5 Stars – Page 10 – Looking For a Good Book

September 22, 2021

ROCK AND ROLL WILL SAVE YOUR LIFE – Steve Almond

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Steve Almond’s work. I religiously buy everything he publishes, and even have purchased anthologies with strange themes just to read an Almond story. And it was all I could do to not behave like a Raving Fan Boy when he was speaking at my local bookstore a… Continue reading

ENTERTAINMENT, MEMOIR, NON-FICTION

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Memoir, Music, non-fiction, Reviews

August 11, 2021

MONEY SHOT – graphic novel

It seems as though graphic novels have really pushed the boundaries when it comes to storylines and standards. Whether it’s hard core gore or hardcore sex, you can probably find it in a graphic novel somewhere. Money Shot leans toward the sex end of the spectrum, and while moderately graphic, it’s still a relatively tame sex story.… Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL, SF/FANTASY

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Graphic Novels, Sex

August 6, 2021

GREEK MYTHOLOGY – Liv Albert

I loved this book. There is no shortage of books about Greek mythology or featuring gods and goddesses pulled from the Greek (and Roman) myths, so to stand out in this field you really need to provide something unique to be a draw. Author Liv Albert manages to do just this and thereby provides a… Continue reading

MYTHOLOGY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mythology/Legend

July 2, 2021

NEAR THE BONE – Christina Henry

This is an INTENSE book. The faint-at-heart may want to stay away. Mattie lives with William, alone in a remote location in a small wooden shack on a mountain. Mattie must always obey the will of her husband. She must keep quiet, keep out of sight, and fulfill all wifely duties. If she questions William,… Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Horror/Dark Fantasy

June 30, 2021

I AM DRUMS – Mike Grosso

This is a really tremendous book for school-aged readers! Samantha (Sam) really wants to be a drummer. She takes drumming seriously and even though some of the other drummers (all boys) are better than her right now, she’s hoping that with some practice and determination, she will make the jazz band. All she needs is… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Middle Grade, YA

May 24, 2021

THE REAL VALKYRIE – Nancy Marie Brown

Vikings and Valkyries – these two words can conjure up a lot of images, especially today with the popularity of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. But the real Vikings and Valkyries (real Valkyries?) were much more interesting, and although the Vikings we are referencing here were alive more than one thousand years ago. Even so, we’re… Continue reading

HISTORICAL FICTION, NON-FICTION

5 Stars, Historical Fiction, History

May 21, 2021

DEAD SPRINT – Caroline Fardig

Ellie Matthews is a criminalist, in a personal relationship with FBI Agent Vic Manetti. The two have just started running together, but their first competitive race is cut short with the discovery of a body of a runner murdered the night before. The local sheriff’s department asks for Ellie’s help again (her last case was… Continue reading

MYSTERY

5 Stars, Mystery

May 14, 2021

THE SOUTHERN BOOK CLUB’S GUIDE TO SLAYING VAMPIRES – Grady Hendrix

One of the things that makes reading Grady Hendrix absolutely delicious is that Hendrix gives us a really normal story with really normal people but then things start to slide sideways. It’s a slow process – so slow you probably can’t pinpoint exactly when the slide began (and probably, the slide began before the first… Continue reading

Dark Fantasy/Horror, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Horror/Dark Fantasy

April 30, 2021

WITHIN WITHOUT – Jeff Noon

If you’ve read any of my other reviews of Jeff Noon’s John Nyquist series, you already know that these books are really unlike anything else. John Nyquist is a detective who takes on the oddest jobs – or the oddest jobs find him. In either case, Nyquist goes to the most unusual, mind-bending, confusing communities… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, SF/Fantasy, Speculative Fiction

April 12, 2021

1973: ROCK AT THE CROSSROADS – Andrew Grant Jackson

One of my children is very much interested in music and, because I listened to a lot of what we now call ‘classic rock’, he is also quite fond of this music period. We’ve talked about it quite often and how I always felt that there was a real strength of music and musicians in… Continue reading

NON-FICTION

5 Stars, History, Music, non-fiction

April 2, 2021

VULTURES – Chuck Wendig

How do you write a review of a Chuck Wendig novel? Answer: write a review as you normally would but periodically, after a description, add “with vengeance.” For instance: In Vultures, the sixth book in Chuck Wendig’s Miriam Black series, we find Miriam pregnant and that the The Trespasser has the ability to inhabit both… Continue reading

MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY, YA

5 Stars, Mystery, YA

March 26, 2021

A HERO BORN – Jin Yong

We are in China in the 13th Century. The Song Empire has been invaded and half its capital city are in the hands of the enemy Jurchen. In Mongolia, a powerful warlord is uniting a nation of warriors and soon the warlords name will be known everywhere: Genghis Khan. But our focus here is on… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY

5 Stars, SF/Fantasy