Where You Once BelongedAuthor: Kent HarufType: FictionFinished: March 7, 2019Rating: ★★★★ (Image from Amazon) Although I read them out of order, I have now read all six of Kent Haruf’s novels about the fictional town of Holt, Colorado east of the Rockies. As the story opens, the town discovers that Jack Burdette has returned. Haruf’s …
Our Souls at NightAuthor: Kent HarufType: FictionFinished: March 3, 2019Rating: ★★★★ One evening, the widow Addie goes over to her neighbor’s house to ask the widower Louis to consider something. After some hemming and hawing she gets to the point: “I wonder if you would consider coming to my house sometimes to sleep with me.” …
The Tie That BindsAuthor: Kent HarufType: FictionDate Finished: Feb. 27, 2019Rating: ★★★★★ Image from Amazon Roy Goodnough was a mean son of a bitch. When first introduced he seems almost comical, “But Roy now, I suppose Roy would have come [to the West] anyway, even if Indians were still here. He was about enough of …
Homicide: A Year on the Killing StreetsAuthor: David SimonType: Non-FictionDate Finished: February 24, 2019Rating: ★★★★ Image from Amazon Back in the 1990s I caught a few episodes of the crime drama “Homicide: Life on the Streets”. I liked it but we were busy raising our kids and didn’t watch as much TV. In subsequent years …
The Library BookAuthor: Susan OrleanType: Non-FictionDate Finished: January 23, 2019Rating: ★★★★ On April 29, 1986 the main branch of the Los Angeles City Library suffered a huge fire that destroyed or damaged tens of thousands of book. The fire may have been arson and suspicion fell on Harry Omer Peak, want-to-be actor, whose story constantly changed. This …
Post Date: February 3, 2019 I’ve fought and argued with the WordPress editor about tables and we came to a compromise: I’ll do a table like WordPress lets me. Here is the list of the 14 books I read in 2018. There are links in the titles which go to my reviews which in turn …
The Bartender’s TaleAuthor: Ivan DoigType: FictionFinished: December 29, 2018Rating: ★★★★ When the book begins young Rusty is living with his aunt and two tormenting cousins. Before long his father, Tom, comes to take him back to Gros Ventre, Montana. Tom is the owner and bartender of The Medicine Lodge. Rusty and Tom – a single …
LessAuthor: Andrew Sean GreerType: FictionFinished: December 16, 2018Rating: ★★★ Arthur Less travels around the world to avoid attending his impending 50th birthday and his old lover’s wedding. He has some interesting adventures along the way. Although he seems on the edge of despair, nice things keep happening to him. Here he is talking with one …
A very serendipitous thing happened when I was reading the Joni Mitchell biography Reckless Daughter. About midway through the book there is a discussion of Bob Dylan’s album “Blood on the Tracks”. Dylan said in a 1978 interview “he was inspired to write his much celebrated ‘Tangled Up in Blue’ after spending a weekend listening …
Title: Reckless Daughter: A Portrait of Joni Mitchell Author: David YaffeType: BiographyFinished: November 5, 2018Rating: ★★★★ Joni Mitchell. Oh WOW. She’s been one of my favorite singer songwriters for so long. Her string of albums “Blue”, “For The Roses”, and “Court and Spark” are amazing. If you haven’t listened to Jon …