The Luzhin Defense
What I find so interesting about The Defense is how Nabokov envelops readers in Luzhin's consciousness
From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler
We all agree that E. L. Konigsburg's From the Mixed Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler is a brilliant read, no matter what your age.
Gazelle
Gazelle, by Rikki Ducornet, is about 13-year-old Elizabeth, coming of age in Egypt, a country removed from the American south where she was born
A Bear Called Paddington
The recent trip to London put me in a mood for a book I’ve not read in more than twenty years: Paddington Abroad
A Very Bookish Holiday
I alluded to bookish doings abroad in my last post ... the London trip was amazing, at least from this bibliophile's point of view
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont
Mrs Palfrey at the Claremont doesn't leave you feeling at all down. Taylor's books are perfect if you want a breezy summer read but aren't willing to sacrifice craft or depth
Collected Poems
Moody, bleak, and often oh-so-dead-on, Philip Larkin seems to have written a poem to match just about any frame of mind or physical state
The Queen’s Gambit
The Queen's Gambit, by Walter Tevis, is one of those rare books that as soon as I had I finished it, I started reading it again. It's that good.
Strong Poison
Seems like a long time since I've chatted up a British mystery ... doesn't it? Well, Strong Poison, by Dorothy L. Sayers, is just the thing to put an end to the dry spell
LaBute’s Razor
In Fat Pig and This Is How It Goes, LaBute gives voice to all those ugly things that propel the human tendency toward selfishness and approval-seeking.
The Fairy Tales
The Fairy Tales are also appropriate, despite their darker elements, for children who have perhaps overindulged on the sugar-coated Disney versions
The Adventures of Frog and Toad
Arnold Lobel's Frog and Toad Are Friends, published in 1970, is the first in a series of four books about these two famous friends
The Moonstone
The Moonstone is a very long tale about a precious gem stolen from the brow of a Hindu deity that wreaks havoc on an English family
Blaming
Blaming by Elizabeth Taylor is the story of an unlikely friendship that forms between Amy, an Englishwoman, and Martha, an American