Reviews

I've been a James Lee Burke fan (and especially a fan of his character Dave Robicheaux) for many years, so I was delighted to discover Swan Peak, a novel that features Robicheaux and his friend Clete Purcel out of their usual Lo

This book, about the disastrous 2008 ascent of the Himalayan peak K2 which claimed the lives of 11 climbers and severely injured 2 others, is a riveting account of ambition, human error and heroism in one of the most punish

This is another first book by a new author. And it is a good one. Cold Kiss by John Rector begins with a young couple, Nate and his pregnant girlfriend, Sara, heading from Minnesota to Reno to get married. They stop at a roadside diner in Nebraska just as a snowstorm begins. They are low on cash so when Syl White, a fellow traveler whose car has broken down, offers them $500 to take him to Omaha, they accept.

Daniel Clowes' masterpiece, in my opinion, is Ghost World, his graphic novel about a youthful social misfit named Enid. (The credible film adaptation was aided considerably by the acting talents of Thora Birch.)

1952 South Africa is the setting for this mystery that brings the first years of apartheid to life. An Afrikaner police Captain has been found shot dead and left face down in a river near his hometown of Jacob’s Rest. Detective Emmanuel Cooper is dispatched from Johannesburg to solve the case.

Alice is only seven years old when she, her parents, and two brothers sail from London to the new world chasing her father’s dream of a better life. But the crossing is full of misery and death and when the ship finally arrives in Boston, Alice and her father are all that is left of their family. Without a backward glance or proper farewell to Alice, her father sells her into servitude to pay his debts and she becomes indentured until she reaches the age of eighteen. Luckily for Alice, the family to which she is now bound is a loving one. Over the years Mr. and Mrs.

Despite what my other reviews have covered, I do have friends or occasions where special diets are needed.  Vegan Brunch was just what I needed when vegan & vegetarian friends stopped over for a weekend.  It’s arranged by type of food, divided up in chapters such as The Savory, The Sweet, and The Toppings.  There are many tips on buying and preparing vegan ingredients, setting a table for brunc

Do you like mysteries set in the art world? Do you like mysteries with Wiseguys? Then this is your ticket. The main character is a mixture of hero/anti-hero who has gotten himself into a fine pickle and has only himself to blame! Tom Davin is an insurance investigator who works both sides of the art world and now everyone is out to make him pay! I enjoyed the dialogue and all the twists and turns. A fun read!

A friend said it was the best book she’s read in a long time, so I took The Elegance of the Hedgehog on my vacation – seemed perfect, nice little paperback to travel easy with plenty of time to read. After a couple of chapters I was not feeling the same love as my friend, but I was stuck in a hotel room with only that book, so I plodded on. I’m glad I did.