Category: Books

Genre: Book       

Grade: A-

Notable People: James Lee Burke

Title:  Harbor Lights: Stories

Review: Burke, who may be Americas most gifted and greatest living writer- has become prolific in his old age; now putting out an extraordinary two books a year in his late 80s. This is his astounding second in 2024 alone and is a collection of eight short stories and novellas. A bit uneven; with maybe three classic, three very good and two a little drifting-but still……..his characters transcend any time or place-though they are well ensconced, usually either in remote Montana or the deep Bayou in rural Louisiana. This, like all his books, is full of raw power, pinpoint imagery and deep exploration of our shared psyches-from his lens as a tortured war vet, hanging- by- a- thread recovering addict and grieving father. To say more is superfluous, so instead I will quote from late in his last novella of this collection:

“What am I looking for? The past. The space where most of our answers lie. And also the place foe which we have the least respect. The human personality never changes. Read The History of the Church by Eusebius. It’s not about the church; it’s about 4^th-century Rome and ultimately about us. We witness the deaths of the martyrs in the arena, but the Herd and most of the other players are the same bunch that are with us today, totally committed to the dirty boogie and doing it in four-four time.” ………………………………………………..WOW…………………………….

Genre: Book    

Grade: B+

Notable People: L.T. Ryan

Title:  Drift

Review: Ryan is beyond prolific- having self-published over a hundred books in 8-9 different serial forms. This series is relatively new and co-written with Detective Brian Shea. It shows-very inside info on detective doings, centered around Rachel Hatch, a former Covert Ops soldier now roaming around the country making bad people pay. She is an absolute takes no shit- kick ass character who struggles with emotions and connections- but is working on it. Though not the most well writhe novel I have read, Ryan is good storyteller and Hatch is a captivating subject. Big on all the bestseller lists- with a lot more where this came from.

Genre: Book           

Grade: A-

Notable People: Bryn Greenwood

Title:  All the Ugly and Wonderful Things

Review: this was a difficult book, both to read and to review. I’ll start off by saying it’s extremely well written and engaging. The characters are well developed and its sense of place is vivid. After that, it gets murky; this is a story that some would see as a touching and unlikely love story and some would see as a heinous portrayal of sexual abuse -and even incest. I wanted to put this book down many times, but stuck with it and its complexity drew me in and resulted in my telling other people to check it out, whose careers, like mine, have dealt with these kinds of taboos. It will challenge you and your opinions, values and sensibilities. In its essence, it is the story of a traumatized little girl, very emotionally limited and with a series of compulsive kinds of issues, who is trying to survive from a drug dealing and violent, neglectful family- and who finds what many would see as inappropriate love and nurturance. It’s often hard to tell who the good guys and the bad guys are in this book. Certainly not for everyone, but if you want challenge, give it a try.

Genre: Book         

Grade: B+

Notable People: Matt Haig

Title:  The Midnight Library

Review: Another in my line of books from the Chicago Tribune’s top Ten from 2023, this fantastical fable is filled with wonder and possibility. Nora Seed live in a beat down town outside of London with a dead end job and a lonely life. After her only real connection- her cat- dies, she gives up and takes an overdose. She then finds herself in the magnificently constructed and imagined Midnight Library, where she discovers her own infinite number of parallel universes and lives; which are all based on her book of regrets. Confusing? Maybe a little, but her chronicle of trying to find a life that is meaningful and her trying out of lives that might be worth living for, is quite energizing and captivating. This book was a pleasant surprise; hard to put down and well written, thought I thought it faded away at the end, and became a bit more predictable. Still, a quality read and a unique concept.

Genre: Book                               

Grade: A

Notable People: Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Title: Until August

Review: What a rare treat- a new issue from one of the great writers of the 20^th century. “Gabo” began writing a series of five novellas in 2001 and published several in next few years. This one got stuck in many iterations and then his dementia set in, and he chose to give up on it. He died in 2014 and almost ten years after his editor took it up again and his sons decided to publish it. There has been criticism of this as a money grab that Gabo did not want to publish, but it stands up as a fine part of his métier-a wonderful novella about a woman who finds totally out of character love once a year on an island she visits where her mother is buried. Classically Gabo and full, of grace and light wit. For those of us who cut our chops on a 100 Years of Solitude and Love in the Time of Cholera, this is an unexpected and magnificent gift; for those too young or unfamiliar, give it a shot, but try the classics.

