Lori Duff Writes
Secondhand Souls: A Novel by Christopher Moore I have a confession to make: I love Christopher Moore. I make this by way of confession rather than simply a statement of opinion because he makes more penis jokes than someone of my pretend stature and education ought to approve of. He’s often crude, often blasphemous, but…
I was thrilled to be contacted by BookBear (click here for their Facebook and here for their Twitter) to be a featured blogger on their virtual book tour of The Whisper King by Wil Radcliffe. I mean, they gave me a free book to give an honest review: how bad could that be? Plus, you know…
Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman I’ve always been a Neal Shusterman fan. One of the reasons is because his books (usually in a series) are different from one another. Scorpion Shards (The Star Shards Chronicles) is unlike the Unwind Dystology, which is completely unlike The Schwa was Here and the other Antsy Bonano books. They are…
You Shall Know Our Velocity by Dave Eggers This book has an odd title, which is ok, since it is kind of an odd book. It’s a profound one, though and definitely worth reading. The events in this book don’t so much happen as unravel. Information comes scattershot in the memories of the characters rather…
Killer Smile (Rosato & Associates Series) by Lisa Scottoline In this book, the protagonist, Mary DiNunzio, is a lawyer who was hired to get reparations for an Italian man who was placed in an American internment camp during WWII and ultimately committed suicide. The research in the case suddenly turns to murders, both old and…
Hard Laughter: A Novel by Anne Lamott Jennifer’s father, Wallace, has a brain tumor. They don’t know if it is cancerous or not, but in any event he is having brain surgery. Hard Laughter chronicles Jennifer’s life surrounding Wallace’s diagnosis, surgery, and (hopefully) recovery. Jennifer has two brothers, and they all deal with this stressful…
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid: A Memoir by Bill Bryson I loved this book. I cannot state that more strongly. I mean I really really loved it. Like, if it were a man, I would consider cheating on my husband for it. I loved it that much. (Just kidding, Mikey! You know…
A Long Spoon by Jonathan L. Howard Jonathan L. Howard, that is to say, Johannes Cabal, is at his best when in Hell. The literal Hell, not the figurative one. “A Long Spoon,” a short story companion to the Johannes Cabal book series, might be my favorite Cabal adventure yet. (An aside: is Cabal pronounced…
The Language of Flowers: A Novel by Vanessa Diffenbaugh Much of my career as a lawyer has been dedicated to issues related to children. So often; children get lost in the shuffle of grownups making decisions for them. Some of those grownups are well-intended, some are not; some of the decisions they make are good…
Johannes Cabal the Detective by Jonathan Howard This book is the follow up novel to the hilarious and inventive Johannes Cabal the Necromancer. In this book, Cabal is still a Necromancer, but he is on the lam, and finds himself in a steampunk/Sherlock Holmes mystery with shades of Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.…