LluxeBooks - my book blog

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards

2009-03-29T11:57:00.000-07:00

This tale gripped me and never let go. So many errors, so much strife, miss-communications, yet just like life, decisions are made and then the consequences play out. The story of intertwined lives is punctuated by opportunities for redemption. I loved so many of the interwoven elements and the characters developed fully and in an unusual twist...die. So real and true...

The Fire by Katherine Neville

2008-09-17T09:11:00.000-07:00

Immediately engaging, nice pace, hard to to put down. I like the her writing style and I really enjoyed this story. I have not read the first book. I feel this episode stands on it's own very well. I say read the book in your hands without hesitation. It is a satisfying diversion. 4 stars...check it out!

Reputation - portraits in power by Marjorie Williams

2008-08-27T10:37:00.000-07:00

Dive into any of these portraits and you will be immersed in intimate details and close scrutiny of the private life of the subject of Williams' essay. She has mixed each one with her unique style and careful reporting. All exceptionally well done. I give this 3 stars because I'm not particularly interested in any of the subjects chosen, but I say, check it out!

Essays on Clark Clifford, Larry King, James Baker, Patricia Duff, George H W Bush, James Carville, Mary Matalin, Terry McAuliffe, Anna Quindlen, Lawrence Walsh, Lee Atwater, Laura Ingraham, Colin Powell

The Coumadin (Warfarin) Help Book: Anticoagulation Therapy to Prevent and Manage Strokes, Heart Attacks, and Other Vascu

2008-07-28T08:46:00.000-07:00

This is a very handy book to have if you are taking anti-coagulants or live with someone who is. It provides a number of perspectives on how this drug's efficacy is related to other health and life style factors. It also suggests strategies for managing long term regimens. I can't decide whether to keep my copy as a handy reference, as I take Warfarin myself. Or donate it to my clinic as a suggested handbook they might provide to new patients.
It is really nice to have all that information presented in a cohesive package. I only got paper handouts of lists foods and copies of articles, when I stated on this therapy a couple years ago. Great resource!

by
Diana M. Schneider

Tears of the Giraffe by Alexander McCall Smith

2008-06-15T17:22:00.000-07:00

I've been listening to this tale as I drive and fly and sometimes as I go to sleep at night. I'm not sure what is more entrancing, the lyrical voice of the narrator or the sweet prose of the author. The music and the dust, the heat and the pulse, the pace and poetry of the life in Botswana,

I'm in love with all of it. I can taste the dust in my mouth and feel the heat blister my skin. No author has painted the people and a place with more enticing artifice.

The No.1 Ladies Detective Agency has me enthralled with the simple stories that ring so true. Pain talk and simple themes, but so much love, and life...in Africa.

Five stars...check it out!

America, America by Ethan Canin, 2008

2008-06-06T16:11:00.000-07:00

Smooth, soothing prose...this is a comfortable read. It unfolds and spins its character development sweetly and the flow of progressing scenes is satisfying. Time unravels and tale is intertwined with historic events. I enjoyed this read and dearly appreciate the skill of the author Ethan Canin. His voice is intelligent and familiar. I give it four stars...check it out! ( )

A Thousand Splendid Suns

2008-05-26T09:17:00.000-07:00

Settle in for a long dark drive, two days untwining the telling of this. I drive the Ranger, shifting through gears and revving it to 75 mph most of the time. Then the quiet stillness of camping at the Bullard's Beach. Then off again north, up the coast in the fog. The pain in the telling is complete and awesome in the extreme, but the redemption, when it comes is simple. I live for one more redemption story. My own.

The experience of this story washing over me was unique. So alien to what I have experienced but at the same time so true and resonant. Lessons learned and hardly learned reflected in those lives and contrasted to my own, swirled in the truck and the miles flowed by. I don't know how true the description of the culture and times was but it felt more real than I have been exposed to in any other way. I believe we should celebrate the writer and his writing. I recommend this book most highly to everyone. 5 Stars...check it out.

