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Is Cormac McCarthy’s ‘The Road’ Better Than His Earlier Novels?
Was yesterday’s Pulitzer Prize for fiction another case of “right author, wrong book”? By Janice Harayda Book awards often go to the wrong book by the right author. This tends to happen — with the...
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Mysteries and Thrillers Set in Paris, London, Hawaii and Other Places You May...
When a plot is your passport Can’t afford that big trip you’d hoped to take this summer? Reading an atmospheric mystery or thriller can help to keep the fantasy aglow until next year. And Bill Peschel...
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Enid Shomer’s ‘Tourist Season,’ Short Stories About Women in Unfamiliar...
Female characters explore places that include Tibet, Florida and Las Vegas in a collection by a winner of the Iowa Short Fiction Award Tourist Season: Stories. By Enid Shomer. Random House, 256 pp.,...
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Authors for 49¢ on Amazon: John Lithgow, James Lee Burke, Melissa Fay Greene...
Fed up with the alpine cost of books? Amazon.com sells previously unpublished short stories, essays and other works for 49¢ through its Amazon Shorts program. The online bookseller requires that all...
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What Makes a Novel “Good”? Quote of the Day (Tom Wolfe)
What makes a novel “good”? Tom Wolfe once gave this answer: “To me, it’s a novel that pulls you inside the central nervous system of the characters … and makes you feel in your bones their motivations...
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Great Books About Scotland — A St. Andrew’s Day Celebration
The Scots — who gave us classics that range from Treasure Island to James Boswell’s Life of Samuel Johnson — celebrate their heritage on St. Andrew’s Day, Nov. 30, the feast day of the patron saint of...
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Maybe He Should Have Called It ‘Cutting for Oliver Stone’ – A Review of...
Twin brothers grow up in Ethiopia as the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front steps up its violence Cutting for Stone. By Abraham Verghese. Vintage, 667 pp., $15.95, paperback. By Janice Harayda Maybe he...
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In Defense of the Pulitzer Board’s Decision to Give No 2012 Fiction Prize
Update, Thursday, 2:50 p.m.: I’ve learned since writing this post that when juror Michael Cunningham was an unknown, nominee Denis Johnson helped to launch his career by providing a blurb for his first...
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Good Paperbacks for $16 or Less – Books for Your Economic Recovery
Get sand in your shoes, not in the gears of your Nook or Kindle, at the beach this summer By Janice Harayda Have you noticed that many of this year’s summer reading lists sound as though they were...
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Donna Leon’s ‘Drawing Conclusions’ – Art and Death in Venice
A mystery built on the theme that uncharacteristic behavior may reveal someone’s true character Drawing Conclusions. By Donna Leon. Penguin, 260 pp., $15, paperback. By Janice Harayda Guido Brunetti...
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A Totally Unauthorized Reading Group Guide to ‘What Happened to Sophie...
What Happened to Sophie Wilder: A Novel By Chris Beha Source: One-Minute Book Reviews http://www.oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com This guide for reading groups and others was not authorized or...
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‘What Happened to Sophie Wilder’– A Convert to Catholicism Bears Her Cross
A young writer faces a test of her faith when she cares for a dying man What Happened to Sophie Wilder: A Novel. By Christopher R. Beha. Tin House, 256 pp., $15.95, paper. By Janice Harayda American...
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Anna Quindlen’s Novel ‘Every Last One’ – We Need to Talk About Kiernan
Spoiler warning: This review includes plot details. Stop here if you don’t want to know them. Every Last One: A Novel. By Anna Quindlen. Random House, 299 pp., $26. By Janice Harayda An obtuse Vermont...
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Harlan Coben’s Thriller, ‘Hold Tight’ – Parents Snoop in ‘Sopranos’ Country
Mayhem results when parents install spyware on their teenager’s computer Hold Tight. By Harlan Coben. Dutton, 416 pp., $26.95. By Janice Harayda Hold Tight ought to be catnip for those of us who have...
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A Twitter Chat About ‘The Age of Innocence’ Friday With Award-Winning...
On Friday I’ll be cohosting a Classics Chat on Twitter about Edith Wharton’s The Age of Innocence, a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel about a Polish countess whose arrival threatens to disrupt the lives of...
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A Totally Unauthorized Reading Group Guide to the ‘The Fault in Our Stars,’ a...
10 Discussion Questions for Book Clubs and Others The Fault Our Stars By John Green Source: One-Minute Book Reviews http://www.oneminutebookreviews.wordpress.com This guide for reading groups and...
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John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ – Cancer-Stricken Teenagers in Love
“I’m gonna die a virgin” and other worries of gravely ill 12-to-18-year-olds The Fault in Our Stars. By John Green. Dutton Children’s Books, 313 pp., $17.99. Ages 13 and up. By Janice Harayda...
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‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ As a Gospel Allegory – Quote of the Day
What is To Kill a Mockingbird “about”? Harper Lee responded indirectly in a letter to the Richmond (Va.) News-Leader after a school board had banned her novel as “immoral”: “Surely it is plain to the...
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‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ As a Gospel Allegory – Quote of the Day
What is To Kill a Mockingbird “about”? Harper Lee responded indirectly in a letter to the Richmond (Va.) News-Leader after a school board had banned her novel as “immoral”: “Surely it is plain to the...
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‘To Kill a Mockingbird’ As a Gospel Allegory – Quote of the Day
What is To Kill a Mockingbird “about”? Harper Lee responded indirectly in a letter to the Richmond (Va.) News-Leader after a school board had banned her novel as “immoral”: “Surely it is plain to the...
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