Category: Book Reviews

The Hobbit is a good story. It is a whimsical take on an epic, and I think that if I had read The Hobbit as a child, I would be a lifelong fan. But, alas, I waited some score and several years before perusing this book, and the whimsy just failed to take hold.  I… Read more

A classic that earned the title. Even the English translation is a jaunty read, 800 pages though it may be, with lyrical Russian names, each with its passel of diminutives. It is a consideration of the human character, as portrayed through the four Karamasov men: “…the broad Karamazov character…capable of combining the most incongruous contradictions,… Read more

As much as I would like to pretend otherwise, I get the appeal from this book. It is good at what it does, but what it does is not good. Was it entertaining? Yes. Was I invested in the ending? Also yes. Did reading it make me a better person? Alas, no. My personal views… Read more

A beautifully written novel, poetic with its well-timed motifs and chapter-ending aphorisms. This book is largely set in the late 1930s and mostly follows a working-class girl, though everyone she knows was either born rich or currently rich or both, and all the action and drama comes from flitting in and out of the lives… Read more

This is the more approachable, theological (as opposed to philosophical) brother to The Abolition of Man. Very cleverly written, thoughtful, and worth the read. But me telling you about it is no fun, so let me just give you some illustrative quotes instead.  “If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end:… Read more

This one went over my head, I’m afraid, although I believe the gestalt is that Christianity provides the bases for morality and a worldview, and that without believing in objective morality, a person can have no purpose or direction in life. And without a higher purpose, man is no different from animals. Thus, the abolition… Read more

The writing was so clever, so funny, so lighthearted even, with a charming interspersion of Russian names, which I happen to love for their complexity and diminutives, yet still it was such a slog. It almost presents as a narrative, with extensive forays into long lists. Lists of manners of torture, for instance, and the… Read more

This book is well written, extensively researched, and easy to read. It was sad. Sorrowful. An overwhelming sense of dread followed the characters. It is not, however, my personal cup of tea when it comes to historical fiction. It was an unhappy mix of extraordinary detail, researched to the minutia, with artistic liberties taken by… Read more

I fell in love with this book from the first few pages. The cowboys live a rough life, and plenty of it is unpleasant, but the narration remains lighthearted and funny (until it doesn’t). There are a million characters, but they’re all memorable and identifiable by their little quirks. And, of course, I love a… Read more

Jane Austen books are undeniably entertaining. I will say, the characters in this book were more annoying than in most. Marianne was prejudiced, reckless, and cocksure, and I wasn’t sorry to see her humbled, but I didn’t find her eventual marriage believable or even satisfactory after how she belittled Colonel Brandon. I don’t think she… Read more