Briar Patch Books

Month: March 2012

  • More royal intrigue and romance

    Anne Barnhill, a real trouper, is back to writing, reviewing and even making author appearances in connection with her novel, At the Mercy of the Queen, published earlier this year by St. Martin’s. She’s doing all this even while recuperating from surgery and awaiting further medical treatments. She’s my hero! Here she reviews a book…

  • Mosley’s latest: Two looks

    Bob Moyer has been reading Walter Mosley’s novels forever. He’s a fan of the Easy Rawlins series, which supposedly ended a few years ago but now, reports say, is being revived. Leonid McGill is Mosley’s new protagonist. Bob read the fourth entry in the series, and I listened to it as an audio book. It…

  • It’s not easy being queen

    Anne Barnhill is recuperating at her home in Garner, N.C., after having had surgery, but that doesn’t mean she’s stopped writing. Nor does it mean she has stopped reading. In addition to working on her next novel, Anne has found the time and energy to review some books, including this one for our blog. (Pardon…

  • A Titanic tale

    As you surely know by now, in April we will mark the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Kate Alcott, a journalist, has, with admirable timing, given us an anniversary present of sorts: a first novel that draws deeply on the rich, true story of the infamous shipwreck. It’s available in print and…

  • Intrigue in the Tudor Court

    Anne Clinard Barnhill, who graces the pages of this blog with reviews from time to time, is recovering from surgery at the moment. We wish her all the best, especially since she needs to get busy writing reviews and finishing her second novel. I interviewed Anne earlier this year for a profile in the Greensboro…

  • Think you know all about our founders? Think again

    Paul O’Connor, who, like me, has been on spring break from the rigors of teaching journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has found time to review a book that’s been out a few years but is new to him. When I was the book-page editor at a newspaper, we did not…

  • Love vs. justice

    It’s spring break, and I’m sure my students are hard at work on the articles they have due soon after we reconvene in Chapel Hill. My assignment to myself was to try to get caught up on some book reviews. There are some that are more belated than this one, but Defending Jacob is on…

  • What’s not to like?

    Did you like Ike? If you are old enough to remember when he was president, you probably don’t have any negative memories of Dwight D. Eisenhower. Maybe not any particularly positive ones, either. He was just there, the president, old reliable. Paul O’Connor, who’s barely old enough to have memories of Ike, reviews a book…