materials - including diaries and scrapbooks - from the castle's archive, the Countess of Carnarvon brings alive a very modern story in a beautiful and famous setting, paying particular attention not just to the goings on upstairs, but also to the butler footmen and other staff whose lives downstairs kept the Castle moving forward into the twentieth century.]]> 400 Fiona Carnarvon 0385344961 Jeff 4 3.63 2013 Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey
author: Fiona Carnarvon
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.63
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/25
date added: 2024/07/25
shelves:
review:
A straightforward history of the residents of Highclere and the corresponding national and world events that affected them. Non-Britons may struggle with the titles that include Earl, Lord and Lady and so on, but no matter, as the author, the current Countess, has a clear and charming style. She nevertheless pulls no punches when she describes folks that aren’t necessarily living up to standards, giving us some very interesting characters in the process. I enjoyed attempting to match real persons with the fictional ones that populated Downton Abbey, not having much success but it helped the story move along.
]]> And Then There Were None 16299
"Ten little boys went out to dine; One choked his little self and then there were nine. Nine little boys sat up very late; One overslept himself and then there were eight. Eight little boys traveling in Devon; One said he'd stay there then there were seven. Seven little boys chopping up sticks; One chopped himself in half and then there were six. Six little boys playing with a hive; A bumblebee stung one and then there were five. Five little boys going in for law; One got in Chancery and then there were four. Four little boys going out to sea; A red herring swallowed one and then there were three. Three little boys walking in the zoo; A big bear hugged one and then there were two. Two little boys sitting in the sun; One got frizzled up and then there was one. One little boy left all alone; He went out and hanged himself and then there were none."

When they realize that murders are occurring as described in the rhyme, terror mounts. One by one they fall prey. Before the weekend is out, there will be none. Who has choreographed this dastardly scheme? And who will be left to tell the tale? Only the dead are above suspicion.]]> 264 Agatha Christie 0312330871 Jeff 5 4.27 1939 And Then There Were None
author: Agatha Christie
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.27
book published: 1939
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/22
date added: 2024/07/22
shelves:
review:
Short, powerful, mysterious, sometimes fun, this seems to have it all. And while we’ve all heard of Agatha Christie, this may be her first book I’ve read, and I’m glad I did. A varied cast and a sea setting are plenty to get us going, then the mysteries start piling up and we are off to a grand adventure. Very much recommended.
]]> <![CDATA[Blood Money : The Du Pont Heir and the Murder of an Olympic Athlete]]> 4880494 269 Carlton Smith 0312960808 Jeff 4 3.15 Blood Money : The Du Pont Heir and the Murder of an Olympic Athlete
author: Carlton Smith
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.15
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/17
date added: 2024/07/19
shelves:
review:
A tale of a family that goes way back, filthy rich, and full of weirdos, eclipsed by this maniac. Tune in and hold one for a history that ended up with a madman who no one could or would stop, his mental illness unrepairable. I will leave it up to you, as far as reading about a serious nutjob, whether you think he could’ve been anything besides a megalomaniac. But he was, a guy died, and it’s a dirty shame.
]]> <![CDATA[Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe: A Memoir of Life on the Run]]> 408218 Throughout his childhood, Mike O’Connor’s family pretended to be normal. But Mike and his two younger sisters knew that their parents were hiding something–a secret they didn’t dare talk about. The family appeared to be no different from any of their small-town Texas neighbors–that is, until suddenly, the O’Connors would flee, leaving with only a few hours� notice, abandoning houses and pets and possessions and running across the border to Mexico.

For all of Mike’s adolescence, O’Connor family life alternated between relative comfort and abject poverty–sometimes within a matter of days. From living in a Texas ranch house to living in two rented rooms in an impoverished Mexican village, the O’Connors never knew what lay ahead–only that they must not draw attention to themselves. Though their parents steadfastly denied it, the children knew that something was chasing them–a past that hovered like an invisible enemy, always waiting to strike, always in pursuit.

But it was not until much later, after his parents� deaths, that Mike O’Connor, now an investigative reporter, was able to uncover the truth about his family’s past. As the secrets were unlocked one by one and the long trail of deception unfurled, Mike faced the heart-wrenching ramifications of his parents� actions–and made a discovery that shook his family loyalty to its core.

