Booklist Online: Book Reviews from the American Library Association

I just re-read The Great Gatsby, a book I hadn’t looked at since high school. Back then, I remember that I liked Gatsby, but wasn’t overwhelmed. I didn’t quite get the hoopla. I re-read the novel while bouncing up and down on the elliptical trainer at the gym, a setting that sometimes doesn’t work with [...]

In the middle of so much news about the decline of –well, just about everything, here’s something encouraging: an article in today’s New York Times reports that, according to the National Endowment for the Arts, fiction reading is on the rise.  The NEA report is based on “The Survey of Public Participation in the Arts” conducted by the U.S. Census [...]

As the first story came to its emotionally startling end, I thought eagerly: yes! The plot of “Nawabdin Electrician” had quietly reversed my sentiments without my realizing it was happening, and left me surprised and disturbed, stranding me in a morally complicated place which was not at all where I thought the story was going. [...]

In a couple of months, anyone still using analog signals to capture PBS or “Gossip Girls” will be outta luck. The digital dictators have spoken. Get with the cable or get out a novel.
Personally, I’m looking forward to meeting those stubborn die-hards who refused to succumb to the temptations of the Sundance and Speed [...]

“Jem was a joyful mystery to Alice. She was something to give thanks for. She had first appeared in the classroom, not at the beginning of term like a normal person, but mid-term on a Wednesday. She had appeared, ‘like a dropped acorn’, halfway through the term, halfway through the week, halfway through the Silent [...]

Dave suggested I show up at Dunshee House an hour and a half before the meeting, so that I could rearrange the furniture in the large living room to best suit the attendance level. He’d also warned me that the room was a mess, so I thoroughly expected when I dashed into Dunshee House yesterday [...]

The Northern Clemency by Philip Hensher was short-listed for the Man Booker Prize in 2008. I was feeling the need to read something new, and this one came across my path in all of its 500+ page glory.
I dug in and really started enjoying myself. It took me too long to read, but I also [...]

 
The Final Frontiersman by James Campbell
I live in Wisconsin so one of our winter sports is discovering what might be a possible relief from the deep cold.  How about reading an account of the life of Heimo Korth and his family who lived alone in the Alaskan arctic wilderness refuge? 
Campbell is Korth’s cousin and [...]

I can’t help but reflect on my reading habits as 2009 begins. Last year, I managed to get through 111 books, a pretty good total considering that I got married (among many other happy and not-so-happy events). My latest trick to cram in an extra book a month is to check out a large print book that [...]

I did just about everything else this weekend I could possibly think of – washing the dishes, emptying the garbage, doing a couple loads of laundry, paying my bills, nothing was too tedious – well, okay, vacuuming was too tedious, but I did everything else – before finally settling down to face the one absolutely [...]

I haven’t read enough Donald E. Westlake. I plan to rectify that soon by getting on a first name basis with Dortmunder, one of the funniest anti-heroes in the mystery world and probably Westlake’s most popular creation.
But I do have a favorite Westlake novel, Trust Me On This. It’s one of Westlake’s standalones from the [...]

This morning I visited the Dunshee House website, and was startled to see that half the home page was devoted to the Seattle Gay and Lesbian Book Club. How exciting! Just last Friday the Seattle Gay News ran a quarter-page color ad for the book club. It’s really happening. Soon this reading group will cease [...]

Happy New Year everyone! Even though we all have new calendars, ’tis still the season for last year’s best lists. I wanted to share Nancy Pearl’s list as I feel it has some books on it that aren’t showing up on all of the other lists. One of the things I love about Nancy is [...]

As each year ends, I compile a list of the best books from the lists published by the various newspapers, publishing journals, and other reviews. I use the list to create displays and distribute it to the readers in my library. This year, I’m getting more exact, using a spreadsheet to track how many votes different books receive. [...]

I recently finished reading two of Jennifer Haigh’s three novels, The Condition and Mrs. Kimble, and I am halfway through the third book, Baker Towers.  I have to say that I have great admiration for this author.  I think the best way of describing her writing is mesmerizing.  She has an uncanny ability for describing [...]