“Last Summer Boys” by Bill Rivers is the author’s debut novel. The story is told from the point of view of 13-year-old Jack.
JoinedMarch 29, 2021
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Mary Louise Ruehr is a books columnist for The Portager. Her One for the Books column previously appeared in the Record-Courier, where she was an editor.
Have you ever wondered what people would say about you when you’re gone? In the year 2044, a renowned philanthropist of global celebrity learns she has a terminal illness in “Dava Shastri’s Last Day” by Kirthana Ramisetti.
I love a good mystery, and if there’s a touch of humor and eccentric characters, all the better!
Here are some recent good reads.
If I don’t like the characters in a novel, I usually don’t care what happens to them. But I love the characters in “The Extraordinary Life of Sam Hell” by Robert Dugoni, and consequently, I eagerly followed their escapades.
At age 10, Margery Benson fell in love with a beetle. Her father was showing her a book, titled “Incredible Creatures,” which included illustrations of the Loch Ness Monster, a Himalayan yeti and a merman. Then she spotted a picture of “the golden beetle of New Caledonia.”
“The Final Revival of Opal and Nev” by Dawnie Walton is a different kind of book. It’s a fictional rock-and-roll biography that often reads like the script of a biopic, with plenty of details to give it life. Most of it is in the form of interviews.
I always say I don’t like thrillers, but of course that isn’t completely true. I love a can’t-put-down page-turner. I just don’t like twisted or gory stuff or personal violence. Happily, three recent books by popular authors fulfill most of my preferences.
I think it’s human nature to be fascinated with cults — maybe because we think we’re too smart to be pulled into the net of a cult leader.
With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, it’s a good time to check out some love stories. Here are three completely different tales of romance.
The Lincoln Highway" by Amor Towles is a wonder of a book. It starts as a road trip on a very special road, blossoms into an adventure, blooms into a character study, and even turns into a bit of a thriller. Holy cow!
Two recent books have “vanishing” in their titles. They are nothing alike!
"The Personal Librarian” by Marie Benedict and Victoria Christopher Murray is a fictionalized biography of a real person, set in the years 1905 to 1948. Belle da Costa Greene was the personal librarian for the financier J.P. Morgan. But she was born Belle Marion Greener. Why did she change her name?