Duluth is the perfect place to set a murder. You’ve got Lake Superior, extreme weather, fascinating history, more lakes, bridges, lots of rocks, tourism and poverty side by side, and big (sometimes tall) ships. Every time something strange happens to me or my friends in Duluth I think, “This would make an awesome horror movie or mystery novel!” Like the [...]

I first got interested in J.M Barrie’s involvement with the DuMaurier family after I learned Daphne DuMaurier’s (the famous novelist of Rebecca among others) cousins were the boys Peter Pan was based on. I got more intrigued when I found out Peter’s namesake, Pete Llewelyn Davies, killed himself by jumping in front of a train at the age of sixty-three. [...]

My list is not that original, you may find many of these books on other best of lists for 2009, but hopefully that’s because they are good books. I’m behind the times with two of these titles – The Road and Push – but they both left lasting impressions on me this year. Here you go: 1. 2666 by Roberto [...]

Cassette mix tapes are a generational thing. My parents didn’t make them, probably because they had those crappy 8-tracks. At least they had vinyl. I made tons of mix tapes for practically anyone I met. I started when I was 14. This book features all kinds of mix tapes, but it will be best enjoyed by the generation of kids [...]

note: no spoilers! When philosopher Samuel Taylor coined the term “suspension of disbelief” he intended it to be about the writer rather than the reader. Today, and in this review, it is geared toward the reader. You will need a very large dose of suspension of disbelief for this novel. I was perfectly willing to overlook the limitations of this [...]

I bet a ton of lady musicians my age (early thirties) are wishing they had this DIY manual when they were fifteen or so. I know I do. There has been a gap in rock and roll writing by women and for women for many years. Jessica Hopper fills that gap with this fact-filled, witty guide to rocking, geared towards [...]

For a first novel, Some Things that Meant the World to Me, Joshua Mohr has created a completely original character in Rhonda, a 30 year old suffering from depersonalization. The first two chapters are pretty brutal – Rhonda chronicles the abuses brought upon him by his mother and his mother’s boyfriend. He reveals these experiences to his therapist in a [...]

This is a very different kind of novel. The circumstances of publishing 2666 were unusual because Bolano died shortly after completing it. He wanted it to be published in five different volumes, each a novel in their own right, published in a specific order. There is speculation that this had a practical reason: providing for his children’s future. After his [...]

I put off reading this book because the double marketing reeked of self promotion. For those who don’t know, David Sheff and his son released two memoirs about his son’s addiction to crystal meth at the same time. They received quite a sales push from Barnes and Noble, Starbucks, and did I hear they were on Oprah as well? So [...]

Imagine this: You are adopted. At 31, you find out your biological mother is looking for you. You meet her and she is a loony. The Mistress’s Daughter is A.M. Homes’ story. I won’t even start about her biological father, you will have to read it. Homes’ has a knack for not mincing words. Ever. This makes her memoir of [...]