The Book Thief
by Markus Zusak, 2005, Alfred A. Knopf, New York Very interesting book about a German family in WWII. The narrator of the book is Death and he has a sense of humor and a personality. This approach reminds me a … Continue reading →
Category Archives: Four-Star
The First Salute
by Barbara W. Tuchman, 1988, Alfred A. Knopf, New York The theme of this book was the incident that occurred on St. Eustastia island in 1776 when the Dutch government of island acknowledged a ship flying the flag of the … Continue reading →
Body and Soul
by Frank Conroy, 1993 This is a wonderful book to experience. It is about a person who grew up in very poor circumstances but had a talent for music and the piano. Conroy pours an incredible amount of detail regarding … Continue reading →
A Land Remembered, A Novel
by Patrick D. Smith, 1984 This is a lovely book about three generations of a family that settled in Florida just prior to the Civil War. The characters are interesting and the author keeps the pace going by including just … Continue reading →
Desert Queen, The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Advisor to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia
by Janet Wallach, 1996 This is an amazing story of a woman who played a major role in the early 20th century in the creation of the current country of Iraq. She was one of the first women to attend … Continue reading →
No Country for Old Men
by Cormac McCarthy, 2006, Vintage International, New York This book is a very quick read and it really moves along. There are a few places in the book, however, that are a bit hard to follow. The villain of the … Continue reading →
Moscow, 1812, Napolean’s Fatal March
by Adam Zamoyski, 2004 This book is an extremely well-written account of Napolean’s invasion of Russia in 1812. In addition to a very readable style, I also liked the author’s overview of the political situation in Europe prior to the war, … Continue reading →
Echo Park
by Michael Connelly, 2006 I picked this book up at Wal-Mart when I was on a camping trip to New York and I couldn’t find a decent book store in Plattsburg, so I wasn’t expecting much. It is surprisingly good. … Continue reading →
A Thousand Splendid Suns
by Khalid Housseini, 2007 This book is well worth reading, although it drags a bit during the first part of the book and it does not read quite as well as The Kite Runner.  The book provides the reader with a … Continue reading →
Mayflower
by Nathaniel Philbrick, 2006 I enjoyed reading this book very much as it is well-written and very informative as to what happened in New England after the Pilgrims landed. The book is very detailed regarding the encounters between the natives … Continue reading →