Notable Books
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This is Reality Boy
It’s nearly sundown on a late winter day, the blockbuster movie you’ve been waiting months to see has finally arrived. As you’re on your way back from the mailbox, you pass your TBR book pile. Reality Boy is on top. Absently you pick it up, flip it open, read theRead More …
Tony Partly Cloudy
So, I’m standing at the sink washing dishes the other morning, thinking out loud, ‘what’s Tony gonna do? I mean, you know he’s gonna do it his way, right?’ And man, does he! It is, at this point, you know you’re onto a great book and Tony Partly Cloudy isRead More …
The Candidate’s Daughter
I’ve pretty much given up on self-pub books. Too much crap to wade through to find the few gems among them. However, when several people you know start talking about one, it may well be worth checking out. That’s the case with The Candidate’s Daughter. There are scenes in thisRead More …
Death Ain’t But A Word
I’m not sure why I picked up this book. The title is so-so, the cover is garish. Was it the San Francisco Book Review blurb on the front cover? I’m generally not inclined toward paying much attention to blurbs. Way too many blurb whores out there for me to payRead More …
Me Again
Keith Cronin has that rare ability many writers wish they had: a near perfect sense of comedic timing, especially where the one-liner is concerned. It’s hard to imagine ‘funny’ in a story about a man who has been in a coma for years, a man no one thought would everRead More …
Me? Like Cozies?
I’m a bit ashamed to admit it but, yeah, I do like cozies. There’s something intriguing about them. They tend to go against everything I’ve learned about writing. Short, choppy sentences. A near total lack of description. Murders galore but little or no blood, muted violence and no emotion: “Jack,Read More …
Learning To Swim
There are those thrillers that keep you turning the pages by strapping you down in the front seat of the roller-coaster from hell and running you through every tire-screeching twist of a car chase, every fusillade turn of gunfire, propelling you skyward on the mushroom cloud of violent explosions andRead More …
Beyond The Da Vinci Code – Way Beyond
Despite my interest in the subject, I was never able to read The Da Vinci Code. The writing was so atrocious, the pace so obtuse, the characters so two-dimensional that the poor paperback took flying lessons across the room one too many times and the binding finally broke, scattering theRead More …
The Last Witch of Manhattan
The Last Witch of Manhattan is a self-pubbed YA novel by author Richard Lewis. As with many self-pubbed books, it could have used the competent hand of an editor and the sharp eye of a proofreader to really make it shine. But wow! Did I enjoy this. Read it inRead More …
Witches and Magic and Murder, Oh My!
A truly enjoyable and engaging read requires several ingredients: an intriguing protagonist, interesting, well-rounded supporting characters, a brisk pace, a hint or more of danger, a slew of story questions, and a satisfying end in which the bad dude gets his just reward. Opal Fire by Barbra Annino has allRead More …
Remembering Kurt Vonnegut
Anytime the subject of favorite authors comes up, Kurt Vonnegut is always the first author that springs to my mind. I’ve read a lot of books over the years, enough to fill a medium sized library, and I’ve been influenced by a lot of writers. But Vonnegut influenced more thanRead More …
EJ in Wonderland
Here is something you should never do: start reading a book from the library, one which happens to have a hold list a mile long, the day before that book is due. The libraries around here are pretty tolerant; no fines, easy online renewal, but, if a book has holdsRead More …
EJ and the Ironic Reading Material
Lately I’ve been reading a lot of YA despite the fact that I’m about as far from YAhood as one could possibly get and still be animated. I like YA. The stories I’ve been reading are original and fresh with some really quality writing. A. S. King’s The Dust ofRead More …
Life Amongst the Dead
It seems to me that either I’m getting older and my intolerance for wasting time is growing or else there is a lot of crap being published these days. Probably both, though more the latter than the former. Too often I pick up a book, get about five or tenRead More …
D5 Creation