Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
fiction, (c) 1991 , 306pp
rating: ***

The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy has long been on my shelf of "frequent re-reads". So, for my 50th book of the year, I picked up Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency, the first book of Douglas Adams' less well-known series. I use the word ( Read more... )

Greenfire by Louise Titchener
fiction/fantasy, (c)1993, 306pp
rating: ***

Another book from the unread books from my youth. I'm pretty sure I probably bought Greenfire in 1993 when it was new. Had I read it when I was actually 13 years old, I might have really liked it. However, as an older and (at least, I would like to think) more ( Read more... )

Silver Wolf, Black Falcon by Dennis L. McKeirnan
fiction/fantasy, (c) 2001, 560pp
rating: **

Silver Wolf, Black Falcon is both chronologically the last of Dennis L. McKeiranan's Mithgar tales, and the last one written. Supposedly these books all stand alone, but have ties to the others. I have only read one of the previous eight or so Mithgar ( Read more... )

The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen
fiction, (c)2001, 568pp
rating: ****

So, everyone has been telling me to read The Corrections for five years. Finally, I decided to read it. I'm sure most of you have probably read this book already, but if you haven't, here is a quick synopsis. The Corrections is about the Lambert Family, composed of Albert ( Read more... )

The Kitchen Boy by Robert Alexander
fiction/historical, (c) 2004, 240pp
rating: ****

The Kitchen Boy tells the story of the last month in the lives of the Romonov family, the last of the Russian Tsars. Their entire family was killed by the Bolsheviks during the Russian revolution after having been imprisoned in Siberia for a number of months. ( Read more... )

An Imperfect Lens by Anne Roiphe
fiction/historical, (c) 2006, 304pp
rating: ***

An Imperfect Lens marks the THIRD books I've read about some kind of lethal epidemic this year, and the second about a cholera epidemic. Unlike the last book, (The Dress Lodger by Sherri Holman) I wasn't rooting for the cholera to win. However, I also can't give ( Read more... )

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson
310pp, (c) 2004, fiction
rating: *****

I picked up Case Histories on a whim, since there was no proper description on the back cover. I flipped through it and it looked interesting. The cover claims that it is a mystery, though upon my first quick inspection, it looked less like a mystery and more like something ( Read more... )

Rebecca by Daphne DuMaurier
384pp, (c) 1938, fiction/gothic
rating: *****

About a month ago, I was having a discussion with some friends about good female authors to check out. Upon perusing my bookshelf, my eye fell on Rebecca, by Daphne DuMaurier. I brought it out and we all immediately heaped praise upon it. I realized that I hadn't read it ( Read more... )

A Wind in the Door by Madeleine L'Engle
fiction/childrens, (c) 1973, 240pp
rating: ***** (again, more for my childhood memories than for adult enjoyment)

A Wind in the Door is the second book of Madeleine L'Engle's Time Quintet. This book find Charles Wallace Murry sick and seeing dragons in his vegetable garden. Though Meg, his big sister, is ( Read more... )

The Constant Princess by Philippa Gregory
416pp, (c)2006, historical fiction
rating: ***

I was excited to read another Gregory book following The Other Boleyn Girl, which I enjoyed tremendously, but probably should’ve waited a bit longer between the two. TCP started off well and it definitely held my attention for the first third-to-half of the ( Read more... )