Books

have read

• Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel

  Major Pettigrew's Last Stand: A Novel

  Helen Simonson

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  This is a delightful novel, heart-warming and often funny. Simonson's writing reminded me, at times, of Jane Austen. The crabby Major is a wonderful character.

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• The Bishop's Man

  The Bishop's Man

  Linden Macintyre

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  This novel won the Canadian Giller prize and at the time it was considered a surprise. I didn't expect to like this novel, but I did. I got totally engrossed in it. It's a quiet, psychological novel, written in a well-crafted spare style. The subject couldn't be more important or relevant. The main character, a sympathetic pries

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• Gentlemen's Blood: A History Of Dueling From Swords At Dawn to Pistols At Dusk

  Gentlemen's Blood: A History Of Dueling From Swords At Dawn to Pistols At Dusk

  Barbara Holland

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• Players

  Players

  Stephanie Cowell

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• The Man Who Outshone The Sun King

  The Man Who Outshone The Sun King

  Charles Drazin

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  This is an excellent biography of Nicholas Focquet, Louis XIV’s short-lived Minister of Finance who was imprisoned by the king for embezzlement and treason. For a detailed account of my thoughts on this book, go to my research blog: http://tinyurl.com/lg6hva

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• The Theatre of Illusion

  The Theatre of Illusion

  Richard Wilbur

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  A delightful comic play, but certainly not, in my view, "Corneille's baroque masterpiece"! I rather agree with Corneille, who described it as a "strange monster."

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• Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth

  Payback: Debt and the Shadow Side of Wealth

  Margaret Atwood

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  I found this fascinating: who would have thought!

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• Magician's Assistant

  Magician's Assistant

  Ann Patchett

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  I loved this novel. Ann Pachett's writing is light and witty, but also deeply moving. And, in any case, I'm a sucker for books about magic.

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• Twilight

  Twilight

  Stephenie Meyer

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  Well done, for a vampirish type of story, which I don't, as a rule, enjoy. I can understand why Meyer's books are doing so well. She grounds them well in reality, her characters are believable, and the book is, indeed, difficult to put down. The cover image: an apple in a girl's hand, is brilliant.

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• Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, From Cleopatra To Princess Di

  Doomed Queens: Royal Women Who Met Bad Ends, From Cleopatra To Princess Di

  Kris Waldherr

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  Delightful, educational, and with great wit and humour. Fantastic visual presentation. Love it!

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• The Reader (movie Tie-in Edition)

  The Reader (movie Tie-in Edition)

  Bernhard Schlink

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  Lingers. Beautifully.

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• Garlic And Sapphires: The Secret Life Of A Critic In Disguise

  Garlic And Sapphires: The Secret Life Of A Critic In Disguise

  Ruth Reichl

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  Fun.

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• What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

  What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

  Haruki Murakami

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  Murakami is the astonishing Japanese author (of Kafka on the Shore and many other titles). It's a book about running and writing, and the relationship between them. (He runs to keep fit for writing.) Of course it was the writing parts I found the most interesting, although I enjoyed learning about running as well.

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• 11/22/1963 00:00:00.000

  11/22/1963 00:00:00.000

  Adam Braver

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  Brilliant.

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• Blonde

  Blonde

  Joyce Carol Oates

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  I followed this spare novel with one of vast I finished this last night and in a word: wow. I've not read Oates before — I find her style generally too gothic for my taste — but I respect her greatly as a writer, and I'd read that this novel, a novel about Marilyn Monroe, was her best. Frankly, it would be hard to beat.

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• The Secret Wife Of Louis Xiv: Francoise d'Aubigne, Madame de Maintenon

  The Secret Wife Of Louis Xiv: Francoise d'Aubigne, Madame de Maintenon

  Veronica Buckley

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  An excellent eye-opening biography, but full of errors. Can't be trusted. Too bad.

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• Netherland: A Novel

  Netherland: A Novel

  Neill Joseph O

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• Atonement: A Novel

  Atonement: A Novel

  Ian Mcewan

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  So brilliant!

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• All Our Grandfathers Are Ghosts

  All Our Grandfathers Are Ghosts

  Pasha Malla

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  Pasha Malla is a wonderful poet: surprising, witty, funny, compelling. I highly recommend this collection.

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• Out Stealing Horses

  Out Stealing Horses

  Per Petterson

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  Brilliant novel.

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• The House of Mirth

  The House of Mirth

  Edith Wharton

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• The Withdrawal Method

  The Withdrawal Method

  PASHA MALLA

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  Pasha is an amazing writer.

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• The Other Queen

  The Other Queen

  PHILIPPA GREGORY

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  I thought this was a fine novel.

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• Kafka on the Shore

  Kafka on the Shore

  Haruki Murakami

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I'm reading

• The Discovery Of France

  The Discovery Of France

  Graham Robb

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  This book is blowing my mind.

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• Anatomy Of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller

  Anatomy Of Story: 22 Steps to Becoming a Master Storyteller

  John Truby

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plan to read

• A Mercy

  A Mercy

  Toni Morrison

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