By Ron Suskind Rating: 2 stars. Maybe 1.5. I had high hopes for this book. It’s tagline is “An american odyssey from the inner city to the ivy league.” My hopes were dashed early on when I realized that the book, though a true story, was a story of hopelessness, save for one boy. He […]
Book Review: A Lesson Before Dying
June 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Ernest J. Gaines Rating: 1 star. Apparently the Chicago Tribune and I fail to see eye to eye on some things. This book is one of them. I expected at least a tolerable read when I saw on the cover “This majestic, moving novel is an instant classic, a book that will be read, […]
Book Review: A Good Year
May 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Peter Mayle Rating: 3 stars. It’s not often I can reference the books I’ve read in random conversations with employees at Total Wine. I managed to do just that today with this one. It was an entertaining, quick read with a little mystery, a lot of wine-talk, and a sub-plot of friendship. The premise […]
Book Review: Without Reservations
May 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Alice Steinbach This book gets 3.5 stars. It tells the story of the author, who, once her children are grown, takes a leave of absence from her job as a reporter and travels. Her goal is to re-discover herself and her sense of self. What makes her tick, how she has changed, and how […]
Book Review: Animal, Vegetable, Miracle
May 29, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Barbara Kingsolver, with Steven L. Hopp and Camille Kingsolver This book gets 5 stars. If more stars were available, I would award them to this book and to every Michael Pollan book I’ve read. This is now on my list of “Books everyone in America should read.” The basic premise of this book is […]
Book Review: The Girl Who Played With Fire
May 23, 2010 by Leave a Comment
By Steig Larsson This book was an unexpected gem. I had heard of the next book in this series, “The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet’s Nest,” but didn’t realize this was in that series until about halfway through the book. The Background: Murder mystery filled with undercover reporting, scandal, a sex-trafficking operation, and murders thrown […]
