tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40875992012-02-14T12:13:46.580-05:00A blog of book reviews. Books I have read and reviewed for Table Hopping.Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.comBlogger861100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-6110396908716084562012-01-20T11:09:00.000-05:002012-01-20T11:09:49.207-05:00

By: Ken Follett Listened to the audio book I know I've said it before, but it's as true for this book as it has been for the others I've given the same review: when listening to the audio book, the reader is critical. A great book can be rendered "unreadable," and an average book elevated to great. In this case, the reader was superb. John Lee deserves kudos if for nothing else, delivering a

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-78619191026970021982011-12-16T13:41:00.000-05:002011-12-16T13:41:46.138-05:00

By: David Brooks Listened to audio version Many years ago, I read a book called The Flow, by a writer with the unpronounceable (at least for me!) name: Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. He described the experience some lucky few of us have of reaching a point in our performance of some art, task, job, endeavor, where it becomes essentially effortless, and we are lost in the doing of it - we become simply

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-14981043955103235952011-11-16T14:37:00.004-05:002011-11-16T14:41:31.664-05:00

by: Kate Pullinger Published: January, 2011 Sally Naldrett has one very telling line toward the end of this slice-of-Victorian-life book: "I am able to focus on the task at hand." A lady's maid in the mid-Victorian period didn't consider herself to be nearly as deprived as we might think. They were well-fed, clothed, lived in relatively nice quarters, and while they were required to dance

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-37855355181105315782011-10-20T17:28:00.000-04:002011-10-20T17:28:02.226-04:00

By: Amy Greene Audio book, full cast This is one of those rare books that, while being a perfectly delightful book in its own right, is made even better by virtue of it being read by exactly the right people exactly the right way. The story is simple, if disturbing: it traces three generations of Smokey Mountain hill people, who seem to pass a sort of curse and a blessing along from mother to

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-35221211851104245032011-09-20T20:17:00.001-04:002011-09-21T09:59:39.399-04:00

by: Mark Steyn published by: Regnery Press, 2011 (Read on my Kindle) In a way, this quote says it all: "We've got a big hole that we're digging ourselves out of." Who said it? Barack Obama. Generally speaking, when you're in a hole, the way out isn't to keep digging. It's this kind of common sense observation that makes Mark Steyn's books such a pleasure to read. ABC quoted the president with

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-35341558369641074672011-08-16T11:38:00.000-04:002011-08-16T11:38:43.260-04:00

By Pat Murphy Spectra, 1989 From the Oldies but Not Badies file comes yet another in my seemingly endless quest to find the perfect post-Apocalytic novel. This one is far from perfect, but I give it high marks for originality. However, in this review, I'm going to start with what is un-original: the basic conflict. Peace versus power, kindness versus killing, persuasion versus power, wit versus

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-38251932947063352302011-07-18T21:47:00.000-04:002011-07-18T21:47:48.174-04:00

  by: Somerset Maugham Audio book version How does a man live like a demon and write like an angel? Somerset Maugham's has always confounded me. I remember my introduction to him, which, oddly enough, was due to the movie version of The Razor's Edge. With Bill Murray, of all people, cast as the trouble, soul-searching WWI war veteran who finally reaches the stunning - in fact, tear-producing -

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-58805306859787545722011-06-17T11:47:00.000-04:002011-06-17T11:47:13.302-04:00

Since the next installment of True Blood is due to begin June 26 (yes, I have my DVR programmed!), this seemed like a good time to re-visit the Sookie Stackhouse novels, by Charlaine Harris. I just finished the latest, Dead Reckoning. And whatever else I say here, as soon as the next one is published, I'll definitely be reading it. I think the strong point in Harris' series is, without question

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-52478894381997718132011-05-17T12:17:00.000-04:002011-05-17T12:17:43.531-04:00

I know we've all had the experience of reading a book, and then seeing a movie based on the book, and being sorely disappointed. "That wasn't the way I pictured it at all!" we complain. And in truth, many a book is badly adapted for film - or is just a book that doesn't do well adapting to film. Still others fare better as movies than the original book version, and some are delightfully just

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-13824522027866619482011-04-21T14:50:00.000-04:002011-04-21T14:50:57.980-04:00

By: Suzanne Collins This book is really for the young adult crowd, but since when has that ever stopped me? The premise of the book is fascinating: in a post-apocalyptic U.S., the country is now divided into the Capitol and 12 other districts, each of which is not only impoverished, but the people who live there are assigned a particular task, such as hunting, coal mining, fishing, etc. The

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-6383634757931770342011-02-17T14:14:00.000-05:002011-02-17T14:14:03.331-05:00

The Forgotten Epidemic that Remains One of Medicine's Greatest Mysteries By: Molly Caldwell Crosby 2010 My grandfather died of the Spanish Influenza, an epidemic that hit the world in 1917, and which finally burned out around 1920. It was a severe and deadly flu that killed somewhere between 50 and 100 million people - something in the neighborhood of 3% of the world population. More than 500