Full of incredible details of a life lived on both sides of the border, in near-poverty and near-wealth, Mike O’Connor’s account is a real-life suspense story of childhood mysteries and strange circumstances that will enthrall readers to its very end.

]]> 290 Mike O'Connor 0375504796 Jeff 4 3.60 2007 Crisis, Pursued by Disaster, Followed Closely by Catastrophe: A Memoir of Life on the Run
author: Mike O'Connor
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/13
date added: 2024/07/13
shelves:
review:
3.5 stars from me for this volume of personal investigative journalism. His hectic upbringing fueled a need to know secrets about his family, verified by official records and first- hand interviews. When he did finally tell us what he learned, it was a bit anticlimactic. Small legal indiscretions were then amplified by the general paranoia of the times. He tells a tale of a challenging childhood that he managed to turn into an accomplished career in international reporting. With meatier subjects he can probably produce some fascinating stories. This was a warm-up.
]]> Paper Moon 232965 The classic tale of a female Huck Finn, Peter Bogdanovich’s film version of the book was nominated for four Academy Awards. Set in the darkest days of the Great Depression, this is the timeless story of an 11-year-old orphan’s rollicking journey through the Deep South with a con man who just might be her father. Brimming with humor, pathos, and an irresistible narrative energy, this is American storytelling at its finest. Paper Moon is tough, vibrant, and ripe for rediscovery. ]]> 308 Joe David Brown 184354119X Jeff 5 Another beautiful aspect of this book is its final third, a piece of conning that is elegantly unexpected. Addie ups her game to a new level, only to find her heart is capable of overruling her brain, and I’ll leave it at that.
The movie surprisingly leaves out this final portion of the tale, but since Tatum O’Neal won the Oscar, apparently they didn’t need it.]]> 4.12 1971 Paper Moon
author: Joe David Brown
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.12
book published: 1971
rating: 5
read at: 2024/07/09
date added: 2024/07/10
shelves:
review:
I had already given this book a 5-star rating by the halfway point, it’s that good. Combine con artists with �30s settings and a rascally “father�, all overridden by the most engaging 12-year old in memory and you have a sparkling tale. Addie, our heroine, is bright, nearly fearless, and most importantly, highly resourceful. When these two get into a jam, as happens regularly, she is as likely as her purported dad to get them out of it.
Another beautiful aspect of this book is its final third, a piece of conning that is elegantly unexpected. Addie ups her game to a new level, only to find her heart is capable of overruling her brain, and I’ll leave it at that.
The movie surprisingly leaves out this final portion of the tale, but since Tatum O’Neal won the Oscar, apparently they didn’t need it.
]]> The Eighth Day 126630 Thornton Wilder’s renowned 1967 National Book Award–winning novel features a foreword by John Updike and an afterword by Tappan Wilder, who draws on such unique sources as Wilder’s unpublished letters, handwritten annotations in the margins of the book, and other illuminating documentary material.

In 1962 and 1963, Thornton Wilder spent twenty months in hibernation, away from family and friends, in the town of Douglas, Arizona. While there, he launched The Eighth Day, a tale set in a mining town in southern Illinois about two families blasted apart by the apparent murder of one father by the other. The miraculous escape of the accused killer, John Ashley, on the eve of his execution and his flight to freedom triggers a powerful story tracing the fate of his and the victim’s wife and children.

