Category Archives: Books

  Prairie Son by Dennis M. Clausen (1999. Mid-list Press. ISBN 0922811393) Ever wonder what it would be like to be utterly and totally alone in the world? Lloyd Clausen, the roustabout, laboring, job-changing father of the author of this … Continue reading →

            the Bones of Plenty by Lois Phillips Hudson (1962, 1984. Borealis Books. ISBN 0-87351-175-1) One of the benefits of being asked to participate in Buffalo State University’s Rural Lit R.A.L.L.Y. blog discussion of bygone … Continue reading →

                The Lincoln Lawyer by Michael Connelly (2005. Hachette Audio (audio version). ISBN 978-1-600247-2) John Grisham’s latest efforts haven’t met with the same critical and fan success that his earlier works did. Grisham’s … Continue reading →

  The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold (2009. Hachette Audio Books (audio version). ISBN 978-1-60024-842-9) Oh to have this talent. This is one of those books that, though deeply troubling in terms of its subject matter (the rape and murder … Continue reading →

                  One for the Money by Janet Evanovich (1996. Simon and Schuster (Audio version). ISBN 978-0-7435-5208-0) The first Stephanie Plum crime novel brings the young out-of-work Jersey girl into the limelight as … Continue reading →

                      I Curse the River of Time by Per Petterson ( 2008. Translated 2010. Picador. ISBN 978-0-312-42953-9) I got into Petterson’s prose ( I like how that phrase flows off … Continue reading →

When the Light Goes by Larry McMurtry (2007. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-4165-3427-3) brings back the Duane Moore character from The Last Picture Show (see my review below) and Duane’s Depressed (which I haven’t read). When last I knew, Duane … Continue reading →

                      The Last Picture Show by Larry McMurtry (1966 and 1994. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-85386-4) The title to this review isn’t meant to belie the fact that The Last … Continue reading →

                    Up North by Sam Cook (1986 and 2003. University of Minnesota Press. ISBN0-8166-4267-2) Everyone needs a toilet book. At least I do. Something to divert one’s attention from the business … Continue reading →

                    Prague by Arthur Phillips (2003. Random House. ISBN 0-375-7577-8) Too harsh, you say? I don’t think so, kind readers. The book blurb from The New York Times  (the determinator (to … Continue reading →