Monthly Archives: March 2014

“I was always wondering did they like me or did they like my songs.” – Neil Young Had some errands this week that took me close – too close – to my favorite used bookstore. My wife had a doctor’s … Continue reading →

To be a good writer, be a good student of your genre…this is especially true for poets…. Louis L. Gibbs’s book of poetry, The View from Inside the Mirror,  surprised me. I never know what to expect from a poet … Continue reading →

Sometimes heroism is an act of faith… Horton Prather’s The Honduran Plot is a political thriller that violates many of the conventions of the genre. The hero, Jake Grayson, is a college kid, a computer geek who has none of the … Continue reading →

“I am an Anti-Christ/I am an Anarchist…” – John Lydon  Joseph J. Ellis’s excellent study of the character of perhaps the most beloved and certainly the most enigmatic member of that group that we think of as the Founding Fathers, is … Continue reading →

Well, as Sir Francis Bacon tells us, reading maketh a full person.. In spite of my avowal to finish my latest book and against the better judgment of my optometrist, yet again I’ve added to the 2014 reading list and the … Continue reading →

Suspense, yes…but an awful lot of thoughtful – and realistic – romance, too… Danger in Blackwater Swamp by Saundra Kelley is one of those interesting books that benefits from having an identity crisis. Its principle desire is, I think, to be a … Continue reading →

A historical romance that offers typical historical accuracy – and atypical romantic complications… Jim Stephens’ Fields of Gold is a long book – of course, it covers more than three decades in the central character’s life, so there’s that. This historical … Continue reading →

To paraphrase the philosopher, to be near-great may be to be misunderstood… This essay will no doubt illuminate some of my idiosyncrasies as a reader and writer. Anyone who has devoted him/herself to reading and writing whether as vocation (as … Continue reading →

Sometimes a compilation reminds one that, to paraphrase Sesame Street, “Some of these things are not like the others…” The next book from the 2014 reading list was supposed to serve as a light refresher from my literary and “social/critical” reading … Continue reading →

A darling of literary fiction can actually write a pretty intriguing book -keep the dictionary handy… To move from the wildly popular Hunger Games to Room Temperature by Nicholson Baker is quite a leap for any reader – but, I’ve made it. So … Continue reading →