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 …
Title: The Accidental Tourist Author: Anny Tyler Type: Fiction Finished: September 27, 2018 Rating: ★★★★★ Anne Tyler is the real meal deal. She won the Pulitzer Prize for Breathing Lessons and was a runner up with this novel – losing to “Lonesome Dove”. She was also a runner …
Title: Turtles All The Way Down Author: John Green Type: Fiction Finished: September 14, 2018 Rating: ★★★★ Aza Holmes is a high school woman who is having an existential crisis caused by – or compounded by – OCD triggered by an anxiety disorder. She is prone to thought spirals …
Title: Clock Dance Author: Anny Tyler Type: Fiction Finished: August 27, 2018 Rating: ★★★★★ Anne Tyler is a master storyteller probing the lives of the people in dysfunctional families. This is the third novel of hers I’ve read, the others being Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant and Breathing …