Briar Patch Books

Tag: contemporary fiction

  • Being human in a tempestuous world

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson THE MARRIAGE BED. By Tommy Hays. Blair/Carolina Wren Press. 300 pages. $27.95. On what starts out seeming like a typical Tuesday evening, Asa Flowers drives home from his job teaching poetry at a small college in Asheville, N.C. The car radio tells him storm clouds will be heading that way…

  • Meanwhile, don’t miss this uplifting novel

    Bob Moyer reviews a new novel that sounds like the book we need to read these days. It is a joy to read, he says. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer HOW TO READ A BOOK. By Monica Wood. Mariner Books. 273 pages. $28.00 Coincidence. When it happens in our lives, it is remarkable. The phone…

  • A fitting sendoff

    If you missed this book when it was published in 2016, or over the years since, you may join Bob Moyer as he savors Richard Russo’s last, skillful look at his memorable literary creation, Donald “Sully” Sullivan of North Bath. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer EVERYBOODY’S FOOL. By Richard Russo. Alfred A. Knopf. 451 pages.$29.…

  • What he left behind

    Bob Moyer takes on a different kind of mystery – not a whodunit, but a look at the strange realm of human love and relationships. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer MONOGAMY. By Sue Miller. Harper. 338 pages. $28.99     In this fine novel, filled with authentic detail of time, place and demographics, the main…

  • A story for our times

    I’ve enjoyed many of Chris Bohjalian’s books, some more than others. This one sounds especially — even oddly — timely, and pretty scary. I’m not sure I want to read it, but I’ll pay attention to what Bob Moyer has to say. Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer RED LOTUS. By Chris Bohjalian. Doubleday. 367 pages.…

  • A North Carolina marvel

    Bob Moyer has visited my territory, reviewing a new novel set in coastal North Carolina. I’m glad he did. I’m eager to read this one myself. Now if we could just get Bob to come visit these marshes in person… Reviewed by Robert P. Moyer WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING. By Delia Owens. G. P. Putnam’s…

  • The language of family

    Reviewed by Linda C. Brinson WE NEVER ASKED FOR WINGS. By Vanessa Diffenbaugh. Read by Emma Bering and Robbie Daymond. Random House Audio. 11 ½ hours; 10 CDs. $40. Also available in print from Ballantine Books. Letty Espinoza had a lot more advantages than many children of Mexican immigrants. She had two supportive, loving parents.…

  • Small packages – when less is more

    So many of the audio books I “read” go on and on. That can be good if you want to get hooked into a book that will be with you for a while, say on a long road trip. But it’s refreshing to encounter a couple of novels that are more understated. Each of these…

  • Adventures with the Amazons

    Often when reviewing an audio book, I consider whether I would have enjoyed the book more or less had I read the print version. Some books are so good I savor them both ways. Although I was entertained, for the most part, by the audio presentation of Anne Fortier’s The Sisterhood, I doubt that I…

  • Art, life and wild animals in the attic

    Years ago, when she wrote op-ed columns for The New York Times and I worked on a newspaper editorial page, I loved Anna Quidlen’s work. Her columns were well written and insightful, a welcome change from the humdrum, the strident and the boringly predictable that I read day in and day out. I had somehow…