At once a murder mystery and a philosophical story, The Eighth Day is a “suspenseful and deeply moving� (New York Times) work of classic stature that has been hailed as a great American epic.]]> 512 Thornton Wilder 0060088915 Jeff 4 3.99 1967 The Eighth Day
author: Thornton Wilder
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.99
book published: 1967
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/04
date added: 2024/07/04
shelves:
review:
A fine book that overflows with a huge story of two families, their town, and the ways of early 20th century America. Be prepared for philosophical discussions that erupt from many mouths, some cynical, some wise and some that are quite heavy. I’m a fan of a narrative-driven story and so couldn’t always wrap my head around all the philosophizing, but it’s a great tale nonetheless. The ending left me wanting more, even after 400+ pages, as the author did not quite wrap up all the storylines, including the nominal protagonist, John Ashley.
]]> <![CDATA[Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal]]> 225379
And how was this death related to another apparent suicide fourteen years earlier -- that of Dorothy "Dolly" Hearn, a spectacularly beautiful dental student? A star athlete and homecoming queen in high school, Dolly later dated Bart Corbin in dental school. Was there a connection, or was the answer to be found in a secret -- even dangerous -- relationship Jenn Corbin was having outside her marriage? For "Too Late to Say Goodbye," Ann Rule has interviewed virtually everyone in any way related to the story -- the victims' families, police investigators, prosecutors, and sources from Georgia to Australia -- to uncover the truth behind the headlines of these two sensational deaths. What emerges is an incredible tale of jealous rage; of stunning circumstantial and physical evidence that runs from the steamy to the macabre toalmost-unheard-of forensic techniques; and of a tragic irony -- a fateful discovery that motivated the killing. The definitive unraveling of one of the strangest murder investigations of our time, "Too Late to Say Goodbye" is perhaps the finest achievement of a truly great writer's career.]]> 480 Ann Rule 0743238524 Jeff 4 4.02 2007 Too Late to Say Goodbye: A True Story of Murder and Betrayal
author: Ann Rule
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2024/07/01
date added: 2024/07/01
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Written very much in her signature style, Ann Rule has found another homicide worthy of a full-length book. She knows what makes for good storytelling by keeping her personal feelings at a minimum, while still shining the spotlight’s brightest light on the victim and on the authorities. This case also featured a last-minute triumph by the prosecution that satisfyingly clinched it for them and the families.
]]> <![CDATA[At the Forest's Edge: Memoir of a Physician-Naturalist]]> 4327660 375 David Tirrell Hellyer 0295979151 Jeff 3 3.00 1986 At the Forest's Edge: Memoir of a Physician-Naturalist
author: David Tirrell Hellyer
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.00
book published: 1986
rating: 3
read at: 2024/06/21
date added: 2024/06/22
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A straightforward accounting of a life revolving around the author’s love of the outdoors and his work preserving and improving one corner of it. He found that observing nature can be a huge benefit to himself, his pediatric patients, and the rest of his world, be they wild animals, native plants or area residents. Well-written and occasionally illustrated, this volume traces a particular part of the Puget Sound that was logged until it was not hospitable to much of nature. Through many years of hard work by himself, his family and friends, he created a nature preserve that became a model of excellence. With a bit of drama and some humor, the story engages with its readers easily and offers hope that private citizens don’t necessarily have to wait for the government to create beautiful parks and preserves. We can all contribute in our own ways, and should try to assist others who feel the same.
]]> <![CDATA[Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend]]> 11238914 336 Susan Orlean 1439190135 Jeff 0 to-read 3.51 2011 Rin Tin Tin: The Life and the Legend
author: Susan Orlean
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.51
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> The Orchid Thief 228345 The Orchid Thief is Susan Orlean’s tale of an amazing obsession. Determined to clone an endangered flower—the rare ghost orchid Polyrrhiza lindenii�a deeply eccentric and oddly attractive man named John Laroche leads Orlean on an unforgettable tour of America’s strange flower-selling subculture, through Florida’s swamps and beyond, along with the Seminoles who help him and the forces of justice who fight him. In the end, Orlean—and the reader—will have more respect for underdog determination and a powerful new definition of passion.

In this new edition, coming fifteen years after its initial publication and twenty years after she first met the “orchid thief,� Orlean revisits this unforgettable world, and the route by which it was brought to the screen in the film Adaptation, in a new retrospective essay.]]> 300 Susan Orlean 044900371X Jeff 0 to-read 3.66 1998 The Orchid Thief
author: Susan Orlean
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.66
book published: 1998
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/06/07
shelves: to-read
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]]> A Gathering in Hope 28450802 Bestselling author Philip Gulley offers humorous, small-town storytelling as he follows the foibles and follies of Pastor Sam Gardner.

