Tom's Page of Literature and Poetry

  Welcome!

You only have to browse through any bookstore or library to see that you'd never in your wildest dreams consider reading most books. Too many titles, most don't look very interesting, and life's too short. But there are some real gems out there, too...books too good to miss out on. I'll try to steer you to some gems I've discovered and hope that you'll return the favor.

I write a regular book review column in a college newsletter for retirees which I also edit, the GCCCD Grapevine. These reviews will constitute a major part of this homepage. The reviews are mostly novels but include some exceptional non-fiction.

My reviews won't replicate the typical newspaper or literary magazine bookreviews. No deep analysis, just a brief description and my personal rating.

Most reviews will be modern American fiction, usually books by authors who've published in the last several years, mostly books by authors who've won literary awards and get good reviews. Sometimes I'll include an older but classic novel.

One book I'd first recommend to all readers is Writing for Your Life (Pushcart,1992)edited by Sybil Steinberg and available in paperback at most bookstores. It contains interviews with 92 contemporary authors which have appeared in Publishers Weekly during the last several years. These three to four page interviews tell you a great deal about those writers and some of their books. You'll find out quickly which writers appeal to you and what books to look for. It's a gold mine, an excellent reference and inexpensive.

• FICTION
• 
  
• NON-FICTION
• 
  

  Read the best books first, or you may not have chance to read them at all.—Henry David Thoreau .

  

  Books I’ve Reviewed (alphabetized by author)

  (When you read the actual review, my Rating Scale: ***** is best, * is worst)

  1. The Atlas of Literature, 1998 U.S., various authors
  2. Mansfield Park, 1814, Jane Austen
  3. Empire of the Sun , 1984, J.G. Ballard
  4. Ship Fever, 1996, Andrea Barret
  5. Wallace Stegner, His Life and Work, 1997, Benson
  6. Circle of Friends, 1991, Maeve Binchy
  7. The Road to Wellville, 1993, T.C. Boyle
  8. Tortilla Curtain, 1995, T. C. Boyle
  9. Red Sky at Morning, 1968, Richard Bradford
  10. Flags of Our Fathers, 2000, James Bradley
  11. Warning of War, 2002, James Brady
  12. I'm a Stranger Here Myself, 1999, Bill Bryson
  13. Mean Genes, 2000, Burnham & Phelan
  14. How the Irish Saved Civilization, 1995, Thomas Cahill
  15. My Antonia, 1918, Willa Cather
  16. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff..., 1997, Richard Carlson
  17. Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, 1993, Depak Chopra
  18. The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, 1994, Depak Chopra
  19. The Hours, 1998, Michael Cunningham
  20. A Book of Common Prayer, 1977, Didion
  21. Rebecca, 1938, Daphne DuMaurier
  22. Hillary and Jackie, 1997, Hillary and Piers DuPres
  23. The Immigrants, 1977, Howard Fast
  24. This Side of Paradise, 1920, F. Scott Fitzgerald
  25. Shiloh, 1952, Shelby Foote
  26. A Passage to India, 1924  E. M. Forster
  27. Cold Mountain, 1997, Charles Frazier
  28. Love by the Glass, 2002, Gaiter and Brecher
  29. Mickelsson’s Ghosts, 1982, John Gardner
  30. No Ordinary Time, 1994, Doris Goodwin
  31. Rocks of Ages, 1999  Stephen Jay Gould
  32. About the Author, 2000, Alfred & Emily Grossbrenner
  33. Snow Falling on Cedars, 1995, David Guterson
  34. A Map of the World, 1994, Jane Hamilton
  35. Dance Hall of the Dead, 1973, Tony Hillerman
  36. Finding Moon, 1996, Tony Hillerman
  37. The First Eagle, 1998, Hillerman
  38. Seldom Disappointed, 2001, Tony Hillerman
  39. Skeleton Man, 2004, Tony Hillerman
  40. Thief of Time, 1988, Tony Hillerman
  41. The Wailing Wind, 2002, Tony Hillerman
  42. The Liar's Club, 1995, Mary Karr
  43. On the Road, 1957, Jack Kerouac
  44. The Bean Trees, 1988, Barbara Kingsolver
  45. Pigs in Heaven, 1993, Barbara Kingsolver
  46. Crooked Little Heart, 1997, Anne Lamott
  47. Lady Chatterley's Lover, 1957-orig.1928, D.H. Lawrence
  48. The Miracle of Language, 1991, Richard Lederer
  49. Buddenbrooks, 1901, Thomas Mann
  50. Chasing Grace, 1996, Martha Manning
  51. Hotel Pastis, 1993, Peter Mayle
  52. Angela's Ashes, 1996, Frank McCourt
  53. Teacher Man, 2005, Frank McCourt
  54. 'Tis, 1999, McCord
  55. Charming Billy, 1998, Alice McDermott
  56. Atonement, 2002, Ian McEwan
  57. Tularosa, 1996, Michael McGarrity
  58. Leaving Cheyenne, 1962, Larry McMurtry
  59. Bobbed Hair and Bathtub Gin: WritersRunning Wild in the Twenties, 2004, Marion Meade
  60. *Fugitive Pieces, 1996, Anne Michaels
  61. Stupid White Men, 2001, Michael Moore
  62. The Imperial Maud, 2004, Robert Moore
  63. A Beautiful Mind, 1998, Sylvia Nasar
  64. Milagro Beanfield War, 1974, John Nichols
  65. The Things They Carried, 1990, Tim O’Brien
  66. Americans' Favorite Poems, 2000, Pinsky and Dietz
  67. Shipping News, 1994, Annie Proulx
  68. Swann’s Way, 1913, Marcel, Proust (from Remembrance of Things Past)
  69. Woman of Letters; A life of Virginia Woolf, 1978   Phyllis Rose
  70. Hunter's Last Life, 2003, Clair Runyan
  71. Bonjour Tristesse, 1955, Francoise Sagan
  72. Faithful are the Wounds, 1955, May Sarton
  73. Kinds of Love, 1970, May Sarton
  74. The Reader, 1995, Bernhard Schlink
  75. Fast Food Nation, 2001, Eric Schlosser
  76. The Lovely Bones, 2002, Alice Sebold
  77. A Suitable Boy, 1993, Vickram Seth
  78. The Stone Diaries, 1993, Carol Shields
  79. Blood and Thunder, 2006, Hampton Sides
  80. A Thousand Acres, 1993, Jane Smiley
  81. Angle of Repose, 1971, Wallace Stegner
  82. Big Rock Candy Mountain, 1983, Wallace Stegner
  83. Crossing to Safety, 1987, Wallace Stegner
  84. Remembering Laughter, 1937, Wallace Stegner
  85. The Little Friend, 2002, Donna Tartt
  86. Two Lives, 1991, William Trevor
  87. Finnegan’s Week, 1991, Joseph Wambaugh
  88. The Life and Loves of a She-Devil, 1983, Fay Weldon
  89. Oh, Come Ye Back to Ireland, 1987, Williams and Breen
  90. Four Letters of Love, 1998, Niall Williams
  91. The Meaning of Everything, 2003, Simon Winchester
  92. I Am Charlotte Simmons, 2004, Tom Wolfe
  93. The Voyage Out, 1920, Virginia Woolf
  94. To the Lighthouse, 1927  Virginia Woolf

