Take a listen as Terry and I discuss Ashenden. Writers can learn a lot from Maugham, especially if they write “quiet” books.
Category Archives: Book Reviews
Book Review: The Bookseller of Inverness
This one has unfortunately been a little bit of a slog. I bought it after seeing the author interviewed at the HNS conference, which proves that personal appearances actually sell books, at least anecdotally. (!) I wanted to love it! It isn’t bad, it just isn’t great. I would give it 3 stars out ofContinue reading “Book Review: The Bookseller of Inverness”
New Podcast Episode: The Picture of Dorian Gray
Take a listen as Terry and I discuss a classic that seems to resonate even more today!
Book Review: The Wedding People by Alison Espach
When I first heard about this book, I was intrigued by the premise—a woman goes to a fancy hotel to kill herself, but it turns out to be a destination wedding week and the bride keeps her from following through, because she doesn’t want her wedding to be ruined. In a world where it seemsContinue reading “Book Review: The Wedding People by Alison Espach”
Throwback Thursday
This novel has been on my mind lately, so I thought it might bear another look by you, too, dear reader.
Book Review: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton
If you are looking for a novel that combines environmental activism, ambiguous moral decisions, an evil billionaire, and plenty of twists and turns, this is it. The opening is a little slow, but don’t stop reading! Once Catton has the players on the board, the game is afoot! Meet Mira, the de facto leader ofContinue reading “Book Review: Birnam Wood by Eleanor Catton”
Book Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell
The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell is historical fiction at its best. Besides riveting readers with a ticking clock to a murder, O’Farrell places us firmly in Renaissance Italy with a woman who is young, with limited agency, and trapped in a world she is not completely equipped to understand. Lucrezia is nothing if notContinue reading “Book Review: The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O’Farrell”
The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett
Janice Hallett uses complex structure in her novels to great effect and the Alperton Angels is no exception. Hallett’s mysteries are like matryoshka dolls, every layer reveals something, but it isn’t until the last one that the full picture emerges. In the Alperton Angels, she takes a fictional cold case and has the reader followContinue reading “The Mysterious Case of the Alperton Angels by Janice Hallett”
The North Woods by Daniel Mason
This literary stroll through history is a great book if you are wondering what makes a book literary. In it, the author uses the frame of a piece of property to tell several stories that seem at first to be unrelated, but by the end, everything is connected! It is literary because it defies genreContinue reading “The North Woods by Daniel Mason”
Let me tell you what happened to me at the pool yesterday OR why you don’t open a novel with backstory
In a recent interview with Hank Phillippi Ryan, best selling author, I heard her give a GREAT answer to why you don’t start a novel with backstory. Let’s say you are going to tell a friend a story about what happened to you at the pool today. How do you start? When I was seven,Continue reading “Let me tell you what happened to me at the pool yesterday OR why you don’t open a novel with backstory”