It is always interesting and informative to read a book set in another country. I have come across several books lately set in distant lands, and I thought the following four might appeal to you. I haven’t read any of them, but I will try to give enough information on each so you can decide for yourself. The Butterfly Thief by Walter Marsh is a
Did you happen to read Wild Swans when it came out in 1991? The book was chosen by my Atlanta Book Club, and I initially balked at reading such a long one. After all, I worked and went to school and ran a household and had a husband and two children and two dogs–whew!! Lots more energy in those days. Well, I read the book,
The Power and the Glory–Jonathan Wilson Even if you are not a soccer fan, you have surely been seeing articles surrounding the World Cup coming up this summer and how expensive the tickets are. I certainly cannot comment on that specific topic exept to say that I would not go to it unless I had a grandson playing in a game!! But the book featured
First of all, literary fiction is a genre used by publishers and book stores to classify books. I have heard people say, “oh, this is just a ‘beach read’” or “this book is so depressing.” Well, in a way, one could say that literary fiction IS very serious—deep ideas, complicated characters, and themes that explore the human condition. And, no. The story doesn’t always have
February 9: How to Read a Book (Monica Wood) Three characters whose lives are intertwined run into each other in a bookstore. From there, they are all transformed. March 9: This is Happiness (Niall Williams) Set in an Irish village in the 1950’s, a young man has dropped out of seminary and gone to live with his grandparents. April 13: All the Colors of the
Try reading some of Tim Sullivan’s books. Sullivan is also a screenwriter and director. He is perhaps best known, however, for his series of books about a detective named George Cross. Sullivan says he wanted to create a character who was good at his job mainly because of his neurodivergence. Even though George Cross is sometimes awkward, he is able to tackle a case from
Recently the Post and Courier featured a report from the Charleston County Public Library. The library loaned out over three million print, digital and audiobooks in 2025. Wow!! The article went on to list the top ten books that were checked out. If you saw the article, you will have probably forgotten the order of the books, so this game is to challenge you to
So many books, as I have noted, dwell on a horrifyingly possible future or horrifying things that have happened in the past or horrifying things that are happening now. In case you want to read something that makes you feel good, I have a few suggestions, most of which I have read!! I just finished reading The Correspondent, by Virginia Evans. It is one of
This is the time of year when I see list after list of “best historical fiction of 2025” or “best mystery Novels of 2025” or “Notable Books of 2025.” There are so many books published every week. Before we start looking back on the year, however, there are a few books I have not mentioned in the blog and want to point out below: Remember
Before I had a chance to post the finalists for the American Book Award in the Non-fiction catagory, I see that the winner has already been announced. The book featured below is the winner. Word of warning–not everyone will want to read this book. The author Omar El Akad has a very dim view of Western Society. Yes, that would be us, the society we