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-60980454213232731002011-01-17T17:03:00.001-05:002011-01-17T17:14:06.687-05:00

Here I go, back on my dangerous-true-adventures kick. I think this is a winter thing with me; if I have to be indoors and stir crazy more than I want to be, then the least I can do is live vicariously, reading books about plain-old-crazy people, who do things like dive into 5-mile-deep caves, or climb 5-mile-high mountains. The book in question, High Crimes, is fascinating not so much because of

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-9880969911609851692010-12-18T13:34:00.000-05:002010-12-18T13:34:56.282-05:00

By William R. Forstchen 2007 Is it possible to love and hate a book at the same time? I remember my dad listening to the radio when I was a kid, yelling at the host, but tuning in every day, anyway! I suppose that's a love hate, or love to hate, relationship. And in effect, that's how I felt about this book. I loved the premise (if you've read my column for any time now, you know I'm a sci-fi,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-19973767241368611362010-11-18T15:05:00.000-05:002010-11-18T15:05:41.094-05:00

By: Chuck Palahniuk 2005 Appalled isn't a word I throw around for fun. And fun isn't a word I'd apply to this book. Now, having said that, let me also say that I listened to, rather than read it. And the production, qua production, was superb. The actors  - there are several of them that vary with the various voices of the characters in the book - are top-notch, and more than do justice to the

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-89179828641322659412010-10-19T11:14:00.000-04:002010-10-19T11:14:00.407-04:00

by: David Grann A new addition to my "deliberately put yourself into a dangerous and horrible situation" book enthusiasm, this book has all the vicarious thrills of the caving, climbing, and lost-in-the-Arctic real-life adventures reviewed previously. The author adopted a workable conceit: he bounces back and forth between the story of  late-Victorian adventurer, Percy Fawcett, who, early in

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-77786657704005109882010-09-20T14:31:00.002-04:002010-09-20T14:43:49.888-04:00

by: James M. Tabor published by: Random House (I read this book on my Kindle.) I can't remember the last time I got so entranced by a book - I literally had the "can't put it down" syndrome. I tend, as my readers will know, to get on kicks. This latest one had to do with caving. I was reading some magazine, and read the description of Blind Descent in a sidebar. Then it seemed that

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1185016475619964362010-06-19T09:21:00.003-04:002010-06-19T12:13:01.009-04:00

By: Neil Gaiman After writing my last book review of a book also read by the author (by Richard Dawkins, to great ill effect), I feel that in this book I have gone from the ridiculous to the sublime. If Neil Gaiman weren't such a gifted writer, he could easily have found a career reading books on tape - he's simply wonderful as a narrator. Of course, I would have loved this book no matter how I

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-36520658778056490142010-06-03T11:46:00.003-04:002010-06-10T11:31:42.488-04:00

By Richard Dawkins First, let me say that I am neither a Creationist, nor an ID'er. Why do I have to say this? Because as soon as you say, "But I have a question about evolution," you are told you are a Creationist or an IDer, or a "history denier." (This last is particularly artful, as it lumps you in with "holocaust deniers" and other evil-crazies in one short phrase.) This tendency toward

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-53157673133572552842010-05-19T10:32:00.000-04:002010-05-19T10:32:59.271-04:00

by: Michael Cox Audio book edition Narrated by David Timson Oh, wonderful! Just wonderful. I love it when I discover a book that won't leave me alone: it demands that I find time to read it, and holds me long after I should put it down and do something else (like go to sleep?). In this case, I listened to the audio book version, so I found myself sitting in random parking lots - the grocery

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-90018412721254176792010-04-01T11:16:00.001-04:002010-04-01T11:20:25.305-04:00

By: Donna Tartt Published by: Vintage Contemporaries, 1992 My friend Nadine lent me this book about a year ago, and urged me to read it. I started it, and had every good intention, and then it got put aside because I had to read something else to review. And it wasn't demanding my attention. Then another, and another, and another book got in the way. Finally, nearly a year later, I was going

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-15441597512557145612010-03-16T12:06:00.000-04:002010-03-16T12:06:10.369-04:00

By: Cormac McCarthy Published by: Vintage Books, March 2007 When do you give up? What is the nature of hope, of faith, of love? No simple questions in this book, and no simple answers. There is one telling episode in the middle of Cormac McCarthy's tour-de-force post-apocalyptic novel (five out of six Amazon reviewers used this same phrase to describe this book!) in which The Man and The Boy,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-10390687214950595212010-02-19T10:28:00.000-05:002010-02-19T10:28:37.297-05:00

By: Andrew Davidson Published by: Doubleday, 2008 (Now available in paperback and Kindle) The "word on the street" about The Gargoyle is that it's a brilliant book by an original voice. Very true! Within the first few pages, Davidson had written a description of an automobile accident, and the burning of the victim, that literally was impossible to read, and impossible not to. I kept stopping

