Month: August 2012

  • This year’s new gems from Anne Perry

    Fortunately for her legions of fans, Anne Perry continues to produce fine novels in her two series set in Victorian England, the William Monk novels and those featuring Thomas and Charlotte Pitt. These books offer so much: They are excellent historical novels. Perry does her research well, presenting us with an unsentimental picture of life…

  • A comedy with not a single laugh

    Our roving correspondent, Bob Moyer, takes a look at a 1947 novel by a German Jew. The book was translated into English in 2010. This novel travels some of the same territory as Anne Frank’s famous diary, but from very different perspectives. By Robert Moyer COMEDY IN A MINOR KEY. By Hans Keilson. Farrar Straus…

  • Understanding, with compassion

    Chuck McGathy is the pastor of a small Cooperative Baptist congregation in Piedmont North Carolina. Earlier, he spent many years as a chaplain in the U.S. Navy. He’s used to ministering to people with different beliefs and experiences of religious faith. Here, he finds a book that is surprisingly insightful and useful in helping others…

  • Move over Queen Elizabeth – I’ve had a James Bond moment myself

    By Linda C. Brinson Readers who have access to the Greensboro News & Record may have seen my James Bond spread on its book page Sunday, Aug. 5. I can’t link to it here because the News & Record is trying to avoid giving away its content online. I wish it well in that endeavor…

  • Let’s mess with Texas

    On part of his cross-country drive this summer, Paul O’Connor was accompanied by Gail Collins, a well-known New York Times political columnist. Well, Gail wasn’t really in the car with Paul, but her voice was, reading her latest book on CD. Its subject is a big one: Texas, and its influence on American politics. And…