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How peculiar: missing ravens and walking dead
What fun it is when the author of a beloved series gives us a new book. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson BRYANT & MAY AND THE BLEEDING HEART. By Christopher Fowler. Bantam. 383 pages. $26. Yes, they are back, despite repeated attempts by various powers-that-be in London to get rid of them or at least…
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A harrowing story of Vietnam
Forty years after the fall of Saigon, Paul O’Connor finds that a new book about a heroic mission in the Vietnam War makes for engrossing, if disturbing, reading. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor LEGEND: A HARROWING STORY FROM THE VIETNAM WAR OF ONE GREEN BERET’S HEROIC MISSION TO RESCUE A SPECIAL FORCES TEAM CAUGHT BEHIND…
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Mixed results
By Linda C. Brinson I didn’t read Sara Gruen’s 2006 novel Water for Elephants, but I heard high praise for it from a number of people. Back then, I was editing and writing for a newspaper’s weekly book-review page, and I rarely had the luxury of reading a book that someone else was going to…
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A liberal arts education, plus survival skills
Paul O’Connor finds that frequent digressions make this book all the more rewarding. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor NATURAL BORN HEROES: HOW A DARING BAND OF MISFITS MASTERED THE LOST SECRETS OF STRENGTH AND ENDURANCE. By Christopher McDougall. Random House Audio. 16 hours. $45. Read by Nicholas Guy Smith. Also available in hardcover from Knopf.…
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A jerk, but a fascinating one
I’m pretty sure Paul O’Connor listened to this audio book about Steve Jobs on his iPhone. I edited this review on my Macbook. It’s interesting to learn more about a man who had such a major impact on our lives. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor BECOMING STEVE JOBS: THE EVOLUTION OF A RECKLESS UPSTART INTO…
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Frankly, my dear
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson A TOUCH OF STARDUST. By Kate Alcott. Random House Audio. Read by Cassandra Campbell. 11 hours; 9 CDs. $40. Also available in hardback from Doubleday. Kate Alcott has done it again. She’s written another historical novel that’s a romance – the adventures and travails of one fictional young woman –…
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Saving “runners”
Here’s an intriguing review by Bob Moyer. The book is the latest in an interesting-sounding mystery series that I have somehow missed. What a treat to discover not just a new book that sounds good, but a whole series. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer A STRING OF BEADS. By Thomas Perry. Mysterious Press. 388 pages.…
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100 years later, Lusitania’s story is still gripping
I was already riveted by the early chapters of Dead Wake when Paul O’Connor emailed to tell me he was listening to the book, and it was terrific. I deferred to Paul for the writing of the review because he reads more historical nonfiction than I do – and because he finished first. I say…
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Sunshine and shadows
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson Memory is such a complicated thing. It’s always fascinating to compare memories with a sibling or other person with whom you shared a long-ago experience. Sometimes details will be radically different; sometimes one person may have no recollection at all of something that made a vivid, lasting impression on another.…
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Generals and their battles
When Paul O’Connor went traveling during his recent break from professorial duties in Chapel Hill, he took some serious reading matter along for company. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor WASHINGTON’S REVOLUTION. By Robert Middlekauff. Knopf Doubleday. 384 pages, hardcover. $30. THE LAST BATTLE. By Cornelius Ryan. Simon & Schuster. 576 pages. $18.99, paperback. Available also…