Category Archives: Book Reviews

Book Review: Inside Hitler’s Greece: The Experience of Occupation 1941-44

You want a horror story?  Forget Frankenstein and Dracula and Stephen King and Lovecraft.  Read this book.  What Greeks went through during the Second World War is grotesque to say the least and indescribably horrific to say the most. It … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: A Crown of Feathers and Other Stories by Isaac Bashevis Singer

Soon after starting to read this collection I found myself comparing Singer’s stories with those of Jorge Luis Borges.  First of all, both writers deal with elements of the fantastic, though Singer is concerned mainly with that which has to … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

Book Review: Inventing Paradise: The Greek Journey 1937-47 by Edmund Keeley

Just before World War 2 a number of writers and poets came together in friendship in Greece and formed a group which included Henry Miller, Lawrence Durrell, George Seferis, George Katsimbalis, and other Greek literary figures.  Henry Miller writes about … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, On Writing, Travel | Tagged , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

There are clues hidden in the first few paragraphs of this novel as to what will follow, but they are cryptic, understandable only in hindsight after you have made it almost to the end.  Therefore, to me at least, the … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

My Favorite Fiction Books: The Runners-Up

A few weeks ago I posted a list of my five favorite fiction books.  They are: 1.  “The Lord of the Rings” by J.R.R. Tolkien 2.  “On the Road” by Jack Kerouac 3.  “Tropic of Cancer” by Henry Miller 4.  … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Reading | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: The Freelancer’s Survival Guide by Kristine Kathryn Rusch

I can’t remember how it happened or what led me to it, but by fortuitous chance I came across a blog called “Killing the Sacred Cows of Publishing” by Dean Wesley Smith.  Every few days a new post would appear, … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

My Five Favorite Fiction Books

Lists of favorite books are fun, aren’t they?  Sometimes they give me ideas on what to read next, and I am always on the lookout for good books, as I am always reading something.  Usually I alternate between fiction and … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, Reading | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Matterhorn: A Novel of the Vietnam War by Karl Marlantes

The Vietnam War was the defining war for my generation, just as the Mideast wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are for the present generation.  There are differences, of course.  Young people today do not feel as threatened by the current … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Book Review: The Best American Short Stories 2007, edited by Stephen King

My motivation for reading this book was the same one I had for reading the recent collection of best science fiction stories edited by Gardner Dozois:  I write and submit to the magazines, so I wanted to be familiar with … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Book Review: Deep River by Shusaku Endo

While searching for the novel “Silence” by Shusaku Endo at the local library I came across one of his later novels, “Deep River”.  “Silence” is better-known and considered by many to be his masterpiece; Martin Scorsese is planning to film … Continue reading

Posted in Book Reviews, On Writing | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment