Category: Book Reviews

April 21, 2023

The Devil’s Element by Dan Egan *** (of 4)

Kudos to Egan for calling out the devil’s bargain humanity has made with a single element: phosphorus. On one side of the equation, phosphorus is...

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March 21, 2023

These Truths by Jill Lepore **** (of 4)

It is no small feat to write a history of the United States. Choose any event, say, for example the Presidency of George Washington, The...

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March 12, 2023

Shrines of Gaiety by Kate Atkinson *** (of 4)

Atkinson did her homework before reproducing the details of England in the raucous 1920s. Britons released from the devastation of WW I and the influenza...

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March 12, 2023

The Word is Murder by Antony Horowitz *** (of 4)

Antony Horowitz – a prolific writer of mysteries for adults, children, and television – definitely had fun writing this one. He cast himself as one...

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February 2, 2023

People Love Dead Jews by Dara Horn **** (of 4)

In a series of essays, no not essays, but rather really well-done rants, Dara Horn made me pause and reconsider a lot of what I...

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February 2, 2023

What it is Like to go to War ***(of 4)

There are not a lot of books about the philosophy of war, but there should be, especially as we are a country that in the...

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January 17, 2023

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan **** (of 4)

The perfect follow up to We Didn’t Know Ourselves, Claire Keegan’s novella describes in exquisite detail the conflict between religion and morality within the mind...

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January 17, 2023

Mercury Pictures Presents *** (of 4) by Anthony Marra

Anthony Marra starts off well enough. His lead characters Art Feldman, a 1940s B-lot movie producer and his plucky assistant, an Italian immigrant named Maria...

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January 5, 2023

Ducks by Kate Beaton *** (of 4)

Newly graduated from college with artistic talent, a liberal arts degree, and a mountain of college loans, 21-year-old Kate Beaton departs her economically depressed home...

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January 4, 2023

We Didn’t Know Ourselves by Fintan O’Toole **** (of 4)

The book’s subtitle is accurate: A Personal History of Modern Ireland. This history of Ireland begins in 1958, more or less, when O’Toole was born....

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