It is a short book but has a range and depth that is uncommon. The skill of the author is disarming and the orchestration of this personal essay is flawless. Some books we welcome, but this is a book to…
Category: Book Reviews
Book Reviews
A review of The Visitor by Maeve Brennan
Brennan writes this kind of emotional turmoil with lightness and depth, evoking the wrenching fear and panic that true loneliness induces. Neither excusing nor explaining Anastasia’s heightened sense of self-preservation, Brennan’s is a powerful and compassionate voice, one that haunts…
A review of Why Lasker Matters by Andrew Soltis
Yet surely the chief reason, the darkest cloud obscuring Lasker’s greatness, is to be found in the myths concerning his play. It has been said that he would deliberately play “bad” moves to unbalance the position in a game, that…
A review of The Well-Fed Self-Publisher by Peter Bowerman
Bowerman has a particular strength in persuasion, and if you haven’t bought this book because you’ve already decided to self-publish, the first chapter will convince you why you need to. There are a number of other books on self-publishing, some…
A review of February Flowers by Fan Wu
The moment of transformation comes late in the novel, and is handled so subtly that it is easy to miss. Nevertheless the reader is left with a satisfying conclusion that doesn’t limit the story with overt sensationalism. February Flowers is a beautifully…
A review of Escaping Reality by Geoff Nelder
Well written, clever and full of black wit Escaping Reality is a hard to put down, stylish romp. There are laugh outloud moments, in prison, on the run, and back in prison again, plenty of twists, a compelling cast, an evocative setting,…
A review of The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn and Hall Iggulden
Yes, there’s a halcyon quality to The Dangerous Book for Boys, after all, in the main, children hardly learn history these days, grow up mostly without a well rounded education that includes Latin and grammar, don’t know how to make a…
A review of The Book of Hopes and Dreams, Dee Rimbaud (ed)
In a world frequently divided, supporting our “fellow man” is the keystone of civilization. The Book of Hopes and Dreams has been compiled to raise funds for Spirit Aid, which provides medical services to the people of Baglan Province. So Dee Rimbaud’s The…
A review of The Weather Man edited by Matt Ward
The Weather Man contains twenty-seven stories, and there’s a kind of similarity between them—nearly all of the stories contain a hard twist towards the end, and although there are a couple of exceptions, most are rooted in the psychological transformation of…
Impaled on Beauty. A review of The Man of My Dreams by Curtis Sittenfeld
While The Man of My Dreams is set up as a coming-of-age novel, Hannah’s growth is primarily physical rather than emotional. Although it is a rather unsatisfying read in that sense, there are many aspects to this capable narrative which make it…