After my recent post about author Julia Spencer-Fleming and her Clare Fergusson mystery series, I received a nice email from Ms. Spencer-Fl...

"Few issues in American politics capture more attention – and passion – than health care." The Top Ten Myths of American Health...

My birthday was this week, and I am happy (but not surprised) that I got books for presents. My sister gave me Kristin Lavransdatter by No...

. There is plenty to love about Debra Ollivier's Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to Finding Her Inner French Girl , but you have to ...

Two years ago, I set out determined to finish the Modern Library’s list of Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century – a list I had been lacka...

Gilead , Marilynne Robinson's Pulitzer-winning novel, is surprisingly entertaining for an epistolary novel consisting of only one, lo...

Oregon's 150th birthday is this Saturday, February 14th -- Valentine's Day. And what better way is there to say "I love you...

"How to sum up in one book the particularities and essential qualities of the French girl?" Entre Nous: A Woman's Guide to ...

The Cascade Policy Institute is sponsoring a contest to promote school choice in Oregon. Here is the description from the contest web sit...

Apparently my review of The Amish Cook at Home had the book's co-author, Kevin Williams, rolling his eyes . I was amazed at the spike i...

"The New World was colonized under an international legal principle that is known today as the Doctrine of Discovery." Native ...

With all the dozens of book give-a-ways hosted by generous book bloggers, I don't usually keep track or get involved. But I want a cop...

So I admit, my initial reaction to seeing The Amish Cook at Home was the culturally insensitive question, “Where else would they cook?” I...

"Russ Van Alstyne had just gotten a tug on his line when he saw the old lady get up from between the headstones she had been trimming...

  Blackbird, Farewell is the seventh novel in Robert Greer’s mystery series featuring bail bondsman C.J. Floyd. The specs look good – s...

Popular author, Barbara Kingsolver, and her family made the decision to spend one full year “eating locally” – primarily by raising thei...

Following the phenomenal success of my "no carb left behind" holiday campaign, I have been combing my cookbook collection for lo...

Laura Grimes continues her rocky literary relationship with Henry James, here . After being ready to dump him for good, Grimes's interes...

John Updike passed away today. He was 76. R.I.P. Ever since he captured my fancy (and informed my adult sex life) with Rabbit, Run , Updi...

If John Cheever and Paul Coelho had set out to collaborate on The Royal Tenenbaums , the result would have been Franny and Zooey . J...

A new list! The Guardian newspaper just published a list of 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read: Selected by the Guardian's Review team a...

Rose City Reader is a book blog -- not a political blog. I generally avoid politics here. But the Sam Adams thing has me riled up -- The Ore...

"Though brilliantly sunny, Saturday morning was overcoat weather again, not just topcoat weather, as it had been all week and as everyo...

It took me years to get around to reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy . Once I did, I understood why it is so popular -- and why...

"The most renowned works of literature by history’s greatest authors," according to the Editorial Advisory Board of Easton Press. ...

. . . ends. And just in time for Book Club tonight. This is an amazing book. There were parts I really had to wrestle with. And I am st...

The Internet Review of Books published a short version of my review of Justice Denied by Marci Hamilton in the January issue . They ran i...

"The $4 million Nike athletic-shoe contract in Shandell Bird’s shirt pocket wasn’t about to solve his problem – couldn’t even put a d...

Bob from ArtScatter contributed so much to my list of Dipso Lit that I couldn't leave his valuable information languishing in the co...

Heading into another cold, soggy Oregon winter weekend, my thoughts have turned to hooch. I'm planning to snuggle up in front of the fi...

“ Water the Bamboo is a metaphor for success,” writes Greg Bell , a former lawyer, now a “speaker, trainer and facilitator” who works wit...

"This book had its beginnings in January 1993, although I did not realize it at the time." -- The Quotable Ronald Reagan by Pe...

"Water the Bamboo is a metaphor for success." -- Water the Bamboo by Greg Bell

Finally! There is finally a book over there on the right side because I finally finished a book in 2009. Not that I set out to start off 2...

The Premios Dardo Award! I do not know who started this award, but I thank No BS Book Reviews for recognizing my blog by "awarding...

Although Theodore Dreiser finished Sister Carrie in 1900, years of stutter steps on the part of various publishing companies delayed its...