Monthly Archives: June 2010

Fred Vargas, “Pars vite et reviens tard” or “Have Mercy on Us All”

Posted on June 27, 2010 by carolwallace

Why Fred Vargas is better than Stieg Larsson — and it’s not just the stuff about the plague. Continue reading →

Posted in French, funny, mystery | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Blog business

Posted on June 27, 2010 by carolwallace

Apologies, subscribers. I have to do this to register “Book Group of One” with Technorati, which will theoretically drive more viewers to the site. This is my Technorati “claim token” which they will now read, I suppose, to ensure that … Continue reading →

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Katharine Davis, “Capturing Paris”

Posted on June 20, 2010 by carolwallace

Spend a few hours in Paris without a plane ticket. Continue reading →

Posted in contemporary fiction, French | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Wendy Burden, “Dead End Gene Pool”

Posted on June 19, 2010 by carolwallace

Another crazy-family memoir, only these nutters are Vanderbilts and they have very nice toys. Continue reading →

Posted in funny, memoir | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Thomas Perry, “Strip”

Posted on June 17, 2010 by carolwallace

Summer reading with gangsters and LA strip clubs; fun! Continue reading →

Posted in thriller | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Tom Rachman, “The Imperfectionists”

Posted on June 13, 2010 by carolwallace

Has Tom Rachman written the obituary of the daily newspaper? Or is this just warmed-over Evelyn Waugh? Continue reading →

Posted in best seller, contemporary fiction | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

Robert Goolrick, “A Reliable Wife”

Posted on June 12, 2010 by carolwallace

Three words that I would not have said added up to a great read: “train wreck” and “incantatory.” But I guess that’s why we keep reading: sometimes a new thing occurs. It took me two tries to get into A … Continue reading →

Posted in best seller, contemporary fiction | Tagged | 2 Comments

Peter Cameron, “The City of Your Final Destination”

Posted on June 9, 2010 by carolwallace

The City of Your Final Destination arrived in the mail, sent by a friend with impeccable taste, and it proved to be very enjoyable. The title sounds ominous, doesn’t it? I suppose it relates in a free-floating way to the … Continue reading →

Posted in contemporary fiction, funny, literary fiction | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Emile Zola, “Pot Luck”

Posted on June 6, 2010 by carolwallace

Sometimes Zola’s outrage nourishes a kind of savage farce, as in the scene in The Kill in which a woman has sex with her stepson on a bearskin rug, in a greenhouse, surrounded by loathsome artificially-grown plants. And sometimes the … Continue reading →

Posted in classic, French, literary fiction | Tagged | 2 Comments