Thanks to an unexpected windfall, Sam Gardner's congregation (with the exception of a few malcontents) is eager to expand their meetinghouse. But before building can commence, the County Environmental Board and the Department of Natural Resources put the quietus on the plan.
A colony of endangered Indiana bats have made the tree beside the meetinghouse, and the meetinghouse attic, their place of hanging, mating, and living, which poses a big problem for the congregation. Aside from the fact that their fanged visitors are engaging in sinful acts on church property, until these bats leave for hibernation, Hope Friends Meeting is left without a gathering place. And when an over-zealous Leonard Fink takes matters into his own hands, he may even land himself--and Sam--in jail.]]> 258 Philip Gulley 1455562599 Jeff 4 3.82 A Gathering in Hope
author: Philip Gulley
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.82
book published:
rating: 4
read at: 2024/06/06
date added: 2024/06/07
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Pastor Sam continues his stumbling ways, sometimes surviving by his wits, more often by the grace of others. This volume has a slightly ludicrous subplot that involves bats, yet it all holds together well. And if you’re not a fan of the Indiana DNR, you’ll be thrilled.
]]> Cutting for Stone 3591262 A sweeping, emotionally riveting first novel—an enthralling family saga of Africa and America, doctors and patients, exile and home.

Marion and Shiva Stone are twin brothers born of a secret union between a beautiful Indian nun and a brash British surgeon at a mission hospital in Addis Ababa. Orphaned by their mother's death in childbirth and their father's disappearance, bound together by a preternatural connection and a shared fascination with medicine, the twins come of age as Ethiopia hovers on the brink of revolution. Yet it will be love, not politics—their passion for the same woman—that will tear them apart and force Marion, fresh out of medical school, to flee his homeland. He makes his way to America, finding refuge in his work as an intern at an underfunded, overcrowded New York City hospital. When the past catches up to him—nearly destroying him—Marion must entrust his life to the two men he thought he trusted least in the world: the surgeon father who abandoned him and the brother who betrayed him.

An unforgettable journey into one man's remarkable life, and an epic story about the power, intimacy, and curious beauty of the work of healing others.]]> 560 Abraham Verghese 0375414495 Jeff 5 4.32 2009 Cutting for Stone
author: Abraham Verghese
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.32
book published: 2009
rating: 5
read at: 2024/06/01
date added: 2024/06/02
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What an outstanding novel. The characters are lovable or confusing or outrageous but never dull or thinly drawn. Using Ethiopia as the main setting is a breath of fresh air and I’d be wise to at least seek out an Ethiopian restaurant locally, as a tiny taste of their culture. And being a doctor, the author brings an amazing array of medical issues to us, with no shortage of descriptive passages that help us understand what’s going on. Heartbreaking, wide in scope yet intimate in detail, this is highly recommended.
]]> Silent Spring 27333
The book appeared in September 1962 and the outcry that followed its publication forced the banning of DDT and spurred revolutionary changes in the laws affecting our air, land, and water. Carson’s book was instrumental in launching the environmental movement.]]> 378 Rachel Carson 0618249060 Jeff 4 Her writing is strong, clear and engaging. Each chapter not only covers a different corner of our world, but is filled with examples of our outrageous treatment of those corners, from California citrus groves to African wheatfields. Pretty depressing stuff to read in 1962, certainly, but today, knowing that not only are the chemicals banned, but that our air, water and land are far safer for everyone, we can thank Rachel Carson for this bellwether book that started it all.]]> 4.04 1962 Silent Spring
author: Rachel Carson
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1962
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/27
date added: 2024/05/28
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While this book was highly influential in its time, for me it raised many contemporary questions, since it 62 years old. Known for starting the environmental consciousness era, I know that it has changed many peoples� minds about how fragile the world can be, not least that of President John Kennedy. And most of us are aware that DDT and similar pesticides are now banned partly because of Silent Spring. But now I will need to research how modern agriculture, for instance, gets by without the dangerous chemicals that it previously used to great harm. Are we just allowing insects to have their way since we don’t drench them with chemicals any more?
Her writing is strong, clear and engaging. Each chapter not only covers a different corner of our world, but is filled with examples of our outrageous treatment of those corners, from California citrus groves to African wheatfields. Pretty depressing stuff to read in 1962, certainly, but today, knowing that not only are the chemicals banned, but that our air, water and land are far safer for everyone, we can thank Rachel Carson for this bellwether book that started it all.
]]> <![CDATA[Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions]]> 209786389
A fundamental principle of our legal system is a presumption of innocence, but once someone has been found guilty there is very little room to prove doubt. Framed shares ten true stories of men who were innocent but found guilty and forced to sacrifice friends, families, wives, and decades of their lives to prison while the guilty parties remained free. In each of the stories, John Grisham and Jim McCloskey recount the dramatic hard-fought battles for exoneration. They take a close look at what leads to wrongful convictions in the first place, and the racism, misconduct, flawed testimony, and the corrupt court system that can make them so hard to reverse.

