Tag Archives: Keith

The Vegetarian by Han Kang; Translated by Deborah Smith

Posted on March 17, 2017 by bseat

Some books are haunting because you can’t quite forget the images they put in your mind, but there are also books that haunt you because you feel that you are missing something terribly important, that is just out of reach. … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Literary Fiction, Prize Winner | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Glass Palace by Amitav Ghosh

Posted on March 10, 2017 by bseat

I love it when books open up a whole new world of ideas, history and perspective! This book certainly opened up a whole new part of  the world-Burma and Malaya-that I simply did not know much about. Ghosh gives us … Continue reading →

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The Devils of Cardona by Matthew Carr

Posted on March 3, 2017 by bseat

History repeats itself.  Which is why, I think I am drawn to historical fiction. It illuminates past human experience in a way that even those who are not historians can understand and appreciate our historical antecedents.  Of course you cannot … Continue reading →

Posted in Detective novel, Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Mystery | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

This Is Why I Came by Mary Rakow

Posted on February 24, 2017 by bseat

Some books just surprise you by their simplicity and power. The simple poetic prose and new insights into texts weary with the weight of thousands of years of analysis are what astonished me in this lovely meditative book by Rakow. … Continue reading →

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The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen

Posted on February 10, 2017 by bseat

Sometimes you have complicated feelings about a book. I certainly do about this Pulitzer Prize winning novel about the Vietnam War narrated by a Vietnamese communist sleeper agent. Wonderfully written, dark, evocative, satirical and suspenseful; there is much to savor … Continue reading →

Posted in Fiction, Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Prize Winner, Spy/Covert Operatives, Suspense | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Redemption Road by John Hart

Posted on January 27, 2017 by bseat

John Hart is a damn good author! The fact that he won back to back Edgar Awards, the only author to do so, should have clued me in, but now after having read two of his books, I know I … Continue reading →

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Mothering Sunday by Graham Swift

Posted on January 13, 2017 by bseat

On March 30, 1924, on what was known then as Mothering Sunday, Jane’s life changed dramatically. It was a gorgeous day, more like June than March and the Nivens were having the cook pack a large picnic hamper in anticipation … Continue reading →

Posted in Historical Fiction, Literary Fiction, Romance | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

The Unquiet Dead: A Novel by Ausma Zehanat Khan

Posted on December 2, 2016 by bseat

It shouldn’t be, but it is unusual to find a Muslim as the lead character in a book as one of the “good guys” rather than a terrorist. In the Unquiet Dead, Esa Khattak is just such a character. A second … Continue reading →

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Everyone Brave Is Forgiven by Chris Cleave

Posted on November 25, 2016 by bseat

Books about war are often peopled with characters who are unbelievably courageous or ignominious cowards right from the very beginning, cheating the reader of knowing why they became that way. In Everyone Brave is Forgiven, however, Cleave sets up a much … Continue reading →

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Jane Steele by Lyndsay Faye

Posted on November 18, 2016 by bseat

You cannot help but be intrigued when the first sentence in a book is: “Of all my many murders, committed for love and for better reasons, the first was the most important.” But when a book really delivers on the … Continue reading →

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