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-51915598486285006072010-01-19T12:47:00.000-05:002010-01-19T12:47:34.941-05:00

By: Joe Navarro Published by: Harper Paperbacks, April, 2008 I'm a big fan of the TV series, Lie to Me. It stars Tim Roth (a plus all by itself), and it's about a brilliant guy who is an expert at reading body language and micro-expressions. And it is based on the book, What Every Body is Saying, by ex-FBI agent, Joe Navarro. Reading body language isn't new, exactly, in fact waaaaay back in

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-20788734763677304822009-12-21T12:12:00.001-05:002009-12-21T12:16:52.113-05:00

Preparing to write this month's column, I was thinking about books, and writers, and writing, and I recalled hearing, once upon a time, that some famous writer (was it Fitzgerald? Salinger?) would map his story out, character by character, on index cards which were affixed to the wall. Then he would cross reference each characters arc to keep his story in synch. And I started wondering what

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-13017078988570852852009-11-23T14:31:00.000-05:002009-11-23T14:31:35.901-05:00

My sister and I took a trip to Scotland a few years back. One of our running jokes was that I was looking for Jamie Fraser. Jamie is the hero of Diana Gabaldon's mega-bestselling fantasy/romance series, Outlander. In this series, our heroine, Army nurse Claire Randall is on a second honeymoon in Scotland with her husband, Frank, when she is magically transported back in time (to 1740 or so).

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-45122699828741775022009-10-20T16:58:00.002-04:002009-10-20T17:07:53.144-04:00

By: Phillipa Gregory Published: 2006 As I've mentioned before, I have been for some time fascinated by all things Tudor. Of course I have watched the HBO series, The Tudors, with avid delight, though the historic inaccuracies, not the least of which is that Henry VIII looked anything like Jonathan Rhys-Myers (the handsome young actor who portrays Henry on the series) by the time he married Anne

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-47385669125258585392009-09-22T13:48:00.001-04:002009-09-22T13:56:27.745-04:00

By: Roderick Gordon and Brian Williams Published by: The Chicken House, 2009 A year or so ago I wrote a review of a promising new series initiator, the first Tunnels Series book, aptly called Tunnels. While admitting this book wasn't even in the same universe, let alone league, as the Harry Potter franchise, I did find the premise interesting - a colony of humans who have taken to a world below

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-89901287287106986572009-08-21T15:48:00.000-04:002009-08-21T15:48:48.687-04:00

By: Dan Simmons Vampire story. Check. Dan Simmons, great sci-fi author. Double check. Setting: Romania. Triple check, home run. What's not to like about a book with all that going for it? Well, for starters, it's a little too politicized for my taste. While I understand that most writers will inject at least a bit of their personal agenda into a book, either in the narrative of the

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-39654251582187509532009-07-27T12:18:00.001-04:002009-07-27T12:24:48.825-04:00

By: Sarah Waters Published By: Riverhead Hardcovers There is a scene in The Little Stranger that reminds me in both tone and substance of one of the more horrifying scenes from The Haunting of Hill House, by pre-eminent American Gothic writer, Shirley Jackson. Mrs. Ayres, matriarch of the decaying old family by the same name, has gone up to the nursery to investigate the strange behavior of a "

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-78686607145052040552009-06-19T13:49:00.000-04:002009-06-19T13:49:07.140-04:00

By: C.J. Sansom Published by: Penguin Books, 2004 This book was shared with me by my son. After a few chapters I thought, "Ok, here comes a Catholics-as-evildoers book," along the lines of Dan Brown's books, only better written and researched. I was wrong. C.J. Sansom has created a thoughtful, detailed historic murder mystery in which villains and heros come in all shapes and sizes - and cross

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-42079930200809502972009-05-21T13:07:00.001-04:002009-06-04T16:24:54.654-04:00

I did the unthinkable the other day - cleaned my study. In the course of doing so, I had to organize my "to be read" pile of books. Well, pileS is more accurate. There are five of them, to be exact, each with four to five books of varying size and shape. Having just finished the last of the Sookie Stackhouse novels (I wrote about them a post or two back), it was time to choose my next read. So

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-23783945616888280702009-04-18T17:34:00.002-04:002009-04-19T21:15:47.135-04:00

Sugar Blues by: William Dufty Omnivore's Dilemma by: Michael Pollan I had actually planned to review these two books in January, when we're all busy making our New Year's Resolutions to get fit and lose a few pounds. Needless to say, my "resolution" to write these reviews failed! Better late than never, though, and now I can say that they're right in time for the "get ready for summer clothes

