Yes, this is a bizarre title for a novel. But a novel it is. And it continues one of the themes suggested in yesterday’s post: the extraordinary but still believable teenager. Many readers found Marisha Pessl’s narrator (and hence this… Read More ›
Books
The Last Child
Part mystery and part thriller, John Hart’s absorbing novel, The Last Child, is well worth reading. Actually, more than a mystery or a thriller, it’s a portrait of an extraordinary 13-year-old boy, a mother, and a police detective, all caught… Read More ›
The Writing Class
The Writing Class, by Jincy Willett, might make a good companion volume to The Jane Austen Book Club. Though much lighter — with no pretense of being serious literature — this mystery novel also deals with a group of adult… Read More ›
The Jane Austen Book Club: the book and the movie
Two and a half years ago I read Karen Joy Fowler’s novel, The Jane Austen Book Club, and I am surprised that I didn’t write a review of it at the time. I no longer remember why. Perhaps I was… Read More ›
Roadside Crosses
Although Jeffery Deaver’s Roadside Crosses is far from one of his best novels, it’s still worth reading — or listening to on audiobook, as I did. As with all of his works, the plotting is clever, starting with an opening… Read More ›
The Catch
Apparently I’m reviewing one of Archer Mayor’s novels each year. I see that I wrote about St. Alban’s Fire on February 3, 2007; and I wrote about The Second Mouse on March 8, 2008. Unfortunately I have to report that… Read More ›
Trophy Wives Don't Need Advanced Physics
This is an unsolicited recommendation for the new book published by my colleague, Boris Korsunsky, Trophy Wives Don’t Need Advanced Physics: Dubious Words of Wisdom From Physics Students. Just now I almost said, “written by my colleague…,” but that would… Read More ›
Little Brother
Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow, is billed as a “Young Adult” Novel. And so it is. But, like several other “Young Adult” adults, it is worth reading by not-so-young adults. This is an homage to 1984 — hence the title… Read More ›
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Diaz’s bi-cultural novel, The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, is itself a wondrous and wonderful book in so many ways. While it’s not for everyone — some reviewers were irritated by matters that could indeed be irritating to… Read More ›
The Body in the Ivy
The Body in the Ivy, by Katherine Hall Page, is a well-above-average mystery with some familiar themes. I can’t give too many details without indulging in spoilers, but I recommend it to those who like updated Agatha-Christie-style stories where the… Read More ›
This is Your Brain on Music
I don’t usually read books just on the basis of advertising, so I first checked with my colleague the music teacher before I decided to read the new book with such intriguing ads: Daniel J. Levitin’s This is Your Brain… Read More ›
The Crimes of Jordan Wise
Bill Pronzini’s neo-noir novel, The Crimes of Jordan Wise, is a pleasant diversion but certainly not one of his better works. The idea that a geeky guy who excelled in math in high school might become a successful accountant is,… Read More ›
Studs Terkel's Working
This year’s spring musical at Weston High School is the little-known Working, based closely on Studs Terkel’s great book of the same name. Although I say “closely,” the musical can of course include only a tiny fraction of the chapters… Read More ›
Careless in Red
Elizabeth George has long been one of my favorite authors, but her books have been becoming bleaker and bleaker. Even though I’ve read many — most? even all? — of her novels, I don’t think I’ve ever reviewed any of… Read More ›
Predictably Irrational
I generally find that non-fiction works are difficult to follow in the audiobook format. Perhaps it’s because non-fiction books remind the reader of college lectures, so there’s an impulse to take notes. Perhaps it’s because they tend to be dryer… Read More ›
Cries and Whiskers
Generally I stay away from mysteries that feature cats. They tend to be too cute, with anthropomorphized felines that solve crimes or even talk. But Clea Simon’s Cries and Whiskers avoids those pitfalls. Aside from featuring cats, this novel also… Read More ›
Everything is Miscellaneous
For years now I’ve been fascinated and bothered by hierarchical systems of organization, starting with the Dewey Decimal System and progressing to typical org charts in businesses and hierarchical file systems on computers. On the one hand, the systematic structure… Read More ›
The Numbers Behind Numb3rs
My students sometimes ask me whether the mathematics in the television show Numb3rs is real. This question, among others, is explored in a fascinating book, The Numbers behind Numb3rs: Solving Crime with Mathematics, by mathematicians Keith Devlin and Gary Lorden…. Read More ›
People of the Book
Like some of the other novels I tend to read, People of the Book appeals to a particular type of audience rather than the general public. Australian author Geraldine Brooks’s fascinating historical novel spans many centuries while remaining firmly anchored… Read More ›
The Stranger House
Here is yet another genre-transcending novel that’s something of a gothic mystery but really is neither gothic nor mystery: The Stranger House, by Reginald Hill. It helps, of course, that the protagonist this time is a mathematician — even better… Read More ›
Learning Strategies 