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Book 33 Reading this novel was like eating vegetables. I knew it was good for me, but… An American teacher is a “dynamiter” in the Spanish Civil War. His assignment is to blow a bridge and he is sent to a band of guerillas… Continue Reading “For Whom the Bell Tolls, by Ernest Hemingway”
Book 32 This was my own pick for my book club and it took me far longer to get through that it should have. The concept is great – at the core of three battling religions (Judaism, Christianity and Islam) there is some commonality… Continue Reading “Abraham, by Bruce Feiler”
Book 31 I don’t love Wally Lamb the way most book clubby people do, but the guy can tell a story. The hook of The Hour I First Believed is Columbine. Guy is a teacher there and his wife is a school nurse. She… Continue Reading “The Hour I First Believed, by Wally Lamb”
Book 30 Musician Patti Smith’s memoir of her friendship with photographer Robert Mapplethorpe won lots of awards. I didn’t know who he was and I barely know Smith’s work but Critical Acclaim + $1 at Half Price Books + Rock Star/Pop Culture = I… Continue Reading “Just Kids, by Patti Smith”
Book 29 I have read several first person narratives of the Hurricane Katrina experience. The Great Deluge is the closest thing to a definitive history. Really. Well. Done. Many of the stories I had heard before – Fats Domino, the SPCA, the retirement home.… Continue Reading “The Great Deluge, by Douglas Brinkley”
Book 28 Sub-titled “A Guide to Good Manners and Social Survival in Alaska” – I bought this used at the book store in the strip mall next to my hotel in Alaska. Loved that book store. And my copy is inscribed by the author.… Continue Reading “Fashion Means Your Fur Hat is Dead, Mike Doogan”
Book 27 The Bean Trees is an early novel from Kingsolver, who wrote The Poisonwood Bible, which was a very serious book club favorite. Taylor is a recent high school graduate from Kentucky who packs up a beat up old car and heads west… Continue Reading “The Bean Trees, by Barbara Kingsolver”
Book 26 Colm Toibin is the Irish author of Brooklyn, a One Book One Chicago pick from a couple of years back. I liked it enough to pick up a couple more of his novels. The Master is a fictional study of several years… Continue Reading “The Master, by Colm Toibin”
Book 25 Three old college dorm-mates take turns befriending then being betrayed by the same mysterious schoolmate, Zenia. One day, she turns up dead. They are not sad. Several years later, she turns up alive. And she is screwing with them. The story felt… Continue Reading “The Robber Bride, by Margaret Atwood”
Book 24 When I picked up this book at the Library’s Used Book Store, I thought I could read it in place of watching the documentary. But the film follows people, particularly children, trying to break out of the failing system. The book is… Continue Reading “Waiting for Superman: How We Can Save America’s Failing Public Schools, edited by Karl Weber”
The Next Dark Age 