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-64336681430712936612009-04-04T09:09:00.001-04:002009-04-04T09:10:23.184-04:00

by: Joe Lansdale It's 1958, in a small town in Texas. You're seeing things through the eyes of innocent 13-year old Stanley Mitchell, Jr. Stanley just happens to discover a cache of old love letters. Which happen to have be written from one woman to another. At the outset, Stanley doesn't even know about sex. (For a 13-year old boy, even in 1958, this is a stretch...) And in one short summer

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-60383044908165047962009-02-19T17:52:00.001-05:002009-02-24T14:08:59.635-05:00

by: Charlaine Harris I wonder what it is in the gestalt that is making vampires so popular these days? Maybe it's how we're feeling about guys like Bernie Madoff, or the IRS? It seems as though every so often vampires, er, resurrect as a cultural icon, perhaps with a slight re-working, but generally representing some deep, slightly sexual, definitely dangerous fascination with death,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-56725201966069278022009-01-19T21:04:00.009-05:002009-01-22T14:02:36.436-05:00

By: Ann Coulter Published by: Random House Ann Coulter has, no doubt, done it again: delighted her fans, enraged her enemies. Come up with some thoughtful insights, and buried them in acid-tongued (though at times extremely funny) narrative. "Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault on America" will no doubt be a best-seller, to the tooth-grinding dismay of those who find her politics to the

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-69785248046310397342008-12-19T12:59:00.003-05:002008-12-22T10:25:52.378-05:00

One of the more fun, and one of the more trite, exercises of the New Year is lists. Resolution lists. Best movie lists. Best sports moments. Worst move star outfits. Whatever. Always willing to clog up the world with one more list, I offer my "Books You Really Should Read at Some Point in Your Life So Why Not This Year" list. Moreover, I give you at least one reason why it's important to read

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-20259124942229042742008-11-22T13:33:00.002-05:002008-11-24T09:21:22.795-05:00

By: Yann Martel Published by: Random House, 2001 This was a difficult book to read for three reasons: I kept getting interrupted by work demands, which was very frustrating, as it is an excellent and very "readable" book; I kept stopping to write down particularly pithy or well-written sentences or paragraphs; it is both painful, and painfully beautiful, to read on many levels. Let's start

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-17254809781167911592008-10-16T10:29:00.003-04:002008-11-14T09:31:58.137-05:00

By: Anne RiceAudio book versionI have frequently been one of "the first" to discover a new novel.I was actually among the early Harry Potter "adopters."I found "The DaVinci Code" (and thought it was dumb) long before the mainstream caught up with it.And "Interview with a Vampire," Anne Rice's breakthrough novel from 1976, was one of my favorites before it caught the attention of readers in a big

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-45149060803092817282008-08-27T14:31:00.004-04:002008-08-27T15:40:24.655-04:00

by: Nancy Klein Maguirepublished by: Public AffairsWhat happens when 5 young, healthy men from disparate backgrounds leave the 20th century behind and enter a monastery whose clock stopped ticking 1000 years ago?Nothing you are likely to expect.Because she met and married a former Carthusian monk, Nancy Maguire wanted to learn more about the process of "discernment," the time of discovery when a

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-62837684076049748052008-08-19T13:26:00.004-04:002008-08-19T14:25:16.271-04:00

by Roderick Gordon and Brian WilliamsPublished in the US by Chicken House Scholastic, 2008In the flyleaf of the book, the authors warn young readers that "The authors, the publisher, and Will Burrows wish it to be made clear that digging underground tunnels is a specialized business, can be very dangerous, and should NOT be attempted by you in your backyard or anyplace else where there's dirt."As

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-13714076030692094762008-07-16T19:59:00.006-04:002008-07-17T13:51:11.824-04:00

A Tale of Two CulturesWhy I Turned RightEdited by Mary EberstadtWhy I'm a DemocratEdited by Susan MulcahyEarly last year, I wrote a review of Why I Turned Right, a collection of essays in which a handful of leading Conservatives explained why, in several cases against all odds, they became Conservative.Last weekend, I finished reading the Left's equivalent, Why I Am a Democrat.A comparison of the

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-74524828609148201292008-06-15T19:56:00.006-04:002008-06-15T20:40:09.652-04:00

by: Scott Smithpublished by: Alfred A Knopf, 2006A major motion picture release, 2008I love serendipity.The last few days, while I read The Ruins, we've had some hot, steamy weather.Again, while sitting out on a hot, steamy Sunday afternoon, reading The Ruins, I watched in fascination as a small spider, sensing the movement of my arm against the deck chair, prepared in all his tiny fury to

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-71994974491169413722008-05-19T10:11:00.005-04:002008-05-26T19:47:50.581-04:00

Paperback EditionThree Rivers Press, 2004(Originally published: 1995)I wrote the beginning to this review a dozen times. There are so many good ways to start:"I get to use the word "jejune" in a book review!""The central question is, why choose sides with the father who abandons you rather than the grandparents who stay by your side?""At worst, he's a closet demagogue, a clandestine racist. At

