It has been a long time since I’ve picked up a book of short stories. 

I was introduced to Alice Munro in college, and while I loved her work, had an unfortunate end to my experience with her because of a teacher who felt a master’s in education wasn’t a legitimate degree and teaching a class full of them was a waste of her summer.

However, I’ve periodically come back to Munro, thinking of her when I read short fiction, and so I recently purchased Runaway, a collection published a few years …

Not too long ago I joined a social networking site for folks who blog about books. Shortly thereafter, I received this email:

Your blog looks great.
Our company has been representing authors for the past twenty years.
We would love to add you to our database to receive press releases from them regarding books applicable to the genres you review.
At first I thought it was a scam. Then, I found others who confirmed that it was legit, so of course I accepted. I was tres excited!

And, I was even more excited when I …

So I finally finished Infidel – just very little time to read this week. I’m very glad that I read it, in the same way you’re really glad when you’ve gone to the dentist – it may not have been the best experience, but you know you’re better for it. (No offense, Dr. Bennett!)

I still hold to the opinion that this book is not a great literary piece. (If you’re confused, see my previous post.) The monotonous rhythm of events never changed. So, while I know all the names of …

Another guest post by bunny of bunnygoround.blogspot.com
The Book of Joe by Jonathan Tropper
Male authors are somewhat of a rarity in the world of fiction. Think about it—for every John Grisham or Nicholas Sparks, there are a gazillion Janet Evanovichs and Danielle Steels. Which is one reason I was interested in this book from the start.
The premise of the book is an interesting one, as well—small town boy, 30-something Joe, grows up and gets out of town as soon as he can, then writes a scathing, thinly-veiled autobiographical novel about his …

I read a post on another blog this morning that reminded me of this poem. I was introduced to Spoon River Anthology by a high school English teacher, and this one quickly became a favorite. There have been many times that I’ve gone back to this poem for inspiration.
George Grayby Edgar Lee Masters
I HAVE studied many timesThe marble which was chiseled for me–A boat with a furled sail at rest in a harbor.In truth it pictures not my destinationBut my life.For love was offered me and I shrank from its …

This precious puppy, one of the loves of my life, turns 6 today. She went to the spa today and had her hair cut, and she’s not nearly as cute now as she is when her hair is a little longer. But, this is her latest portrait by her daddy from this past weekend.
I don’t think I have ever explained her name, so I guess today is as good at time as any. Her name is Antigone (An-tig-oh-knee) – the tragic Greek character – daughter of Oedipus and Jocasta – …

I’m a little more than 100 pages in and this is another book that just hasn’t caught me yet.

This year one of my goals was to read more non-fiction. I’ve never been much of a biography reader, but I know that there are some great ones out there and that there’s much to learn from others, blah, blah, blah, but so far, Infidel is reminding me of why I don’t typically like biographies.

Infidel is Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s story of growing up female in a male dominated Muslim world, the …

Lauren Goff’s debut novel – The Monsters of Templeton – has a little something for everyone. It is the story of a girl who ditches a west coast PhD program just short of completing her dissertation to return home – pregnant – and embarks on a family research project to learn her own father’s identity.

Peppered in with what you might expect one to discover in a multi-generational family epic are some less expected lore-ish features including a two hundred year old leviathan and a human fire-starter. And so, what …