As the New York Times critic Marilyn Stasio has said: “Donna Leon can do no wrong . . . [Earthly Remains] is one of her best.”
BOOK REVIEW: A TREACHEROUS PARADISE by Henning Mankell – May 2022
People know Henning Mankell, if they know him at all, as the author of the recently televised Wallander crime series, based on ten books.
BOOK REVIEW: A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson – March 2022
Jane recommends reading this book as it is a layman’s guide to the facts of our material universe. It is an entertaining, riveting, humbling, and hugely informative book.
BOOK REVIEW: OH, WILLIAM By Elizabeth Strout – December 2021
Elizabeth Strout won the Pulitzer Prize for Olive Kittredge in 2015. An enthusiastic and faithful fan, I’ve read all of her eight novels. Her fictional world is set mostly in either Maine or New York City and sometimes the same people turn up from book to book.
BOOK REVIEW: BEWILDERMENT by Richard Powers – November 2021
Towards the novel’s conclusion, Powers gives us several moments of transcendent insight such as only he can produce. Despite my complaints, I’m glad I read this book and am tempted to read it again, as I did The Overstory. You can’t successfully grasp Powers’ conception of what’s possible in the universe, on both the inner and outer frontiers, in one go.
BOOK REVIEW – FLORIDA by Lauren Groff – October 2021
I first learned of Lauren Groff’s existence through the Andes Book Group, which had chosen Arcadia, her second novel, for its July meeting. I couldn’t attend but I read the book and loved it. I wanted more.