The Vampyre and Other Tales of the Macabre. Edited with an introduction and notes by Robert Morrison and Chris Baldick. Highly recommended. With the shift from agriculture to industry and advancements in technology and scientific understanding, the 19th century was one … Continue reading →
The Virgin and the Gipsy by D. H. Lawrence. Recommended. Discovered in France after D. H. Lawrence’s death and never finalized by the author, The Virgin and the Gipsy is the fairy tale-like story of Yvette Saywell, a 19-year-old rector’s daughter chafing against the … Continue reading →
The Virgin Queen: Elizabeth I, Genius of the Golden Age by Christopher Hibbert. Not recommended. The adjective “Elizabethan” invokes a vision of an era of sumptuous dress, religious strife, European conflict, and the flourishing of the dramatic arts. The Virgin Queen is a study … Continue reading →
The Way to Rainy Mountain by N. Scott Momaday; illustrated by Al Momaday. Highly recommended. Rainy Mountain, a “single knoll [that] rises out of the plain in Oklahoma,” is an old landmark for the Kiowa people. It is a land of bitter … Continue reading →
The Wild Trees: A Story of Passion and Daring by Richard Preston. New York: Random House. 2007. 320 pages. In The Wild Trees, Richard Preston delves into the lives of giant trees, primarily coast redwoods, and some of the people … Continue reading →
The Woman Who Lives in the Earth: A Novel by Swain Wolfe. Recommended. Originally self-published, The Woman Who Lives in the Earth is the type of work that likely would not have been published otherwise, as it is odd and lacks in popular or … Continue reading →
Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris. Highly recommended. Theodore Rex (from the dubbing given Theodore Roosevelt by author Henry James) is the second part of a trilogy-in-progress by Edmund Morris but is easily read on its own as coverage of Roosevelt’s presidential terms. This … Continue reading →
Thirty Indian Legends of Canada by Margaret Bemister. Illustrations by Douglas Tait. Vancouver, British Columbia: Douglas & McIntyre. 1997. 160 pages. In her preface to Thirty Indian Legends of Canada, dated September 15, 1912, from Winnipeg, Margaret Bemister notes that … Continue reading →
Three Bags Full: A Sheep Detective Story by Leonie Swann. Translated by Anthea Bell. London: Transworld Publishers/The Random House Group Ltd. 2006. 352 pages. As flock animals who can be herded to their own deaths (see Thomas Hardy), sheep are easy … Continue reading →
Toujours Provence by Peter Mayle. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1991. 260 pages. Having survived French bureaucracy, endless home improvement, goat races, hunters, Massot’s dogs, summer visitors, and other hazards during A Year in Provence, Peter Mayle brings us more of the … Continue reading →