Quick Reviews

The Book of Air and Shadow by Michael Gruber: A fun mystery that revolves around a lost work by Will Shakespeare. It is ideal for fans of the Bard. Ultimately, it is forgettable even though I enjoyed it.

The Garden of Last Days by Andre Dubus III: A great writer responsible for the House of Sand and Fog that was made into a movie. This is the story of a terrorist that hijacks a plane on 9/11 and of the stripper that he meets days before his flight. It is a great story about how small events can have HUGE impacts on our lives. The story of the stripper is very touching as she is trying to raise a daughter on her own. The book is full of great moments.

The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry: This is a fun story about Salem Mass. and the witches that live there. The story takes place during the current time, but it makes numerous references to The Crucible. MY favorite is that Giles Cory’s distant relative is an actual witch. This is fun because he was killed for being a witch even though he was not. This is a fun family mystery/suspense story set in a small town. It is extra fun for those that remember The Crucible.

The Piano Tuner by Daniel Mason: At first, this story reminded me of Heart of Darkness and Apocalypse Now, because it is the story of a man traveling through the jungle to reach an out of touch Military Commander. His mission is to travel to a remote war zone and repair the Commander’s piano. It is a great read that moves along fairly well. The author does seem to focus on the wrong things from time to time, but overall a very entertaining novel.

Dead Man’s Walk by Larry McMurtry: The first book in the Lonesome Dove series is fun but feels forced. Very little happens in the book that you don’t learn from reading the back of the novel. It is fun to see the characters as young men, but it offers little insight to how they become the men from Lonesome Dove.

Sun Going Down by Jack Todd: This was an EPIC story that follows a real family from the Civil War through the Great Depression. The story is basically a western, but not a cowboys and Indians type book. The author does an amazing job portraying how hard life was on the western frontier. I loved this book and recommend it to anyone that loves an epic story.

The Man in the Dark by Paul Auster: He is hands down the greatest living writer in America today. This novel is the story of a man and his dreams. The real story takes space in the dream world where 9/11 never happened and the US is involved in a Civil War started by George W Bush. It is a short book, but it was a tremendous amount of fun to read. It was very postmodern, so those of you that like your stories straightforward may want to skip this one, but it raises some very interesting ideas about the country we live in.

The English Major by Jim Harrison: Harrison is the clear heir to Earnest Hemingway; he is from Northern Michigan and writes in a very simple style. I am a huge fan of his work; he is the author that gave us Legends of the Fall. This is the story of a man that loses everything after his wife of 38 years leaves him at his high school reunion. He then proceeds to travel the country in search of all the state flowers and birds in an effort to give them all more fitting names. During his travels, he meets a few fun characters including a student from his distant past when he was an English teacher. It is fun and easy read.