Reviews

I cannot, in good conscience, recommend Joe Eszterhas’ memoir Hollywood Animal. I tried to read this book with an open mind, but in the end, ended up just about despising the author.

While reporter Adam Carlson is on assignment in Barrow, Alaska, he stumbles across the story of three trapped whales.  Big Miracle, a movie inspired by a true story, happened in 1988.  It shows actual footage of the events that unfolded in this remote part of Alaska. Footage includes Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings and Mike Wallace and it was a lot of fun to see these three icons from 24 years ago.

Susan Vreeland is known for her recurring use of art-related themes in her historical fiction books.  She makes a real painting the center of her writings.  Vreeland’s other books include Clara and Mr. Tiffany, Luncheon of the Boating Party and Girl in Hyacinth Blue. 

It is 1767 and rebellion is on the horizon. There is a great deal of unrest between the American Colonies and the British Crown. In the midst of this unrest, a young girl is murdered without a mark left on her body. That’s where Ethan Kaille, thief-taker and conjurer, comes in.

The unnamed heroine of this tale redefines whacky.  In her early twenties, with a degree in English, she is working in a pet library – yes, where pets may be “checked out.”  Meanwhile her life is turned upside-down by Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island (a library book checked out to a friend that she has no intention of returning.)  “

Endpoint is a fitting conclusion to the poetry collections John Updike published over the course of this prolific writer's life. And it's all the more poignant because the author was assembling this collection in the weeks preceding his death from lung cancer in January 2009.

Midnight in Paris is a movie that stayed with me long after viewing.  It is a sweet romantic comedy/fantasy starring Owen Wilson who is perfect as stand in for Woody Allen.

In her second installment in the Anna Dressed in Blood series, Kendare Blake hits the reader’s full force with instant action, gore, and sadly death.

The Chaperone is Laura Moriarty’s fourth novel and her first historical fiction. As the title suggests, Moriarty created an unforgettable heroine in an ordinary and conservative chaperone, Cora Carlisle.