Category: Book Reviews

Though this is only the second book I’ve read by Annie Proulx, I can tell that her style and voice will keep me coming back for more and more of her work. Proulx blends the utterly fantastic with the totally mundane so seamlessly that she can pass virtually anything off in her writing and you’ll…

The World According to Garp by John Irving – A Book Review

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There are some books in existence that are simply must-reads. The World According to Garp is very much one of those books. Irving has written a novel of such simple complexity that it astounds the reader time after time. With this novel the statement is conveyed that all the nuances of life are important; every…

Haunted: Tales Of the Grotesque by Joyce Carole Oates – A Book Review

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I really looked forward to reading this collection of short stories. I love well-crafted, gothic tales, and from what I’d heard, Oates, an author I’d never before read, is something of a master. Sadly, nothing about Haunted indicated as such. First of all, I’m all for leaving a story off in such a manner that…

Toward the End Of Time by John Updike – A Book Review

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John Updike’s Toward the End Of Time proved a bit of an enigma to me. At times I thoroughly enjoyed it and at other times I seriously thought about putting the book down, never to open its contents again. In the novel our protagonist goes by the name of Ben Turnbull, a retired finance expert…

Night Shift by Stephen King – A Book Review

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This collection of short stories by Stephen King encompasses all that is great about one of our most prolific and talented writers. I’ve given most of King’s latest work a hard time over the last few years, but only because I know how truly talented he can be. These stories, most of which are from…

The Shipping News by Annie Proulx – A Book Review

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This novel won the Pulitzer Prize, so it was obviously held in high esteem by those far wiser than myself. And I have to admit that I enjoyed it very much. Proulx’s a rather fascinating writer. I’ve read a few of her books now, and I have to say that no two of them struck…

Lisey’s Story by Stephen King – A Book Review

Aug 14, 2008

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Stephen King once again offers us a story with a famous author, Scott Landon, as the protagonist, only this time he’s dead. His wife, Lisey, still struggles to deal with his passing even as she fights to help her troubled sister immersed in a crisis. To top it all off, a deranged fan stalks Lisey…

That Old Ace In the Hole by Annie Proulx – A Book Review

Aug 14, 2008

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Proulx has once again given us a captivating story about the most mundane and unexceptional set of circumstances imaginable. In this story we have Bob Dollar, a young man who has lived much of his life without purpose, suddenly hired by Global Pork Rind to scout out possible hog farm locations in the Texas Panhandle. …

A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon – A Book Review

Aug 14, 2008

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