Book review — Zen in the Art of Archery by Eugen Herrigel

I have read so many books about the practice of Zen Buddhism that it is difficult to choose a particular one that influenced me. And in fact I read Eugen Herrigel’s thin volume after I had read four or five dozen others, and after the moon of my own passion for the subject had waned.

Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Often, reading books at different times in one’s life produces different results and different interpretations. But perhaps no book makes a clearer demarcation between adolescence and adulthood than J.D. Salinger’s Catcher in the Rye. This cult classic is a litmus test for growing up. When I read this masterpiece as a teen, I thought Holden

Heroin Haikus by William Wantling, reviewed

Heroin Haikus by William Wantling / Tangerine Press / 2016 / 20 pages / 978-1-910691-18-2 William Wantling’s Heroin Haikus, out of print for fifty years, was recently published in a new edition by London’s Tangerine Press. The book’s last page features a biographical sketch of the poet. From 1958 to 1963, Wantling was incarcerated at

Book Review – Michel Leiris’ Nights as Day, Days as Night

Nights as Day, Days as Night by Michel Leiris / Spurl Editions / 196 pages / $17.50 / Translated by Richard Sieburth, with a foreword by Maurice Blanchot Spurl Editions has republished this long-out-of-print collection of Michel Leiris’ dreams. In the way that dreams can reflect and shine light upon one’s waking life, these dream

Trout Fishing in America by Richard Brautigan, reviewed by Eric D. Lehman

Richard Brautigan’s 1967 novella Trout Fishing in America is a difficult book. The opening chapter, “The Cover for Trout Fishing in America,” immediately puts the reader off balance, with a description of the actual book cover that we enter into, as if it is a magic portal. “Around five o’clock in the afternoon of my

Review: The Silenced by Heather Graham

Synopsis: Where is Lara Mayhew? Lara, a congressman’s media assistant, suddenly quits her job—and disappears on the way to her Washington, DC, apartment. Novice FBI agent Meg Murray, a childhood friend of Lara’s, gets a message from her that same night, a message that says she’s disillusioned and “going home.” To Richmond, Virginia. Meg discovers…

Review: The Fragments by Toni Jordan

Synopsis: INGA Karlson died in a fire in New York in the 1930s, leaving behind three things: a phenomenally successful first novel, the scorched fragments of a second book— and a mystery that has captivated generations of readers. Nearly fifty years later, Brisbane bookseller Caddie Walker is waiting in line to see a Karlson exhibition…

You’d Be Mine ~ Erin Hahn

Rating: 4/5 I thoroughly enjoyed this romantic drama featuring two teen country singers. I felt as though their passion, drama, and developing interests were relatable and kept the pace of the book moving steadily along. Annie Mathers, our protagonist quickly falls for bad-boy musician Clay. The foreshadowing is heavy handed enough to see where the

Review: The Last Romantics

Synopsis: “The greatest works of poetry are the stories we tell about ourselves.” When the renowned poet Fiona Skinner is asked about the inspiration behind her iconic work, The Love Poem, she tells her audience a story about her family and a betrayal that reverberates through time. It begins in a big yellow house, with…

Bears Behaving Badly – Maryjanice Davidson

A new series by Maryjanice Davidson and it is a funny and quicky as her pervious series without seeming to just be a rerun of them, so if you enjoy a book with a lot of giggles mixed in with your romance then I highly recommend this one or really anything written by Maryjanice Davidson.

Review: Just Friends by Charity Ferrell

Synopsis: Someone should have warned me about falling in love with my best friend. Carolina Little did I know when Rex came to my locker attempting to bribe me, that he’d turn into my everything. We’d become best friends. I’d steal his heart. He’d steal mine. Nothing has changed in the years of our friendship….

2019 Reading Challenges

Each year I like to track my books in different ways. In past years, I’ve participated in Read Harder Challenge from Book Riot, or Popsugar’s reading challenge. In 2019, I tracked my books the way I have for the last several years, by tracking authors’ gender, race, and LGBT themes in books. I also challenged

Review: The Bookish Life of Nina Hill

Synopsis: The only child of a single mother, Nina has her life just as she wants it: a job in a bookstore, a kick-butt trivia team, a world-class planner and a cat named Phil. If she sometimes suspects there might be more to life than reading, she just shrugs and picks up a new book….

Review: The Know-Nonsense Guide to Grammar

Synopsis: Get kids excited about learning! The Know Nonsense Guide to Grammar is a hilariously illustrated, quirky, and fun guide that kids will love! Turn each page in this book to learn a new basic grammar concept, including alliteration, similes, hyperbole, and much more, turning what can at times be dry topics into something approachable…

Where the Crawdads Sing ~ Delia Owens

Rating: 2/5 I struggled with Where the Crawdad’s Sing. I really wanted to like this book. It was set in North Carolina, the main character lived a completely alternative lifestyle. I suppose there were only two main reasons, but for me they were really strong reasons. And there were some things I really liked about

Crazy Week!

Hey fellow readers! I hope you’re all doing well. I’ve been going like crazy this week because Thursday I had sinus surgery. So I was trying to get everything done early so I could relax. And now all I want to do is sleep. I haven’t been reading anything either, but I am trying to

Review: The Plus One

Synopsis: A hilarious and heartwarming debut novel about a brilliant but socially inept robotics engineer who builds her own wedding date to her sister’s wedding, and learns more about love than she ever expected. Meet Kelly. Twenty-nine, valedictorian, and a brilliant robotics engineer to boot. While her professional life is on the rise, her personal…

Review: The Forgotten by Heather Graham

Synopsis: Murdered by a dead man? A woman named Maria Gomez is murdered in Miami, apparently by her husband—who’d been presumed dead, slain by a crime boss. FBI agent Brett Cody can’t believe it; dead or alive, the man had loved his wife. He also can’t help feeling guilty, since he was responsible for protecting…

Review: Horus by Eric C. Anderson

Synopsis: RECOVERING FROM THE LAST ROUND OF TERROR–AN EXHAUSTED U. S. PRESIDENT DEALS WITH THE SPECTER OF NUCLEAR HORROR. HORUS ends the thrilling “New Caliphate” trilogy, which began with OSIRIS and ANUBIS, where megalomaniacs battled zealots and America was caught in the crossfire. U.S. Marine Corps Master Gunnery Sergeant More and U.S. Army Special Forces…

Review: The Christian Entrepreneur

Synopsis: The road to launching a successful business can be long and confusing. Where do you start? Should you rent office space or work out of your garage? Should you register as a for-profit or a nonprofit business? How should you handle legal issues that come up? What does it mean to be a “Christian”…

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