Avast me lads and lasses. If it's a pirate tale ye been seekin', Mike Kalmbach's debut novel, The Caldarian Conflict will whet yer appetite. Caldaria is plagued by pirates. Admiral Cain of the Caldarian navy has come up with a plan not only to rid the sea of pirates, but also alleviate the streets of [...]
About: David Fingerman
Website: http://davidfingerman.com/
The front cover is a bit confusing. It says the book is a literary diary and also a novel. I guess it can be a made up diary, but Ghellow Road by T.H. Waters reads like a book of creative nonfiction. There are also quite a number of people to whom this book is dedicated, [...]
A peaceful cabin resort in northern Minnesota which is owned by an eccentric woman and her sister ~ add a corrupt judge who believes one of the cabins on the resort should belong to him ~ throw in a baby kidnapping ring ~ a couple of souls needing to complete a task before entering the [...]
Okay, I’m a bit slow on the uptake ~ I just discovered this book recently. In fact, searching back I see that Jodie K. already reviewed it last December (editor’s note: LeAnn reviewed it too). As a general rule, I don’t usually review best sellers (especially ones that are already a couple years old ~ [...]
A friend (with whose opinion I generally agree) told me I had to read Worth Dying For, Lee Child’s latest Jack Reacher novel. I had never read a Reacher novel before (Worth Dying For is fifteenth in the series) and it’s been ages since I read a New York Times Bestselling author. What the hell? [...]
First off, I have to say that I am in no way (as far as I know) related to Bob Fingerman. I actually discovered his existence when I was googling my name (yes, I do that occasionally). I became a fan after reading his novel Bottomfeeder. I became a bigger fan after reading Pariah. He’s [...]
For me, Peter Joseph Swanson’s latest novel, Punk Minneapolis, hits very close to home. It takes place in 1989 on my old stomping grounds ~ the Uptown area of south Minneapolis. Okay, I was never really a true punker (more new wave), never wore a Mohawk, and by ’89 I had settled down. It was [...]
Emily Goodman is a former reporter who now travels the country hosting a reality TV show. Her job is to seek out paranormal activity and expose it for the fraud that it is. Her record for figuring out how-it’s-done is perfect until she’s sent to investigate Satan’s Mirror, a mirror where (rumor has it) one [...]
‘Murder She Wrote’ Meets ‘Dead Like Me’
{Fiction, MN Authors: Beth Solheim, Mystery, Novel, paranormal, Sadie Witt}
Sadie Witt is a vibrant sixty-four year old woman who, with her sister, Jane, runs a small resort in northern Minnesota called Witt’s End. Unlike conservative Jane, Sadie wears miniskirts, a thong, tank tops, and spikes her colorful hair. Oh yeah, did I happen to mention she is also a death coach? It seems that [...]
I’m normally not a big fan of historical fiction. If I’m going to be reading about history, I’d much rather read about something that actually happened. Ken Follett’s The Pillars of the Earth was one exception. Now, David Benioff’s City of Thieves is another. It’s 1942 and the siege of Piter (Leningrad) is well underway. [...]
Male stripping is all fun and games until someone gets hurt.
{Fiction, MN Authors: Huey Dubois, John-Ivan Palmer, male stripper, Novel}
Some things you glance at, do a double-take, and then go ewww, still unable to take your eyes away. That’s what I did with the cover of John-Ivan Palmer’s, Motels of Burning Madness – Confessions of a Male Stripper. The cover shows a lit cigarette being dropped into a male g-string that looks like a [...]
I’m not sure as to why, but death has always fascinated me. Not so much the death happens to everyone sooner or later kind of death, but the whole I am Death, pleased to meet you, now walk this way kind of death. Christopher Moore’s A Dirty Job fit the bill perfectly. Charlie Asher is [...]
David’s Top 10 Books of 2009
{Best of: Allan Guthrie, B.H. Fingerman, Best Books of 2009, Carl Hiaasen, Eve Golden, John Meany, Josh Bazell, Masha Hamilton, Neil Gaiman, Walter Mosely}
10. Hoot by Carl Hiaasen: I don’t think I’ve come across a Carl Hiaasen book yet that I haven’t enjoyed.As a young adult novel, Hoot has a slower pace and a thinner plot, but still a fun read. Like his adult novels,the characters are just as twisted, the humor is just as warped (that’s a [...]
