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I just finished writing a post where I said that negative reviews can often influence my book-reading decisions. I'm curious which books you've read and enjoyed have received a fair share of negative customer or industry reviews. One that jumps to mind for me is "Blue Angel" by Francine Prose...

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Hopefully, you'll be gifted some wonderful books this holiday season and, if not, a little cash so you can pick out a few of your own (I'm already trying to figure which ones to order using the Amazon gift certificate I...

Banville: Dostoevsky is such a bad writer it is hard to take him seriously as a novelist, though he is a wonderful philosopher. Was anyone else shocked to read Banville's dastardly dissing of Dostoevsky?

I've never read Virginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway. Since the novel takes place over the course of a single day in late June, I had planned on reading the book over a 24-hour period later this month. Cheesy or clever idea? I'll let you decide. Since the novel sits at just over 200 pages, the task...

I know that we still have 2+ weeks left in 2022, but I still think it's not too early to beging thinking about reading goals for 2023. I've slightly modified the topics we've used in the past and I've also added a couple of new ones. - 5 authors I want to read for the first time in 2023 - 3...

Who needs Batman or Spiderman when one can have literary action figures? Christmas will be here before you know it, so if you're wondering what would be the perfect gift for me, here you go:

Whether it's their mission, authors, book designs, or production quality, certain publishers stand out to me, and I am more likely to purchase one of their books. One such publisher is Grove Press. In the '60s and '70s, they often published more risqué titles, and I liked how they prioritized...

She wasn't an author, as far as I know, but I still wanted to recognize the passing of Louise Fletcher. She's best known for her Oscar-winning portrayal of Nurse Ratched in "One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest," the outstanding film adaptation of Ken Kesey's classic novel. "Ratched," the TV series...

Jeff Bridges has been one of my favorite actors for years, long before his performance as Rooster Cogburn in True Grit left John Wayne in his dust. Unfortunately, an on-going cancer battle coupled with Covid have kept him off the big screen while he fought for his life. That is why I was so...

Jayan's comment that he planned to read Into Thin Air, a book he had owned for more than twenty years, made me wonder which book on my shelf had gone unread the longest. I determined it was The Furys by James Hanley. What is the loneliest book on your bookshelf? Please share the title and...

I have a button, similar to the one above, pinned to my office bulletin board, but the truth is that I have a tendency to delay reading larger books. I think about all of the unread books I own, and I figure why read one book when, during the same amount of time, I could finish two or three...

Louis Guilloux (1899-1980) was a French social realist writer who greatly influenced Albert Camus, Andre Malraux, and others. He penned Blood Dark in 1935, a WWI novel that does not detail battle scenes, but focuses on the impact of war on the French home front. It has been hailed as a...

When books win awards or receive lots of hype, it can be really disappointing when you read them and don't understand the fuss. When I think of overrated books, two jump to mind: The Housekeeper and the Professor by Yoko Ogawa. I just didn't care for the concept - a math professor who has...

Because I can't keep myself from acquiring books, even though I already have too many of them, I'm a sucker for lists that dangle book carrots in front of my eyes. Here is a Calvert Journal link to 100 books from Eastern Europe and Central Asia that will surely tempt you to open your wallet...

I think it might be fun to have a literary trivia thread, as I don't think one already exists (though I do recall occasional trivia questions being posed somewhere at sometime). I also think it might help to establish a few ground rules: 1) Post a trivia question (and perhaps some additional...

What film(s) would you like to see remade? Think about films that were released so long ago that most younger folks have never watched them. Also, consider more recent films that were so poorly adapted that they were a real disappointment. In the first category, I'd suggest remaking the classic...

I realize this is an odd and personal thread completely unrelated to books, so feel free to ignore it. It's inspired by the picture of an elderly Jeroen Brouwers holding a cigarette that was posted earlier, and the fact that later this month will mark the 10-year anniversary of my diagnosis of...

Lately, I've been spending far too much time on Saturdays and Sundays either watching silly TV shows or searching for new authors and books to read instead of reading the many authors and books I've already discovered. I decided to start this thread as a way to hold myself accountable to read...

Tiganeasca's recent review of Coetzee's Life and Times of Michael K reminded me how a friend had predicted I'd be a "blubbering mess" when reading that novel. As someone who rarely cries, a characteristic of mine I wish were different, I looked forward to the emotional release. Unfortunately, I...

First off, it was a toss up as to where to post this thread as the Caucasus lie in both Europe and Asia. Either way, this region has always intrigued me, and I would be well served to read some non-fiction to better understand its complicated history. Does anyone have any recommendations? Of...