Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurtry The tag-line on the cover of this book reads, An epic journey that will change their lives forever… The story does indeed chart an epic journey. This is an epic book. Larry McMurtry’s novel won him a Pulitzer, and I can understand why. Lonesome Dove is a classic in the […]
Reading Allowed by Chris Paling The subtitle to this slight book is, True Stories & Curious Incidents from a Provincial Library. Chris Paling is a published author and librarian. In Reading Allowed, he recounts his experiences from the day to day life of such a public facility in the UK. It makes for an engaging […]
The Massacre of Mankind by Stephen Baxter This is the sequel to H.G. Wells’ The War Of The Worlds, and is officially authorized by his estate. Anyone who has read the Wells’ classic (I haven’t) will better appreciate this story. Yet, although The Massacre of Mankind is a continuation, and I missed the beginning […]
All the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy This is a beautifully written story of broken homes, broken hearts and broken bones. It is a coming-of-age tale that vividly depicts the good, the bad and the ugly of rural life in both Texas and Mexico in the 1940’s. John Grady Cole is a sombre sixteen […]
Apprentice in Death by J.D. Robb This is yet another solid performance from J.D. Robb, the pseudonym of Nora Roberts. Robb never fails to impress me in the quality of her plot-lines, each being fairly original and engaging. Apprentice in Death is, I think, number 43 in the Lieutenant Eve Dallas series. In this […]
The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells This novel was first published in 1897 and has aged remarkably well. It has been adapted a number of times for the silver screen, and the idea of invisibility is one which has captured the public imagination for millennia. When starting The Invisible Man, I was prepared to […]
The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead Cora is a slave. Her mother Mable is a slave. Her grandmother Ajarry is a slave who was, in the words of Bob Marley, stolen from Africa, brought to America. Yet Cora is strong like Ajarry. She has dreams like Mable. Cora intends to be free. Set in […]
The Island of Doctor Moreau by H.G. Wells Here we have a true classic by a master observer of the human creature. I first became aware of this tale when I saw the movie in the late 1970’s, as a child. I enjoyed it, although so much time has passed since then that I […]
A Separate Peace by John Knowles This novel is described on its cover as ‘An American Classic’, and was ‘… part of the syllabus of high-school English classes throughout the United States…’ Perhaps US readers of this will be all too familiar with this book and may therefore need no reminders. But it may […]
The Walking Dead, Search and Destroy by Jay Bonansinga Many of you will be familiar with the T.V. series of the same name, and Search and Destroy is pretty similar fare in written form. There is a series of books based upon the Robert Kirkman premise and this one falls somewhere in that line, […]
Honky Tonk Samurai by Joe R. Lansdale Hap and Leonard are two of the most interesting characters in literature today. They are described on the book blurb thus: Hap, a former 60s activist and self-proclaimed white trash rebel, and Leonard, a tough black, gay Vietnam vet… How can you not want to know more? Honky […]
Edge Of Dark Water by Joe R Lansdale Here it is! The first book by Lansdale that I have read that didn’t have either a Hap or a Leonard anywhere to be seen. Edge Of Dark Water is set during the time of the Great Depression in East Texas. Sue Ellen Wilson is a […]
Rebel Voice 