Dervishes - A Novel by Beth Helms

2008-04-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Book review: from advanced review copy provided by the publisher Picador/St. Martin's Press, New York.

"This is a challenging read. I enjoyed it although it was not even. It worked well in chunks though, so almost perfect for a pick it up and put it down kind of reading style. Beth's writing at times hooks me and yet other times left me not so much engaged. Overall, I recommend this book and author to anyone looking for a taste of something different."

Just like life it spins off in all directions and does not get tied up into a neat bundle at the end. 4 Stars...I say check it out.

This Gaming Life: Travels in Three Cities by Jim Rossignol

2008-04-18T13:36:00.000-07:00

Book review: advanced review copy provided by the publisher, Digital Culture Books (2008)

"Impressive in his openness about the keen obsession games inspire. This is an unusually compelling window into a life of gaming by the gamer himself. He paints his story at a comfortable pace and leads the reader through the influences of complex social levels and expands games far beyond the virtual. I can imagine more than one non-gaming significant other might enjoy this gamer's candor and enthusiasm."
3 Stars...I say check it out!

The Dwindling Party

2008-01-27T06:49:00.000-08:00

A pop-up book by Edward Gorey. A rainy day, perfect day for a book sale and setting the mood for spying a book illustrated by Edward Gorey. At the Milpitas Library Book sale.

More...

Free People Read Freely (r)

2008-01-06T10:31:00.000-08:00

This year I resolve
to remind myself I am
free to read banned books

I'm tempted to participate in one of several Reading challenges this year. I used to read voraciously, in my youth, but not lately. At the top of my list would be Banned Books.

Here is the link to last year's ALA sponsored Banned Books Week...in preparation for this year's event.

I think this is a very good concentration for my collecting.

New Books

2008-01-05T18:21:00.001-08:00


Consuelo and Alva Vanderbilt: The Story of a Daughter and a Mother in the Gilded Age
The Greatest Game Ever Played: Harry Vardon, Francis Ouimet, and the Birth of Modern Golf
Goodnight, Nebraska
Mr. Potter: A Novel
Black Notice
Imposter (Premier Mystery Series #1)
Next
The March: A Novel
The MOTLEY FOOL'S RULE BREAKERS, RULE MAKERS: THE FOOLISH GUIDE TO PICKING STOCKS
The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
Horses of the Sun: A Gallery of the World's Most Exquisite Equines

Happy New Year 2008! BOTW is "Zen Guitar"

2008-01-01T06:57:00.000-08:00

This is my copy of The BookoftheWeek (BOTW), "Zen Guitar" by Philip Toshio Sudo . I found it on the shelves of the Santa Clara city library Friends Bookstore. This library bookstore is a wonderful place to buy books, and all purchases contribute to the Library fund.

The gentle coaxing in "Zen Guitar" is my favorite kind of read. Easy to pick up and taste, anytime you need a pick me up. It has many quotes from musicians, guitarists of course, who tell what it means to be a musician. Generalize the advice to apply to any life: my life, your life.

It encourages us to play the song that is in us; unlock the fullness of our humanity.

Further exploration finds the Zen Guitar Dojo.

And Philip's cancer journal.

In the begining - there is LibraryThing!

2007-12-26T07:36:00.000-08:00

This is LibraryThing! Catalog your books online....it's an easy, library-quality catalog. LibraryThing also connects you with people who read the same things.
Take the tour.

And this is my LibraryThing.

Rosetta Stone - bring it all together; start making sense

2007-12-25T12:17:00.000-08:00

First writing. Happy Christmas 2007.

This is a new blog, all about books. And writing.

The topics will include: Bad books (451), Audio books (stories read aloud), Book swap (free books), Book stores (buying books), Digital books (E-books), Favorite books (Readers vote here), New releases (books on the horizon), Critical reviews (Choose your next read), Selling books (everything for booksellers), ZeitGeist (tag-clouds, blowing in the wind).