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 →
The Dog Who Dared to Dream, by Hwang Sun-Mi. Book report #14 (2017)
The Dog Who Dared to Dream, by Hwang Sun-Mi, translated by Kim Chi-Young. Pub 2016 This was a point-of-sale impulse buy, when I was last in the local bookshop. I was attracted to the lovely spare illustrations, and to the promised philosophical prose. While the story was as lovely as the illustrations, it was far... Continue Reading →
The Red Notebook, by Antoine Laurain. Book report #13 (2017)
The Red Notebook, by Antoine Laurain, translation by Jane Aitken. Pub 2014. A delicious romantic story about things lost and found - possessions, memories, relationships. This novella (it truly did not seem long or complex enough to call it a novel) takes you into the world of a kind and somewhat lonely bookseller, and the... Continue Reading →
Leaven of Malice, by Robertson Davies. Book report #12 (2017)
Leaven of Malice, by Robertson Davies. Pub 1954. I bought the Salterton Trilogy as a set on my Kindle, so it was a natural flow in to book two once Tempest-Tost was done. I (again) confess that I might not have read this one either in school, as the story was completely new to me.... Continue Reading →
Book report #11 (2017)
Sum, by David Eagleman. Pub 2009 A slim volume of very short stories, the book presents 40 versions of the afterlife - various visions of heaven, hell and everything in between. The stories are very creative, and widely various in their joy and bleakness. I've read this book a few times, and enjoyed it each... Continue Reading →
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