A Sheepishly Pseudo Autobiography.

Book Review for “The Lost Diary of M” by Paul Wolfe. This book is written as if it is the diary of Mary Pinchot, an American painter who was murdered October 12, 1964, shot twice at close range, and whose death remains an unsolved mystery to this day. What makes her murder so significant is … Continue reading A Sheepishly Pseudo Autobiography. →

The Difficulties of Devotions

Book Review of Sadness is a White Bird by Moriel Rothman-Zecher. According to Goodreads, Jonathan (or Yonatan) is “preparing to serve in the Israeli army while also trying to reconcile his close relationship to two Palestinian siblings with his deeply ingrained loyalties to family and country.” This novel is told in the form of a … Continue reading The Difficulties of Devotions →

Border Life

Book review of All the Rivers by Dorit Rabinyan. Liat is spending time in the New York apartment of friends, while she studies for her translation degree. Hilmi is living in Brooklyn, trying to make it as an artist. Their whirlwind romance would be uneventful except for the fact that Liat is Jewish and comes … Continue reading Border Life →

A Founding Mother’s Story

Book Review of "I, Eliza Hamilton" by Susan Holloway Scott In order to avoid stating the obvious, I see no reason to start this review with a story synopsis. This is because I believe that even those with only a cursory knowledge of American history will have heard the name Alexander Hamilton, and immediately recognize … Continue reading A Founding Mother’s Story →

The Choices We Make

Book Review of "Young Jane Young" by Gabrielle Zevin. Take one impressionable, young, and ambitious woman interested in politics, and mix it with one much older, handsome and dynamic (but married) Congressman and you'll have a possibly explosive mixture. Unfortunately, when the blast comes, often the fallout hits the young woman (and her family) far … Continue reading The Choices We Make →

Glitter and Tarnish

Book Review of "The Golden House" by Salman Rushdie. To preface this review, I have to begin by somewhat taking umbrage with the following parts of the publisher's synopsis of this book (which appeared just like this in the "Read it Forward" newsletter): "On the day of Barack Obama’s inauguration, an enigmatic billionaire from foreign … Continue reading Glitter and Tarnish →

Sins and Secrets of the Ancient Epicure

Book Review of "Feast of Sorrow: A Novel of Ancient Rome" by Crystal King. Apicius was a rich Roman merchant and famous gourmand who reached the height of his fame during the first century of the Common Era. His dream was to become gastronomic advisor to the Cesar. After his previous cook died of mysterious … Continue reading Sins and Secrets of the Ancient Epicure →

Truth and Politics

Book Review of "The Death of an Owl by Paul Torday. According to the forward (written by the late Torday's son Piers), this book is "about a man who couldn't help but tell the truth, and how that played out when he gets involved in a scandal involving a politician who runs over an owl … Continue reading Truth and Politics →

Not a blueprint!

Book Review of "The Handmaid's Tale" by Margaret Atwood. (Note: This is my 200th book review! To celebrate this, I thought it only right it should be about a classic novel. This also gives me the opportunity to throw in a bit of politics, which my readers know I've completely avoided using this blog for … Continue reading Not a blueprint! →

Protections and Professions

Book Review of "The Betrayers" by David Bezmozgis. The Israeli Government has decided to pull out of a large block of West Bank settlements with the hopes that this grand gesture can kick-start the peace process. The famous refusnik and leader of the Russian Immigrant party, Minister Baruch Kotler, is adamantly opposed to this and … Continue reading Protections and Professions →