Month: December 2019
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: The Twelve by Justin Cronin
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. The Twelve (Book 2 of The Passage Trilogy) by Justin Cronin (2012) This was a terrific read, if you like scary-as-hell, on-the-edge-of-your-seat, big-ass vampire books. And I do. I enjoyed going back to the beginning of the story introduced in The Passage and…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: World of Trouble by Ben H. Winters
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. World of Trouble: The Last Policeman Book III by Ben H. Winters (2013) In the final installment of The Last Policeman trilogy, former detective Hank Palace travels to Ohio searching for his sister in the last days before an asteroid will…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: Countdown City by Ben H. Winters
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. Countdown City: The Last Policeman Book II by Ben H. Winters (2013) In this follow-up to The Last Policeman, there are only seventy-seven days remaining until an asteroid collides with the Earth; Hank Palace has been let go from the Concord…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. The Last Policeman by Ben H. Winters (2012) In only a few months, an asteroid will crash into the Earth — an extinction-level event — but police detective Hank Palace is determined to solve his first murder case. At heart, The…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstore by Robin Sloan (2012) Is there a genre for nerdy guy chick-lit? Because that’s what this is, basically. And it’s well done for what it is: light-hearted, optimistic, fun. In tone and in its obvious reverence for…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. The Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson (2012) This book reminded me quite a bit of Catch-22, but unlike in Catch-22, it’s difficult to know what is exaggerated satire here and what is reality. North Korea is such a black box,…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: Quick Takes of 2011 Novels
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. These are shorter reviews of good reads published in 2011. The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt (2011) The notorious hired killers, the Sisters brothers, set out on one last job to track down and kill a gold miner and…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: Embassytown by China Mieville
The is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. Embassytown by China Miéville (2011) Avice is a human colonist on a planet at the farthest edge of navigable space populated by the Ariekei, sentient beings famed for their unique language, who returns to Embassytown after many years of deep space…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: 11/22/63 by Stephen King
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. Jake Epping, an ordinary high school teacher, discovers a portal to the past and sets out to change history by preventing the assassination of John F. Kennedy. Stephen King’s novel, 11/22/63, is not what you might expect from the master…
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Favorite Books of the 2010s: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
This is a series of reviews of my favorite books published between 2010 and 2019. The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell (2010) Jacob de Zoet is a trader with the Dutch East India Company who has come to the trading post Dejima, in the harbor of Nagasaki, Japan, in the eighteenth century.…
Shannon Turlington 