Category: FICTION

May 29, 2011

Talkative Man by R.K. Narayan *** (of 4)

In the small fictional Indian town of Malgudi an independent, very amateur journalist pauses over coffee to tell a story. His subject is the mysterious,...

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May 26, 2011

The Frozen Rabbi by Steve Stern *** (of 4)

A Chasidic Rabbi from the olden country goes out to meditate on the meaning of God, falls into a trance, and then a lake that...

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May 1, 2011

When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka *** (of 4)

A short introduction to the dehumanizing, racist relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps at the outset of World War II. We follow a single,...

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April 8, 2011

The Seer of Shadows by Avi ** (of 4)

The time is 1870s, the first widespread use of photography for regular people. It is Manhattan and the wealthy are beginning to pay for the...

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March 29, 2011

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall *** (of 4)

Mr. Vish Puri, chief detective of the Most Private Investigating Company, solves Delhi crimes. Well, he solves crimes when he isn’t investigating philandering spouses. The...

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February 25, 2011

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larson **** (of 4)

The by now famous protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, is once again assaulted, chased, and utterly alone. The plot contains full doses of sex and violence, the...

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January 26, 2011

Squirrel seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris *** (of 4)

A very deft interplay of human characteristics and foibles overlain upon our stereotypes of animals. Thus, we meet with mice who taken in homeless animals...

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January 26, 2011

The Things they Carried by Tim O’Brien *** (of 4)

A series of related stories about the life of U.S. soldiers trying to get by during the grind of the Vietnam War. O’Brien wavers across...

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January 1, 2011

Still Life by Louise Penny *** (of 4)

An aging, blue-haired, naif artist with a secret is killed by an arrow in a small, eccentric village outside Montreal. An elegant Francophone detective interviews...

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December 25, 2010