THE PARIS ARCHITECT by Charles Belfoure
It is Paris in the spring of 1942. Paris, the glorious “City of Lights” is even more wondrous in the springtime….but not for the French, not in 1942. It is the second year of the victorious Nazi occupation, and the French are struggling to get by. There are economic problems with the payment of the costs of a three-hundred-thousand strong occupying German army, which amounts to twenty million Reichmarks per day; lack of food for French citizens – the Germans seize about 20% of the French food production, which causes severe disruption to the household economy of the French people; the disorganization of transport, except for the railway system which relies on French domestic coal supplies; the Allied blockade, restricting all imports into the country; the extreme shortage of petrol and diesel fuel; (one walks or rides a bike); France has no indigenous oil production and all imports have stopped; labor shortages, particularly in the countryside, due to the large number of French prisoners of war held in Germany. And then there was the Jewish problem.
December 8, 2013
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Judi Clark · 
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Tags: 1940s, 2013 - authors with books coming out in 2013, Holocaust, Paris, wwII · Posted in: Debut Novel, Facing History, France, Time Period Fiction, War
THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS by Elizabeth Gilbert
From the opening pages, it is evident that Gilbert can write with lyricism, confidence, and substance. I was afraid that her mass popularity would lead to a dumbed down book with pandering social/political agendas or telegraphed notions. I am thrilled to conclude that this was not the case. Gilbert is a superb writer who allows her main characters to spring forth as organically as the natural world that they live in.
December 5, 2013
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 19th-Century, 2013 - authors with books coming out in 2013, Elizabeth Gilbert' · Posted in: Character Driven, Facing History, Family Matters, Nature, Reading Guide, Time Period Fiction, United States, US Mid-Atlantic
MURDER AS A FINE ART by David Morrell
MURDER AS A FINE ART by David Morrell is one of the best mystery books I’ve read this year. It is historically based, taking place in the nineteenth century. As some of you may know, Morrell is best-known for his book, First Blood, upon which the the Rambo movies are based. Murder as a Fine Art is very different from his first writings. It is literary fiction and page-turning at its best.
December 3, 2013
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 2013 - authors with books coming out in 2013, Historical, Literary, Mulholland · Posted in: Character Driven, Facing History, Literary, Mystery/Suspense, Real Event Fiction, Real People Fiction, Time Period Fiction
THE DROP by Michael Connelly
Harry Bosch is the real deal. Michael Connelly’s THE DROP is another superb entry in this outstanding series about an L. A. cop who is cynical and battle-weary, yet still committed to doing his job.
December 17, 2011
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 2011 PB Release, 2012 - authors with books published this year, 2013 - authors with books coming out in 2013, Michael Connelly, Sleuth · Posted in: 2011 Favorites, Award Winning Author, California, Job, Sleuths Series
11/22/63: A NOVEL by Stephen King
Dedicated Stephen King fans are in for an epic treat—an odyssey, a Fool’s journey, an adventure with romance. A genre-bending historical novel with moral implications, this story combines echoes of Homer, H.G. Wells, Don Quixote, Quantum Leap (the old TV show), Jack Finney’s TIME AND AGAIN, and even a spoonful of meta-King himself, the czar of popular fiction.
November 8, 2011
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 1950s, 2012 PB Release, 2013 - authors with books coming out in 2013, 800+ Pages, Historical, JFK, Speculative (Beyond Reality), Time Travel · Posted in: Alternate History, Award Winning Author, Real Event Fiction, Real People Fiction, Speculative (Beyond Reality), Texas, Time Period Fiction
THE OUTLAW ALBUM by Daniel Woodrell
Daniel Woodrell is widely known for the movie adaptation of his novel, Winter’s Bone, which won the Sundance Film Festival’s Best Picture Prize in 2010. He has just published his first book of short stories, THE OUTLAW ALBUM, a collection of twelve dark and riveting stories.
November 1, 2011
· Judi Clark · No Comments
Tags: 2013 - authors with books coming out in 2013, Daniel Woodrell, Ozarks, Short Stories · Posted in: Short Stories, US South
