Poems that make grown women cry - ed. Anthony Holden and Ben Holden. Pub 2016 An interesting anthology - poems selected by a diverse group of women (mostly actors and celebrities) with an intro by each about the significance of the poem to them. Even without the intros, this would be a good, if eclectic,... Continue Reading →
Howard’s End, by EM Forster. Book report #22 (2017)
Howard’s End, by EM Forster. Pub 1910 I didn’t enjoy this book much – I found several sections to be a real slog to get through. I had a similar experience with A Room With a View a few years ago. There are a few sections where Forster reverts to almost a sly commentary about the lives... Continue Reading →
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage, by Alice Munro. Book report #21 * (2017)
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage. By Alice Munro, Pub 2001 I have enjoyed the few Alice Munro stories that I’ve read – usually in back issues of The New Yorker – and so decided to take the plunge with this one. I was not disappointed. Each story has a unique twist and tension, well drawn... Continue Reading →
The Opposite of Loneliness, by Marina Keegan. Book report #20* (2017)
The Opposite of Loneliness, by Marina Keegan. Pub 2014 I discovered this book when searching for anything new by one of my favourite essayists, Anne Fadiman. Her latest, it turns out, is the introduction to this volume of stories and essays by her former student, Marina Keegan. Keegan was just 22 when, shortly after graduating... Continue Reading →
The Little Virtues, by Natalia Ginzburg. Book report #19* (2017)
The Little Virtues, by Natalia Ginzburg. Pub 1962, this translation 1985. I became interested in reading this book after reading this review. I've had the book in my tsundoku for nearly a year, and brought this slim volume along for my recent holiday. As a book, it did not live up to the effusive praise of... Continue Reading →
The Griffin and Sabine Saga, by Nick Bantock. Book report #18* (2017)
The Griffin and Sabine Saga, by Nick Bantock. Pub 1991-2016 I started on this one when I recently purchased book 7, The Pharos Gate, published in 2016. I've read this entire series since it started, and so thought I should wrap it up, ticking off item 4 from the list (book published in 2016). But... Continue Reading →
The Moon is Down, by John Steinbeck. Book report #17* (2017)
The Moon is Down, by John Steinbeck. Pub 1942 This short novel was written specifically to be a piece of insurgent propaganda. As the US was entering WWII, Steinbeck became one of many artists with a patriotic and anti-fascist bent who wanted to use their skills for the cause. Originally intended to take place in... Continue Reading →
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. Book report (formerly) #17* (2017)
A Prayer for Owen Meany, by John Irving. Pub 1989 Despite this being one of my favourite books of all time (it would be on my Desert Island Books list), I realized when I started this one a few months ago that I'd only ever read it the once, back in 1989 when it first... Continue Reading →
A Mixture of Frailties, by Robertson Davies. Book report #16 (2017)
A Mixture of Frailties, by Robertson Davies. Pub 1958 This completes the Salterton Trilogy for me, and I was delighted with all three books. I don't know if other authors previously had worked in the trifecta format, but Davies does it masterfully, allowing the old and new characters in the newer books to blend pretty... Continue Reading →
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. Book report #15 (2017)
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman. Pub 2001 My longest read so far, but totally worth it. I'm not normally a fantasy-genre reader, but a) I'd heard from several reliable readers that this book was good, b) there's a mini-series out now based on it, which looks very good after the first few episodes*, c) I... Continue Reading →
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