2021-01-16 17:06
The Golden Bowl is the third Henry James novel that I have read. This is a classic story of marital infidelity. Though the two other books that I have read by this author had lots of inner i… Read More
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2021-01-02 18:05
Babbling Books is nine years old today! This anniversary brings a mini – crisis in my blogging activities but optimism for the future. The mini – crisis that I refer to will be e… Read More
2020-11-14 17:11
Doctor Sleep is Stephen King’s follow up The Shining. Though I recently reread The Shining, this was the first new - for - me King novel that… Read More
2020-10-15 23:26
Madam Bovary by Gustave Flaubert is a very famous French novel. I thought that this book was an excellent literary work that dug in to all sorts interesting themes in complex ways. As far… Read More
2020-09-19 17:19
Jeremy Black’s George III is a somewhat unusual look at the English monarch. This biography has a fairly unconventional structure and style to it. In some ways the book is a challengin… Read More
2020-09-06 16:22
Stephen King’s The Shining was a reread for me. I first read this a very long time ago, probably in the late 1980s. I decided to read this book again after many years because I rewatch… Read More
2020-08-22 14:03
Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar is the story of Esther Greenwood. The novel looks into Esther’s life both before and after she experiences symptoms of mental illness. I found this t… Read More
2020-08-10 22:40
The War of the End of the World is the first book that I have read by Mario Vargas Llosa. This is a massive and sprawling novel that chronicles the real - life historical conflict known as t… Read More
2020-07-17 20:59
A Brother’s Price by Wen Spencer is one of several novels that I have read over the past few years that center around fictional matriarchies. I had heard about this book and… Read More
2020-07-03 21:13
Under Western Eyes is Joseph Conrad’s Russian novel. I found this to be another brilliant Conrad effort. As is typical of Conrad, this book is filled with complex characters, prose and… Read More
2020-06-21 16:39
The Ape that Understood the Universe by Steve Stewart-Williams an exploration of evolutionary psychology. Stewart-Williams argues for and explains throughout the book how both human minds an… Read More
2020-05-26 22:48
The Great Influenza by John M. Barry is a chronicle of the 1918 influenza as it effected The United States. This outbreak killed more people then any other pandemic in history. I found this… Read More
2020-05-11 21:57
The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson is a classic gothic ghost story. The book, which has been the subject of several films and television series has achieved a high level of fame i… Read More
2020-04-26 16:21
Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky is a novel whose plot reflects its title. It is about a terrible crime and punishment that is both reality - based and psychological. Along the way… Read More
2020-04-11 17:52
I thought that Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel was a fantastic book. This piece of plague - fiction was gripping, had complex and interesting characters, philosophical musi… Read More
2020-03-28 16:02
Lately I have been reading several books on the subject of quantum physics. I had previously posted commentary on Kenneth W. Ford’s The Quantum World here. Unlike that genera… Read More
2020-03-14 16:49
I found The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins to be a lively and fun read. First published in 1859, this book is often credited with helping to develop both the mystery and thriller genres of… Read More
2020-02-22 18:45
As I have done before, I read The Quantum World by Kenneth W. Ford in order to prepare me for another book. I wanted to read the recently published Something Deeply Hidden by… Read More
2020-02-10 00:29
Adam Bede by George Eliot is the story of the title character, his family and his friends. I found this novel to be excellent. It is an interesting tale populated with interesting chara… Read More
2020-02-01 18:21
They Were Her Property by Stephanie E. Jones-Rogers is an examination on the role that free white women played in the institution of slavery in America’s Antebellum South. The boo… Read More
2020-01-21 01:08
One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez was reread for me. First published in 1967, this novel has become very famous. This book is probably the most widel… Read More
2020-01-11 18:06
My Antonia by Willa Cather is the third book in author’s The Great Plains Trilogy. I found that this was another near brilliant novel that had complex characters and magnific… Read More
2020-01-02 11:49
Babbling Books is eight years old today! The term often used for these milestones is blogiversary. Time seems like it is passing so quickly. It feels like it was just yesterday tha… Read More
2019-12-23 19:18
Published this year, Self-Portrait in Black and White by Thomas Chatterton Williams is a book that is getting a lot of attention with people who are interested in race and the social issues… Read More
2019-12-09 02:54
The Turn of the Screw is Henry James’s famous gothic tale. Though a well - known book this is the first time that I have read it. I found this novella to be an odd but… Read More
