Great books about movies are rare, and books that manage to truly capture the feeling movies can give you (like Patton Oswalt’s “Silver Screen Fiend”) are even rarer. Yet Owen Gleiberman’s “Movie Freak” may be the best book about movies I’ve ever read, and is the best book ever written about the lure of films, as evidenced from the book’s…
Tag: Great Books
Book Reviews: “The Girls,” “Barkskins,” and “Lily and the Octopus”
It may seem like a cop-out to praise all three of these very different books, but they take wildly divergent paths to being equally terrific… Barkskins by Annie Proulx…A big, bold, ambitious book that practically has “Great Novel” stamped on the book cover. It’s about two “barkskins” (tree cutters) who settle in New France and…
Book Reviews: The “Red Rising” Trilogy, “Golden Son,” and “Morning Star”
I’ve covered these books extensively before, but the final part of the trilogy came out recently, and it’s time to once again tell you about the best book series you’ve never heard of. I’m not sure why “Red Rising” hasn’t gotten the attention of “Hunger Games,” “Divergent,” “5th Wave,” “Legend,” or any of the other…
Book Reviews: Under Tiberius, The Cartel, and The Winter Family
Three historical novels (well, kind-of in The Cartel’s case) that also happen to be among the very best novels of 2015. The periods depicted: the history of the drug war, the history of America’s war (Civil, Indian, and for Civilization itself), and the creation of the Jesus myth no less. Under Tiberius by Nick Tosches…Tosches…
Book Reviews: Badlands, Vanishing Games
Two great thrillers that might be dismissed because of their genre, but should be considered for any year end best lists… Badlands by C.J. Box…It’s technically a sequel to “The Highway” but deals only a little bit with the events of that book (and it’s still-at-large deadly serial killer) and I’m not sure why it…