Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: Rewrites: A Memoir by Neil Simon

This is another book I found at the yearly Seattle Public Library book sale.  Before finding it in the rows, stacks, and piles of books scattered on the long tables, I never even knew it existed.  Neil Simon is a … Continue reading

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Book Review: The John Varley Reader

I hadn’t intended to review this book at all.  I bought it at the Seattle Public Library book sale for a dollar because I noticed that it had “The Persistence of Vision” in it, a story I have been wanting … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Coldest Winter: America and the Korean War by David Halberstam

Let me just say from the start that this is a magisterial, brilliant book.  I read somewhere that Halberstam considered it his best book, and I can’t argue with that.  On the other hand, I have read several of his … Continue reading

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Book Review: Wool by Hugh Howey

Hugh Howey is a phenomenon in the self-publishing universe.  He began publishing his fiction as a hobby while working at a full-time job.  His “Wool” series exploded in popularity; Ridley Scott bought the film rights; Howey acquired an agent who … Continue reading

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Book Review: Inside Out by Barry Eisler

I don’t read many thrillers, at least not in recent years, and I wouldn’t have read this one except for a curious cluster of coincidences.  First of all, I am poor.  There’s no getting around it; I barely make enough … Continue reading

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Book Review: On Moving: A Writer’s Meditation on New Houses, Old Haunts, and Finding Home Again by Louise DeSalvo

My son and I just moved again, from Yakima to Seattle, Washington.  We took a walk to the local branch of the Seattle Public Library to check it out and apply for library cards.  Waiting for the librarians to do … Continue reading

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Book Review: Little, Big by John Crowley

You should not approach “Little, Big” with any preconceptions.  It is an unusual work of fantasy.  I have been wanting to read it for years and never got around to it.  Recently I came across it on a list of … Continue reading

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Book Review: Smarter Than You Think: How Technology Is Changing Our Lives for the Better by Clive Thompson

I got hold of this book fairly quickly from my trusty public library soon after reading Nicholas Carr’s book “The Shallows”.  I didn’t like the Carr book.  It was negative and reactionary about ubiquitous technology that is here to stay.  … Continue reading

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Book Review: The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains by Nicholas Carr

I didn’t like this book.  There was too much in it I didn’t agree with.  I thought I would like it, and I wanted to like it.  It’s on a subject I am very interested in, the use of the … Continue reading

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On Rereading “Jurgen: A Comedy of Justice” by James Branch Cabell

It’s not my fault that I reread “Jurgen” at this time; it is the fault of one of my characters.  I was typing away on the new novel I am working on, and one of my characters made a reference … Continue reading

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