2019-11-24 16:39
This was a book that I read to prepare me for another book. Thomas Chatterton Williams’s recently published Self-Portrait in Black and White is being talked about a lot by fo… Read More
2019-11-15 02:37
Insurrecto by Gina Apostol was first published last year and has won multiple awards. Despite a few flaws, I found this to be an excellent book that incorporated many innovations and at time… Read More
2019-11-03 22:23
Women of the Republic by Linda Kerber is an examination of the legal and social changes that a certain group of women experienced in The American Revolutionary era. I read this book bec… Read More
2019-10-19 15:57
North and South is the first Elizabeth Gaskell book that I have read. I found this to be wonderful story that contained interesting characters and explored both personal relationships a… Read More
2019-10-10 03:38
A Thousand Small Sanities by Adam Gopnik has been an examination of the belief system known as liberalism. The book, first published this year, has gotten a fair amount of at… Read More
2019-09-28 19:17
This post contains spoilers.The Secret Agent by Joseph Conrad is a dark tale of spying, radicalism and family strife. Like other Conrad books that I have read, the prose and characters are m… Read More
2019-09-16 12:32
Song of the Lark by Willa Cather is considered the second of the author’s Great Plains Trilogy. However, though it takes place in the American Midwest as did O Pioneers!, the two stori… Read More
2019-09-06 05:16
Empire by Neil Ferguson is a history of the British Empire. The book also presents several of the author’s arguments about that empire. First published in 2012 this work has garne… Read More
2019-08-26 17:03
Orley Farm is the fifteenth Anthony Trollope novel that I have read. I decided to give this one a go for several reasons. Though a little less known then some other Trollope books, Harold Bl… Read More
2019-08-17 17:58
Revolutionary Mothers by Carol Berkin is a survey of women’s role in the American Revolution. The author does a good job of chronicling this underreported aspect of the conflict… Read More
2019-08-08 14:21
O Pioneers! by Willa Cather is the story of the Bergsons, a family of Swedish immigrants who settle in Nebraska in the late nineteenth century. First published in 1913, this is a short novel… Read More
2019-07-31 03:13
People are talking about Robin DiAngelo’s White Fragility quiet a lot. The book was best seller and it is being mentioned all over social media. First published in 2018 the main p… Read More
2019-07-21 15:38
Kidnapped by Robert Lewis Stevenson was originally considered a "boy's book” when first published in 1886. Since then, the novel has garnered enormous popularity throughout the world… Read More
2019-07-10 14:54
I first attempted to read The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann about twenty years ago. I stopped reading about ten percent of the way in. I felt that I was not ready for it. I wanted… Read More
2019-07-01 14:28
This post contains some spoilers.Small Great Things by Jodi Picoult is an exploration of race, bias and power in America. In this work the author attempts to paint a picture of a w… Read More
2019-06-25 02:45
I will be posting about pair of books that center upon racism in America. Because the books involve hot button social issues, and the stories behind me reading seem noteworthy, I wante… Read More
2019-06-19 09:34
Charles Dickens’s Nicholas Nickleby is the story of the title character. This is a novel that in some ways is very much typical of Dickens but varies in other ways from many… Read More
2019-06-11 03:11
Those who have followed my previous posts know that I have decided to read a series of books on the subject of colonialism. As part of that, I wanted to include some books that fall under th… Read More
2019-05-30 03:16
This post contains spoilers. Circe by Madeline Miller was first published in 2018. This is an account of the Greek Goddess’s life from her own point of view. I found thi… Read More
2019-05-18 00:50
This post contains spoilers. Those who have been reading this blog over the past several months know that I have been reading through the Harry Potter series. I have finally finished. I… Read More
2019-05-06 02:09
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows by J.K. Rowling is the seventh and final book in the series. I found it to be a fitting end to the Harry Potter saga. This entry is an ex… Read More
2019-04-26 03:27
The Tyranny of Opinion: Conformity and the Future of Liberalism by Russel Blackford is an examination and critical assessment of what many are labeling as call-out culture and public sh… Read More
2019-04-16 12:56
Fathers and Sons by Ivan Turgenev was first published in 1862. I found this to be a compelling philosophical novel populated with well crafted and complex characters. I read the C… Read More
2019-04-10 03:09
This post contains major spoilers. Harry Potter and the Half – Blood Prince by J. K. Rowling is the sixth book in the series. I found this to be one of the most entertaining entri… Read More
2019-04-02 13:33
The Goodness Paradox by Richard Wrangham was published this year. In it, the author explores the evolutionary origins of violence, cooperation and altruism in humans. Wrangham is a reno… Read More
