Milkman by Anna Burns
In late 1970s Northern Ireland, our narrator walks with her nose buried in a book. She does this a lot; she prefers the 19th century to distract herself from the issues that guide her life. One day, the milkman shows up. He knows a lot about her; what she knows about him is that he is an influential paramilitary, and it would not be wise to anger him. He makes it clear that bad things will befall her boyfriend if she continues to see him. […]
The Secret Elephant : Inspired By a True Story of Friendship by Ellan Rankin
You have heard of Winnie The Pooh and Wojtek the Bear from Brothers In Arms but did you know about the elephant named Sheila? (Or Violet? As I’m finding conflicting accounts, yet I’m going with Sheila as that is what is in The Secret Elephant : Inspired By a True Story of Friendship by Ellan Rankin.) Despite the name difference, the story is one of heroism at another level. And maybe a little silliness. Our young elephant is by themselves, except for their zookeeper. The […]
There Will Be Fire: Margaret Thatcher, the IRA, and Two Minutes That Changed History by Rory Carroll
City of Dreams by Don Winslow
Madame Restell: The Life, Death, and Resurrection of Old New York's Most Fabulous, Fearless, and Infamous Abortionist by Jennifer Wright
Under Color of Law by Aaron Philip Clark
The Kind Worth Killing by Peter Swanson
The Last Quarry by Max Allan Collins
Tripwire by Jack Reacher
Baby Moll by John Farris
Only the Dead Know Brooklyn by Thomas Boyle
The Laundromat: Inside the Panama Papers Investigation of Illicit Money Networks and the Global Elite by Jake Bernstein
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem
Winning Fixes Everything: How Baseball's Brightest Minds Created Sports' Biggest Mess by Evan Drellich
X by Davey Davis
Our Last Season: A Writer, A Fan, A Friendship by Harvey Araton
The Testament of Mary by Colm Tóibín
Hard Rain by Samantha Jayne Allen
The Boys From Biloxi by John Grisham
Ex Machina Book Four by Brian K. Vaughan
Jacket Weather by Mike DeCapite
Straight Cut by Madison Smartt Bell
The Crust on Its Uppers by Derek Raymond
That Kind of Danger by Donna Masini
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing by Hank Green
Spenser Confidential by Ace Atkins
Crook Manifesto by Colson Whitehead
Weyward by Emilia Hart
The Mysterious Disappearance of Leon, I Mean Noel by Ellen Raskin
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires by Grady Hendrix
I usually do these at the end of the month but then I went through a big reading slump March-May. And then I roared back but realized I was behind. So apologies for this being so long. There Will Be Fire **** A good, readable text on a moment in history I knew little about. Even after reading Patrick Radden Keefe’s Say Nothing, I still had a lot of problem keeping track of all the socio-political dynamics so it’s good that Rory Carroll makes it accessible […]
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Mayhem in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
I don’t think I have anything to say about this book that hasn’t already been said before a hundred times, but I still have to review it, because it was fantastic. Say Nothing is the story of the Troubles in Northern Ireland, focusing on the period from the 70s up until the present day. It’s centered around the disappearance of Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten who was abducted by the IRA in 1972. It also covers several key players who were involved in […]
Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe
Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe
After having read two of his books in (relatively) quick succession I can say with full confidence that Patrick Radden Keefe is an excellent writer and a dogged journalist. He was starting with topics that I wanted to read about, even if they were difficult, but he was able to draw me in in ways I wasn’t expecting and achieved more than I had anticipated. Say Nothing Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland takes on the bitter conflict in […]
Big Girl, Small Town by Michelle Gallen
Majella is the queen of coping; she has developed a system of avoiding eye contact, she gladly relies on years-long joke exchanges orchestrated by her customers and coworkers, and she is clear about people explaining idioms and small-town customs to her as a needed relief. She is also coping with the world around her; her uncle “died for the cause”, her IRA-adjacent father disappeared years ago, her mother is lost in a haze of whiskey, and her beloved grandmother has recently been beaten to death. […]
