Dark, soulful tales that haunt long after the last page.
My goal for 2014 was to read 30 books. I did that, plus three. Of those, I only gave a 1-star review to one title, with everything else getting at least three stars. That’s a pretty good year of reading. I thought I’d recap the highlights here, as I tend to do at the start…
Tell the Wolves I’m Home by Carol Rifka Brunt My rating: 1 of 5 stars I seldom give up on a book, but about half of this one was all I could take. Within the first couple of chapters I was wondering why I’d thought it would interest me at all. Did I click the…
The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2014 annual report for this blog. Here’s an excerpt: A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,000 times in 2014. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 3 trips to carry that many people. Click here to…
Face the Music: A Life Exposed by Paul Stanley My rating: 4 of 5 stars The Starchild of KISS finally tells his side of the story in what is really the most readable of the four (co-authored) autobiographies by the band’s original members. While I’ve enjoyed all four books, Paul’s is the one where I…
Stoner by John Edward Williams My rating: 5 of 5 stars Having just now finished John Edward Williams’ Stoner, I’m almost at a loss as to what to say about it. The novel may be the most pleasant kick in the teeth you’re ever likely to get. William Stoner may be the saddest character in…
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell My rating: 4 of 5 stars Brace yourselves. This could be the sappiest book review I’ve ever written. It was hard to choose categories for this novel. Adventure? Mystery? Science fiction? Historical drama? It’s a little of everything. The novel is divided into sections that barely connect, but each one…
Tortilla Flat by John Steinbeck My rating: 4 of 5 stars I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this one. For The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden John Steinbeck is one of my favorite authors. Some of his shorter books, though, are hit or miss. I’d heard good things about Tortilla Flat…
Razor’s Edge, The by Michael Page My rating: 4 of 5 stars My journey through books about the meaning of life continued with W. Somerset Maugham’s The Razor’s Edge. While not as enlightening as Hesse’s Siddhartha, it was a solid, entertaining book, particularly for fans of Victorian British literature. Yes, I realize it was written…