Book Review: Holy Cow

The review I initially read about Holy Cow by David Duchovny must have been a good one because it led me to the book. Allegory with animals usually irk me. My interest was sparked enough for me to place the hold and then to actually give the book a try once I had it home. […]

Continue reading

This is the Water

Annie watches her daughters at swim practice, while wondering why her husband doesn’t kiss her anymore. At the same time, a  killer watches the girls and imagines seeing the life leaving their eyes. In This is the Water, by Yannick Murphy, we see Annie’s harried life as a swim mom in rural Vermont, driving her daughters […]

Continue reading

Our Souls at Night

In this last novel before his death in 2014, acclaimed novelist Haruf (Benediction) captures small-town life to perfection in his signature spare style. Addie Moore and Louis Waters have been neighbors in the eastern Colorado farming town of Holt for over 40 years. Now, alone except for their grown children, Addie has asked Louis to […]

Continue reading

Book Review: The Poisoner’s Handbook

Last night the Kiva Book Club discussed The Poisoner’s Handbook, a non-fiction book by Deborah Blum. All in all, it was a successful selection. Some people found parts of the book slow, a little heavy on the technical/science side, or “gruesome,” but almost all of us agreed that we were kept interested by the true […]

Continue reading

Literary Western

A long list of American fiction shows that our large diverse American landscape and frontier mind-set wield strong influence on our narratives and stories. Current day writers in this tradition include Gregory Hill (East of Denver), Ron Carlson (Return to Oakpine), and other familiar names such as Kent Haruf, Ivan Doig, Cormac McCarthy, and William […]

Continue reading

The birth of Pooh

I squeaked with joy when I saw this book on  Booklist Reader :  Winnie: The True Story of the Bear Who Inspired Winnie-the-Pooh  by Sally M. Walker.  Although it’s a children’s book, it appealed to me because of the cover art of a bear snuggling with a soldier and my abiding affection for Winnie the Pooh. It all […]

Continue reading

Wild Reads

We just celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Wilderness Act and here at the Mesa County Libraries, we had a lovely display of John Fielder’s framed photographs on our walls. With all the interest, I wanted to share a list of wonderful Wild Reads that someone graciously shared with me. This was compiled by Southpark, […]

Continue reading

Delicious! reading

Delicious! is the yummy first novel by Ruth Reichl, the former editor of Gourmet magazine,   The intricate story-within-a-story follows a young woman embarking on a much-coveted job at a gourmet food magazine.  This book is an entertaining page-turner for foodies and non-foodies alike. Reichl also wrote an engaging and poignant 3-part memoir (Tender at the Bone, Comfort […]

Continue reading