by Andre Agassi with J.R. Moehringer, 2009 Born in 1970, played professional tennis 20 years, 1986-2006. His father was a monster: violent, mean, used to drill him constantly with the Dragon – a souped-up ball machine, when he was 7. Sent him to Florida to Nick Bollettiere Academy in Florida when he was 11 or […]
Author: bookhound
The Light Between Oceans
by M.L. Stedman, 2012 (her first novel) Page-turner, set in early 1900’s after WWI in Western Australia, on Janus Rock, an island 100 miles from the western coast of Australia. Tom Sherbourne, newly back from WWI, takes a job as the lighthouse keeper for Janus Rock. On the way there, he meets Isabel, a local […]
Flight Behavior
by Barbara Kingsolver, 2012 Fictional account – Global warming causes the Monarch butterflies to migrate to Appalachia rather than Mexico. Dellarobia, young mother of two toddlers, living on a sheep farm with her husband and in-laws, hikes up the mountain behind her home to have a tryst but instead sees the millions of butterflies, so […]
Beside A Burning Sea
by John Shors, 2008 Same author of Beneath a Marble Sky, his first novel. Mom liked this book but I thought it was terrible writing. The story is good but the writing, especially dialogue, was lame. Takes place during WWII on a tropical island. Survivors of Benevolence, a hospital ship blown up by Japanese, swim […]
The Round House
by Louise Erdrich, 2012 National Book Award Finalist Page-Turner, Mystery, set in North Dakota on an Indian Reservation. Set in 1988 and lots of Star Trek, the Next Generation references because Joe and his buddies LOVE Star Trek, esp. Worf. Told through the eyes of 13 year old, Joe, Indian, only child of 2 wonderful […]
Beneath a Marble Sky
by John Shors, 2004 Beautiful historical fiction about the Taj Mahal. An Emperor loses his beloved wife in childbirth and hires Isa, an architect, to build her a mausoleum that epitomizes her beauty. He uses her daughter, Jahanara, to be the model. They fall in love and have a daughter (Arjumand). It is a clandestine […]
Gone with the Wind
by Margaret Mitchell, 1936 North Georgia, Civil War, Scarlett O’Hara, 16 year-old belle of the county, 18″ waist, steals everyone’s boyfriends but not the one she “loves,” Ashley Wilkes. Melanie marries Ashley. So Scarlett marries Charles Hamilton (Melanie’s brother). Civil War starts – Charlie dies 3 months later (not in battle; got sick in camp). […]
Lady Chatterley’s Lover
by D. H. Lawrence, the unexpurgated text privately printed in Italy, 1928 The story of a young woman, Connie, married to an aristocrat, Clifford Chatterley, who is crippled from the war. He is prideful, selfish, fearful, small-minded, and wears her down. She seeks solace in the woods and falls in love with the gamekeeper, Mr. […]
The Hobbit
by J.R.R. Tolkien, 1937, 1938, 1966 The movie, The Hobbit – saw it 1/5/13 with Mom. 3 hours long. Battles with Orcs. Really disappointing! Too much battle! Part 1 of 3. Here is a review of the movie, The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. “High fantasy, 2 [maybe 2.5, can’t tell] stars out of 4, PG-13. […]
A Redbird Christmas
by Fannie Flagg, 2004 (Fried Green Tomatoes) Sweet little book about life and love in a small town in southern Alabama called Lost River. Their mail comes by boat. A Redbird is shot by 2 boys and Roy, the Grocer, nurses it to health. It can’t fly so he keeps it in the grocery store. […]
From Here to Eternity
by James Jones, 1951 1951 “This book is a work of fiction. The characters are imaginary, and any resemblance to actual persons is accidental. However, certain of the Stockade scenes did happen. They did not happen at the Schofield Barracks Post Stockade but at a post within the United States at which the author served, […]
The Purpose of Christmas
by Rick Warren, 2008 “Let me blunt: you are the source of most of your problems. Even when other people cause you problems, your natural response often makes them worse…The middle letter of sin is I, and whenever I place myself at the center of my life, I sin…Sin is our greatest problem, and it […]
Dog On It
by Spencer Quinn, 2009 GREAT MYSTERY! Chet the Dog and Bernie the Private I find Madison, the 15 yr. old kidnapped by Russian gangsters because her Dad got involved in shady financing. The story is told by Chet, the dog. It’s so funny and cute and enlightening about what dogs think about things – like […]
How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie, 1936 Wonderful book on Human Relations, full of vignettes emphasizing his points. Loved the historical early 20th Century times and lots of Lincoln quotes and stories. First part of book is best: Part 2: Six ways to make people like you Part 3: How to Win People to Your Way of Thinking […]
A Place on Earth
by Wendell Berry, 2012 Twenty stories of the Port William membership. Beautiful stories of the love between farmers and their land; their hard, endless work; the way they help each other with their work and their grief; and the joy and love they share in their community. Days long gone now. Wayne’s favorite is Burley […]
Into the Blue
by Robert Goddard, 1990 (Nord’s book) Intriguing mystery. Starts out on the Greek Isle of Rhodes. Harry Barnett, middle-aged, over-weight, is hiking with Heather Mallender, young girl (20’s), visiting from England, trying to recover from her sister’s death. She wants to go to the top of Profitis Ilias but Harry doesn’t. She goes on, he […]
The African Queen
by C.S. Forester (Hornblower author), 1935 Rose and Allnutt, 2 English people in Africa, decide to take the African Queen down a river, the Ulanga River, full of rapids, and blow up a German ship on the lake to help the war effort. They get down the rapids alive – Rose steers and Allnut mans […]
The American Pit Bull Terrier Handbook
by Joe Stahlkuppe, 2000 “Gameness requires that they never give up.” Great book about APBT – History of the breed and everything you need to know about the APBT. Dog-Aggressive but not human-aggressive. “Avoid places where dogs are allowed to run free.” “Never let your APBT fight or even mock-fight with other dogs.” “To an […]
The Casual Vacancy
by J.K. Rowling, 2012 Harry Potter author’s 1st adult novel Barry Fairbrother dies of a brain anyeurism and leaves a “casual vacancy” on the Pagford Parish Council. The town members are pretty despicable and this was a pretty depressing book. Rowling “is the founder of Lumos, which works to transform the lives of disadvantaged children.” […]
Wallace: The Underdog Who Conquered a Sport, Saved a Marriage and Championed Pit Bulls – One Flying Disc at a Time
by Jim Gorant, 2012 About a young Minnesota couple, Roo and Clara Yoris, who adopt a pit bull from a no-kill shelter, who was probably going to be killed, and turn him into a world champion frisbee dog. Mostly about Roo and Clara, not enough about Wallace.