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-66387456161121699672008-03-28T11:41:00.004-04:002008-05-16T12:16:28.938-04:00

by: Brooke A. MastersPublished by: Times Books, 2006"This guy, his tactic is, if you kick him in the shins, he'll kick you in the teeth, and he's better at it than you are." (A defense attorney who went up against Eliot Spitzer)This biography of Eliot Spitzer, erstwhile Governor of New York, former Attorney General, and infamous Client 9, was written soon after he was elected Governor, and well

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-35770324712411857002008-02-18T11:34:00.004-05:002008-05-16T12:17:26.904-04:00

By: Stephen KingPublished By: ScribnerI cheated. I read the Amazon reviews of this book before starting my own. And while I had not yet articulated it, I find that I agree with the comments made by the non-ravers among the reviewers.First let me say that I read this book, all umpty-zillion pages of it (never let it be said that Mr. King is not verbose) in one sitting. Well, ok, I had the flu and

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-62568171072940866872008-01-21T16:19:00.001-05:002008-05-16T12:18:08.950-04:00

By: Alan LightmanPublished by: Pantheon Books, 2007An ordinary man sees something extraordinary, and suddenly, his take on The Big Questions becomes important. Not just to him, but to everyone around him.David Kurzweil is a saint for modern times: he is St. Paul on the road to Damascus in a deconstructed world.An unpreposessing middle-aged man, Kurzweil loses his wife, his job (that he had

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-74516876073624966202007-12-18T13:51:00.000-05:002007-12-28T13:39:54.033-05:00

by: Carol Platt Liebaupublisher: Center Street, 2007A number of years ago, when a friend of mine and I were both pregnant with our first children, I asked her husband (in my quick and original style) whether they were hoping for a boy or a girl. Expecting the usual quick and original response that it didn't matter as long as the child was healthy, I was stunned to hear him reply, "A boy. Girls

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-16065715449877352252007-11-02T12:44:00.001-04:002007-11-05T09:57:21.456-05:00

By: David MorrellPublished by: CDS Books, 2005Vadding, roof and tunnel hacking, urban exploration, shafting. My kids and I used to call it "adventures," though we confined our explorations mainly to abandoned properties in the country. It's also known, unfortunately, as "breaking and entering," and aside from the physical dangers (collapsing floors, rats, sharp, rusty objects, and the possibility

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-75169057576635468122007-10-30T16:37:00.000-04:002007-10-30T16:59:57.291-04:00

by: Russell KirkPublished by: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2007First published by: Fleet Publishing Company, 1961This is a strange book, on many levels.First, there is the author: "Russell Kirk (1918-1994) was an eminent literary and social critic who rose to national prominence in 1953 with the publication of his book The Conservative Mind."This hardly matches up with the storyline,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-33103685118638392992007-10-16T20:39:00.001-04:002007-11-05T09:53:15.150-05:00

by: Neil GaimanPublished by: HarperTorch 1996Music to read this book by: Kokopelli's Soul by Johnsy G., Whispermusic.This is one of those books I can't believe I missed when it was first released, but I'm delighted to have discovered it at all. I devoured it in a couple of days, and was enthralled by the world it introduced me to. I was not surprised to learn that there had been a movie attempt (

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-24020267741228740472007-10-15T21:02:00.003-04:002008-05-21T13:01:33.987-04:00

A little over four years ago, I wrote an article for this paper which I called "The Proper Use of Magic."It related to the imminent release of the third Harry Potter movie, The Prisoner of Azkaban, based on the book of the same name.I had just finished reading a series of aimed-at-adolescents books called His Dark Materials, by Phillip Pullman, and I was struck by both the glaring similarities,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-9213088507288907132007-09-15T13:52:00.000-04:002007-09-19T22:15:35.120-04:00

by: Jack KerouacPublished by: Penguin Books, 1957Jack Kerouac was the kind of man women can't help falling for. Darkly handsome with a sensual mouth and brooding eyes, his writing is more poetry than prose, and his observations have the ring of depth.And he's shallow, selfish, childish, unreliable, and thrill-seeking. What's not to love, right ladies?As I re-read his classic saga, ON THE ROAD, (

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-11679370599135429242007-09-03T13:24:00.002-04:002008-05-20T14:27:33.683-04:00

by: Jeff Longpublished by:I'm sure if Jeff Long were to read my analysis of his latest thriller, he would disagree with what I'm writing. Still, what is most remarkable about his captivating story about a descent into hell and return is what is absent.This is the second part of a story that began with the novel, The Descent. That book began with a wonderful premise - that hell actually existed,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-66184943713484318772007-07-18T17:14:00.000-04:002007-08-15T20:31:05.518-04:00

by: Arthur Phillipspublished by: Random House, 2007A movie was released in 2005 that was based on a true story. The movie, and that story, are described this way: "Between the years 1818-1820, the Bell Family of Red River, Tennessee was visited by an unknown presence that haunted the family and eventually ended up causing the death of one its members. Starting with small sounds around the farm,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-69972177393752650252007-07-12T17:39:00.000-04:002007-07-23T17:37:49.462-04:00

