Ten Year Plan

“The Tender Bar: A Memoir” by J.R. Moehringer

William Estep
Club reading
January 25, 2020

Who helped shape your life? Is who you are today genetic?

"The Silver Ships," by S.H. Jucha

William Estep
Club reading
January 2, 2020

S.H. Jucha’s debut novel, “The Silver Ships ,” introduces a future universe where colony ships from old Earth have settled in different, distant systems, and worked to make a life for themselves.

"Knots and Crosses" by Ian Rankin

William Estep
Club reading
January 1, 2020

We had a lot of great reviews on the old ClubReading website.

"The Town and the City" Jack Kerouac

William Estep
Club reading
January 1, 2020

Jack Kerouac’s first published novel, The Town and the City is a story of monumental scope and great emotional depth.

NaNoWriMo Continues

William Estep
Writing
November 17, 2013

Writing is going well this year. I’ve got some truck-sized plot holes to deal with, but I’m tweaking the outline as I go and plugging away at the word count.

"Breaking the Surface" by Greg Louganis

As I mentioned in a previously, I am working on recovering all of the old ClubReading.

"A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian: A Novel" by Marina Lewycka

William Estep
Club reading
October 15, 2009

Reviewer: Linda The main characters in this book are Ukrainian immigrants in the U.

"The Novelist" by Angela Hunt

William Estep
Club reading
October 12, 2009

Reviewer: Sally Angela Hunt is in the top five of my favorite authors list.

"Empire Falls (Vintage Contemporaries)" by Richard Russo

Russo’s novel is wonderful! The characters, even the minor characters are real, tangible, quirky, heartwarming and heartbreaking.

"Unspoken" by Angela Hunt

Reviewer: Sally Some people think humans evolved from apes…gorillas. Glee Granger thinks gorillas are almost human and can be taught to think and talk.

"The Cat Who Went into the Closet (Cat Who...)" by Lilian Jackson Braun

This is another interesting tale about Qwilleran and his two cats.

"Iceberg" by Clive Cussler

Reviewer: linda Adventure books, I keep reminding myself, were written in the mid-1970s for men, just as James Bond movies were made for men.

"The Body Myth: Adult Women and the Pressure to be Perfect" by Margo Maine, Joe Kelly

Reviewer: Linda While this is not the most well-written book I have read, it is thought provoking.

“The Fat Girls Guide to Life” by Wendy Shanker

Reviewer: Linda This is a book which discusses acceptance of one’s weight and appearance.

"Petty Pewter Gods (P.I. Garrett)" by Glen Cook

Reviewer: littlemissthing Add one part Kolchak: The Nightstalker, a touch of Columbo, and heavy helping of wizards, elves, dragons, and all sorts of fantasy creatures.

"Child of the Prophecy: Book Three of the Sevenwaters Trilogy (The Sevenwaters Trilogy)" by Juliet Marillier

A myth combined with fantasy. That’s a very short description of what this book is.

"Julie and Julia : 365 Days, 524 Recipes, 1 Tiny Apartment Kitchen" by Julie Powell

Julie Powell felt she was in a rut. Turning thirty, dead end temp secretary job, crappy loft apartment and trouble with her husband.

"Shantaram: A Novel" by Gregory David Roberts

(Anonymous Submission to old ClubReading website) Lindsay or Linbaba, as the Indian people named him, is a fugitive who escaped prison in Australia, where he served two years of his 19-year sentence of arms robberies, which he used to do to support his heroin addiction caused by loosing custody of his daughter in a failed marriage.

"The Actors Guide to Greed (Actors Guide To...)" by Rick Copp

Jarrod Jarvis was a child actor in a successful sitcom in the 80’s.

"Candy Apple Red (Jane Kelly Mystery)" by Nancy Bush

If you enjoy light, easy mystery books, then this book is for you.

"Bokuru" by Jon C. Hall

Reviewer: bardsandsages “Bokuru” by Jon C. Hall When a prominent archeologist’s mysterious death is quickly ruled a suicide, trial attorney and amateur archeologist Jim Henderson is hired to go to Africa and investigate.

"Lark Rise to Candleford: A Trilogy (Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics)" by Flora Thompson

I learned of this book from Educating Alice (see previous review ).

"Damaged!" by Bernadette Y. Connor

Reviewer: Bardsandsages Author Bernadette Y. Connor spins a thought-provoking tale of abuse, survival, redemption, and the need for forgiveness in her novel Damaged!

