-
Still time for a summer read
I’ll admit it. In a way, I’m late in reviewing this book. It would make a good beach read, and here we are at the end of July. I don’t mean that “beach read” description as an insult. While Summer in the South is an entertaining, reasonably quick read, it has more substance than many […]
-
Art, in the eye of one who knows
Steve Wishnevsky of Winston-Salem is a man of many talents. Besides being a prolific writer, astute reviewer and sage observer of the political scene, he also is a gifted luthier. He crafts beautiful instruments of wood. So when Steve is swept off his feet by a book, we need to pay attention. By Stephen Wishnevsky […]
-
Off to the South of Thailand
It’s always a pleasure to run across another good author. And if you make this discovery by reading what’s billed as the first in a new series, that’s all the better. Colin Cotterill is, apparently, someone whose works I should have been reading already. He’s done quite well with a series featuring Dr. Siri, a […]
-
So much information
Steve Wishnevsky has tackled a big book about a big subject and come away almost – but fortunately not quite – at a loss for words to describe it. By Stephen Wishnevsky THE INFORMATION: A HISTORY, A THEORY, A FLOOD. By James Gleick. Pantheon Books. 544 pages. $29.95. This is quite the ambitious attempt, to […]
-
Listening and laughing
There’s an odd thing about audio books. I find that I can enjoy listening to books that I most likely would not read. That’s been true of some pretty heavy nonfiction. And now I’ve found it to be true of one of Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum books. I started to say “mysteries” or “thrillers” instead […]
-
Reading Hillerman in Hillerman country
A day in June found me in Tuba City, Ariz., on the Navajo Nation. My husband and son and I were camping in the Four Corners area where Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado and Utah meet. This is Indian country, with large reservations occupying much of the area. Naturally, I thought of Tony Hillerman, who wrote […]
-
One of the best
Before he roared off on a motorcycle, in a cloud of dust and exhaust fumes, Bob Moyer left us a review of a book by and old favorite. By Robert Moyer A DROP OF THE HARD STUFF. By Lawrence Block. Mulholland Books. 319 pages. $25.99 Lawrence Block’s Matt Scudder, who has walked down many a […]