Faint praise
The phrase “damning with faint praise” (from a poem by Alexander Pope) keeps coming to mind as I think about the book The 100 Years of Lenni and Margot, by Marianne Cronin. But I think what my reaction… Read More
California Bear
I posted on author Duane Swierczynski‘s Facebook page this week that I thought it highly suspect that this “Would you prefer to be lost in the woods with a man or a bear?” online meme took root just… Read More
Delightful whodunnit
I guess that headline makes my blog post kind of unnecessary; but I could not wait to offer up a reaction to Vera Wong;s Unsolicited Advice for Murderers, by Jesse Q. Sutanto. Let me start by saying something… Read More
Binchy’s best?
The winning title for that is endlessly debated in Facebook reading groups, but having just completed my third (fourth?) reread, I can say that this is the one for me. It’s hard to synopsize Scarlet Feather, because there’s… Read More
Binchy’s last
Before I began writing this, I did a search of my own blog to see if I had reviewed a Maeve Binchy book previous to this one, and I was surprised to find that I hadn’t. But I… Read More
Not so magical
I am a huge Alice Hoffman fan. I love magical realism, particularly the brand of it to which she introduced me in early works such as Seventh Heaven, Turtle Moon, and (perhaps her most famous) Practical Magic. I… Read More
Binchy lite?
Several people on the Friends and Fiction page on Facebook have noted, “I love Maeve Binchy, who else can I read who writes like she does?” Most have answered “Rosamunde Pilcher,” but that’s a fairly limited list of… Read More
Constructive maundering
This week my breakfasts were beguiled by a book I have meant for some time to read: Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog), by Jerome K. Jerome. You may or may not have… Read More
The Book Adept 