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Fighting Irish – a tale for our times
Paul O’Connor reviews a new biography of a 19th-century immigrant who battled discrimination against himself even as he fought for freedom for those who were enslaved. Reviewed by Paul T. O’Connor THE IMMORTAL IRISHMAN. By Timothy Egan. Brilliance Audio. 14 hours, 9 minutes. Read by Gerard Doyle. $11.95 Audible Download. Also available in paperback. Mariner Books. 384…
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Poverty, material and spiritual
This memoir/sociological analysis came out last summer, but Bob Moyer finds that it’s just as relevant now as it was during the thick of the presidential campaign. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HILLBILLY ELEGY. By J.D. Vance. Harper. 261 pages. $27.99. According to J.D. Vance, you may be a hillbilly if you do the following during…
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Pirates, beware
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SHORES OF TRIPOLI: Lieutenant Putnam and the Barbary Pirates. By James L. Haley. Books on Tape. Read by Paul Boehmer. 15 ½ hours; 13 CDs. Also available in hardcover from G.P. Putnam’s Sons. 464 pages. Wow, what a book – a naval adventure tale full of action, interesting characters…
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Murder in Atlanta
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson OLD BONES. By Trudy Nan Boyce. Read by Rebecca Lowman. Books on Tape. 10 ½ hours; 8 CDs. Atlanta is a powder keg after someone fires on a group of students from Spelman College who are demonstrating for police reform. One student from the historically black women’s college is killed,…
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What the tide brings
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson BRYANT & MAY: STRANGE TIDE. By Christopher Fowler. Bantam. 436 pages. $27 Confession: I was so despondent upon finishing Christopher Fowler’s Bryant & May and the Burning Man last year that I never wrote the review. Something terrible had happened to Arthur Bryant,…
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A good thriller, laced with romance
Bob Moyer’s not particularly into vampire romance fiction, but if a vampire writer wants to try writing a thriller, he’s willing to see what she can do. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE CHEMIST. By Stephenie Meyer. Little, Brown and Co. 528 pages. $28. Stephenie Meyer came out of left field with her Twilight series and…
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While you were sleeping
Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE SLEEPWALKER. By Chris Bohjalian. Read by Cady McClain and Grace Experience. Random House Audio. 9 ½ hours; 8 CDs. $47. A new novel from Chris Bohjalian is always cause for celebration. It’s not just that he is a fine writer. He also is brave and inquisitive enough to tackle…
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A fresh perspective: What happened to the baby?
Here’s another review by one of Paul O’Connor’s students in opinion writing at the School of Media and Journalism at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Reviewed by Lauren Tarpley THE COUPLE NEXT DOOR. By Shari Lapena. Pamela Dorman Books (Viking). 320 pages. $26. A couple in New York attend a dinner party…
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In treacherous territory
Bob Moyer wrote this review a while back, but either because of human error or a disturbance in the force, it never made it onto the blog. The book has been out since last summer, but never fear if you missed it – it’s still around, and still good. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer THE…