Read A Book A Week
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Posts Organized by Category
Monthly Archives: April 2011
Looking at Hard Times
This photo of a bleached skull was taken in May 1936 by Arthur Rothstein and appears in Mary Murphy’s history Hope in Hard Times, New Deal Photographs of Montana, 1936-1942. Today, the Great Depression of the 30s is far in … Continue reading
Listen to the Voices
Yesterday I took a break from reading, and went to listen to a play. Dylan Thomas’ Under Milk Wood is sub-titled “a play for voices”. Thomas wrote this long play in verse for the BBC in 1954. It is a … Continue reading
Awash in The Waves of Virginia Woolf
Finally, I finished Virginia Woolf’s difficult novel The Waves. For several weeks I have been reading it at bedtime. The novel usually put me to sleep after reading no more than 20 minutes, but the final 35 pages came alive … Continue reading
Lost in a sea of words
My new book is When the Killing’s Done by T.C. Boyle. I really enjoy reading Boyle, it’s not just his stories (even though they are great) it’s the words; you can get lost in some of his sentences and eventually … Continue reading
Bumbling Detective saves Czarist Russia
A bizarre suicide in a public square teeming with Muscovites enjoying a sunny springtime day is the opening scene in this quirky Russian detective story The Winter Queen by Boris Akunin; the date is the 13 of May 1876. A … Continue reading
A Romantic Telenovela Brings Drug Queen to TV
The Queen of the South is Spanish writer Arturo Pérez-Reverte’s epic novel of drug running, murder and intrigue. It is one of my favorite Spanish language novels. I read it several years ago, but decided to reread when I heard … Continue reading
Blue Dogs in my Dreams
Eyes of a blue dog is a collection of 14 short stories by the Colombian Nobel Prize winner Garcia Marquez, who is best-known in the US for his novels, One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967) and Love in the Time … Continue reading
Rough Guide to Bangkok Underworld
A Nail Through the Heart is a crime thriller set in the exotic underworld of the government authorized entertainment zones in Bangkok Thailand. In these zones explicit sex shows are legal as is the sale of all types pornographic materials. … Continue reading
Bricklayer Mets Out Justice
In the opening chapter of the crime-terror novel Bricklayer, Steve Vail, a former FBI agent turned brick mason, is making a routine transaction at his branch bank. Suddenly, two armed men enter the bank intent on robbery. But the robbery … Continue reading