Thursday, July 12, 2007Only 9 days to go til Harry Potter: The Deathly Hallows is released. I've pre-ordered my copy on Amazon, and expect to have it that day - when I will immediately begin reading it.Now I acknowledge I am a sucker for a)books in general, b)fairy tales (and this definitely qualifies) and c)serial stories of mystery-solving, gifted kids who are better than they should be (I

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-68741521575870971472007-07-05T13:43:00.000-04:002007-07-05T15:14:34.562-04:00

The Mask of Atreusby A.J. Hartleypublished by: Berkley Books, 2006The Cat Who Had 60 Whiskersby Lilian Jackson Braunpublished by: Penguin, 2007Here's the quick review: Stop reading The Mask of Atreus after the climax. The anti-climax is just dreadful political tripe.Lilian Jackson Braun is phoning it in. Even an avid Cat Who fan, like me, was sorely disappointed, if not a little annoyed.Ok, now

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-59771207429102468332007-06-12T12:26:00.002-04:002008-05-16T11:28:12.062-04:00

By: S. Fred Singer and Dennis T. AveryPublished by: Rowman and Littlefield, 2007Anyone who has read my book reviews has learned one basic fact about me: as my mom would have it, I'm a contrarian. I prefer to believe that, rather than being contrary, I need to learn both sides of any issue, and will go to great lengths to be sure that I learn both the pros and the cons of what "everybody thinks."A

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-32009844219170603872007-05-17T16:40:00.000-04:002007-06-28T08:50:51.626-04:00

By: Alison WeirPublished by: Ballantine Books, 2007I'm all awash in the Tudors lately.The HBO-style Showtime series, The Tudors, detailed, provocative, and oh-so-slightly yet appropriately modern, has been my Sunday night activity of choice for several weeks now.And it was sheer coincidence that I recently picked up a novel that takes place in the same general time period - with the same general

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-73329408138769147462007-04-30T17:34:00.000-04:002007-04-30T17:46:36.841-04:00

By: Chris KuzneskiPublished by: Jove Books, 2006File this one under "Religious Conspiracy" novels.Once again, we discover that the Catholic Church - specifically, The Vatican - is covering up a "secret that will shake the very foundations of Christianity."Granted, it's a new twist: this time, the cover up will prevent the world from learning that a certain Roman really invented the whole Christ

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-34772045675906002112007-04-16T15:17:00.000-04:002007-06-28T08:51:08.882-04:00

The Christian Right and the War on AmericaBy: Chris HedgesPublished by: Free Press (A Division of Simon & Schuster), 2006I'm automatically suspicious of any book with the words "the war on America" in its title.If popular, potboiler books are to be believed, then war is being made on America from all sides, in all ways, at all times.The right is making war on America; the left is making war on

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-18980228630526129312007-03-21T10:17:00.000-04:002007-03-21T14:36:22.361-04:00

By: Joe MaguirePublished by: William Morrow, 2006I will set this up by saying that I read Godless, by Ann Coulter, and therefore have first-hand knowledge of what she wrote.Secondly, I am out of patience with any and all writers who think there is something useful about writing how much they "hate" someone, how "ugly" that person is, what an "idiot," how "stupid," "dumb" or, well, pick a word

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-28023976888075271142007-03-15T13:33:00.001-04:002009-03-02T16:42:26.864-05:00

Edited by: Mary Eberstadt Published by: Threshold Editions, 2007 This book should be required reading, if for no other reasons than a) to understand the minds of conservatives (and not leave it up to the opposing side to define them), and b) to read the thoughts of Joseph Bottum and Rich Lowry, which alone would have sustained the book. While those two writers stand out, the other essayists in

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-67932786127024050142007-03-14T16:11:00.000-04:002007-03-21T14:38:52.051-04:00

By: Jennifer EganPublished by: Knopf, 2006You're following the story of a wired New York hipster stuck in a medieval castle in "mittel Europe." He's visiting a cousin he tried to kill years ago by shutting him up in a cave. The cousin is now disgustingly wealthy, and the hipster is pretty much a loser. The cousin (Howie) is going to turn the castle into a new-agey, get away from it all kind of

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-84309232508843053372007-02-20T15:14:00.000-05:002007-02-20T17:22:33.564-05:00

By: Dan SimmonsPublished by: Little, Brown and Company (January 8, 2007)The Terror is really two books: the first one is terrific. The second one is predictable and trite.I was introduced to Dan Simmons a few years ago when I was given the book Hyperion for Christmas. It took me a while to get around to reading it, but it was one of those "discovery" books that enthrall you, and which you want to

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-29423480755561580322007-02-16T12:08:00.000-05:002007-02-16T12:41:16.411-05:00

