Saturday Book Review
The Last Bookshop in London
A Novel by Madeline Martin I belong to a reading group near my home away from home in Florida. It’s my first, and quite a delight to be able to share thoughts about books with other people. Most recently, we’ve been reading The Last Bookshop in London, subtitled “A Novel of World War Two” by […]
John Gardner’s “Grendel”
Where, if anywhere, can we draw a line between good and evil? Where do the ideas for creating art come from? Anywhere and everywhere, I suppose. Sometimes I think they’re like a bullet out of the blue; other times they’re like a flock of birds or a swarm of bees, converging at a point in […]
“Eyes Open, Ears to the Ground” – Jay Newman’s “Undermoney”
It’s only May, but I’m nominating Undermoney as the Best Novel of the Year. Yes, Erica Ferencik’s Girl in Ice is right up there too, but Newman’s absorbing 480-page tome triumphs over anything I’ve read in quite a while. I think Newman is telling a very forthright tale about the world we live in, corruptly […]
Mixing Media
My next-door neighbor stopped by to lend me a book he’d just finished by the late, great Boston private-eye mystery writer, Robert B. Parker. Entitled Cold Service, I’d say it was an apropos title: it left me cold. I could barely turn the pages without yawning. I told my neighbor that Parker was once the […]
“Girl in Ice” by Erica Ferencik
A fellow Boston author delivers a subtle, powerful blockbuster Ah, the thrill of discovering a new voice, a new read. A really good read. I’m sitting in my “Florida room,” as screen porches are called here (yes, in Florida) watching a great thunderstorm outside, thinking how nice it is to be in 78-degree weather while […]
“Harlem Shuffle” by Colson Whitehead
The Novel, The Rolling Stones Song, The Dance and More The first thought blasting through my memory banks as I noted the publication of Colson Whitehead’s Harlem Shuffle was the Rolling Stones’ eponymous song from 1986’s “Dirty Work.” It’s a favorite of mine. I love the way its R&B motifs ripple and flow. The official […]