Told with page-turning suspense as only John Grisham can deliver, Framed is the story of overcoming adversity when the battle already seems lost, and the deck is stacked against you.]]> 368 John Grisham 0385550448 Jeff 0 to-read 4.07 2024 Framed: Astonishing True Stories of Wrongful Convictions
author: John Grisham
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.07
book published: 2024
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/27
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> A Lesson in Hope (Hope, #2) 24397002 260 Philip Gulley 1455519847 Jeff 4 3.94 2015 A Lesson in Hope (Hope, #2)
author: Philip Gulley
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2015
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/17
date added: 2024/05/17
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More good stuff from Pastor Sam and gang. Unsure whether their move from Harmony to Hope would pan out, I was pleased to see that a new cast of characters has stuck and hence new adventures are to come. Excellent!
]]> The Art of Racing in the Rain 3153910
Through Denny, Enzo has gained tremendous insight into the human condition, and he sees that life, like racing, isn't simply about going fast. On the eve of his death, Enzo takes stock of his life, recalling all that he and his family have been through.

A heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, and hope, The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life ... as only a dog could tell it.]]> 336 Garth Stein 1554681723 Jeff 4 4.22 2008 The Art of Racing in the Rain
author: Garth Stein
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/08
date added: 2024/05/15
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An eye-opening way of reflecting on people’s lives by way of a canine narrator. I fell in love with Enzo the Lab right away, and soon enough with his owner, who wasn’t exactly clueless compared to Enzo, but the dog definitely was amazingly perceptive. As the humans in his life go through an unending series of tragedies and triumphs, Enzo makes sense of what he can, and accepts the rest. One aspect that was unusual was that his owner was a race car driver, and Enzo loved racing nearly as much. Going to the track, the pup once riding in the race car, even old videos of races, all were spellbinding to this pair. And while nearly all stories of dogs includes their aging and eventual death, this was still very readable and yet not manipulative. I recommend it for its very fine writing and engaging story.
]]> <![CDATA[A Place Called Hope (Hope, #1)]]> 20454642 239 Philip Gulley 1455519804 Jeff 5 3.89 2014 A Place Called Hope (Hope, #1)
author: Philip Gulley
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2014
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/14
date added: 2024/05/14
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More from my new favorite author. He’s got Midwestern life down pat, and has sent us off on new adventures with Pastor Sam and family, now in a new town. I’m very taken by the mixture of small town living with real-world issues, showing us how everyday folks deal with current trends toward inclusiveness. Tossing in age-old struggles over sexual identities and money problems, Gulley knows what touches us.
]]> <![CDATA[Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves]]> 72659 246 Farley Mowat 0316881791 Jeff 5 4.20 1963 Never Cry Wolf: The Amazing True Story of Life Among Arctic Wolves
author: Farley Mowat
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.20
book published: 1963
rating: 5
read at: 2024/05/07
date added: 2024/05/08
shelves:
review:
Being familiar with the movie version of this book, I jumped into the reading with high hopes and was not disappointed. In fact it exceeded my expectations because Hollywood made some changes that the book never needed, and so I can appreciate the source material even more, knowing that Mowat didn’t add extraneous scenes, he just stuck to his endearing and concise ways. His incredible feel for the wolves, his endurance while being bitten by insects, his willingness to camp and canoe for weeks while following caribou and wolves, all add up to an armchair adventure of the highest order. No wonder Disney produced its movie! Fully recommended.
