Reviews

I read this book twice. Once in my native language Czech to keep up with the contemporary Czech authors and also my native language, and the second time in English to compare the precision and style of the translation. The book is a literary debut by this young Czech author. When this book was first published it became the most read book of the year in the Czech Republic and won several European awards.

This book describes turmoil on many fronts. Felix Hoffman, a Dutch Ambassador finds himself in Prague just before the Velvet Revolution of 1980s, his final diplomatic posting. In Kafka’s haunted city Hoffman spends his insomniac nights studying Spinoza and revisiting the traumas of his life.

I recently read, and thoroughly enjoyed, The Murder of King Tut. Like many others in the world, I have been fascinated by the story of Tut and his untimely death when he was only a teenager.

Louis Armstrong is an iconic figure in American popular culture and in jazz.

Two newly –wed Americans in their late 20s, Margaret and Patrick, find themselves in Africa in the late 70s, where Patrick, a medical doctor, is working a year in Kenya as part of his fellowship in equatorial medicine.  An adventure, climbing Mount Kenya with two other couples, takes a deadly turn, and deeply affects the relationship between Margaret and Patrick.  Anita Shreve fashions

Blue Heaven is what the locals call a rural area in Idaho where retired LAPD Blue Officers move when they retire. This gives residents a feeling of security and welcome income. But some of the former policemen are not are as noble and upright as they would have the local authorities believe.

I didn't check out this story collection until after Christmas but reading it out of season did not lessen my enjoyment. Great writers from Charles Dickens to Richard Ford are represented in this collection.

Generation Dead by Daniel Waters is another take on teen vampires. In this vampire tale, teens, and only some teens, who die are coming back as the living dead.

This book, Tana French's debut novel, is a mystery set in a suburb of Dublin, Ireland. Most of the story takes place in the present, but there are important references to an event that happened in August 1984.

Superfreakonomics is the follow-up to Freakonomics by the same authors. I found this a lot of fun to read, because they present lots of quirky subjects. The authors present these things as facts, but how can you really be sure?