SELECTED POEMS

Federico Garcia Lorca. SELECTED POEMS with Parallel Spanish Text. Oxford, 2007.

With an introduction, a life timeline, and footnotes. Beautiful poetry about homeland, travel, love, sex, and death. 

DIS MEM BER

Joyce Carol Oates. DIS MEM BER and Other Stories of Mystery ad Suspense. Mysterious Press, 2017.

These stories, like Law & Order, are ripped from the headlines. Bodies buried in a crawl space. Naked woman rotting in the water tank of an apartment building. In unsecured handgun. Such incredibly good writing. I especially like "The Great Blue Heron", nature writing with a bird-metaphor of grief.

The WINTER WIVES

Linden MacIntyre. THE WINTER WIVES. Random, 2021. 

Angus (Byron), a Nova Scotia lawyer, faces an ethical conundrum upon the death of his old friend Allan Chase whose business dealings are less than above-board. Angus works it out with the help of his ex and her sister, the Winter sisters.

BLINDSIDE

 James Patterson. BLINDSIDE. Grand Central, 2020.

This is my first ever James Patterson read. Its blurb describes the writer as the best-selling writer in the world. Seems to be what are ofter referred to as "airport books", something you grab on the way to boarding, to be read quickly, wtihout requiring too much concentration. NYPD detective Michael Bennett attends a murder scene, is accosted outside a bodega and is forced to shoot a young attacker. While keeping him out of the public eye, the mayor asks Bennett to track down his missing daughter. A trip to Estonia, and multiple more shoot-outs ensue. Although there are references to MB's large family and personal issues, this is basically a story of plot, plot, plot. 

NO ORDINARY MEN

 Olly Sumner-Richter. NO ORDINARY MEN: The Bubars of the Boundary Country. OS-R, 2025.

SEEKING

 Anne Toby. SEEKING. First Choice, 2006.

A free book from outside the Bookman, picked up during Xmas shopping. Gifted to a grandmother friend. 

The EDGE of GLORY

 David Adam. THE EDGE OF GLORY. Triangle, 1985.

Prayer in the ancient Celtic tradition. 

HOTLINE

 Dimitri Nasrallah. HOTLINE. Esplanade, 2022.

Book club selection for December. Set in Montreal in 1986, Muna, a Lebanese immigrant with a young son, tries to establish herself in Canada. Grief. Loneliness. Parenting challenges. Employment. And the ghosts of her past.