The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition
by Caroline Alexander The Endurance was published in 1998 and I read it shortly thereafter, handed to me by a friend in a book club. It is by far one of the most memorable books I have ever read. It is a true account of the 1914 expedition of Irish explorer Ernest Shackleton and his […]
The Secret History
by Donna Tartt, 2002 I first read Donna Tartt’s The Goldfinch, which I reviewed here. On the recommendation of a friend, I was told, “Now you’ve got to read her first novel, The Secret History. So I realize I’m late to the party on this one, but wow, was this a great book. The novel […]
The Goldfinch: A Novel
by Donna Tartt, 2013 This book has been out for several years but I was late in reading it. The Goldfinch won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 2014 and is one of the most astounding books I’ve read in a very long time. Theo is a 13-year-old New Yorker visiting the Metropolitan Museum of […]
The Winner! Best Book in the Past 125 Years, and 4 Runners-Up
From the New York Times Readers’ Votes… And the winner is…To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee, published in 1960. The winning vote was announced on December 28, 2021 in the New York Times Book Review. You can read the full article here. More than 200,000 people voted from all 50 states and 67 countries. […]
Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings
My friend Richard Hoch has this to say about Neptune: “Lovers of WWII nonfiction will want to read Craig L. Symonds’ Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings. In clear language, Symonds describes the planning and implementation of the Allies’ great assault on Normandy, also offering insights into the personalities of the […]
Best Books in the Last 125 Years: 25 Finalists
From the New York Times Readers’ Survey This list was published on Sunday, November 28, 2021, in the New York Times Book Review, distilled from readers’ submissions from all over the world. The survey was conducted in celebration of the Book Review turning 125 years old. Next the readers voted on the final “best book […]
10 Best Books of 2021
From the Editors of the New York Times Book Review As a subscriber of the New York Times, I took advantage of an invitation to join their first-ever live video-conference where they announced their picks for the 10 Best Books of the year. Below you will find the notes I scribbled down about each book […]
