Monthly Archives: April 2016

The Well of Ascension is the second book in the Mistborn series. If Mistborn was essentially Middle Earth if Sauron won, then The Well of Ascension, is Middle Earth if Sauron was defeated… and things got worse: ash continues to … Continue reading →

“The Danish Girl’, another story based on real events, recreates the lives of artist Lili Elbe, who became a transgender pioneer. Lili, born Einar, was a Danish landscape painter. He began posing as a woman for his wife Gerda, then … Continue reading →

The Serengeti Rules by Sean Carroll is an attempt to show how in an ecosystem life works.   H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald tells how a woman and her trained raptor “discover the pain and beauty of being alive” (People).  … Continue reading →

“Spotlight,” which won the Oscar for best picture this year, is a ‘remarkably assured and tight retelling” of the Boston Globe’s investigation in to the cover up of child abuse by priests in Boston’s Archdiocese. The Globe committed its spotlight … Continue reading →

For futuristic action movie fans, we have Star Wars: The Force Awakens” and “Mockingjay Part 2”.  Critics thought that “Mockingjay,” which completes the Hunger games trilogy, fell short of pinnacle of “Catching Fire” (this writer could not find an upbeat quote). Still, … Continue reading →

In “Bucky F*cking Dent” by David Duchovny, a son tries to ease his father’s last days by orchestrating the illusion of a Red Sox winning streak.   “Even people who do not care about the Red Sox or who hate baseball will … Continue reading →

Novels of dread and gloom. Seems fitting for today’s weather. In The taxidermist’s Daughter by Kate Mosse, the death of a stranger unsettles a remote English village,  particularly a woman who alone on its outskirts. In Miller’s Valley by Anna Quindlen, a young … Continue reading →

A new story by a favorite suspense writer can be comfortable, like familiar slippers, and engaging, without the threat of curve balls or left hooks. In The Other Side of Silence by Philip Kerr, Bernie Gunther comes out of retirement to … Continue reading →

Nothing spells comfort like an old-school British mystery. It just so happens that  the Nichols Library has two new ones to offer.  “ Journey to Munich” by Jaqueline Winspear (print and CD) sends Masie Dobbs on  mission into Nazi Germany … Continue reading →

Looking out the window at the April (snow) showers, one is reminded how pleasant it can be to have a good read to turn to at the end of the day.   “The Summer before the War” (print and CD) by … Continue reading →