The Fourth Bear (SIGNED collector ed)2 reviews Jasper Fforde Hodder & Stoughton, 2006 May Contain Nuts + Witty mayhem and murder among the Nursery Rhymes The Gingerbreadman, the arch villain in The Fourth Bear, is seven feet of vicious, manical. . . ah, cookie...(or perhaps cake)... who has escaped from an insane asylum, is having a great time tearing people's arms off, and has a grudge against Jack Spratt, the fatophobic hero of this nursery crime ...             The Italian Secretary: A Further Adventure of Sherlock Holmes87 reviews Caleb Carr Carroll & Graf, 2005 Come Watson - The Games Afoot + The Secrets of Holyroodhouse + A good effort at a difficult task "Come Watson, the games afoot" - Holmes and Watson are off to Scotland at the behest of Holmes's brother Mycroff to save the Queen. Caleb Carr's The Italian Secretary is a fun read that those who love period mysteries and the Sherlock Holmes stories will find hard to put down. While parts of ...             The Little Sister27 reviews Raymond Chandler Otto Penzler, 1996 Simply brilliant writing + WATCH OUT-THIS AIN'T DOROTHY FROM KANSAS + Luxurious language in a languid tale of sibling death I'm not a fan of thrillers or mysteries. I'm only a casual fan of 'Noire'. Chandler's "The Little Sister" is probably one of the most intense books written in any genre. This is a book of moods: incredible evocations of a time and place and feeling that I have never encountered before. If you ...             Bridge of Sighs130 reviews Richard Russo Knopf, 2007 I loved this book + Haunting + With a wry smile + Great selection for a book discussion group             The Shape I Gave You Martha Baillie Vintage Canada, 2007 Ulrike Hugenot is a young pianist who arrives home to her Berlin apartment and discovers a fat envelope stuffed into her mailbox. She is astonished when she realizes that it is from her late father Gustave’s Canadian lover. “I am writing to you because my daughter has died,” writes Beatrice Mann. “But this explains nothing.” In the eighty pages of her letter that ...             The Stone Diaries (Penguin Essential Edition)170 reviews Carol Shields Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005 FANTASTIC!!!!! + Almost didn't finish it + A multigenerational family saga of daily life Please read this book. Every minute you spend reading this book will open your mind and heart into a real family, with and without warts. This book is simply perfect.             Astonishing Splashes of Colour (P.S.)15 reviews Clare Morrall Amazon Remainders Account, 2005 Of Identity + Rainbow of Destruction + My thoughts There are many books out there which strike resemblance to this one, or so one would think after the first look on it. What could possibly be new about dissfunctional family, loosing of a child, and psychothic women. Everything that had to be said has been sayed. Where is the difference? And ...             The Brooklyn Follies: A Novel85 reviews Paul Auster Picador, 2006 This book will touch your heart for a long time After you read the other reviews you will know what the story is about. It is very easy to read and direct. A no brainer and yet, there are many passages that will make you pause and think. Much will remind you of your own life, in a good way. This book is an excellant read.             The Enchantress of Florence55 reviews Salman Rushdie Jonathan Cape, 2007 a little hard to follow, but beautiful poetic writing + India and Italy in the 16th Century + Decameron & Arabian Tales rolled into one + Couping a set of flippant short stories to a serious novel does not work             The Yiddish Policemen's Union: A Novel291 reviews Michael Chabon HarperCollins, 2007 Ghetto Mentality Retrogression + Chabon's best to date + Bittersweet like woodsmoke The Yiddish Policemen's Union by Michael Chabon: Ghetto Mentality Retrogression Review by Arthur L. Finkle Mr. Chabon writes a masterpiece of a "what-if" portion of history. In this case, what if the Jews lost their War on Independence on 1948? The solution was one proffered at that time, ...             Water for Elephants: A Novel1503 reviews Sara Gruen Algonquin Books, 2007 wonderful and entertaining + Great book! + Under the big top, under the bright light... + A SURPRISE READ + Gripping Story and Characters             The Secret History536 reviews Donna Tartt Vintage, 2004 A Very Powerful Novel + This is a great book - a must read for the winter. + Well written page turner + The Heart of the History + A Modern Classical Tragedy             Divisadero74 reviews Michael Ondaatje Bloomsbury Publishing Inc, 2007 Superb poetic storytelling + Murky Parallels, Marvellous Prose + Misty but elegant + Enraptured by Ondaatje's style             Atonement : A Novel Ian McEwan Doubleday Publishing, 2002             The Big Why: A Novel1 review Michael Winter Bloomsbury USA, 2006 The Big Book about big characters and a Big Rock A smashing, fantastically written book about the painter Rockwell Kent, drawn very convincingly in Michael Winter's spare, elegant prose. This writer has a great eye for detail, and he creates an extremely vibrant portrait of Newfoundland in the early 20th Century, and the way Kent's provocative ...             The Englishman's Boy Guy Vanderhaeghe Picador USA, 1997             The Big Over Easy: A Nursery Crime93 reviews Jasper Fforde Penguin (Non-Classics), 2006 Mr. Fforde's marvelous little gem. + Over Easy is Hard to Forget + A really good, funny mystery! Jasper Fforde made his name in the literary world with his very popular "Thursday Next" series of books following the eponymous heroine on a series of fantastically convoluted adventures in the world of metafiction. There are some connections between the characters in this novel and characters who ...             Straight Man247 reviews Richard Russo Rand, Mcnally & Co, 1997 Laugh out loud funny + Very funny, very real + Really entertaining, but probably not for everybody + Fantastic novel             Lost in a Good Book (A Thursday Next Novel)106 reviews Jasper Fforde Penguin Books, 2004 Loved getting Lost + fun for bibliophiles + Sometimes Nothing is as it Appears, Or is Supposed To The second book of the Thursday Next Series is a delight! Jasper Fforde writes for people who are creative, people who are well read, and people who like a good mystery. The more read you are, the more inside jokes you will understand. This books carries on from the end of the first in the ...             So Many Ways to Begin: A Novel1 review Jon McGregor Bloomsbury USA, 2007 Immerse Yourself in the Ordinary! The author invites readers to observe closely as a life unfolds, each recollection triggered with reference to a found object. The story moves backward and forward in time, from World War II until the present, to tell a story at once curious and remarkably prosaic. The pace is slow but the ...