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On September 7, Frank Sennett, blogger, Booklist reviewer, and pal of mine, linked to an LA CityBeat interview with James Ellroy in which Ellroy says, “I won’t write another crime novel.” This, of course, is in regard to what he’ll write after his forthcoming novel, the final book in the Underworld U.S.A. trilogy. Never mind that that [...]

I filed my review of Night Falls in Damascus this morning. One last remark and then I’ll leave it alone. Highland used one of my least favorite sentence constructions. He only did it once, so I won’t hold it against him, but here it is: He was just not prepared for–how could he be prepared for?–death’s [...]

I finished reading Night Falls on Damascus last night. After I passed the halfway mark, the stilted language stopped bugging me–mostly–and I found myself fairly absorbed in the story. This is one of those books that I have a lot of complaints about (stilted language, clunky exposition, slow pace) and yet I still don’t think [...]

I’ve had Night Falls on Damascus, by Frederick Highland, in my book pile for a long time now. The galley arrived in early summer, before I started my family leave, but because the publication date is listed as December 18, I kept pushing it farther down in the stack as more urgently dated books came in. [...]

Okay, the rate of tweaking here has been a lot slower than planned, but I did add two new features today. Under “Info,” you’ll see a page called “My Pile of Books,” where I’ll maintain an updated list of the books I’m considering for review. And under “Links,” you’ll see a link to the book I’m [...]

I enjoy reading obituaries. Not that I’m obsessed with death–okay, I’m obsessed with death. But I also enjoy learning about the fascinating things that ordinary people have done with their lives. Okay, they’re not always fascinating. And I guess I prefer reading about extraordinary people. The he-never-missed-a-day-of-work-for-40-years obits are usually a snooze. But, lest my [...]