Somehow I haven’t read a spy book since July. It was time to revert to the mean, so this entry features one proper spy story, one that brushes up against the genre, and a proper mystery. Sheepdog – Elliot Ackerman When I added this to my reading list, I noted that it was described as being for people who liked…

The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, Mockingjay – Suzanne Collins One of the great parenting gifts I’ve received recently is L re-discovering her love of reading over the past year. She started reading more in the spring while she was rehabbing. When summer rolled around she kept up with it. After she got a Kindle she really took off. She is…

Just one book in this entry, as I’ve begun a trilogy that might take a week or so and don’t want to forget about this one in the interim. The House Across The Lake – Riley Sager I read a couple of Sager’s thrillers last October, and they had a nice dose of spookiness that butted up against the supernatural…

A bit of a slog lately, as I’ve worked through a group of books that I did not love. These are the risks you take when you grab suggestions from many different sources. Swag – Elmore Leonard Last month I came across an article that was an appreciation of some of Leonard’s lesser known works. I’ve read several of his…

In the Weeds: Around the World and Behind the Scenes with Anthony Bourdain – Tom Vitale A book that has been out three years but I managed not to hear about until just now. Written by one of Anthony Bourdain’s closest associates, it is definitely a warts and all accounting of what it was like to work with the late…

The Magdalen Martyrs, The Dramatist, Priest – Ken BruenBooks three, four, and five of Bruen’s Jack Taylor series. I read them in five or six days. They are that good. Like many series there are multiple repeating themes and plot devices. Bur Bruen was a good enough writer that he made each book completely compelling and just different enough where…

I’ve been on a hot streak this month. In addition to the books below, I have three more I need to share. As they are related, I’m saving those for next week. King of Ashes – S.A. Cosby The latest addition to Cosby’s growing collection of terrific thrillers. Here Roman, a rising Atlanta financial advisor to athletes and other celebrities,…

The Happy Isles of Oceania – Paul Theroux The latest re-read – for the fifth, sixth time? – of my all time favorite, non-fiction book. I actually meant to take it when we traveled to Hawaii four years ago but couldn’t find it. It turned up a year or two later and has been sitting on my shelf, waiting for…

This week has gone a little off the rails. We are expecting a contractor at the house shortly, which was planned. Had another very much unplanned visit on Tuesday that ended up costing us the equivalent of a nice vacation. More about those next week, probably. I had planned on saving my latest RN post for after I finish my…

My Documents – Kevin Nguyen Books like this can be unsettling. It is about a fictional moment in modern America, but through the worst kind of serendipity, lines up with real events we are seeing on the news these days. The book follows an extended Vietnamese-American family that crosses several generations, specifically a set of cousins. One set of the…