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Category Archives: Books

Reviews of Books

Book Review: Cold Mountain by Charles Frazier

Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier tells the story of W.P. Inman, a wounded civil war deserter who's only wish is to make it back to his home in Cold Mountain and his beloved Ada. Unfortunately for Inman, the civil war has blighted the South, and although he meets many compassionate citizens as he trudges west [...]

Book Review: The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell & Dustin Thomason

The Rule of Four by Ian Caldwell and Dustin Thomason follows four  friends through their last year of college. The plot follows Paul as he attempts to unravel a centuries old mystery hidden in The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, a book more rare than the Gutenberg Bible. Are the secrets it contains really worth killing over? But [...]

Book Review: Writ of Execution by Perri O’Shaughnessy

Writ of Execution by Perri O'Shaughnessy is a cross between a Grisham legal thriller and an Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel. Nina Reilly, attorney, gets naked on page 13, but due to a fast moving plot doesn't get any for the rest of the book (427 pages worth).  The book revolves around a 7 million dollar [...]

Book Review: Wicked by Gregory Maguire

Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire begins decades before Dorothy falls into the scene, with the birth of a strangely green baby girl who has unusually sharp teeth. We follow Elphaba as she grows up, attends university, and falls into the political turmoil behind the scenes [...]

Book Review: Pleading Guilty by Scott Turow

Pleading Guilty by Scott Turow is easier to read than Filth by Irvine Welsh, but the self-destructive protagonist still got on my nerves. I enjoyed the book more when I started skipping paragraphs of internal dialog to get back to the action. Mack is an ex-cop, washed-up lawyer, and recovering alcoholic. When a partner at [...]

Book Review: Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson

Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson tells the true story of two American wreck divers who discover a sunken U-boat off the coast of New Jersey where the historical records say none should exist. Over the course of several years they risk death (at least three other divers die while exploring the U-Boat) and their [...]

Book Review: The Lobster Chronicles, by Linda Greenlaw

  The Lobster Chronicles : Life On a Very Small Island by Linda Greenlaw, picks up where The Hungry Ocean leaves off. Linda has decided to give up her life of 19 years as a swordfish boat captain and move back in with her parents on the Isle Au Haut, off the coast of Maine, [...]

Book Review: The Merchant’s Partner by Michael Jecks

The Merchant's Partner by Michael Jecks is the 2nd book in his "The Knights Templar" series. Set in the Medieval West Country of England, it follows the local bailiff Simon Puttock and Sir Baldwin Furnshill, Keeper of the King's Peace, as they attempt to solve the murder of a local midwife, widely believed to be [...]

Book Review: Linda Greenlaw’s The Hungry Ocean

Linda Greenlaw's The Hungry Ocean: A Swordboat Captain's Journey is the true story of a one month Sword-fishing trip interspersed with stories from other trips that Linda has captained. Although this trip is not much different from every other sword-boat trip, the tale still makes exciting and very interesting reading.  It paints a detailed picture [...]

Book Review: Kingsley Amis’ Lucky Jim

Kingsley Amis' Lucky Jim is a classic. It's one of the first comic send offs of the English style higher academic system, and tells the story of Jim Dixon, a young lecturer at a small British college. Although Jim drinks too much and is somewhat of a cad, he is less annoying that everybody else [...]