Jin-Ling is an American-born girl whose parents came to this country from China bringing their customs and culture with them. Jin-Ling’s 2 Left Feet, Helen Chen’s debut novel, could have been an ordinary run-of-the-mill young adult novel, but the way Chen blended American and Chinese culture made this book a pleasure to read. Jin-Ling is [...]
Browsing through my favorite bookstore, I picked up a copy of Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell. I don’t usually buy national bestsellers at an independent bookstore, but the manager highly recommended it, and I respect her opinion – so there ya go. When I’m unfamiliar with an author, the first thing I usually do [...]
Sibylla Wihelmina Beatrice Forsenstrom grew up as a child of privilege. She was brought up with the children-should-be-seen-and-not-heard mentality of her strict parents. While her father neglects her, Sibylla’s mother seems to take a perverse joy in embarrassing her, especially in front of Sibylla’s classmates. After rebelling, being institutionalized, and estranging herself from her family, [...]
Let me start out by saying that I am no expert on poetry. The following review is based not on the formal structure of a poem, or what poetry should or shouldn’t be, but based strictly on my love for the written word. Friends of mine would tell you that I’ve never been a huge [...]
It’s 1:44 a.m. in Manhattan when Carol Meitzner wakes up with a feeling of dread. Something is definitely not right with her son Jonas. So starts Masha Hamilton’s latest novel, 31 Hours. Every chapter starts with New York time and Mecca time. And obviously, every chapter ticks closer to the 31st hour. By the end [...]
When You Are Engulfed in Flames
{Non-Fiction: Bill Watterson, David Sedaris, Drew Carey, Essays, Gary Anderson, Woody Allen}
Most often when I’m reading, I’m alone in the room if not the entire house. I usually don’t laugh out loud while reading unless there’s someone nearby I can share the humor with. I don’t know why that is, it just is. Most books make me smile at one point or another, most humorous books [...]
Maybe it’s a guy thing. Maybe it’s just me. Had Julie Kramer’s newest mystery novel, Missing Mark, not been highly recommended I wouldn’t have given it a second glance. To me, the cover looks more like a cross genre of mystery and romance, or at the least, a chick-lit mystery (not that there’s anything wrong [...]
A few years after ‘Migrating with Hope’ was published, Charm Tong’s women’s group, SWAN, published ‘License to Rape,’ which detailed sexual violations of Shan women by the Burmese military, including the 2001 rape of a girl whose arms and legs had been tied spread-eagled to a bed. Her parents came home from the rice fields [...]
Two things attracted me to Susan Whitfield’s Hell Swamp from the get-go. First of all – the title. Hell Swamp just shouts horror! Second – the cover art. Looking at the cover, well, it looks like a swamp in Hell. Glancing at the back cover, I was mildly disappointed that this wasn’t a horror novel [...]
I enjoy reading mysteries that take place in other parts of the world. I like being transported to lands where I know absolutely nothing about the people and their customs. When a friend recommended Jar City (A Reykjavik thriller), by Arnaldur Indridason, I couldn’t wait to dive in. Before the story even starts there’s a [...]
As a youth, my bedroom walls were covered with posters, a lot of them from the old movie classics – “Frankenstein, Wolfman, Dracula, etc. (I was a preteen – cut me some slack). But my favorite was a six foot black and white poster of Theda Bara dressed as Cleopatra. I had no idea who [...]
Carl Hiaasen is well known for his offbeat characters, wry sense of humor, and his environmentalist passion. Every novel of his that I’ve read so far has carried those elements. His novel Hoot is no exception. New kid in town, Roy Eberhardt is being harassed on the school bus by local bully, Dana Matherson (for [...]
While browsing the bookstore shelves the other day, I was very pleasantly surprised to see a new Inspector Porfiry Rostnikov novel by award-winning novelist Stuart Kaminsky. I had no qualms about buying this book without even looking at the back cover. I haven’t read a Rostnikov novel yet that I didn’t like. People Who Walk [...]
