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Hope for our times
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson ALMOST EVERYTHING: Notes on Hope. By Anne Lamott. Read by the author. Penguin Audio. 3½ hours; 3 CDs. $34. This little book from Anne Lamott is great medicine when things seem bleak and life is getting you down. I popped the audio version into my car’s CD player one day…
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Spenser: The magic continues
Bob Moyer takes a look at the latest Spenser novel and finds it worthy of the tradition. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer ROBERT B. PARKER’S OLD BLACK MAGIC (SPENSER). By Ace Atkins. G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 336 pages. $27. Spenser, the singularly named Boston P.I., shares both a name and a proclivity for poetic expression with…
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Murders and miracles
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson HOLY GHOST. By John Sandford. Penguin Audio. 10 hours; 8 CDs. Read by Eric Conger. $40. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. Virgil Flowers from the Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension is back in one of his best novels yet. The setting is Wheatfield, Minn., a tiny, middle-of-nowhere…
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Richard Russo, times two
I don’t know when Bob Moyer finds time to read and review books when he’s always traveling, playing pétanque and writing haiku, but I’m glad he does. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE DESTINY THIEF: Essays on Writing, Writers and Life. By Richard Russo. Knopf. 194 pages. Two for one. That’s what you get in…
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The American dream – or nightmare?
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson LAKE SUCCESS. By Gary Shteyngart. Random House Audio. 13 ½ hours; 11 CDs. Read by Arthur Morey and Soneela Nankani. $40. Also available in print from Random House. Barry Cohen is a hedge-fund manager who oversees $2.4 billion in assets and lives the pampered, extravagant life of the .01 percent…
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Saving the world, once again
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson SHADOW TYRANTS. By Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison. Penguin Audio. Read by Scott Brick. 11 hours; 9 CDs. $45. Also available in print from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. This latest in the Oregon Files books by Clive Cussler and Boyd Morrison offers, in addition to the usual action and drama, food…
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Not easy reading – but important
Tom Dillon, a veteran journalist, reviews two books that offer serious food for thought – one an investigative examination of Donald Trump’s business dealings with Russia, and the other a primer on dealing with tyranny. Reviewed by Tom Dillon TRUMP/RUSSIA: A DEFINITIVE HISTORY.By Seth Hettena. Melville House. 254 pages, $27.99. ON TYRANNY: TWENTY LESSONS FROM…