When I read an article touting the new biography of Dwight Eisenhower, entitled “The Age of Eisenhower,” as a page-turner, I sort of scoffed at the thought. Could a book about a U.S. President that didn’t even serve during a time of war really make it into that category? The answer is…. kind of. First …
Category Archives: Uncategorized
“Welcome to the Alice Network”
An American college student embarks on a journey to find her beloved cousin who went missing in France during World War II in “The Alice Network,” an astonishing story of female spies and human resilience. The strength of the human spirit, the families we forge in extraordinary circumstances, trust, greed, and above all guilt and retribution …
the blogger
A young Nigerian woman obtains a student visa and begins a new life in the United States in Americanah, providing an insightful account of family, work, and racism in America and beyond. Ifemelu, our narrator, discusses her early life in her native Nigeria, where her hot-stuff high school boyfriend Obinze internalized all of the American literature available …
an actor’s unusual role
A delightful & unusual tale of international intrigue, “Once a Crooked Man” is David McCallum’s debut novel. Best known as Ducky, the medical examiner on the wildly popular crime drama NCIS, McCallum departs from his character’s overly-detailed and scientific stories to bring readers a witty and nicely entertaining adventure. Harry Murphy, a moderately successful young …
the bad-ass handbook
Ruth Bader Ginsburg is fierce. That’s the take-away from the social media inspired “Notorious RBG,” a newly published look at the life of the second female justice appointed to the Supreme Court. While highly entertaining, it is also informative and taught me a lot about the evolution of women’s rights in the United States as well …
no easy mark
Comic genius Paul Murray presents a convoluted tale about the lack of principles in international finance in his latest offering, “The Mark and the Void.” I fell in love with Murray upon devouring the hilarious and poignant “Skippy Dies,” and was looking forward to him taking on the banking industry. Murray uses his patented, quirky, dark …
have faith
Two best friends grow up into young men in a small New England town in John Irving’s “A Prayer for Owen Meany.” The tale of Johnny Wheelwright and his pal Owen Meany is set in the eerily named Gravesend, New Hampshire, where the two are bonded in their youth and face life’s trials and tribulations together. This …
2015 by the books
This past year, in an effort to keep tabs on my reading, I added a few steps to my book routine. This blog was born, because my intention is to write a post about each book I read. In addition, I started a spreadsheet to keep tabs on book consumption. On the spreadsheet I am tracking …
intergalactic
Space travel, to me, does not seem like the most humorous subject. To Mark Watney, however, hilarity ensues the second he is left for dead on the surface of Mars. “The Martian” begins on Sol 6, approximately one week into a Mars mission that was interrupted by a storm that shook up the astronauts’ equipment, …
politics over mindfulness
America is suffering from stress overload. We are all anxious, making ourselves sick by focusing on our schedules, our jobs, and the safety of the ones we love. What can we do to alleviate this suffering? Congressman Tim Ryan presents a suggestion in “A Mindful Nation.” A Democratic Congressman from Ohio, Ryan has written two books …
Literal Laura 