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Mystery, history and the lives of women
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson ASHTON HALL. By Lauren Belfer. Penguin Random House Audio. Read by Jayne Entwhistle and Kristen Sieh. 12 hours, 38 minutes. Also available in hardback from Ballantine Books. Don’t start listening to (or reading) this book unless you have some time to spare. Once you start, you won’t want to stop. […]
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Life and love in spite of the horrors
Bob Moyer likes mysteries, detective stories and other fiction, but he also has a more serious side. In his nonfiction-reading mode, he’s often a student of the Holocaust. This book, he says, is very real – and, thank goodness, also a story of survival and even happiness. INTO THE FOREST. By Rebecca Frankel. St. Martin’s […]
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Murder, monks and mirth
Bob Moyer is back with a review of a book with plenty of “outlandish humor.” FELONIOUS MONK. By William Kotzwinkle. Blackstone Publishing. 278 pages. $26.99. William Kotzwinkle may be the most famous author you’ve never heard of. He has sold more than 10 million books across a swath of genres: the cult ‘70s favorite The […]
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Lost Generation, lost opportunity
Paul O’Connor, esteemed newspaperman and professor, makes it a practice not to review – or even to finish reading – books he really doesn’t like. Keep that in mind as you read his take on a historical novel about books and authors in Paris a century ago. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE PARIS BOOKSELLER. By Kerri […]
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Not for the faint hearted
There were the holidays, you know. Oh, and he recently moved to a new house. And other things intervened. But Bob Moyer is back in book-reviewing mode now, and the world rejoices. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer DEAD GIRL BLUES. By Lawrence Block. LB Productions. 218 pages. $24.99. She’s dead. Her blues are over. The […]
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Unraveling the girl she was
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer A GIRL’S STORY. By Annie Ernaux. Seven Stories Press. 160 pages. $18.95 Shame and humiliation. She spent two nights with a man, then fixated on him, in 1958, earning the name “whore around the edges” from her colleagues. She carried that shame with her for 58 years, until she decided to […]
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A beach read, and more
I’ve followed Kristy Woodson Harvey’s writing career from the beginning, and I’ve enjoyed every step of the journey. Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson FEELS LIKE FALLING. By Kristy Woodson Harvey. Gallery Books, Simon & Schuster. 384 pages. $16.99, paperback. Whether you’re heading to one of the recently re-opened beaches or passing the time at home, […]
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On duty, always
My husband, Lloyd Brinson, was a Marine officer (oops; I’m told there’s no such thing as a former Marine, so should I say is?) who served in Vietnam. Much later, he was an elementary school principal. He finds that this children’s book has much to offer readers of all ages. Reviewed by Lloyd Brinson GOODNIGHT […]
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Spenser’s in LA, but everything else is in its place
Bob Moyer has read a lot of Spenser books, and he says Ace Atkins has things pretty well in hand in this latest. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ANGEL EYES. A Spenser Novel. By Ace Atkins. Penguin. 320 pages. $27. Everything in its place. That’s what Spenser fans expect after 48 books in the series, […]
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New offering from an old master
Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer AGENT RUNNING IN THE FIELD. By John le Carre. Viking. 281 pages. $29. He’s 88, he’s written 25 books, and along the way he’s picked up a few tricks in more than one trade. Espionage is one of them. To stay at the top of the thriller game, Le Carre […]