book review Archives

Great Gimmelmans, The

Coming-of-Age as a Bank Robber Author: Lee Matthew Goldberg In this high-speed, crime-ridden, coming-of-age-tale, twelve-year-old Aaron Gimmelman watches his family lose everything, go on the run, and turn into a group of murderous bank-robbers. The real kicker? Aaron is the sensible member of the family, the only realist in the disturbed bunch, and he started his own family down this road of crime. It begins with the stock crash of ’87. Formerly affluent, high-roller Barry Gimmelman (the father) is suddenly broke. Everything was bought through debt, through promises, through the assurance that the future held success. It’s all going back now. [...]

Frances Carden2023-12-14T19:36:05-07:00December 14th, 2023|Tags: book review, crime, drama, read, reading, thriller|

Grapes of Wrath, The

A Nihilistic Classic Author: John Steinbeck Tom Joad, convicted murderer, is walking the long, dusty road to his Oklahoma home. He doesn’t regret what he did – he would do it again. But he does miss his family and wonder what happened to them while he was in jail. What he finds, after teaming up with an ex-preacher (Casey) on the road, is his family preparing to abandon their only home, the farm that has been with them for generations. It seems that there is hope, there is money, to be made in California. The government is taking over the farms, [...]

Frances Carden2023-12-08T16:24:56-07:00December 8th, 2023|Tags: book review, classic, grapes of wrath, historical fiction, history, read, reading|

Mysterious Island, The

Solitude, Survival, and a Mystery Author: Jules Verne The Mysterious Island is classic Jules Verne: adventure tinged with near-misses, engaging survivalist saves, profound mysteries, elements of imagination, and lots of fascinating scientific tidbits. We begin with escape. A group of Union soldiers is held at a Confederate camp, and they take advantage of the proverbial dark and stormy night to steal a hot air balloon, letting the wind carry them where it may. And it does. To save their very lives, they end up throwing all their supplies overboard, finally arriving, five men with varying levels of expertise, plus one loyal [...]

Frances Carden2023-12-03T12:42:07-07:00December 3rd, 2023|Tags: book review, classic, read, reading|