Underrated Reads

Inkslingers Ball – Sheila Lowe

Posted on February 17, 2015 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Cathy Carey) Annabelle is a troubled teen who at a young age has suffered more tragic events than many adults have suffered in several life times. Her temporary guardian, Claudia Rose, is an expert forensic graphologist, highly regarded in her field. Claudia’s niece, Monica, is best friends with Annabelle. Annabelle has come a…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | Comments Off

In Love – Alfred Hayes (with Introduction by Frederic Raphael)

Posted on February 14, 2015 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) "The sense of well-being which had flooded through me as I sat at the table and thought of not having now the burden of another’s life on me had almost entirely vanished, and the humiliation of the choice she had made, and the quickness with which she had discarded me, had…

Posted in Lost and almost forgotten | Tagged classics, noir | Comments Off

Counsel of Ravens (Hubert James Champion III Book 2) – M. M. Gornell

Posted on February 12, 2015 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by Glenda Anderson) As of this writing, my car is oiled and gassed, ready to tear over the Cajon Pass for Route 66 territory so I can help put out the fires of evil, eat some pancakes and possibly meet up with some neat folks who have a propensity for being targets of some…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers | 17 Comments

Reeling Through Life: How I Learned to Live, Love and Die at the Movies – Tara Ison

Posted on February 5, 2015 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) "Nine months before my fiftieth birthday, I am sexually propositioned by a thirty-three-year-old young man (...he seems so Benjamin-boyish)...The next thing I think, delighted, is "Well, here's to you, Mrs. Robinson." I think of martini assignations in hotel bars and black lace garter belts and sheer stockings..." However, when author Tara Ison…

Posted in Bios and Memoirs | Comments Off

Glenfiddich Inn – Alan Geik

Posted on January 29, 2015 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “Byron claims he has proof the Cubs and the Red Sox fixed the World Series…But he could never publish it because the censors would say it hurt morale—that it would be injurious to the war effort.” --September 24, 1918 Byron Townsend started as a sports reporter at his father's newspaper, The Boston…

Posted in Historical Fiction | Comments Off

The Oxford Murder – by Guillermo Martinez (Author), Sonia Soto (Translator)

Posted on January 16, 2015 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) Mathematicians collide with murder and mayhem in Guillermo Martínez’s thriller, The Oxford Murders. An un-named young Argentinean graduate student goes to Oxford University to study mathematics. One evening, he returns to the house where he’s renting a room and finds Arthur Seldom, a leader in the field of logic, waiting outside.…

Posted in Crime, Mystery and Thrillers, Latin American Literature, World Literature | Tagged Pythagoreanism, world literature | Comments Off

Nobody Is Ever Missing – Catherine Lacey

Posted on January 9, 2015 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “I was beginning to realize that what I wanted was the noise of people living near me, but not near enough to cause any inaudible noises to show up because I knew that those sorts of noises often shift into inaudible minor chords and I am unable to deal with that…

Posted in Modern Literary Fiction | Tagged fiction, New Zealand | Comments Off

The Vices – Lawrence Douglas

Posted on December 23, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) #CommissionsEarned “It would be years before I would be prepared to accept his self-assessment [as a sick person], and even then, not fully. …he was handsome, wealthy, the youngest tenured professor at one of the nation’s most prestigious colleges, and already internationally known for his work; many people would have happily…

Posted in Modern Literary Fiction | Tagged family, lies, mystery, Religion | Comments Off

Going crazy trying to find those Underrated Reads!

Posted on December 9, 2014 by J D Jung

Dear readers, please be patient with us. You may think that we’re on hiatus, or worse, have totally disappeared. Not so. We're definitely around, struggling to find literary gems that we recommend. We've been doing a lot of reading (and I mean tons!), but just can’t seem to find that exceptional book worth your time and $$. Yes, your…

Posted in Let's talk | Comments Off

Men Explain Things to Me – Rebecca Solnit

Posted on November 1, 2014 by J D Jung

(Reviewed by JD Jung) “The shell of home is a prison of sorts, as much as protection, a casing of familiarity and continuity that can vanish outside. Walking the streets can be a form of social engagement, even of political action ...but it can also be a means of inducing reverie, subjectivity, and imagination, a…

Posted in Philosophical reads, Short stories | Comments Off