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All the books: Dickens
A review of Great Expectations by Charles Dickens

 While I admit that my quest to read all the books will (probably) prove futile, I have a solid plan in place for reading all of Charles Dickens: read one title per year. This is the fourth year since I formed my plan, and this year's title was Great Expectations. As I read the book I was reminded of something I recently read in ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on March 7, 2013 | 0 comments

Going to meet Going to Meet the Man
A review of Going to Meet the Man by James Baldwin

 It's hard to read all of the books. In my notebook, I have a long list of books I'd like to read, and I add things faster than I cross them off. There are some big omissions in what I've read, but I was glad to read a book by James Baldwin this month. Going to Meet the Man is a collection of stories that are powerful, sad ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on July 14, 2012 | 0 comments

Books help me imagine


Books help me imagine other places and other people. Sometimes, at the end of the year, I pretend I'm a book critic for a major American newspaper, and put together a top ten list of what I've read in the past 365 days, regardless of when it was first published. ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on December 27, 2010 | 0 comments

Affinity
A review of The Collected Stories of Lydia Davis by Lydia Davis

 I read a lot of books (though I'm sure many of you can top this, I'm happy to be at fifty this year so far) and I like most of the books I read, but I've found that as I've grown older, making a real connection with a work of literature or an author has become rarer; this is why I was so happy to discover Lydia Davis, who knows that when I write the words "real connection," what I mean ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on September 10, 2010 | 0 comments

All adventure, all the time
A review of Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson

 With Memorial Day just past, it's time to begin summer reading in earnest.  Well, maybe summer reading isn't something you should begin "in earnest" but it's time to start.  And I can't think of a better book to start with than Treasure ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on June 3, 2010 | 0 comments

Don't you think maybe a drink would help you to sleep?
A review of The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett

 "No, thanks." "Maybe it would if I took one." Nick Charles is a retired detective, living in luxury with his wealthy new bride, Nora, spending most of his time managing their money and traveling and drinking. Especially drinking.  In speakeasies (it's Prohibition) and at home, where "the booze...is just as good and costs...less."  But in the first chapter of ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on May 17, 2010 | 3 comments

Scott Pilgrim vs. the World
A review of Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley

 Who knew there was an intersection between romance, rock-and-roll, video games, and fighting?  Well, there is: Scott Pilgrim. Here's the summary from ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on April 30, 2010 | 0 comments

Some things last
A review of Anna Karenina by Leograf Tolstoy

 I just finished Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky's translation of ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on April 17, 2010 | 0 comments

Hilarious and horrifying
A review of CivilWarLand in Bad Decline by George Saunders

 The stories in George Saunders's CivilWarLand in Bad Decline ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on April 1, 2010 | 0 comments

I've got a list, too


While some people like lists, and some don't, I couldn't resist Jane's invitation to list my own favorites from the year.  Just because I haven't been posting, this doesn't mean I haven't been reading, so here are the top ten, in alphabetical order: ...read more

Reviewed by Jon - Central Library on December 10, 2009 | 0 comments

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