2019-03-24 15:09
I do not hesitate to post about controversial issues. Though I mostly keep my posts on this blog to the subject of books, I tend to read some books that cover contentious topics. I read book… Read More
2019-03-17 08:30
This post contains some spoilers. Harry Potter and The Order of the Phoenix by J.K. Rowling is the fifth book in the series. I thought that, while slow in its early parts and a bit… Read More
2019-03-11 02:08
I am doing some reading on the subject of colonialism. As part of this larger project, I am including some key books that are part of the viewpoint known as postcolonialism. Orientalism by E… Read More
2019-03-02 20:46
The Red and the Black by Stendhal is the story of Julien Sorel, a young Frenchman of middle - class origins. The tale centers on his love affairs and his attempts to socially advance himself… Read More
2019-02-21 05:07
Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire by J.K. Rowling is the fourth book in the series. Like the previous entries, I enjoyed this novel a lot. The plot is interesting. It is full of fun charac… Read More
2019-02-10 17:41
As I have written previously, I have decided to read a few books on the subject of colonialism. To start, I have decided to read a few books that are considered important to the belief syste… Read More
2019-01-31 14:04
Anna Karenina is known as story about infidelity. I found it to be about a whole lot more. The novel was first published in 1878. This is the first work that I have read by Leo Tolstoy. Afte… Read More
2019-01-22 10:11
Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J. K. Rowling is the third book in the series. In this entry, Harry is back for his third year at the magical boarding school of Hogwarts. His fri… Read More
2019-01-12 01:39
Colonialism/Postcolonialism is a comprehensive survey of postcolonial theory and thinking. The author, , is a Professor of English at the University of Pennsylvania. She has… Read More
2019-01-02 10:41
Babbling Books is seven years old today! As always, I want to thank the Blogging Community and all the folks who read and comment on my blog. You all are the reason that posting about… Read More
2018-12-26 19:52
J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets is the second book of the Harry Potter Series. My commentary on the first book,Harry Potter and the Philosopher's… Read More
2018-12-17 17:23
The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James was first published in 1881 and revised by the author in 1908. I read the later version. It is the story of Isabel Archer, a young American woman… Read More
2018-12-08 19:10
I have finally read J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. One can say that I am late to the party on this one. However, the fact that I rarely read very new books a… Read More
2018-11-27 01:08
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz was written in 2007. It won the Pulitzer prize for fiction and numerous other awards. It is included in several lists of best books… Read More
2018-11-14 00:21
I am A Strange Loop by Douglas R. Hofstadter was written in 2008 and is the author’s follow up to Gödel, Escher, Bach, also known as GEB. My commentary on that book is here.I… Read More
2018-10-30 07:36
Gödel, Escher, Bach: An Eternal Golden Braid, also known as GEB, by Douglas R. Hofstadter was the most challenging nonfiction book that I have ever read. Not including no… Read More
2018-10-19 23:12
There are a lot of very good things about Goodreads. In this entry I want to talk a little about entering books read in the past on one’s bookshelves. This feature allows a Goodreads u… Read More
2018-10-09 02:41
The Return of the Native by Thomas Hardy was first published in 1878. The story takes place in the fictional Egdon Heath, a picturesque area of moorland in rural England. The tale cente… Read More
2018-09-28 05:35
Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution by Kathleen DuVal was first published in 2016. The author is a professor of early American history at the University of N… Read More
2018-09-16 16:01
My general commentary on Anthony Trollope’s The Way We Live Now is here.About half of Trollope’s important characters are women. He has created many imaginative and dynamic… Read More
2018-09-06 02:53
The Way We Live Now by Anthony Trollope was first published in 1875. It is a stand-alone novel in that it was not part of Trollope’s two big series. I have heard a fair number of peopl… Read More
2018-08-27 14:02
Gibraltar, The Greatest Siege in British History by Roy Adkins and Lesly Adkins was first published this year. The subject is the Spanish and French siege of British controlled Gibralta… Read More
2018-08-18 16:32
Book series have been around for a long time. It is safe to say that they have never been more popular than they are today. Lately, I have been thinking about how some books that… Read More
2018-08-05 15:32
Daniel Defoe’s Robinson Crusoe, though set in the seventeenth century, was first published in 1719. It is the story of the title character. This book is a very famous work, yet this is… Read More
2018-07-25 04:10
Silas Marner by George Eliot was written in 1861 but is set in the early 1800s. It is the story of the title character. This novel is a tale of redemption and hope. As such, I th… Read More
2018-07-14 13:54
