Nocturnes, by Kazuo Ishiguro

The power of music to shape and influence people’s lives is the central theme of the five stories in Nocturnes, the first short story collection from Kazuo Ishiguro, the Booker Prize-winning author of The Remains of the Day. I enjoy Ishiguro’s work, particularly his 2001 novel When We Were Orphans, and I was interested in [...]

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Catching Life by the Throat: How to Read a Poem and Why: Poems from Eight Great Poets, by Josephine Hart

 Josephine Hart, who died this past June, may be best known for novels like Damage and The Truth About Love, but she was also a strong supporter of poets and poetry, founding the Gallery Poets and, in 2004, establishing the Josephine Hart Poetry Hour at the British Library where actors would read the works of [...]

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Ruby Red, by Kerstin Gier

When I was growing up, one of my favorite books was Charlotte Sometimes by Penelope Farmer. Farmer’s novel chronicles the adventures of a boarding school student from the early ‘60s named Charlotte who switches places with a girl from 1918 named Clare. My interest in time travel books continued with Madeleine L’Engle’s A Wrinkle in [...]

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The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, by Wayne Johnston

Last month, I wrote about one of my favorite Canadian writers, Peter Behrens. Another Canadian author who deserves a wider readership in the U.S. is Wayne Johnston. In his novels, Johnston perceptively chronicles the lives of his characters. I think that the best place to start is his epic novel of the formation of modern [...]

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The Used World, by Haven Kimmel

The characters in Haven Kimmel’s The Used World live much of their lives in a chaotic state. Kimmel is a lovely writer, who writes with sensitivity and elegance about people and their lives. The Used World tells a complex story whose roots lie deep in the characters’ pasts. Kimmel centers her novel around Hazel, the [...]

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Foolscap, by Michael Malone

Character is at the center of all of Michael Malone’s books, and his academic novel Foolscap is no exception. Theo Ryan, son of semi-famous singers, teaches English (what is it about English departments that attract the attention of fiction writers?) at a small college in North Carolina. Here, a fascinating cast of characters surrounds him, [...]

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That Old Cape Magic, by Richard Russo

For a long time, Richard Russo has been a favorite author. I came to him through his hilarious and poignant work of academic fiction, Straight Man, and have enjoyed everything I have read by him since then. Russo writes about families and people whom somehow seem very familiar to me. His main characters are never [...]

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The Winds of Khalakovo, by Bradley Beaulieu

I am fortunate here at WRL to have colleagues whose reading recommendations have pointed me to some great new books recently. There is nothing like working with a bunch of folks who know your reading tastes and interests and keep you informed of new books that you should try. Lately, I have been reading some [...]

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Robert A. Heinlein: In Dialogue with His Century. Volume 1, 1907-1948, Learning Curve, by William H. Patterson, Jr.

This book was perhaps an odd choice for me, because I’m not nearly the devotee of Robert Heinlein as most fans of classic science fiction and fantasy. I’ve enjoyed some of his books, such as The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Have Space Suit–Will Travel, but others such as the  much-hyped Stranger in a [...]

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Island in the Sea of Time, by S. M. Stirling

This coming January, S.M. Stirling will be the guest of honor at Williamsburg’s annual MarsCon SF/fantasy convention. Stirling has told a variety of superb stories in his career, but my favorite is still one of his earliest, Island in the Sea of Time. One of Stirling’s specialties is the alternative history tale, and here, he [...]

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Holmes on the Range, by Steve Hockensmith

I’m not crazy about Sherlock Holmes, and when it comes to all the pastiches the Holmes tales have inspired, until recently I would probably have said that although I liked Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series, I really did not need to read any more Holmes knock-offs in this lifetime. Sometimes, I’m really wrong. Steve [...]

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Fuzzy Nation, by John Scalzi

Admit it, you love ewoks. Sure, I know about half of you are uncomfortable with your response to the cute little furry guys, uncomfortable to the point that you’ll say you didn’t like The Return of the Jedi as much as the first two Star Wars movies. So, ahem, sure, wink wink, those ewoks are [...]

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Tehanu, by Ursula K. Le Guin

Here’s a poignant fantasy novel that has appeal for readers outside the fantasy genre. Tehanu is the fourth of Ursula K. Le Guin’s Earthsea books, following The Wizard of Earthsea, The Tombs of Atuan, and The Farthest Shore. While the series is excellent, you don’t really need to have read it to appreciate Tehanu, which [...]

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Delirium, by Lauren Oliver

Circulation Services Director Melissa Simpson ends the week with a look at two Young Adult books: Someone somewhere recommended these two books to me when I lamented not having anything to read that captured my interest quite like Suzanne Collins‘ The Hunger Games trilogy. While neither has the intense action of Collins’ series, there are [...]

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Vienna Waltz, by Teresa Grant

AnnMarie from Circulation Services provides another review:   Following the defeat of Napoleon and his exile to the island of Elba, the European nations sent their sovereign or ambassador to the Congress of Vienna in the fall of 1814.  The purpose of the Congress was to settle the many issues resulting from the Napoleonic wars [...]

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The Imperfectionists, by Tom Rachman

Mandy Malone of Circulation Services provides this review: The final days of an unnamed English-language newspaper based in Rome, Italy, is the backdrop for The Imperfectionists, Tom Rachman’s poignant and compelling debut novel. Unfolding in a series of eleven carefully crafted vignettes, Rachman’s novel follows the lives of people who are impacted by the paper, [...]

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Dying To Meet You, by Kate Klise

Nancy from Circulation Services provides today’s review: Kate Klise’s three-book series “43 Old Cemetery Road” is a whimsical tale of an enchanting old haunted house and the eclectic or strange characters who inhabit it. The first in the series,  Dying To Meet You, begins the adventure of I. B. Grumply, a children’s scary book writer, who [...]

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On Chesil Beach, by Ian McEwan

Circulation Services staff provide another week of reviews.  We begin the week with Alan Bernstein’s review: On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan (2007) and The Love of my Youth by Mary Gordon (2011) are two dissimilar novels that deal with the same theme: How compatible are two people who meet and fall in love, and [...]

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