Category Archives: Novels

02.24.25
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THE FROZEN RIVER/LAWHON

Ariel Lawhon’s Novel The FROZEN RIVER continues to ride numerous Best Seller Lists. Take her advice and do not read the Author’s Notes before completing the manuscript. There is a backdrop to the story.

FROZEN RIVER is a page turner indeed. The story is set during the mid 1700s along the Kennebec River in Maine when that state was still part of Massachusetts. Meet Martha Ballard a midwife who sees all and knows all in the colonial settlement of Hallowell. Add a murder mystery that brings a cast of family, friends and long standing enemies into the center of Lawhon’s story line. It’s a small town with many not so secret secrets.

A good read by the fire during our frozen New England winter.

12.26.24
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James/Percival Everett/POWERFUL

It is no surprise that Percival Everett’s James is leading multiple Best Seller Lists. A ride on a raft on the muddy Mississippi with Jim and Huck misses absolutely nothing of the strife and life of slaves and their society of oppressors in the American South. The dialogue is real:

Way I sees it is dis. If’n ya gotta hab a rule to tell ya wha’s good, if’n ya gots to hab good splaIned to ya, den ya cain’t be good.  Good ain’t got nuttin to do wif da law.  Law says I’m a slave.”

Funny, humorous and always insightful Percival James has delivered a brilliant portrait as the sounds, words, and message echo in the reader’s mind long after the cover is closed. Why of course.

04.04.24
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THE HEAVEN AND EARTH GROCERY STORE/McBRIDE

Characters, Characters, Characters…….all deserving of capitalization…..you will meet them all. James McBride has gathered an endless collection of folks all passing through THE HEAVEN AND EARTH GROCERY STORE...no credit cards and cash not necessary at this Pottstown Pennsylvania “Chicken Hill” establishment. Immigrant Jews, African Americans, White People of dubious distinction, strivers, losers, cultures and subcultures all interacting sometimes positive, oftentimes negative.

THE HEAVEN AND EARTH GROCERY STORE is well stocked with cultural themes leading to a road to an asylum and a rescue that is worthy of a book unto itself.

Another best seller for McBride plus The National Book Award.

01.10.24
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THE LIONESS OF BOSTON/EMILY FRANKLIN

Don’t spoil a good story by telling the truth. This quote from Isabella Stewart Gardner sets the tone for Emily Franklin’s wonderful novel The LIONESS of BOSTON.

If you have visited the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum this novel will add volumes to the dimension of your experience. If you have not yet made the trek read The LIONESS of BOSTON first.

Glass ceilings broken long before anyone coined the term. An intimate look at the Boston Brahmin society of the late 19th Century and how one woman changed an insular world. A story of relationships, family, travel, art and artists and a greater grasp of Henry James, John Singer Sargent and Oscar Wilde.

Emily Franklin creates a new map as you walk with The Lioness the streets of Boston, Venice, London and Paris. You will not tire of the adventure.

11.09.23
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ALL THE LIGHT WE CANNOT SEE/NETFLIX

I disagree with the tepid reviews in the New York Times and Boston Globe about the NETFLIX mini series of Anthony Doerr’s novel All The Light We Cannot See. Of course no mini series or even a full length film can completely do justice to the book but the NETFLIX film interpretation is well worth viewing and I believe captures the essence of Doerr’s novel.

Search Gordon’s Good Reads for my take on the book.

Tune in. You will be entertained.

07.18.23
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THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME

Isabel Allende weaves the characters in her new novel THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME with contemporary themes and political consciousness. The book is a perfect combination of fact and fiction just as she accomplished in another novel A LONG PETAL OF THE SEA.

Here, Allende strikes at the heart of the immigration issue while at the same time tugging at the heart with her prose.

Add THE WIND KNOWS MY NAME To your summer reading.




06.16.23
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THE TRACKERS/ CHARLES FRAZIER

I seem to have fallen into a pattern of reading novels whose protagonists are young people born into difficult if not impossible circumstances. Just last week I finished Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver and before that, Nickel Boys by Colin Whitehead. ( Search gordonsgoodreads). Now Charles Frazier of Cold Mountain fame comes along with his new novel The TRACKERS.

This time the protagonist is a young woman ( barely) living the life of a hobo, hopping fast freights, joining a grade B or even lower status cowboy band. Surviving during the Great Depression. Then suddenly catapulted into the lap of luxury!

What’s next? Enjoy.

06.08.23
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THE OLD LION/ TEDDY ROOSEVELT/ SHARRA

I have read most all of Jeff Shaara’s historical novels and his ability to use the medium to awaken history sets a high standard. ( search gordonsgoodreads).

His latest, THE OLD LION, is a great overview of Teddy Roosevelt’s lifetime. Unlike the great biographies by Edmund Morris or David McCullough THE OLD LION moves quickly through the highlights of TR’s career.

This book is a good choice for a first round study of TR from his sickly childhood to the Rough Riders charge up San Juan Hill. After retirement from the presidency Roosevelt’s epic adventurous trip on the headwaters of the Amazon are captured by Sharra.

Enjoy

06.08.23
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TOMORROW TOMORROW TOMORROW/ ZEVIN

When i flipped the first pages of Gabrielle Zevin’s novel TOMORROW TOMORROW TOMORROW I hesitated. Why would I be interested in a young group of MIT stereotypes creating video games? The answer came quickly. The novel is MUCH MUCH MORE! Life is complicated and even more so among a group of brilliant young high achievers. There are love stories among the code writers and keyboard clicks that follow convoluted paths of happiness and sadness. My guess is that like me, you will be quickly drawn in by Zevin’s characters.

Put TOMORROW TOMORROW TOMORROW on your list. You won’t be disappointed.

05.03.23
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NICKEL BOYS/COLSON WHITEHEAD

Colson Whitehead’s novel, NICKEL BOYS is the real story of a 111 year old State of Florida “Reform School. ” Colson’s characters live the story of the NICKEL ACADEMY, which is actually a chamber of horrors, brutality, sexual abuse and racism. Children disappear into a hidden cemetery located behind the what is in reality a children’s prison.

Elwood, a black youth abandoned by his parents and raised by his grandmother is a teenager with great potential. He becomes a NICKEY BOY by inadvertently riding in the wrong car as he heads off to college. But Elwood is a reformer, a believer that things can change even from inside an abusive and racist ” Reform School.” He must first survive and then set about his work.

Colson weaves reality into an enormously compelling and emotional narrative as can only be accomplished by a great novelist. From within the decadence of NICKEL ACADEMY and the plight of those incarcerated there comes a glimmer of hope for reform from a determined Elwood.

Colson’s novel is representative of numerous ” Reform Schools” operating throughout America during the early to mid twentieth century. Fortunately most were closed but the stories of hundreds of “missing” youths remain to be discovered.