Brothers at Arms by Larrie D. Ferreiro was first published in 2016. It is a chronicle of French and Spanish involvement in the American Revolution. I found the book to be well written, infor… Read More
2018-07-04 02:37
The Pickwick Papers was Charles Dickens’s first novel. It tells the story of Samuel Pickwick and the other members of the Pickwick Club. The group is comprised of members who journey a… Read More
2018-06-23 03:03
This book was translated by Ken Liu. The below contains moderate spoilers. Dramatic events happen fairly early on in this book. I reveal some of them.Cixin Liu’s Death’s End… Read More
2018-06-10 20:39
This book was translated by Ken Liu. The below contains moderate spoilers. Dramatic events happen fairly early on in this book. I reveal some of them. Death’s End is the last… Read More
2018-05-30 14:23
I think that most people would say that their reading tastes have changed over time. I am no different. When I think about this subject, it turns out that I appreciate a lot of books now tha… Read More
2018-05-19 21:28
This book was translated from its original Chinese by Joel Martinsen.The Dark Forest is Cixin Liu’s sequel to The Three Body Problem and the second book of The Remembrance of Ear… Read More
2018-05-07 14:34
The Three-Body Problem by Cixin Liu was originally published in China in 2006. This book won the Hugo award for best novel as well as several Chinese science-fiction awards. The novel… Read More
2018-04-25 12:41
Joseph Conrad’s Nostromo was first published 1904. The book takes place in the fictional South American country of Costaguana in the fictional seaport of Sulaco. Charles Gould, who is… Read More
2018-04-13 08:17
Evelina by Francis Burney was first published in 1778. This novel tells the story of Miss Evelina Anville. The entire book is written in the form of letters. Most of the letters are written… Read More
2018-04-03 13:40
Enlightenment Now: The Case for Reason, Science, Humanism, and Progressby Steven Pinker was first published this year. It is essentially Pinker’s assessment of the world we live in and… Read More
2018-03-23 22:10
The below contains minor spoilers. Villette by Charlotte Brontë was first published in 1853. It is the story of Lucy Snow. We first meet the book’s protagonist at age 14 when she… Read More
2018-03-12 10:09
Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 is Fred Anderson’s comprehensive study of the French and Indian War and its aftermath… Read More
2018-03-02 02:47
Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island is a very a famous work. Surprisingly, I had never read it before. For those unfamiliar with the story, the novel tells the tale of thirt… Read More
2018-02-18 16:34
I have now read all six books of Anthony Trollope’s Palliser Series. I thought that the books ranged from very good to outstanding and that all were worth reading. My favorite of the… Read More
2018-02-06 01:49
The Duke’s Children by Anthony Trollope is the sixth and the last of The Palliser books. When this novel was originally published, more than 200 pages were removed from the original ve… Read More
2018-01-25 09:32
My list of all time favorite books is below. I shared some of my thoughts on what went into this list here. This is a relatively short list. For every book on this list there are also m… Read More
2018-01-17 12:26
When I decided to post a list of my favorite books I first had to come up with the actual list. As I began to think about the list I needed to ask myself if I thought that my favorite… Read More
2018-01-08 11:30
Lord Jim by Joseph Conrad was originally published in 1900. It is the story of a young Englishman named Jim. The tale is narrated by Marlowe, the ship captain who also narrated Conrad&r&hell…Read More
2018-01-02 12:24
Babbling Books is six years old today. In past years on my blogiversary I have extolled the virtues of the book blogger community. I will again acknowledge my fellow book bloggers… Read More
2017-12-22 15:53
Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf was written in 1925. This is an unconventional book that is filled with nuanced character depictions as well as all sorts of observations about life. The pros… Read More
2017-12-13 11:31
The Quartet by Joseph J. Ellis is an examination of both the men and the process that brought about the creation of the United States Constitution. This is an insightful book that looks clos… Read More
2017-12-06 09:33
This post contains some spoilers, mostly about previous books in The Palliser Series. The Prime Minister by Anthony Trollope is the fifth book in The Palliser Series. It is another Tro… Read More
2017-11-29 16:45
I read the version of this book translated by Marion Wiesel, who was the author’s wife.Night by Elie Wiesel was first published in 1956. This is the author’s account of how… Read More
2017-11-22 11:00
Northanger Abbey by Jane Austen is the story of Catherine Morland. This is another enjoyable Jane Austen novel filled with all of the things that make Austen a great writer. It is both an en… Read More
2017-11-16 13:42
The Power by Naomi Alderman was first published in the United States this year and The United Kingdom last year. The book is getting a lot of buzz and it is generating a lot of online discus… Read More
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