"The Burglar in the Library (Bernie Rhodenbarr Mystery)" by Lawrence Block

Bernie Rhodenbarr just wants a quiet weekend in the country.

"Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" by Malcolm Gladwell

This book discusses how we make snap judgments, or decide things “in a blink.

"Son of a Witch: A Novel" by Gregory Maguire

Maquire has done it again; he’s taken us into Oz, but not Baum’s Oz, a new, different Oz.

"Almost Like Being in Love: A Novel" by Steve Kluger

The book is presented as journal entries, newspaper articles, memo’s, emails, post-it notes and court records.

"Flesh And Blood" by Michael Cunningham

Flesh and Blood is a large story covering three generations and 100 years.

"French Women Dont Get Fat: The Secret of Eating For Pleasure" by Mireille Guiliano

There has been a bit of fuss in the media concerning this book, as the title is somewhat provacative.

"A Beautiful Mind: The Life of Mathematical Genius and Nobel Laureate John Nash" by Sylvia Nasar

William Estep
Club reading
February 14, 2009

The biography of a brilliant mathematician, A Beautiful Mind is not only fascinating but extremely well written.

"The Year the Colored Sisters Came to Town" Jacqueline Guidry

William Estep
Club reading
December 28, 2008

This is a story about the year two colored nuns came to a small town in Southern Louisiana to teach at the white Catholic school.

"A Kiss of Shadows" Laurell K. Hamilton

William Estep
Club reading
November 11, 2008

Merry Gentry, a member of the Faerie royal bloodline, has been in hiding for the past three years.

"A Promise for Ellie" Lauraine Snelling

William Estep
Club reading
October 10, 2008

Andrew Bjorklund and Ellie Wold have known they would wed since grade school.

"A Fragile Design" Tracie Peterson, Judith Miller

William Estep
Club reading
September 21, 2008

Arabella Newberry was not only fleeing the life of the Shakers, she was leaving her father behind her.

“Writing the Novel” Lawrence Block

William Estep
Club reading
August 30, 2008

Lawrence Block is certainly a very successful writer. He currently has178 books listed on Amazon.

"Different Roads" Joyce Sterling Scarbrough

The two main characters, Jaycee and Bud, share similar emotional challenges, but were raised in very different environments.

"All Creatures Great and Small" James Herriot

All Creatures Great and Small is a classic written in 1972, but I just discovered it.

"The Cat Who Moved a Mountain (Cat Who...)" by Lilian Jackson Braun

Reviewer: Sally James Qwilleran stayed the compulsory five years in Pickax to complete the requirements placed on his inheritance.

"8.4" by Peter Hernon

Interesting novel of an earthquake (8.4 magnitude, of course) on the New Madrid fault in Southeast Missouri/Southwest Illinois/Western Tennessee, etc.

Nick Hornby's "A Long Way Down"

The first chapter of Nick Hornby’s novel, “A Long Way Down ” introduces the 4 main characters, Martin, Maureen, Jess and JJ.

Whiskey Sour: A Jack Daniels Mystery (A Jacqueline "Jack" Daniels Mystery)

Caution: Puns Ahead! That should be on the cover of this book–if you hate puns, you won’t find this book as amusing as I did.

"84, Charing Cross Road" by Helene Hanff

This book is a collection of letters from a female writer in New York City to a bookstore in London.

"A House in Sicily" by Daphne Phelps

Daphne Phelps inherited a house in Sicily called Casa Cuseni.

"Anonymous Rex" by Eric Garcia

A terrific read! Very entertaining, unusual and fresh with a sly humor and good story.

"At The Scent Of Water" by Linda Nichols

Reviewer: Sally ‘Life Happens!!’ We’ve all seen the bumper stickers.

"Educating Alice: Adventures of a Curious Woman" by Alice Steinbach

Alice Steinbach manages to do the things we all want to do: She travels to different places to learn new things.

"Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death and Life" by Gregory Bernard Banks

Reviewer: Bardsandsages Breaking the boundaries between literary and genre fiction, Gregory Bernard Banks’ Phoenix Tales: Stories of Death and Life is a stunning collection of short stories that confronts the meaning of life and death with beautiful bravery.

Yo! Need a vampire hunter over here!

Amazon emailed me a couple of days ago to let me know I might like the new Laurell Hamilton book “Blood Noir”.