Asan Vladimir Makanin “Asan wants money. Asan wants blood.” Within the emerging genre of “Chechen,” as in referring to the recent Chechen wars, prose, Vladimir Makanin’s “Asan” has engendered controversy. To a field zealously guarded by its veterans, the non-veteran Makanin has contributed two works: the novella “Caucasian Captive” (Кавказский пленный) and now the novel […]
Read more "“Asan” by Vladimir Makanin"A Maverick Traveller Mary Jane Walker “A Maverick Traveller” is a straightforward, high-spirited account of the author’s adventures traveling around the world, as she does everything from sail across the Pacific in a Chinese junk to go mountain climbing in the Alps. In between, and perhaps even more fascinatingly, it chronicles her involvement in New […]
Read more "“A Maverick Traveller” by MaryJane Walker"Kavkazskii plennyi Vladimir Makanin I have to be upfront here and say that I’ve only read Kavkazskii plennyi, not the rest of the stories in this collection, so I can only judge that. But anyone interested in the development of contemporary Russian literature and its relationship with its illustrious past will definitely want to read […]
Read more "“Captive of the Caucasus” by Vladimir Makanin and “Captive” by Aleksey Uchitel"Kit Fielding Mysteries by Dick Francis Break In Since Goodreads reading goals wait for no man nor woman either, not even on Christmas, I must complete more reviews if I am to meet my target. Naturally for today I decided to review the books about Christmas “Kit” Fielding and his twin sister Holly, born […]
Read more "“Break In” and “Bolt” by Dick Francis"Longshot Dick Francis John Kendall takes a job everyone else has turned down. But it seemed better than freezing. Only it sucks him straight into a murder mystery. “Longshot” is one of my very favorite Francis books, and it was just as good on the last reread. Written in 1990, right when Francis was at […]
Read more "“Longshot” by Dick Francis"Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow Peter Hoeg “Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow” was the book that introduced me both to Nordic noir and contemporary literary fiction, and was a major push towards my life-long fascination with the Nordic countries (in case you’re wondering, Scandinavia is the Nordic countries that speak Germanic languages, while “the Nordic […]
Read more "“Miss Smilla’s Feeling for Snow” by Peter Hoeg"Winds of Fate Mercedes Lackey Back in the heady days of 2016, when some of us thought there might be a chance of electing a woman as president of the US (and yes, it matters that it is the president of the US and not some other country; lovely as it is that countries like […]
Read more "“Winds of Fate” by Mercedes Lackey"Straight Dick Francis “Straight” has always been one of my favorite Francis stories, and I’m not sure why. The main topic–gemstones–holds absolutely zero interest for me, and neither do the clever gadgets that the main character has to figure out. But maybe that’s why it’s interesting. The chances of me ever wearing lots of gems, […]
Read more "“Straight” by Dick Francis"Just Like the Bronte Sisters Laurel Osterkamp Jo Beth and Skylar are about as close as sisters can be, despite seeming complete opposites: Jo Beth is a daredevil ski racer, while Skylar loves to read. But then everything changes. I have a hard time summing up “Just Like the Bronte Sisters,” since, while it’s not […]
Read more "“Just Like the Bronte Sisters” by Laurel Osterkamp"The Fountain Boxed Set Ellison Blackburn I’ve enjoyed reading all three books in The Fountain trilogy, so I’m glad to see them all gathered together in this boxed set, which is definitely the convenient way to get them. The Fountain is a unique addition to the speculative fiction/technothriller genre, telling the story of two (very […]
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E. P. Clark: Author, Book Reviewer, and All-Around Literary Handiwoman 