Looking for a summer reading list? It's right here in James Patterson's call-to-action advertisement about saving books, bookstores and libraries.
Category: Good Books
Good reading: faith, passion & madness
Frances and Bernard meet at a writers' colony and thereafter begin a friendship that becomes a romance in this first novel by Carlene Bauer. It's the 1950's, and Bauer creates a small narrative gem that draws from the lives of novelist Flannery O'Connor and poet Robert Lowell.
Sleuthing for mysteries in Tribeca
There's nothing like the browse-and-discover experience inside an independent bookshop, especially when it's filled with crime novels and mysteries. Here's a peek inside NYC's terrific The Mysterious Bookshop, plus the books I purchased.
A place that gets to know you
Mark Brazaitis' Sherman, Ohio, invites comparison to Winesburg and Knockemstiff, the small Ohio towns immortalized in fiction by Sherwood Anderson and Donald Ray Pollock. Except Sherman residents in Brazaitis’ “The Incurables” don't feel trapped, like Anderson and Pollock's characters. Far from it. Here are their stories.
Tales from this antiquarian book shopper
Here's some insight into what can happen to a book lover in a giant room filled with exhibitors of used and rare books.
Dogs don’t tell themselves stories
Once again, Sam Savage brings his unique insight and humor to another noteworthy novel. "The Way of the Dog," similar to Savage's previous novels, uses a strong first-person narrator whose personality rises up off the page, as if talking to you in person. His name is Harold Nivenson, and he has a lot to say.
Reading Tessa Hadley
What happens when you read a book by an author whose work is consistently, highly praised, and yet you're unimpressed? I discovered the first take doesn't always ring true. Here's what I experienced when I read "Married Love," a collection of short stories by Tessa Hadley.
Caught in the sweet flypaper of life
20th century African-American photographer Roy DeCarava and poet Langston Hughes collaborated on a small book of black-and-white photos depicting everyday life in 1950's Harlem. Published in 1955, "The Sweet Flypaper of Life" reveals this time and place with a poignancy that eludes history books.
In Money, Mississippi, this soul never died
The murder of 14-year-old Emmett Till in August 1955 galvanized the nation to end racism. Bernice L. McFadden has fictionalized the historical event, spinning a seductive story with a magical vision. Here you'll also find links to resources concerning the Emmett Till story, including an interview with Emmett's cousin, who was present the night the killers took Emmett from his bed.
A grief unobserved
"La Petite" by Michele Halberstadt and translated by Linda Coverdale is a short (barely beyond 100 pages) memoir set in Paris 1968. It recounts events surrounding Halberstadt's childhood suicide attempt and demonstrates the devastating power of dismissive indifference. Michele Halberstadt is an award-winning French author, journalist and film producer. She's written a brave memoir that concludes with keen revelation.
A thin fabric of time and trust in Prague
"City of Dark Magic" is a fun novel to read. It's filled with mystery, time warp, musical references (Beethoven in particular) and a cast of colorful characters, including a 400-year-old dwarf. Pure entertainment.
The books I gave on Christmas Eve
Dinner at my house on December 24, 2012, included giving a book to each of my six guests. Here you'll find the titles of the books -- three novels, one short-story collection, one historical crime story, one allegory -- and how the selections were made.
Coming face to face with evil
Ian McEwan's newest novel "Sweet Tooth" is out; however, I pushed it aside, for reasons noted here, and selected a novel McEwan wrote before "Atonement" and even his Man Booker-winning "Amsterdam." It's one of his short novels, and it stirs up some interesting, philosophical questions.
Where’s the agreement? 2012 best books
How many lists of best books of 2012 can a reader take? They're spewing from media outlets like water from a broken hydrant. In a desperate measure to find some sanity in the mania, I cross-referenced four fiction lists to see which books they listed in common. The results are these five.
Everything happened. Everything fell.
Here's a book that's received a lot of well-deserved attention, a novel about two soldiers in Iraq in 2004 written by one who was there. Author Kevin Powers, however, is not only an Iraq War veteran, he also holds an MFA from the University of Texas at Austin, where he was a Michener Fellow in Poetry. These life experiences combine to create a powerful, unforgettable book, "The Yellow Birds."
The Longest Chapter 