Anthony Doerr’s narrative reminds us that human beings define themselves by what they value. An orphaned German boy values knowledge, asking endless questions few of us ever ponder, such as “Does a bee know it’s going to die if it stings somebody?” or “Why doesn’t glue stick to the inside…

When I’m not busy with the Chevron Ross books, I spend a great deal of time reviewing the works of other authors. Why? Because I know what it’s like to battle for attention in today’s book market. Writing is a great risk. Despite investing hundreds of hours in research and…

This is another installment of treasures from my bookshelf. Though I am loath to part with any of my books, some are so special that I wish I could erase them from my memory and read them again for the first time. An appropriate lead-in to today’s subject. The Lathe…

Discovering a new writer is like making a new friend. I knew nothing of David Guterson until I read Snow Falling on Cedars a few years ago. Now, after completing his earlier novel East of the Mountains, I wish we’d met a long time ago. The story is a simple…

In this dark age of rampant conspiracy theories, it’s hard to imagine a better cure for them than a journey through Juan Gabriel Vásquez’s magnificent novel, The Shape of the Ruins. The author has taken on the task of showing how poisonous obsessions may lead to the destruction of their…

Several weeks ago I posted some interesting opening lines from various novels. Here, at random, are a few more. “‘I see …’ said the vampire thoughtfully, and slowly he walked across the room towards the window.” Interview with the Vampire, by Anne Rice “It was a bright cold day in…

Native American culture is only a ghost of what it was before the European invasion swept across the continent. So fittingly, ghosts linger in the world of The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich’s deeply personal homage to her grandfather and the Chippewa tribe of which he was chairman. Set in 1953,…

Have you ever enjoyed a book so much that you wish you could erase your memory and read it again for the first time? I have quite a few such favorites. They’re all permanent residents of my bookshelves; old friends that I occasionally take down and visit again. Though I…

Amor Towles recently announced that his new novel, The Lincoln Highway, will be available on October 5, 2021. For those who haven’t heard of this author, I enthusiastically recommend his previous novel, A Gentleman in Moscow. You wouldn’t think that a story about a man living out his life in…

While reading Allen Drury’s novel Anna Hastings, I couldn’t help thinking of Helen Thomas, the longtime United Press International correspondent. A fixture at White House news conferences for many decades, she was known for asking blunt, intimidating questions at a time when the Presidential press corps was almost exclusively male.…