By: Brian Wansink, Ph.D.Published by: Bantam Books, 2006We can boil down (no pun intended) Brian Wansink's thesis to these simple sentences: the eating you do without thinking about it is the eating that will get you fat. The eating that you don't do without thinking about it will correct that situation.Of course, how Wansink reaches that conclusion is much more involved. He spends a good part of

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-86954881100906133192007-02-05T10:42:00.000-05:002007-02-05T11:03:39.502-05:00

By: Paul Christopher"An ancient medallion may reveal an earthshaking truth... or a devilish deception."Ok, I admit it. I am a sucker for religious conspiracy theory novels. I like the slightly supernatural undertones, the idea that there is a secret society pulling the strings behind the scenes, and the notion that the clues are all there in history, if we just have the eyes to discern them.For

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-27501515364184700072007-01-18T20:29:00.000-05:002007-01-19T08:04:03.139-05:00

I had a hard time deciding which book to review this month. I've read several, none of them outstandingly good, and none of them anything like the others. Looking at the three that made the final cut, I was amused at my own lack of literary coherence. And that reminded me of a great idea I once had: while shaking my head over all the books on my bookshelves (and in boxes, next to the bed, in the

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-8796088026268358892007-01-10T17:24:00.000-05:002007-01-10T17:42:10.455-05:00

By: Mark SteynPublisher: Regnery Publishing, Inc., 2006Mark Steyn is fond of using insulting comments and reviews of his work to sell his work. Visit his website, and you'll find comments like these:"Dangerous Idiot Of The Week"The New Statesman (United Kingdom)"The leaden humorist Mark Steyn"Paul BaileyThe Sunday Times (United Kingdom)"It's wonderful to find a Canadian warmonger, isn't it?"Chris

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-16362566032330599592006-12-18T15:31:00.000-05:002007-01-10T17:58:51.610-05:00

Author: William Kalush and Larry SlomanPublisher: Atria Books, 2006Did you see the movie, THE PRESTIGE? It wasn't a big hit, and probably shouldn't have been for a whole host of reasons - but then, I'm not the movie critic here. I happened to have thoroughly enjoyed that film, and I also enjoyed one of those serendipity moments in starting to read the new biography of Harry Houdini at about the

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-75001650539222209522006-11-15T09:40:00.000-05:002006-11-15T11:35:35.763-05:00

Brad LockwoodCollector Books, 2005Why should you read a book about a family cutlery business that grew and flourished in the late 1800 and early 1900s?Well, because it's my family! That's a good reason for me to read it, but what about you?In a way, this book could be the story of any of our families at a critical juncture in American history. The period of the late 1800s to the early 1900s was,

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-75500446937980138332006-10-19T09:10:00.000-04:002006-11-15T10:52:53.724-05:00

Which camp do you fall into?a) "I ran right out and got Bill O'Reilly's CULTURE WARRIOR" because it's by Bill O'Reilly and therefore it must be good"b) "I wouldn't read that book with a right-wing gun to my head"c) "Why bother all pundit-written books are garbage", ord) "Sure, I'll read it, along with every other agenda-driven book on the market. I want to understand all sides of current issues!"

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1156002129432749842006-08-19T11:39:00.000-04:002006-08-22T12:32:35.070-04:00

Aloysius Pendergast is on another case, and the game is afoot.Pendergast is the Sherlock Holmes of the 21st century, and authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child are doing a pretty good job of bringing the quintessential Victorian gentleman into modern times.Sherlock Holmes, of course, needs no introduction. The world's first and some would argue best "consulting detective," Holmes first

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1152636970323515792006-07-11T12:49:00.000-04:002006-07-12T10:31:53.416-04:00

Re: Walt:How do you think Walt would feel about your thesis? Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince is a biography by Marc Eliot, about the darker side of entertainer Walt Disney. Among the serious character flaws and deeds of Disney's of which Eliot claims are his life-long anti-Semitism (including a deleted scene from the 1933 Silly Symphony Three Little Pigs in which the Big Bad Wolf dresses as

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1150148958867336462006-06-12T17:17:00.000-04:002006-06-13T15:23:10.973-04:00

Title: A Field of DarknessAuthor: Cornelia ReadPublished by: Mysterious Press, 2006Confession time: I didn't really want to like this book. You know how it is: Darn. Young woman who started in out in Syracuse in the 80s writes a book with a cover blurb by a NEW YORK TIMES best selling author. (Why didn't I write a book?) More cover reviews: 'sassy, darkly funny, smart.' (Sure, that means the book

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1147460272441999922006-05-12T14:53:00.000-04:002006-05-16T09:49:58.130-04:00

by Ruth NewtonPublished by: Florida Academic Press, 2006I will be honest right up front: this book is not an easy read. It's dense, packed with references to "great literature," and the kind of explication that requires absolute attention and rigorous mental exercise. That said, it's also a very important book for those of us who truly love fiction.Perhaps the best way to start the review is with