]]> Einstein Lived Here 1239122 measured." As a respected physicist himself, Pais was the first biographer to give Einstein's thinking its full due, and as a close friend and associate of Einstein, he could provide an intimate, first-hand account of the life of this great scientist. The result was a national bestseller. Indeed, it
was one of The New York Times 's Best Books of the Year, and the winner of the 1983 American Book Award for Science.
Now, Pais turns his attention to the great physicist's life outside of science, with an informal, almost kalaidoscopic portrait of Einstein--his personal life and his public persona ("my mythical namesake who has made my life so burdensome"), his scientific contributions, and his thoughts on
religion, philosophy, and politics, on Israel and Zionism, on the rise of Nazism and McCarthyism, and on much more. Pais offers a candid look at Einstein's troubled personal life--his two failed marriages, his first child Lieserl, who was born out of wedlock (and of whom all trace has vanished), his
estranged son Hans Albert, also a scientist, who felt his father had abandoned the family, and his son Eduard, who gradually descended into madness. Of course, any book on Einstein must touch upon science, and Pais includes several illuminating chapters, one of which offers general readers an
accessible explanation of relativity, and another traces the long road to Einstein's Nobel Prize (after being nominated almost every year from 1909 to 1920, he finally won in 1921--not for relativity, but for his work on the photoelectric effect). On the lighter side, Pais includes samples from
Einstein's "curiosity file," in which he kept crank letters, marriage proposals, hate mail (one began "You are the prince of idiocy, the count of imbecility, the duke of cretinism, the baron of morons"), and the like. But the heart of the book is the final section, where Pais traces Einstein's life
as seen through the media. Here we not only meet Einstein the living legend--receiving the keys to New York City from flamboyant Mayor Jimmy Walker, attending the Hollywood premier of City Lights with Charlie Chaplin--but also witness his extensive involvement in the issues of his day. Much of his
commentary is amazingly prescient. In 1933, he said of "I cannot understand the passive response of the whole civilized world to this modern barbarism. Does the world not see that Hitler is aiming for war?"
"I can still see Einstein's smile before me," the great physicist Niels Bohr said several years after Einstein's death, "a very special smile...knowing, humane, and friendly." In Einstein Lived Here , this more than anything else is the Einstein we see--knowing, humane, friendly--a world figure on
a par with the greats of his age who could still ask "Why is it that nobody understands me and everybody likes me."]]> 282 Abraham Pais 0198539940 Jeff 4 3.47 1994 Einstein Lived Here
author: Abraham Pais
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.47
book published: 1994
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/05
date added: 2024/05/05
shelves:
review:
Actually 3.5 stars for me, but that’s not really a reflection on the quality of the book, more a reflection of my ability to handle chapters crammed with physics principles, along with chapters delving deeply into Jewish politics. Both topics challenge my attention span. Much of the book, however, deals with Einstein the husband, the father, the friend, and my humanist side firmly enjoys this part of the great man. And much of this volume is also given over to long quotes from Einstein’s writing and speeches, which shows a fabulous style and conciseness. If I ever run across any prose from this Nobel Prize winner, it may also have been worthy of a Pulitzer Prize, he wrote that well.
]]> <![CDATA[Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI]]> 193388249
Then, one by one, the Osage began to be killed off. The family of an Osage woman, Mollie Burkhart, became a prime target. One of her relatives was shot. Another was poisoned. And this was just the beginning, as more and more Osage were dying under mysterious circumstances, and many of those who dared to investigate the killings were themselves murdered.

