Yes, it’s a YA novel; I don’t teach middle school, so why did I read it? The Shadow Cipher (Book One of Laura Ruby’s promised trilogy, York) is clearly aimed at intelligent seventh-graders. Yes, it got great reviews — but still, why would… Read More ›
Books
New York 2140
Most good science fiction takes a single premise (which may or may not be believable) and spins out the consequences of that premise. To be convincing, there should just be that one premise, since most readers are willing to suspend disbelief… Read More ›
I Know a Secret
Don’t read Tess Gerritsen’s newest Rizzoli and Isles novel, I Know a Secret, if you (like someone I know) are prone to having nightmares based on books and movies. The rest of us will find it fascinating and suspenseful. To a large… Read More ›
Confessions
This psychological thriller by Kanye Minato is not a typical book, at least not in my universe. Some say that it’s a lot like Gone Girl — but I wouldn’t know, since I’m apparently the only person on Earth who hasn’t read Gone… Read More ›
Don’t get lost: mark your place!
Who uses paper maps anymore? At least they can be recycled, but what if they’re already laminated? Barbara sliced one apart and turned them into bookmarks!
Damaged
If you’ve never read any of Lisa Scottoline’s South-Philadelphia-based Rosato & DiNunzio thrillers, Damaged would not be a bad place to start. (Note: I really like all the Rosato & DiNunzio books, though I don’t particularly recommend Scottoline’s so-called emotional thrillers. But maybe… Read More ›
The Fight for English
It seems that I have to write about David Crystal once a year or so. This expert popularizer of linguistics always provides well-informed but accessible antidotes to common myths about language, such as the one alluded to in the subtitle… Read More ›
Hillbilly Elegy
What an irritating book! Even if you haven’t read Hillbilly Elegy by J.D. Vance, you’ve probably at least heard of it, as it made quite a splash when it came out last year and stayed on the best-seller list for weeks… Read More ›
Unseen World
Unseen World, a fascinating and complicated novel, will capture and maintain your attention — if you’re the right sort of reader. Right for this book, I mean of course. You probably are if you’re interested in computational linguistics, artificial intelligence, online virtual worlds (as… Read More ›
The Fall
John Lescroart has long been one of my favorite genre authors. This blog has included reviews of two of his large number of San Francisco-based mysteries/legal thrillers — The Ophelia Cut and The Oath — the former in 2015 and the latter way… Read More ›