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1145552904182755972006-04-20T13:03:00.000-04:002006-11-15T10:49:21.092-05:00

Don't panic! This is not going to be yet another latter-day analysis of Dan Brown's DA VINCI CODE. Well, ok, part of it will be. But what I am actually going to write about in this month's column is the omni-media approach to entertainment, or, how to take an existing idea, write a really bad book about it, and get really rich.First let me say, in case you haven't already read between the

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1145550990335848162006-04-20T12:28:00.000-04:002006-11-15T10:49:45.843-05:00

By Joseph E. RoeschRobert Hale Limited, 2006There are battles, there is intrigue, there's romance, there's a powerful female heroine – and most of all, there is terrific historical research.More, Joseph Roesch's novel, BOUDICA, QUEEN OF THE ICENI, centers on the lives and fortunes of the fascinating Celts, a people surprisingly ahead of their time in ways that, from our perspective, seem somewhat

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1139255310339205132006-02-06T14:32:00.000-05:002006-11-15T10:50:10.602-05:00

Author: Thomas C. FosterPublisher: Quill, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, 2003Explication. I loved it even before I understood what it was - an attempt to find the deep, inner meaning of literature by carefully examining its component parts: words, phrases, sentences, characters, etc. In school, I'd cheerfully pick apart the tangled skein of say, Shakespeare, or Tennyson, or Faulkner, or

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1136917271448621922006-01-10T10:54:00.000-05:002006-11-15T10:50:31.957-05:00

Author: Steve BerryPublished by: Ballantine BooksDate: 2005This is a really bad book.However, this book has provided me a rare opportunity of using the word "egregious" in a sentence. As in: The author commits "egregious" grammatical errors, and more egregious still, the editors fail utterly to pick them up. (That's actually two "egregious" uses in a single sentence!)Moreover, the book is rife (

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1134824580008827542005-12-17T07:56:00.000-05:002006-11-15T10:51:01.111-05:00

For this month's book column, since it is the new year issue, I'm going to do a "lists" episode.Books I Always Re-readBooks I Promise to Read This YearBest Books of 2005Books I Always Re-Read:Something by Jane Austen. It is difficult to say what my favorite is, probably Emma. Why? Wonderful writing, and because I really enjoy Jane Austen's persona; her blend of humor, skilled observation, and

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1102538160051732762004-12-08T15:33:00.000-05:002004-12-08T15:36:00.050-05:00

Sweet Ballyvaughan by Judi McKeown Raindrops cling to the branches, the sun makes them diamonds at dawn. the birds sing a song for the whole world to hear and nature she just carries on the winter's retreating defeated by spring oh how I wish I'd no care. I live in the hope you'll return cross the sea to the Burren, to me and to Clareah, but is it the memory of the summer I taste? you'd think

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1097174285543192162004-10-07T14:38:00.000-04:002004-10-07T14:38:05.543-04:00

Front cover of The Death of Right and Wrong by Tammy Bruce.Posted by Hello

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1097173847870215412004-10-07T13:43:00.000-04:002004-10-07T14:59:55.103-04:00

I'm reading: The Death of Right and Wrong. I'm trying to learn more about formatting this blog, but thus far I haven't discovered much. So what is going on in the U.S. politically? I don't think it's usually this partisan and heated, or maybe I've been not paying attention. I re-read 1984 recently, and I was horrified at how much we have done that resembles what Orwell predicted - he was a

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1086981728237528372004-06-11T15:16:00.001-04:002006-11-15T10:51:39.194-05:00

Douglas PrestonLincoln ChildsFrom Publishers WeeklyThat FBI Special Agent Pendergast, one of the most charismatic thriller heroes in memory, dominates this latest novel from Preston/Child is the good news; that he's working the least interesting case of his literary career (other outings include The Cabinet of Curiosities and Reliquary) is the bad. An unusual serial killer is wreaking havoc in a

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1084374771191206372004-05-12T09:00:00.000-04:002006-11-15T10:52:10.341-05:00

by Andrew SolomonScribner, 2001Atlas is probably the right term for this book: it isn't a guidebook, it's a map. On the map are landmarks, roads, paths, hills, and even tourist attractions, but they are seldom reviewed or rated.Because the author is a depressive himself (though I'd kind of argue that and suggest that he is a bit more, perhaps neurotic or as far as psychotic?) he

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4087599.post-1083157527308190962004-04-28T09:05:00.000-04:002004-04-28T09:09:36.356-04:00

More for Narnia review: Harry Potter is cheerfully humanist: no god or devil, just human beings (and magical creatures) with good and bad intentions. His Dark Materials is aggressively humanist: the church exists, God does not, and human beings are responsible for all good and evil and the church is evil. (Controlling maniuplative, etc.) Dark Rising is also humanist, but the good and bad magic

Nancyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03188961291816813040noreply@blogger.com0