100 Ways to Slow Down and Enjoy the Things That Really Matter, by Elaine St. James, 1994 Easy to read, fun little how-to book on simplifying your life. Some parts are outdated (“Drop call waiting,” “Stop the Junk Mail,” and “Get rid of your car phone”) and there is no mention of social media, e-mail, […]
Author: bookhound
Last Seen Wearing
by Colin Dexter, 1976 I love Inspector Morse mysteries. I miss them when I’ve finished because Inspector Morse and Sergeant Lewis are so likable, so human, and I just want to be with them. They take me to England and back to a time before much technology, except for color TVs. Morse consults maps, phone […]
The Good Earth
by Pearl S. Buck, 1931 “Idle hands are the devil’s workshop.” This novel greatly illustrates what can happen when a man gets bored. It’s an amazing tale about Wang Lung (pronounced Wong Lung), a poor farmer in China, and what happens when he goes from poverty to wealth.
Cross Creek
by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, 1942 This is the memoir by the author of The Yearling. She tells about her 13 years living in Florida on 72 acres in the northeastern part of the state near the St. John’s River between Jacksonville and St. Augustine.
The Story of Ferdinand
by Munro Leaf, 1936 Drawings by Robert Lawson Ferdinand the Bull just wanted to sit under his favorite cork tree, “smelling the flowers just quietly.” I loved this book as a child and they made a movie of it, which is pretty good, and made me want to read the book again. Learned about cork […]
The Little Paris Bookshop
by Nina George, 2013 Jean Perdu owns a book barge in Paris. He is 20 years into grieving his lost love. She gave him a letter but he never opened it. Finally he does and she left him because she was dying of cancer. He unhooks his barge and travels south with Max Jordan, a […]
The Way West
by A. B. Guthrie, Jr. 1949, won Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1950 Lije Evans, his wife, Becky, and son, Brownie, decide to go to Oregon with a wagon train. 1840’s, I think. Lije convinces Dick Summers to be the pilot. They leave Independence, MO with about 12 other families in wagons. At first, a […]
The Pearl
by John Steinbeck, 1945 Finished in 2 days. Exquisite, painful story about Kino, Juana, and little baby boy, Coyotito. Coyotito gets stung by a scorpion – that Kino, his father, couldn’t catch in time. Jauna, Coyotito’s mother, sucks out the poison but decides they must see the doctor. The rich doctor won’t see them because […]
Cleopatra, A Life
by Stacy Schiff, 2010 I read 2 chapters – gave up – too speculative – Ptolemy and on and on – couldn’t finish – Thanks to Wayne – No time for bad books.
Great Expectations
by Charles Dickens, 1861 Pip as a young boy meets an escaped convict in a church cemetery. The convict scares him into bringing him food and a file to cut off his leg iron. Pip does this. Pip lives with a much older sister and her blacksmith husband, a saint of a man, Joe Gargery. […]
The Arabian Nights
Translated by Husain Haddawy “This translation is of the complete text of the Mahdi edition, the definitive Arabic edition of a 14th century Syrian manuscript, which is the oldest surviving version of the tales and considered to be the most authentic.” Shahrazad marries the King Shahrayar who typically puts his wives to death after one […]
The Prince and the Pauper
by Mark Twain, 1882 Fabulous book! Set in 1500’s in England. Two little boys; one the prince, the other a pauper (Tom Canty) change places. The real prince learns what it feels like to be poor and downcast and to see his laws in action (such unfairness!). The pauper becomes rich and catered to. In […]
Of Love and Evil
by Anne Rice, 2010 Book “lite” about assassin turned true believer who works for the Angels now. Is sent back to Rome in 1500’s to save a young Jewish scholar and put a ghost to rest. Not much depth to her writing; “fluff.”
The Help
by Kathryn Stockett, 2009 Another fantastic modern novel! A real page-turner, set in Jackson, Mississippi in the early 1960’s. Three heroes: 1. Miss Skeeter, the young white girl who just graduated from college and wants to be a writer. 2. Aibileen, the black maid who takes care of Mae Mobley, little 2 yr old white […]
Sleeping Tiger
by Rosamunde Pilcher, 1967 Sweet little romance about 20 yr old English girl (Selina) who goes to a Spanish island in search of her father and finds her true love (George, 37 yrs old) instead. She has to dump her lawyer fiance who is only marrying her for her money and George has to dump […]
The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom
by Slavomir Rawicz, 1956 (ghostwritten by Ronald Downingin) Dad’s book. Slavomir was a young man in Polish Army taken prisoner in 1939 by the Russians. They were convinced he was a spy. They tortured him for months, then took him – actually he had to walk with 4000 other prisoners – after a freezing cold […]
The Pickwick Papers
by Charles Dickens, 1837 Finished on the way up to Adam and Danette’s wedding. Fell in love with Charles Dickens again! Wow! Fell in love with Mr. Pickwick – a fine old Gentleman, and Sam, his servant, who says ‘W’ as ‘V’ and ‘V’ as ‘W.” “Wictim, Wery, Vay, Vith, Vot, Vos.” Sam’s Dad, Mr. […]
New Mercies
by Sandra Dallas, 2006 (Author of The Persian Pickle Club) Pretty good book. Nora Bondurant of Denver gets called to Natchez, Mississippi, because her Aunt Amalia was murdered and she is the sole heir. Turns out the Aunt was really her grandma and she was murdered by Bayard Lott, a white man who loved her […]
Kristin Lavransdatter: II, The Mistress of Husaby
by Sigrid Undset, 1925 Not as good as first book – very difficult to understand – almost all of it – entangled politics, difficult to pronounce/remember characters. But – still really good! Norway 1300’s. Kristin & Erlend are married. He takes her to his manor – Husaby. She starts to make things better there. Has […]
Quiet Strength
by Tony Dungy, 2007 Insider’s look at the NFL and Coach Tony Dungy, a very Christian man. He put God first and his faith never waivered, despite getting fired by the Bucs in 2002 after he turned the team around over years starting in 1996. And his oldest son’s suicide on Dec. 22, 2005. He […]