May 182011
 

The Raising—Laura Kasischke . . . . These days, it’s a rare writer indeed whose writing can be called lyrical. So many today write for  money, fame, whatever. But there are still some who seem, at least to me, to write for the joy of setting down beautiful words and meaningful ideas into sentences and paragraphs and chapters.

And it’s even more rare for a mystery writer to wax lyrical throughout a bang-up, goose-bump-raising, are-they-human-or-what? tale. But Laura Kasischke does it in The Raising, and does so in a manner that inspired me to highlight phrases, sentences, paragraphs, not just for this review, but for the sheer pleasure of reading—and rereading—such expressive writing. Continue reading »

May 022011
 

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My husband and I recently read two Mary Higgins Clark books at the same time. We both used modern technology, but of different modes and for different reasons. The two books were by the same author but of distinctly different time frames and cultural issues.

My husband, Jim, “reads” digitally recorded books from the NC Library for the blind, since he has lost most of his vision to end stage macular degeneration. I order his books online and they are mailed to him. This service is a blessing that can’t truly be appreciated until you have lost your sight as he has. In my case, I do much of my novel reading on an e-reader, a Barnes and Noble Nook with both WiFi and 3G technology. I order books from the Nook section of B&N, and they’re downloaded directly to my reader, usually within minutes. Continue reading »