Genre: Book      

Grade: A-

Notable People: James McBride

Title: The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store

Review: I got turned on to this book from the Chicago Tribune’s “Best of 2023 List”, where it was the number one rated book for the year. Award winning author, McBride, tells the striking story of Pottstown, PA. in 1936 woven around the lives of the towns’ Jews and Negroes, which are heavily intertwined and often banded together against the Between-Wars white-protestant oppression. McBride’s’ understanding and mastery of traditional Yiddish culture and idioms is impressive and his sense of the 20^th century African American experience is illuminating. The book is filled with charm and wit, richly filled in with an assortment of ode and compelling characters. It is long book and started with an absolutely alluring bang, but bogged down a bit in its middle sections. An unusual and thought provoking story that’s also quite a bit of fun.

Genre: Book    

Grade: A-

Notable People: Marie Benedict

Title: Carnegie’s Maid

Review: Benedict has taken on a personal mission of wiring historical fiction about the woman behind the scenes of historically significant giants/moments. He ability to weave her created characters into very accurate historical narratives is superb and her writing style immensely engaging. After taking on Heddy Lamar’s role in the Nazi empire (Only Woman in the Room) and Einstein ‘s wife (The Other Einstein)-she turns her attention to the post-Civil War era of the Gilded Age of American Industrialization with this wonderful novel in which she skillfully introduces us to Clara Kelly, a young, solo Irish immigrant to America, in the 1860s, who unexpectedly becomes the maid to Andrew Carnegie’s mother. Clara becomes close to eldest son, Andrew Carnegie, and helps to make him America’s first philanthropist. Th story is full of captivating twists and turns and unexpected romance, and lifts up the often unsung role of women in history. Great invented a real character portrayals and a compelling tale of courage in the emergence of modern America.

Genre: Book                                          

Grade: A-

Notable People: CJ Box

Title: Storm Watch

Review: the latest in Box’s wonderful series, featuring Wyoming Game Warden Joe Pickett, is a whirlwind of tension set amidst the storm of the century in rural Wyoming. Box continues to find ways to enliven what might seem like a mundane job of fish and game violations; at various times mixing in Soviet spies, Chinese obstructions, deep state plots and larger than life characters. Joes sometimes best buddy, Nate Romanowski, remains one of the most interesting characters invented in modern American literature. You may have to suspend belief a bit to buy into these plots, but they are so well written and the characters and places so vivid, it is absolutely worth it. Consider starting at the beginning of this great series.

Genre: Book  

Grade: A-

Notable People: Thomas Perry

Title: Runner

Review: The sixth of nine books in this unusual series featuring Seneca Indian mystic, Jane Whitefield, who helps people who need to disappear. Each story involves multifaceted threats of kinds you cannot imagine as harmless folk try to avoid being taken out by gangland types, contract killers or just plain evil people. Jane may be the true anti-hero, a quiet woman trying to live an unobtrusive life, who keeps getting dragged back into situations to help people out of options to survive, that she may be the only human equipped to do. Masterfully conceived and executed, with fine character development and a great sense of place; this one criss crosses the country from the heart of Seneca Nation in the Adirondacks to the left coast. Really hard to put these down, and am bothered that he may have quit developing these as last one published in 2021. As an aside, Perry ranks at the summit of male writers to ever try to speak through a female protagonist. Would have never guessed the author is male.

Genre: Book         

Grade: A-

Notable People: Donna Leon

Title: A Noble Radiance

Review: got back on the horse with this great Guido Brunetti (Commisario de Policia de Venicia) series whilst wiling away the hours down in the Keys. Good pick. Leon and Brunetti do not disappoint. Not only is Brunetti an enchanting character, but the stories are tightly woven mysteries woven around a lot of social commentary, Italian family life and the Commissario’ s many meandering internal reflections on life, relationships, the state of the modern world and, most hilariously, the Italian government. Major added bonus is the immersion into every side of the quixotic city that is Venice. No cars, many boats and one hard- not- to- love Commissario. Seventh in a very longs series that is still adding a new one annually. Get in this line.