Monday, December 28, 2009

2009 Book List Recommendations -- Maureen Corrigan's

1.  The Woman Behind the New Deal (Kirsten Downey)
2. Fordlandia (Greg Grandin)
3.  Dancing in the Dark (Morris Dickstein)
4.  Happens Every Day (Isabel Gillies)
5.  The James Deans (Reed Farrel Coleman)
6.  The Believers (Zoe Heller)
7.  A Gate at the Stairs (Lorrie Moore)
8.  Brookly (Golm Toibin)
9.  The Man in the Wooden Hat (Jane Gardam)
10. The Financial Lives of the Poets (Jess Walter)

Source:  NPR.com Best Books of 2009

Saturday, December 19, 2009

The Christmas Clock ....by Kat Martin


This is a little feel good novel -- more like a short story.  There is never any doubt about where the story is headed from the very beginning, but the brevity of the  work makes that bearable.  Very quick read - recommended for a plane ride.

Friday, December 18, 2009

The Winter Lodge by Susan Wiggs (Book 2 of the Lakeshore Chronicles)


I just finished the 2nd book in the Lakeshore Chronicles series.  This is another piece of sappy chick-lit, but oh-so pleasant to listen to in the car after looking at spreadsheets all day.
Easy and happy -- the guy always gets the girl and vice versa.  :-)

Monday, December 14, 2009

The Girls From Ames by Jeffrey Zaslow


I just finished this book based a  friendship between high school girls who managed to maintain a connection over decades despite geographical challenges, differences in religion, variable socio-economic situations, and different home life philosophies.
I did enjoy reading about how they maintained their connection.  Quite honestly though, while I was reading about their bonding during highschool, I couldn't shake the idea that they were a mean girls clique.  I wonder how a sequel "All the Other Girls from Ames" would read?

Saturday, December 5, 2009

READING LIST -- "For Heartbreak"

1.  Anna Karanina by Leo Tolstoy
2.  The Beans of Egypt Maine by Carolyn Chute
3.  The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
4.  Empire of the Sun by J.G. Ballard
5.  The Famished Road by Ben Okri
6.  The French Lieutenant's Woman by John Fowles
7.  Kate Vaiden by Reynolds Price
8.  Heartburn by Nora Ephron
9.  Middlemarch by George Eliot
10. Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Taken from 1001 Books for Every Mood

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

READING LIST -- "For Intrigue"

1.  All the President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein
2.  Brotherhood of Rose by David Morrell
3.  The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
4.  The Day of the Jackal by Frederick Forsyth
5.  The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson
6.  The Good Soldier by Ford Madox Ford
7.  Gorky Park by Martin Cruz Smith
8.  The Last Spymaster by Gayle Lynds
9.  The Pelican Brief by John Grisham
10. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Buchan
11.  Tinker, Tailor, Solder, Spy by John Le Carre
12.  The Untouchable by John Banville

I have ready # 3 and # 9.    #9 is one of Grisham's best novels.
Does anyone else have comments on any of these?

Taken from 1001 Books for Every Mood.

Empire Falls by Richard Russo


This book was written by the same author as one I previously posted (The Bridge of Sighs) below. 
I thought "The Bridge of Sighs" was okay, but not great -- howeer I frequently read an author in more than one work before I jump to a conclusion.  In this case it was fortuitous.  "Empire Falls" was an excellent character study.  Humor with a bit of an underlying dark side and some surprises toward the end.