My favorite bookstore, Schuler Books and Music in Grand Rapids, MI, is open again! They are open daily from 10 to 7, or you can access their book inventory anytime by visiting them online. I had this morning off, so I ventured out of my lair to visit them in person. They have excellent Covid-19… Continue reading The Most Fun I’ve Had In A Mask.
Category: Fiction
Five for Friday – TV Shows From Books
Haven - based on Stephen King’s The Colorado Kid, about an FBI agent assigned to a small town with strange happenings. I saw a few episodes; I don’t think I read the novel. Bones - based on Kathy Reichs’ crime series featuring main character Temperance Brennan. I’ve read a couple of the books and seen… Continue reading Five for Friday – TV Shows From Books
Michigan Classic Review of The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway
Words don’t come easily; reading this collection of short stories, I discovered beauty and I unearthed unpleasant attitudes toward others, both express and implied, which I can't ignore. The book is not exclusively beautiful or exclusively ugly; it's both. The collection contains finely crafted scenes in which every bird, tree, or blade of grass is… Continue reading Michigan Classic Review of The Nick Adams Stories by Ernest Hemingway
Five for Friday – 5 * indie books
I am now reviewing books for Reedsy Discovery, a UK-based platform that brings together authors, editors, reviewers, and readers of self-published titles. I’m sure I’ll post more about that later, but to celebrate this new adventure, which I hope will enhance the blog, I am sharing five five-star self-published books from their web site. Disclaimer:… Continue reading Five for Friday – 5 * indie books
Michigan Monday – Ernest Hemingway
Ernest Hemingway. I knew he had spent some time in Michigan – a good amount of time. What I did not know is that a lot of his Nick Adams short stories take place in northern Michigan. I’m a little embarrassed by that knowledge gap. Ernest Hemingway was born in Oak Park, Illinois, but his… Continue reading Michigan Monday – Ernest Hemingway
Sunday Classic – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
Betty Smith’s story of Francie Nolan’s growing-up years is the story of Francie’s mother Katie, her father Johnny, her brother Neely, and her aunts, uncles, and neighbors – but it’s also the story of Brooklyn in the early 1900’s as seen through the eyes of a child, a teen, and finally a young adult. Like… Continue reading Sunday Classic – A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (Betty Smith)
Michigan Monday – Steve Hamilton
Steve Hamilton was made in Michigan; he was born in Detroit and attended both Lakeland High School and the University of Michigan. Most of his novels (crime fiction) are set in the town of Paradise which is an actual town located in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, and feature private detective Alex McKnight. The first book of… Continue reading Michigan Monday – Steve Hamilton
Five Firsts for Friday – first in their series.
I realized after compiling this list that each story takes place in a different country. The Bridge of Sighs (Olen Steinhauer, 2004) – First in the Yalta Boulevard Sequence, Cold War spy fiction that I found engrossing. Five books total in the series. I hope he writes more. Recommend. Whose Body? (Dorothy Sayers, 1923) –… Continue reading Five Firsts for Friday – first in their series.
Five for Friday – Mothers
For brevity, I am not including links; you can Google the titles and authors: The Resurrection of Joan Ashby by Cherise Wolas: This is about mother, sons, and betrayal if you believe the dust jacket, but really the underlying theme is boundaries – honoring them, protecting them, and destroying them. Reading this book might lead… Continue reading Five for Friday – Mothers
Michigan Monday – Jeffrey Eugenides
One of Detroit’s own (although he now lives in New Jersey). Jeffrey Eugenides is a respected novelist and educator. Of his three novels, two are set in Detroit and its suburbs, and some of my enjoyment while reading The Virgin Suicides (1993) and Pulitzer Prize winner Middlesex (2002) is due to Detroit's prominence in both… Continue reading Michigan Monday – Jeffrey Eugenides
Bookish in the Mitten 