Reviews

Peter Mayle has written delightful non-fiction accounts of his life in Provence--this switch to fiction, while equally delightful, appears somewhat authobiographical (both Mayle and the main character leave high-powered advertising jobs to find fulfillment in France), incorporating his love of Provence and its good food with a rather comical bank heist and kidnapping.  This is not a deep discourse on anything but it displays Mayle's affection and appreciation for this part of the world, and the book provides an entertaining and appetizing way to spend a lazy summer afternoon,

How to describe Baccano!? It's like a cross between Pulp Fiction and Benny Hill.

Journalist Dave Cullen’s Columbine , winner of an Edgar Award and Barnes & Noble’s Discover Award, puts to rest all the urban myths about the Columbine tragedy. Published on the 10th anniversary of the massacre (April 20, 1999), Cullen debunks some of the myths about bullying, loners, killing jocks and other misconceptions the public has about Columbine.

Every time I give up on these Irish rockers, they come back with something special.

Their second album, 1981’s “October,” was a bit weak in the songwriting department, but their third, “War” (1983) was terrific. 1997’s “Pop” and 2000’s “All That You Can’t Leave Behind” left me cold, but the band returned to form with 2004’s “How To Dismantle an Atomic Bomb.”

“I kinda liked this book. But my opinion on the matter probably shouldn't be trusted....” – Patrick Rothfuss via goodreads.com

Ignatz Award winning The Trial of Colonel Sweeto and other stories is a collection of webcomics and newspaper comic strips from the inventive creator, Nicholas Gurewitch.

In the spring of 1998, as part of my studies for my master’s degree in English, I signed up for a course called “Middle English Alliterative Verse.” When I saw the syllabus, it shocked me: We were to translate thousands of lines of medieval English into the modern.

I picked up The Gorgeously Green Diet, because I enjoyed Sophie Uliano’s first book, Gorgeously Green: 8 Simple Steps to an Earth-friendly Life

First published in 1955, The Chrysalids is a terrific science fiction novel that is too often overlooked.

While this story of military and political machinations is interesting, it’s also a stereotypical man’s book. Jack Reacher lives by his own rules and answers to no one. He gets to have sex with a woman who offers herself to him with no investment on his part, doesn’t fawn over him, and holds no future expectations of him. And of course he solves the mystery, catches the bad guys, and gets…uh, I mean, discards the girl.

Child’s intended audience is obvious, and it’s not me.