Category Archives: Books

(1992. Plume. ISBN 0-452-26324-7) First off, don’t rely on the book jacket description of this forgotten work of literary prose from a now-forgotten author. There is indeed a family secret, as hinted in the blurbs on the novel’s back cover … Continue reading →

The Racketeerby John Grisham (2012. Doubleday. ISBN 9780385535144) I must be honest here. As I’ve written before, formulaic fiction isn’t my cup of tea: I rarely read genre fiction. But when I do, I expect to be entertained by a … Continue reading →

Waging Heavy Peace by Neil Young (2012. blue rider press. ISBN 9780399159466) I’ve said it before when I reviewed Young and Crazy Horse’s Americana: I love the guy. I came of age in the late 1960s, early ’70s listening to … Continue reading →

Ordinary Grace by William Kent Krueger (2013. Atria Books. ISBN 9781451645828) 72. That’s the ranking of William Kent Krueger’s latest effort on Amazon. 2,479,690. That’s the ranking of Laman’s River, my latest novel on the same website. Though the two … Continue reading →

South Sea Tales by Somerset Maugham (1950. Perma Books. ASIN B000KU89E4) I found myself at the Litman Camp on Elsie Lake in Ontario. I’d finished a collection of short stories I brought with and ended up perusing the bookshelves of … Continue reading →

  Cold Trail by Jarkko Sipila (2007. Gummerus (Finnish). 2013. Ice Cold Crime (English). ISBN978-0-9824449-8-6)  This is the fourth Sipila novel that I’ve had the pleasure to read and review for New World Finn. Previously, I took a “stab” (pun … Continue reading →

Good Morning, Midnight by Jean Rhys (1974. Vintage Books. ISBN 978-0394710426) Jena Rhys is, like an author I am reading right now, Edith Pope, a somewhat forgotten novelist of the Jazz and Post Great War Age. Her best known novel, … Continue reading →

                    Women in Their Beds by Gina Berriault (1997. Counterpoint Press. ISBN 1-887178-38-4) No, I did not buy this book just because of its title or the cover. Shame on you … Continue reading →

  One of Ours by Willa Cather (1922. Alfred Knopf. Reprinted by Forgotten Books. ISBN 978-144003547-0)  Most of us at one point or another in our reading careers have read Death Comes for the Archbishop, O Pioneers!, and My Antonia … Continue reading →

If You Look for My Heart (Novel, eBook) (2012. CreateSpace. ISBN 978-1451564754) and If You Look for My Heart (CD/MP3) (2012. sonaBlast Records.) Both by Ben Arthur. I came across New York based musician Ben Arthur through my subscription to Poets … Continue reading →