Author Archives: bseat

How To Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid

“Look, unless you’re writing one, a self-help book is an oxymoron. You read a self-help book so someone who isn’t yourself can help you, that someone being the author…None of the foregoing means that self-help books are useless. On the … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Literary Fiction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

On a remote island in Canada, Ruth, a novelist who has been struggling with ennui and writer’s block, comes across a small package in the surf on the beach near her home. When she unwraps the package she finds a … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Literary Fiction | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

Chance by Kem Nunn

Dr. Eldon Chance is a forensic neuropsychiatrist working in LA, whose life, like many of his client’s lives, is slowly unraveling.  First there is his divorce and the money that will cost, then his daughter’s troubles at school and finally … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Mystery, Thriller | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-44 by Rich Atkinson

The war in Italy was horrific. “The 608-day campaign to liberate Italy would cost 312, 000 Allied casualties, equivalent to 40 percent of Allied losses in the decisive campaign for northwest Europe at Normandy.  Among the three quarters of a … Continue reading

Posted in History, Non Fiction, Series | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Perfect by Rachel Joyce

Bryan Hemmings knew that time was going to slip at some point. It had been in the news that they were going to adjust it by a few seconds, a perfectly logical thing to do, or so Bryan’s friend James … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Mystery | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

In 72 CE, 900 Jews sought refuge on the top of an ancient Herodian fort called Masada to escape from Roman persecution and the desecration of their temple in Jerusalem.  In the ensuing months these refugees would hold out against … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Most Dangerous Thing by Laura Lippman

I am really enjoying Laura Lippman’s books! “What the Dead Know” was one of the first I read and I was immediately impressed with her insightful writing, her well developed characters and the role that Baltimore plays in each of her … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Mystery, Psychological Mystery | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Son by Phillip Meyer

This is a sweeping saga of the rise and ebbing fortunes of a Texas family who through sheer grit and ruthless tenacity create an empire but seem to lose their souls in the process. In 1849 Eli McCullough is captured … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

The Desire of the Everlasting Hills: The World Before And After Jesus by Thomas Cahill

On this Good Friday in 2014 it seems appropriate to consider the impact of Jesus on our history, culture and thought. Thomas Cahill in his continuing series on the Hinges of History takes up the question of Jesus and his … Continue reading

Posted in History, Series, Spiritual | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

A Deniable Death by Gerald Seymour

The Engineer, an Iranian bomb maker, is being sought by the US and British spy services.  They believe that almost 80% of the injuries and losses suffered by US and British forces in Iran and Afghanistan are attributable to the … Continue reading

Posted in Fiction, Spy/Covert Operatives, Thriller | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment