The best book I read this month is Buckeye by Patrick Ryan. Here are the other two. When you’ve been in the writing business as long as I have, the one thing you need to constantly search for are stories that will challenge you as a novelist . . . This is probably the most […]
Reading Notes: December Read More »
My last read of the year turned out to be one of the best books I read in 2025. Buckeye by Patrick Ryan is my favorite kind of novel: old-fashioned storytelling from an omniscient narrator, a multi-generational family saga that follows characters over the courses of their lives. Ryan sets his novel in the fictional
“Buckeye” by Patrick Ryan Read More »
Related Post: In addition to three works of nonfiction, I also listened to two novels this month. We learn about humanity from stories of individual lives. In A Calamity of Souls David Baldacci introduced us to two people fighting for civil rights during the Jim Crow era in the American South. The historical novel Strangers in
Reading Notes: November Read More »
Related Post: I had a dismal reading month in terms of numbers: I finished only one audiobook. But that one was not dismal at all; in fact, I found it rewarding because it was written by Joy Fielding, a writer I was glad to have rediscovered. We meet Linda Davidson, our first-person narrator, as she
Reading Notes: September Read More »
My reading intentions for March were interrupted by the sudden death of my cousin in New Hampshire, an event that hit me more heavily than I thought it would. Waiting to hear about funeral arrangements and then the actual traveling knocked me out of commission for about two weeks. I therefore have only two books
Reading Notes: March Read More »
I didn’t get much reading done in February. I only read two novels, The Three Lives of Cate Kay, which I’ve already reviewed, and The Life Cycle of the Common Octopus by Emma Knight, which I review below. Last month I promised a later review of The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch, which I read
Reading Notes: February Read More »
For years, the identity of bestselling author Cate Kay was a closely guarded secret; only two people knew the author’s real name. But we, the readers of this novel by Kate Fagan masquerading as a memoir by Cate Kay, know the truth from the opening pages: Anne Marie Callahan —> Annie —> Cass Ford —>
Review: “The Three Lives of Cate Kay” Read More »
Related Post: Eleanor Bennett has died and left behind with her lawyer, Charles Mitch, a series of recordings for her son, Byron, and his younger sister, Benny (short for Benedetta) to listen to. Eleanor insisted that they listen to the recordings together, and the accompanying note is directed to B and B, a term she
2 Recent Novels of Life Review Read More »
Here’s the first entry in my effort to do better this year in documenting the books I read each month. I read (well, listened to the audiobook) and reviewed Yellowface by R.F. Kuang. I also read The Last Russian Doll by Kristen Loesch for my book club meeting in February. I’m going to wait until
Reading Notes: January Read More »
Holy cow! This is my second book by R.F. Kuang (the first was Babel), and I’m blown away not only by her ability to write but also by her ability to think–and deeply–about the issues she’s asking readers to confront. In this satirical gem she takes on the publishing industry and all the various officious
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