Dirty Little Angels by Chris Tusa -A confused teenager, Hailey and her older brother turn to G-d, and befriend Moses who dreams of opening a drive thru church.

In a fascinating and insightful article, “A Novelist Re-Imagines Shakespeare’s Juliet — and Challenges Literary Snobbery” in the Wall St. Journal, author Anne Fortier talks about her visit to her homeland of Denmark and the change of perspective about art. Ms. Fortier was having lunch with friends when words like “ambitious” and “commercial” starting to fly around…but not in a good way.This was two days before Fortier’s new novel; “Juliet” – about a young lady who thinks she might be related to the teenage Shakespeare made famous – was coming out. When the book came it was hailed as…. ambitious and commercial – oh boy. Even though critics did admit that the book was descent (according to Ms. Fortier) they went out of their way criticize the idea of the book, rather than the book itself. . To their credit, the Danes voted with their money and “Juliet” sold well. Some critics are quick who damn literature which is not written to please the intellect of those sitting on the high throne of prize committees. However, they forgot that some the books hailed today as classics were either ostracized when they came out (“The Grapes of Wrath“, “Moby Dick” which are among…

Cutting for Stone is a glorious family / medical saga covering multiple generations and locations. Marion, the narrator, is an emotional and intelligent person

In A Long, Long Time Ago and Essentially True the author fashions the tale in a fairytale like narrative spiced with European / Yiddish humor

The first of 15 books in the Oz series and tells the story of Dorothy from Kansas who was swooped with her dog Toto by a mighty wind to the Land of Oz.

The third book of the series if finely crafted much like the first, interlacing between the good and the bad, the intelligence agencies, the police and media.

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The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is an epic which is meant to be read slowly and deliberately, the tale is smart and the story is fun. Even though the book incorporates shoguns and samurais, most of the account is carried by clerks and translators. The epic rescue attempt in a sanctuary surrounded by snow capped mountains is no less exciting than the description of diplomatic rituals and the “arse-licking pilgrimage” one must make before meeting the shogun.

The Kill Artist is a well written spy novel, filled with details in all the right places as well as several characters from Silva’s previous novels.

In order to get a leg up on all the other kids during Halloween Samuel goes trick-o-treating 2 days before only to witness the gate to Hell opening up