5 Stars – Page 17 – Looking For a Good Book

February 8, 2019

A CIRCLE OF ELEPHANTS – Eric Dinerstein

Just over two years ago I read and reviewed What Elephants Know by Eric Dinerstein. It was a tremendously beautiful novel. Now Dinerstein is back with a follow-up … A Circle of Elephants. Thirteen-year-old Nandu works for the Royal Elephant Breeding Center – a newly established program that houses and protects the royal elephants. The… Continue reading

CHILDREN’S, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Children’s Books, Nature, Reviews, Young Adult

January 14, 2019

THE HIDDEN MACHINERY – Margot Livesey

I was not at all familiar with Margot Livesey before reading this. When I requested this book I was on a bit of a kick to read books about writing (if you’ve been following my blog you can probably recall a few titles that have been reviewed here). I was also attracted to the very… Continue reading

NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, essays, non-fiction, writing

January 4, 2019

MASK OF SHADOWS – Linsey Miller

If you’re reading a book and you read only in the morning but when you go to bed at night you are thinking about the characters in that book, and wondering what is about to happen next, you probably really like that book. If you’re reading a book and you tend to always read that… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Young Adult

December 20, 2018

THE ESSENTIAL ELLEN WILLIS

I knew nothing about Ellen Willis before venturing into this book but I enjoy reading essays (yes, I’m that guy) and I was drawn to Willis’ profile and record. I’m not sure how to describe Willis, based on her writing. Any label I give her would only box her in to a confine too small… Continue reading

MEMOIR, NON-FICTION

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, essays, non-fiction, Reviews

December 4, 2018

THE VIKINGS – Martyn Whittock & Hannah Whittock

Although this book is subtitled “From Odin to Christ” and is ostensibly a book about the ‘Christianizing’ of Scandinavia, the truth is that this is a really phenomenal, brief history of the ‘Vikings.’ I put a quote around ‘Vikings’ because, as the Whittocks explain, ‘Viking’ is something you did (you went viking) and not something… Continue reading

MYTHOLOGY, NON-FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, History, Mythology/Legend, non-fiction, Reviews

November 30, 2018

A MAN OF SHADOWS – Jeff Noon

The one sentence, attention-getting note on Goodreads before the book description reads: “The brilliant, mind-bending return to science fiction by one of its most acclaimed visionaries.” Now I can’t say that I’ve read anything by Jeff Noon before this, so I can’t speak to this being a ‘return’ to science fiction or his being a… Continue reading

MYSTERY, SF/FANTASY

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

November 23, 2018

STRANGE WEATHER – Joe Hill

From one of our modern masters of strange or speculative fiction, Joe Hill, comes this collection of four novellas. Included here is: Snapshot. This is a dark, strange tale of a young boy and his grandmotherly neighbor babysitter who is slowly going through dementia. Except it’s not naturally caused. In fact, her warnings of beware… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, SHORT FICTION, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Horror/Dark Fantasy, Reviews, SF/Fantasy, Short Stories

November 9, 2018

DEATH IN D MINOR – Alexia Gordon

Every mystery series has a gimmick (or two) as well as a regular crime-solver (often someone not in police work) and it’s usually the gimmick that will first attract a reader’s attention. That’s how I got interested in this series, anyway. The title of these Gethsemane Brown Mysteries have (so far) had a musical connotation… Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews

November 2, 2018

THE CHEERLEADERS – Kara Thomas

The high school in Sunnybrook does not have cheerleaders. They once did, but in a short time a number of calamities fell on the cheerleaders of Sunnybrook. First there was the car accident and two girls from the cheer squad were killed when their car hit a tree on a rainy night. Then there was… Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized, YA

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews, Young Adult

October 26, 2018

ROOM FOR DOUBT – Nancy Cole Silverman

Room for Doubt is the fourth book in the Carol Childs Mystery series by Nancy Cole Silverman. This is a series that started off a little rough for me but has gotten better with each book and holds true to that here with number four. Carol Childs is a radio reporter in Los Angeles and… Continue reading

MYSTERY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Mystery, Reviews

October 17, 2018

SUNGRAZER – Jay Posey

Jay Posey is not only one of my favorite authors in the Angry Robots catalog, he’s rising to become one of my favorite authors, period. Sungrazer is the second book in his Outriders series – an action/adventure, military sci-fi space opera. Think Jerry Pournelle crossed with the authors known as James S.A. Corey. There is… Continue reading

SF/FANTASY, Uncategorized

5 Stars, Book Reviews, Books, Reviews, SF/Fantasy

October 12, 2018

JAZZ MAYNARD VOL. 2: THE ICELAND TRILOGY – graphic novel

GRAPHIC NOVEL WEEK Alright, I’ll admit that I was attracted to this book because of the title: Jazz Maynard. For those of us who are jazz fans, this definitely captures our attention! Fortunately what’s inside is a strong story with attractive, stylized art. Backstory (which is shared in this volume): Jazz Maynard was a kid… Continue reading

GRAPHIC NOVEL

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