The Consequences of a Hand Job

Book Review of "The Fourth Hand" by John Irving Patrick Wallingford is an unusually attractive man but only a second-rate television news reporter who never seems to get the really good stories. Unfortunately, he becomes a headline himself when a lion bites his hand off during the filming of a piece on a circus in … Continue reading The Consequences of a Hand Job →

What is a "Portrait of America?"

Book Review of "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen The Berglunds, Patty and Walter, are a typical suburban couple. This is their story, told from their early beginnings throughout their lives. The Berglunds live in a home they've renovated in a run-down neighborhood just outside St. Paul Minnesota. Soon others from the gentrification crowd join their surroundings, … Continue reading What is a "Portrait of America?" →

No bones about it; this is a lovely book!

Book Review of "The Lovely Bones" by Alice Sebold. When George Harvey raped and murdered Suzie Salmon, she was only 14 years old. He did this in a room he dug out underneath the frozen cornfields. The story here, told from Suzie's point of view after she is dead, are her observations of life on … Continue reading No bones about it; this is a lovely book! →

Very Carefully, Apparently

Book Review of "How to Talk to a Widower" by Jonathan Tropper. Two years after Doug and Hailey were married, Hailey died in a plane crash, leaving Doug her home in the suburbs, her angry son who doesn't want to live with his father because of his new trophy wife, a large settlement from the … Continue reading Very Carefully, Apparently →

Flavored for Deception

Book Review for "Sweetness #9: A Novel" by Stephen Eirik Clark David Leveraux's first job is to test the toxicity "The Nine" an artificial sweetener. When he discovers adverse reactions in monkeys and rats combined with the company's cover up, he loses his job and has a nervous breakdown. His recovery comes through another job … Continue reading Flavored for Deception →

That Which Emerges from Her Cocoons

Book Review of "The Behaviour Of Moths" (aka "The Sister") by Poppy Adams. Take two estranged sisters, reunited after 47 years and of course, things aren't going to be comfortable and breezy. Put them in the stately home they grew up in, which is now a dilapidated mansion that one sister has stayed in all … Continue reading That Which Emerges from Her Cocoons →

Rapture, Ecstasy, and Bliss from Your Kitchen

Book review of "How to Be a Domestic Goddess" by Nigella Lawson The difference between cooking and baking is that the latter is a science. I've even heard it called chemistry for the kitchen. In truth, that's a good analogy because baking a cake or cookies isn't something you can just do without some kind … Continue reading Rapture, Ecstasy, and Bliss from Your Kitchen →

The Sparkle and its Tarnish

Book Review for "The Objects of Her Affection" by Sonya Cobb. If it hadn't been for that mortgage scam, the life Sophie dreamed of for her husband and two kids would have been exactly what she missed as a child - anchored and safe. But with her freelance web design work all but dried up … Continue reading The Sparkle and its Tarnish →

Beneath the Black Hats and the Wigs

Book Review of "Invisible City" by Julia Dahl. The police just found a naked woman's body in a Brooklyn scrap yard, and that's news. So the paper sends their newest stringer, Rebekah Roberts, to get the story. When she gets there, she finds herself in the midst of the exact same Ultra-Orthodox Jewish community her … Continue reading Beneath the Black Hats and the Wigs →

Steaming Open a Family’s Pandora’s Box

Book Review of "Instructions for a Heatwave" by Maggie O'Farrell. On the morning that the 1976 heat in London was about to hit over 90oC for the 10th day in a row, Robert Riordan went out to buy a newspaper - just as he did every morning. Only this time, he didn't come home to … Continue reading Steaming Open a Family’s Pandora’s Box →