Book reviews
Books of 2022 – Twelve More.
A little while ago, I posted ten books I’ve most enjoyed this year. As promised, and again, in no particular order, here are more, twelve to be exact, and at the end a few thoughts on my reading year: THE SECRET RIVER by Kate Grenville. “The Orange Prize-winning author Kate Grenville recalls her family’s history…
Read MoreBooks of 2022 – First 10
Picking an annual “best of” books list is always challenging since I know that books I love might bore someone else silly, and vice versa. Still, I read SO many good books this year (and 127 in all), and I want to share a few of my favorites. Besides, all the other cool kids are…
Read More“I Will Never See The World Again” by Ahmet Altan
Reviewing this book for The Guardian in 2019, Simon Callow said, “To review certain books seems like an impertinence. This is one of them. It speaks for itself with such clarity, certainty and wisdom that only one thing needs to be said: read it. And then read it again.” I agree. I have just…
Read MoreAnnie Ernaux – “Happening” Review
Although I had heard of Annie Ernaux (one could hardly live for a decade in France and NOT hear about her), until now I hadn’t read her work. Why not? Well, to be honest I am generally not terribly interested in memoirs of someone’s erotic life, nor of autobiography at all. I rarely find they…
Read MoreAn Age of Questions
What a week. A new Supreme Court Justice, the first Black woman. And oh, what work she has to do since SCOTUS has overturned Roe vs Wade and has effectively gutted the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to fight climate change. Sadly, more absurd decisions are expected in the future. Then there is the war in Ukraine,…
Read MoreBooks – “What Strange Paradise” by Omar El Akkad
** spoiler alert ** About that ending… El Akkad has won the Scotiabank Giller Prize this year for “What Strange Paradise.” I just finished reading it and found it wonderful, disturbing, frustrating, and thought-provoking all at once. This book will, I suspect, confuse a considerable number of readers. I say this because of the ending,…
Read MoreBooks — Leonard and Hungry Paul by Ronan Hessian
I love books. No surprise there. And some of my favorite conversations are about books, and sharing the books I love with friends. So I thought I’d start sharing some of them here. I won’t be reviewing them (since I’m really not a qualified literary critic, and I feel one should be to properly review…
Read More‘Tis The Season To Be Bookish #4 and final
These are some of the books I read and loved this year. The fourth and final post. You can pursue the other selections here and here and here. THE INNOCENTS by Michael Crummey. An astonishingly good book. I can see why it was nominated for every prize, although I can’t see why it hasn’t won…
Read More‘Tis The Season To Be Bookish #3
These are some of the books I read and loved this year. The third post. You can pursue the other selections here and here. THE OLD WAYS by Robert Macfarlane. My dear friend, Nathan Turoff, turned me on to Macfarlane. Thank you, Nathan! I could devote an entire blog to Macfarlane’s work. I am haunted…
Read More‘Tis The Season To Be Bookish #2
Continuing my annual round-up of some of the books I’ve loved this year. I present them in the order I read them. You can read about the first five by clicking here. Without further ado: MOCKINGBIRD by Walter Tevis. A sci-fi masterpiece: “A moral tale that has elements of Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, Superman, and Star Wars”…
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