A Cineaste’s Bookshelf
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REVIEW: THE ACCURSED by Joyce Carol Oates
Joyce Carol Oates is often heralded as the Queen of American Gothic, at least of modern days writers. Recently she has focused her efforts on short stories and editing collections of others’ short stories. This offering is a hefty novel … Read More »
REVIEW: DEATH IN THE VINES by M. L. Longworth
Every summer reading list needs a cozy mystery. This one is nestled in the community of Aix-en-Provence. Magistrate Verlaque oversees Commissioner Paulik’s investigation of a possible wine theft. A local vineyard is stunned to discover a number of irreplaceable bottles … Read More »
GIVEAWAY: THE BOOKMAN'S TALE by Charlie Lovett
Hello Dear Readers! I have a great giveaway for you. Just leave a comment and be entered to win this new book. I just started reading it myself and am enjoying it quite at bit. Description: Hay-on-Wye, 1995. Peter … Read More »
REVIEW: THE HONEY THIEF
By Nasaf Mazari & Robert Hillman Hazarajat, a central area of Afghanistan, has remained rural for centuries. Though modernity has seeped through the cracks of this archaic land, traditions have remained. One of those customs is storytelling. The authors bring … Read More »
REVIEW: THE GOLEM AND THE JINNI by Helene Wecker
In the turn-of-the-century New York City, a Syrian tinsmith names Arbeely is repairing a copper flask, when he unwittingly releases a jinni. The spirit has been captive an untold number of decades, unable to enjoy the freedom he once enjoyed. … Read More »
Armchair BEA - 2013
I will once again be participating in Armchair BEA. I’ve had a great time these past 2 years and look forward to “meeting” even more fellow bloggers. Watch this space from May 28-June 2 for themed posts and giveaways! (Image … Read More »
REVIEW: THERE WAS AN OLD WOMAN by Hallie Ephron
Perhaps what makes this novel so frightening is that it could happen to anyone. The devious plan is so deceptively simple that it barely registers as out of place. The narrative alternates between two feisty heroines — Mina, an … Read More »
REVIEW: THE UNCHANGEABLE SPOTS OF LEOPARDS by Kristopher Jansma
This is the The Talented Mr. Ripley for the newest generation. It’s a twisting tale of identity and the search for true companionship. Each chapter marks another episode in the young protagonist’s life. The book opens with an “Author’s Note”, … Read More »
REVIEW: THE MAN FROM PRIMROSE LANE by James Renner
This book is a bizarre and twisted that deals with obsession. Told primarily in the third person but from the point-of-view of reporter and best-selling true crime author David Neff. With a nose for finding stories, David takes possession of … Read More »
REVIEW: THE DAMNATION OF JOHN DONELLAN by Elizabeth Cooke
It has all the makings of a Georgian era Agatha Christie novel — a house full of suspects, bizarre alibis, unsubstantiated timelines, inheritances, jealousy, and a bottle or two of poison. When young soon-to-be baronet Theodosius Boughton dies unexpectedly one … Read More »
REVIEW: THE WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ by L. Frank Baum
With Illustrations by Michael Sieben Just in time for the release of Oz: The Great and Powerful, comes an all new edition of the original classic children’s story. All the usual characters are there. Dorothy and Toto are swept up by … Read More »
REVIEW: THE BURNING AIR by Erin Kelly
Erin Kelly’s third novel puts a modern twist on a classic archetype: The English country house mystery. This is a chilling psychological tale, told from a number increasingly unreliable narrators. The MacBride family is well-to-do and respectable. The patriarch is … Read More »
REVIEW: LADY AT THE O.K. CORRAL by Ann Kirschner
I must admit – I never knew that Wyatt Earp was married. He was, by most accounts, a dashing and magnetic man. But for every larger-than-life aspect of his legend, there was Josephine (Marcus) Earp. Daughter of a Jewish family, … Read More »
REVIEW: THE REAL JANE AUSTEN by Paula Byrne
Frustratingly little is known about Jane Austen. We don’t know what she looked like. There is only one drawing of her, as a youth, that is considered to be a portrait, but even some scholars don’t accept that. In time … Read More »
THE GREATCOAT by Helen Dunmore
This book would have done better as a short story. It has the makings of a good yarn, but it draws things out much too long. If kept clean and simple, it would have been much more effective. In 1952, … Read More »