As the death toll rose, the newly created FBI took up the case, and the young director, J. Edgar Hoover, turned to a former Texas Ranger named Tom White to try to unravel the mystery. White put together an undercover team, including a Native American agent who infiltrated the region, and together with the Osage began to expose one of the most chilling conspiracies in American history.]]> 338 David Grann 0593470834 Jeff 0 to-read 4.12 2017 Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
author: David Grann
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/05/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Alchemist 18144590 The Alchemist has become a modern classic, selling millions of copies around the world and transforming the lives of countless readers across generations.

Paulo Coelho's masterpiece tells the mystical story of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy who yearns to travel in search of a worldly treasure. His quest will lead him to riches far different—and far more satisfying—than he ever imagined. Santiago's journey teaches us about the essential wisdom of listening to our hearts, recognizing opportunity and learning to read the omens strewn along life's path, and, most importantly, following our dreams.]]> 182 Paulo Coelho 0062315005 Jeff 4 4.01 1988 The Alchemist
author: Paulo Coelho
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.01
book published: 1988
rating: 4
read at: 2024/05/01
date added: 2024/05/01
shelves:
review:
New to me, apparently this is a well-known book, and I see why. One may read it once and enjoy the imagery and the excellent ending; read it twice and some of the truths may become clearer; read it again and one may start to understand the universe. As a newbie, I’ll keep this volume for a future day when I want to see how the truths can guide me.
]]> A Map of the World 5205
A loner by nature, Alice is torn between a yearning for solitude coupled with a deep need to be at the center of a perfect family. On this particular day, Emma has started the morning with a violent tantrum, her little sister Claire is eating pennies, and it is Alice's turn to watch her neighbor's two small girls as well as her own. She absentmindedly steals a minute alone that quickly becomes ten: time enough for a devastating accident to occur. Her neighbor's daughter Lizzy drowns in the farm's pond, and Alice - whose own volatility and unmasked directness keep her on the outskirts of acceptance - becomes the perfect scapegoat. At the same time, a seemingly trivial incident from Alice's past resurfaces and takes on gigantic proportions, leading the Goodwins far from Lizzy's death into a maze of guilt and doubt culminating in a harrowing court trial and the family's shattering downfall.]]> 400 Jane Hamilton 0385720106 Jeff 4 3.82 1992 A Map of the World
author: Jane Hamilton
name: Jeff
average rating: 3.82
book published: 1992
rating: 4
read at: 2024/04/24
date added: 2024/04/25
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Challenging, wonderful, sad, and remarkable all partly describe this novel. Scary, also, if you consider how fragile our security may actually be. Any time a perfectly normal family can explode in the way this one has, we should sit up and take notice, and be aware of how tough life can turn. I did struggle from time to time reading this, as it’s not sugar-coated nor treated lightly, when first one disaster and then another strikes. And the author wisely broke the narration up into three parts: two parts by the protagonist that are bookends to her husband’s central portion. I felt a bit of relief to leave Alice’s first section, moving to Howard when the going got really tough. His voice is quite different and a new way to see all that had happened up to that point. But finishing the story, Alice helps us see how very complex we humans can be, from elementary school kids to experienced lawyers and jail inmates to best friends. I was glad to have this book given to me by a good friend, and I am a bit better of a person for having read it.
]]> <![CDATA[Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History]]> 239186
Using Cline's own telegrams, letters, and reports, the testimony of scores of survivors, and our latest understanding of the science of hurricanes, Erik Larson builds a chronicle of one man's heroic struggle and fatal miscalculation in the face of a storm of unimaginable magnitude. Riveting, powerful, and unbearably suspenseful, Isaac's Storm is the story of what can happen when human arrogance meets the great uncontrollable force of nature.]]> 323 Erik Larson 0375708278 Jeff 5 4.04 1999 Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
author: Erik Larson
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1999
rating: 5
read at: 2024/04/25
date added: 2024/04/25
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One more in a long line of great books by Erik Larson, I was glad to find this partly because I spent one weekend on the Galveston beach. It was long before the book was written and so didn’t have any knowledge of this incredible disaster, but maybe this island should be back on my bucket list now. Larson has personalized the hurricane by focusing on the Isaac in the title, who was the chief meteorologist at that time in Galveston. Seen through his eyes, the story carries us from the early beginnings of the Weather Service and the sometimes sketchy men who were part of it. Fortunately our protagonist was a dedicated and responsible weather observer, and we can only hope that he is better than the crude methods in place in 1900, as we see the storm coming (and Isaac does not). Well-written tension drives the narrative and keeps us turning pages. I’ll be passing this book on to a young mentee of mine named Isaac, which seems wholly appropriate.
]]> <![CDATA[The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories]]> 102565 "The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg" and "The $30,000 Bequest"; his last posthumous novel The Mysterious Stranger; What Is Man?; & more.]]> 272 Mark Twain 0451529243 Jeff 3 4.04 1916 The Mysterious Stranger and Other Stories
author: Mark Twain
name: Jeff
average rating: 4.04
book published: 1916
rating: 3
read at: 2024/04/13
date added: 2024/04/13
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Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer this ain’t, and don’t expect anything particularly down-home, past the classic “Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County�. These are some serious Twain, deeper and darker and clearly a product of his time of life. Whether we see his financial woes in “The $30,000 Bequest � or we sense his cynicism toward his fellow man in “The Mysterious Stranger �, there’s definitely something difficult to enjoy when Twain takes the low road. Kafka, sure, but Mark Twain, he of the Becky Thatcher school? At any rate, I’m glad I read it, because I have a slightly fuller sense of the man now.
]]>