Category Archives: Books

What do I mean? Well, like most sentient human beings, I wonder about what it’s all about. Why do some dastardly folks escape pain and agony and an ugly death when good, faithful, loving folks suffer cancer and MS and … Continue reading →

Newspaper men eating candyHad to be held down by big policeBut someday every thing’s gonna be differentWhen I paint that masterpiece (Bob Dylan) The point of O’ Brian’s massive and well-documented biography is not to cast Pablo Picasso as a … Continue reading →

I loved Marlantes’s debut novel, Matterhorn. Big, sprawling, filled with conflict and angst, it’s one of the best fiction books written about Vietnam. So when a friend sent me a FB message about Marlantes’s new novel, one based upon the … Continue reading →

Full disclosure. I go to the same ELCA church as Ms. Tucker, the daughter of the author and the editor of this collection. So take what I am about to say with a grain of salt. Most, if not all, … Continue reading →

My pal, Dave Michelson, gave me this tome to read. The thought behind Dave’s gesture was that, since both of us are going to Europe with a group of friends this August, and both of us are going to search … Continue reading →

OK. Here’s a required disclosure. I first met Ms. Stonich when her debut novel, These Granite Islands was released on the heels of my debut novel, The Legacy. We were both invited to do readings and signings of our books … Continue reading →

1 star out of 5. Terrible. When I think of all the books I’ve read, only two stand out as being as difficult to read and complete as this one. Until I Find You, a terrible novel by John Irving, … Continue reading →

Marvelous. That’s the one word I’d use to describe this fine biography as well as the exemplary life lived by Lutheran theologian, Dietrich Bonhoeffer. Prescient is also another word that fits here. Unlike many of the Lutheran pastors of his … Continue reading →

I’d always heard about Raymond Carver, hailed as the champion of late 20th century minimalism in short fiction. But I’d never read any of his work. He’s a rare animal, in terms of a fiction writer in that, so far … Continue reading →

Finally. After the Grisham debacle, The Reckoning, where a modern day writer began his tale of heroism in the South Pacific brilliantly, only to have it fade into nonsense at the book’s conclusion, I feel fulfilled. This collection is unique … Continue reading →