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Why do some novels win literary awards?

Why do some novels win literary awards?

Let's see if we can figure out why this paper-thin work of fiction won wide recognition and a literary award for its author. Snow Hunters introduces . . . let's count them: eight characters in 226 pages: Yohan, a North Korean soldier captured by UN forces late in the Korean...

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Explore My “BEST OF the category” selections

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE BOOK?

When people ask me that question, I never know what to say. In a lifetime of reading, I’ve read many thousands of books. And I’ve reviewed well over 2,000 of them on this site. Picking just one as a “favorite,” or even a handful of them, makes no sense to me.

The problem is, I read for many different reasons. Perhaps you do, too. And I read many different sorts of books. Mysteries and thrillers. Popular fiction, especially historical fiction. Science fiction.

And nonfiction, history in particular. You’ll find hundreds of reviews in every one of those categories on this site.

Look to the right for a rotating random selection culled from throughout this site.

Happy reading!

 

Cover image of "James," one of the 20 best books of 2024

The 20 best books of 2024

Okay, I lied. What follows is not a list of the 20 best books of 2024, if by that you're expecting the 20 best books published during the past year. Truth to tell, I don’t believe anyone—not the New York Times, the Washington Post, or any other news organization can...
Cover image of "Out of Poverty," a book about narrowing global inequities

Narrowing global inequities: a reading list

As I’ve dug more deeply into the subject of global poverty in the course of writing The Business Solution to Poverty with Paul Polak, it has become increasingly clear to me that truly understanding how today’s glaring inequities have come about requires extensive knowledge in a wide array of...
Devil in a Blue Dress

The suspenseful first Easy Rawlins detective novel

Estimated reading time: 5 minutes In 1948, the first In-N-Out Burger opened in Los Angeles, a harbinger of the car culture that would come to dominate the region. Farmland divided the city from the town of Santa Monica, and the population then fell short of two million. (It was only with the 1950...
Cover image of "Freedom's Forge,"a book about how America united in common purpose in World War II

World War II: when America was united in common purpose

Since I was born six months before the U.S. entry into World War II, I grew up familiar with a long list of names — little-heard now, more than half a century later — that were associated with the U.S. role in the war. Remember, this was the war that seized hold of Planet Earth for a half-dozen...
Cover image of "The Wright Brothers," a book about the Wright Brothers

The true (and surprising) story of the Wright Brothers

In a world awash with praise for digital pioneers such as Steve Jobs and Bill Gates, it's all too easy to forget some of the extraordinary people who have shaped our world through business. We remember Thomas Edison, of course: the harnessing of electricity is impossible to overlook. But we recall...
Landfall presents a sympathetic portrait of George W. Bush.

A novelist’s sympathetic portrait of George W. Bush

George W. Bush served in the Oval Office from 2001 to 2009. His two terms in office encompassed 9/11, the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq, Hurricane Katrina, and the global financial collapse that set off the Great Recession—surely, the most consequential sequence of events in any eight years in...
Cover image of "The City, Not Long After" the plague

San Francisco after the Plague

Pat Murphy's novel, The City, Not Long After, is a puzzling piece of work. With generous helpings of fantasy, it doesn't quite qualify as science fiction. Sometimes the book is categorized as a dystopian novel. Since the near-future American society Murphy depicts is in shambles because of a...
A Time for Mercy is a gripping courtroom thriller.

John Grisham revisits Clanton, Mississippi in a gripping courtroom thriller

Since A Time to Kill was published in 1989, John Grisham has sold more than 300 million books and become one of the world's wealthiest authors. Nine of his books—all bestsellers—have been adapted into films. A Time for Mercy, his 42nd novel, brings back to life Mississippi attorney Jake Brigance...
The Berlin Spies is by Alex Gerlis, the best spy novelist you've never read.

The best spy novelist you’ve never read

When you think of espionage fiction, only a handful of names come quickly to mind. John le Carré, of course. Ian Fleming, unfortunately. You might also name Alan Furst, Joseph Kanon, possibly Charles Cumming. And if you've been reading books in the genre for a long time, as I have, you'll think of...
The roach patrol and a Bad Monkey by Carl Hiaasen

A severed arm, a detective on the roach patrol, and a bad monkey

A review of Bad Monkey, by Carl Hiaasen. @@@@ (4 out of 5). Another funny Florida crime story from one of the masters of American humor in print.

My Most Popular Reviews

Weekly Reviews Delivered to You!

Mal Warwick - Book Reviews

Weekly book reviews to match your taste!

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Mal Warwick

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