Wildlife
Favorite Fiction, Part 2 -2022
I continue here with seven more of my 14 favorite novels I read in 2022. They will take you to Bangkok, Cyprus, London, and India, and touch on how a teenage tragedy can affect a family for a lifetime, Mexican immigration, Marcellus the clever octopus, & an incredibly creative story about a female taxi driver who picks up and delivers both the dead and alive.
Favorite Fiction, Part 1 - 2022
I read some wonderful novels this past year. It just wasn’t possible to winnow them down to a half dozen, so I am doing two parts with 7 books in each. Some really outstanding, informative, and entertaining stories. I hope you find something special to pick up for 2023.
Favorite Nonfiction for 2022
When it comes to nonfiction, my interests range widely. Perhaps because of the pandemic, this year’s best has some serious subjects, but each contributed to my understanding of life, how precious it is, and sometimes how elusive a good life can be. Of course I have included food, dogs, tennis, and thoughts on the over-privileged. I hope you’ll find something that interests you, too.
When to Indulge in a Threesome: Trilogies I’ve Loved
Five trilogies I’ve read that stand out in my mind. In each case, I was swept away by the stories, carried thoughts about the characters around in my mind for days and weeks as if they were personal friends.
The Search for Dignity in a World Gone Mad
Rachel Kaadzi Ghansah is an American award-winning essayist. She won a Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 2018 for her profile of white supremacist and mass murderer Dylann Roof, as well as a National Magazine Award.
Nonfiction Book Proposals—Is Yours Irresistible?
Don’t underestimate the importance of a well-crafted, thoughtful book proposal for your nonfiction project!
Crocodile Love: Honeymoon Adventures
“We wanted to go to hot, intense places together, to cities where open markets breathed that sweaty, fish-gutty, trash-burning smell that cling to travelers’ memories forever. We had each whiffed it before, this odor of deep travel, but it was something else to embark as husband and wife to seek it together.”
Poetry from Cuba, the Violet Island: Reina María Rodríguez
There are rare, shimmering moments in life when we connect with beauty in a way that moves us profoundly. Such a moment happened for me in January 2012 during a visit to the Havana apartment of acclaimed Cuban poet Reina María Rodríguez.
Truth in Nonfiction: The Imagined Past
Turns out there are differences between what the live and the dead remember. A problem with writing about someone else’s life after their death is that you can only “suppose” in that space between their lives and documented actions and what came next.
Robert Hicks: Seersucker, Books, and Bourbon
Steeped in southern culture for decades, Robert Hicks is as far from a hound dog sleeping on the porch as a man can be. I admire his talent, his attitude, and his ability to reach for the joy.