Reader’s Reviews

This month’s review is by Tom Tomlinson The Geography of Bliss By Eric Weiner Had it with Southern California living? Searching for a happy place to be? Don’t leave home in search of a happier place without first reading Weiner’s book. Billing himself as a “Grump”—this former NPR journalist is skeptical about notions of happiness. […]

This month’s review is by Catherine Adde Atonement By Ian McEwan Stokesay Court is the name of a grand country house in England, and the subject of my Master’s thesis: a marketing plan for Caroline Magnus, who inherited the estate. The plan’s recommendation focused on attracting lucrative offers from location managers and movie companies to

This month’s review is by Richard Bellikoff Terrorist By John Updike If you’re freaking out about ISIS, this novel will give you no solace. But if you want to know what might drive someone to become a jihadi terrorist, this is the book for you. Set in New Jersey, it tells the story of a

This month’s review is by Tom Tomlinson Hazardous Metropolis: Flooding and Urban Ecology in Los Angeles By Jared Orsi Here’s a book for our parched southern California time: it’s about rain, too much rain; it’s about floods and the region’s now century-long efforts to harness excessive, disobedient rainfalls and the property-destroying, life extinguishing floods. In

This month’s review is by Catherine Adde In the Woods by Tana French The Sierra Madre Library has had in the past an adult mystery reading program, and so I wanted to read this tense page turner from a talented voice and relatively new mystery author. One summer day in the 1980s on the outskirts

This month’s review is by Catherine Adde Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen It’s wonderful when a movie based on a book is well done. In this case, I much preferred the book! This big, atmospheric tale is told by ninety-three year old Jacob Jankowski and flicks back and forth between the present day, where

This month’s review is by Richard Bellikoff Life by Keith Richards Scrawled on the inside jacket flap of this autobiography is a handwritten message from the author: “This is the life. Believe it or not, I haven’t forgotten any of it.” Apparently he hasn’t. It’s all here, including his youthful passion for rock ‘n’ roll

It’s All Too Much! By Peter Walsh This month’s review is by Catherine Adde Are YOU a clutter bug like me? Do your closets overflow with clothes that do not fit, are out of season, or still have the tags on them? Do you have magazine piles around the house that seem to GROW taller

Books for Cooks: short reviews for your reading and cooking pleasure This month’s review is by Catherine Adde As the weather turns frosty with nights drawing in, baking goodies replaces reading as a pastime. When in Wales for past holidays, I cooked on a wood burning stove, converting recipes from US measurements to UK metric.

Italian Ways: On and Off the Rails from Milan to Palermo By Tim Parks I was hooked on this book from the moment I read its dedication: For all those who love to read on trains. Tim Parks actually does far more on trains than just read. He’s also a keen observer of his fellow passengers.