Twelve year old Hugo shoulders a lot of responsibility for his age. His parents are dead and his caretaker is his drunkard uncle, tender to the train station’s clocks, which one day simply disappears. Son of a watchmaker, Hugo who loves to tinker with mechanical toys takes it upon himself to maintain the clocks while hiding in the hidden world of the train station. One day he finds an automaton, a mechanical man, which was cherishe...
Today I’m starting a new feature called “Thoughts from the Rancor Pit” in which Andrew and David from the fabulous blog “Rancors Love to Read” will review books taking place in the Star Wars universe. I have been in touch with Andrew for a few weeks about this new feature which I think will enhance Man of la Book by giving it another dimension (pun intended). While I certainly appreciate the Star Wars unive...
Taylor Caldwell (7 September, 1900 – 30 August, 1985) was a British novelist of popular fiction. Best known for Dynasty of Death (published 1938), Taylor used real historical events and persons in her works which were known to be intricate and suspenseful....
About: The Bookie’s Son by Andrew Goldstein is a coming of age novel set in the 1960s. This is the author’s debut novel and I hope he will pen a few more. The pubÂlisher is givÂing away one copy of this book— use the RafÂfleÂcopter form at the end of the post to enter. My rating for The Bookie’s Son – 4 Buy this book in paper or electronic format Thoughts: The Bookie’s Son by Andrew Goldstein is an intellig...
Article first published as Book Review: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spain by Helen Gordon Heightsman on Blogcritics. About: Malinalli of the Fifth Sun: The Slave Girl Who Changed the Fate of Mexico and Spainby Helen Heightsman Gordon is a historical fiction novel taking place in South America during Hernán Cortés’ time. Malinalli was an important person in Cortés’ entourage wh...
I really enjoy biblical fiction, especially about the Jewish bible. I think the stories are great, interesting and, I hear, even teach a lesson or two. Most of the biblical fiction books I read were pretty good, some took many liberties, others didn’t but I have to say I enjoyed most of them (it is unfortunate that most of the ones I enjoyed were never translated into English). Many people miss the point of the bible, in my opi...
Article first published as Book Review: Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus on Blogcritics. About: Shadow on the Mountain by Margi Preus is a historical fiction novel which comfortably fits in the YA category. This is a well researchedand exciting book despite its intended audience. 304 pages Publisher: Harry N. Abrams; 8-page insert of color photos edition Language: English ISBN-10: 1419704249 My rating for Shadow on the Mount...
I was intensely interested in English and world literature throughout high school and college. I devoured every classic and newly published novel that I could get my hands on—from Chaucer to Chabon, Rumi to Rushdie. And during that entire time—what I now consider to be my peak reading period—I somehow managed to forgo reading Gabriel Garcia Márquez’s infamous novel One Hundred Years of Solitude. Sure, I knew that it ex...
William Saroyan was born this day, 31 August 1908 (d: 18 May 1981); he was a prolific writer of immigrant parents who based many of his stories on his childhood experiences during the Great Depression as well as the rootlessness of immigrants. Mr. Saroyan is known for his short stories and insightful texts. He won a Pulitzer Prize for for his play The Time of Your Life (1939). Books by William Saroyan 1 ) Saroyan’s was l...
When my son (5) saw his big sister’s summer project and “reading responses” (see here and here) he got jealous and wanted to do one also. Here he is with his first reading response of a book we took out of the library for him. A nice comment would be appreciated 🙂 Buy this book from Amazon.com After he finished the story he was even more excited to find out that there is such a thing as shoo fly pie – b...
