The Color Purple
Posted on 27. Dec, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
The Color Purple, the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel by Alice Walker, is a beautiful story that has, for nearly the entirety of my life, lived quietly in the marrow of my subconscious. It is, in fact, a story I encountered for the first time on three separate occasions. My first encounter with The Color Purple came in December of 1985, when I [...]
Still Life With Woodpecker
Posted on 29. Sep, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
Tom Robbins, for a very long time, held the undisputed top spot as my very favorite writer. Over the years, as my personal library has expanded and I’ve discovered new and interesting writers, Robbins has had to share his top spot and, on rare occasions, he’s even had to give it up (to writers like [...]
Insomnia
Posted on 17. Sep, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
Insomnia, by Stephen King, stands as one of the most important books I’ve ever read. In the summer of 1997, just a few months after I discovered my love of reading, I decided I wanted to use my three months away from school to sufficiently challenge my reading chops. I wanted to see just how [...]
The Los Angeles Diaries
Posted on 11. Sep, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
I’m not a big fan of autobiographies, but I love memoirs. Where an autobiography tells an individual’s life story, more or less, a memoir focuses on a specific aspect of an individual’s life. And while autobiographies are the sole territory of celebrities and public figures, in so far as the publishing industry is concerned, the [...]
Tainted Legacy: The Story of Alleged Serial Killer Bertha Gifford
Posted on 05. Sep, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
In 2009, S. Kay Murphy published her memoir Tainted Legacy: The Story of Alleged Serial Killer Bertha Gifford. Like Truman Capote’s In Cold Blood, Murphy’s memoir explores the chilling effect of murder in a small, rural town. Unlike Capote, Murphy is not simply a city-slicker fascinated by a brutal crime, she is the great-granddaughter of [...]
The Prodigal Hour
Posted on 02. Sep, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
The Prodigal Hour is an ambitious novel, to say the least. It is both strange and complex and for all the right reasons. The author, Will Entrekin, somehow figured out a way to intertwine the tragedies of September 11, the crucifixion of Jesus, and the possibility of time travel into a single narrative. And he [...]
The Jungle
Posted on 24. Aug, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
The first book I ever read, beginning to end, was The Jungle by Upton Sinclair. I was 19 years old. While I’ve been a strong reader for as long as I can remember, I wasn’t always good at comprehending the thoughts and ideas represented by the words on the page. This may very well explain [...]
Songbook
Posted on 28. Jul, 2011 by Martin in Books That Aren't Mine
If you twisted my arm and asked me to name my favorite writer, I would probably ask why you were twisting my arm — plus, it would be difficult to whittle it down to just one. I could, however, give you a short list. And, if you allowed it, I would tell you that Nick Hornby, [...]