• ---

  An Interview with Tony Hillerman, illustrated, in October, 2002.

  An Interview with Michael McGarrity, illustrated, in October, 2003

  ---

  I'll be adding more reviews regularly, along with material related to favorite books, authors, poetry, poets, and (of course) some of my own writing.

  Following are a few of my more recent poems and short stories.

  ---

  Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquillity.
  —William Wordsworth .

  

  Tom's Poetry

  The following two poems were  published in the 1998 edition of the annual literary journal, Acorn Review.

  The Meadow

  Earth’s fine frail hair,
  Color of leaf and life,
  Parted by the past.

  Soft blades of grass
  Sharing silent space
  With flower and weed.

  Where transient tracks of boot and bear
  So quickly fade,
  And straightened stalks await
  Some other press.

  Perhaps two lovers’
  Tenderness.

  What sweet scent!
  Those bent and broken shafts.
  

  Postcard From an Orchard

  Another nameless highway.
  Somewhere in Virginia,
  Days away from you.

  Apple orchards everywhere.
  Trees full of rubies,
  The air like cool cider.

  Sign leaning up ahead,
  Handpainted, small and faded.
  ‘Pick your own and SAVE.’

  Asphalt’s hurried humming
  Yields to gravel’s quiet crunch.
  Branches fill my sky.

  I test the wooden ladder,
  Climb toward those outstretched arms,
  Wishing they were yours.

  Offering me so many
  Of Eve's forbidden fruit.
  I choose just one.

  Polished soft against my sleeve,
  I press it to my lips,
  Saving it.

  If you were here,
  I’d toss, you’d catch.
  I let the apple fall.

  All these lovely apples.
  I can’t eat them
  By myself.
  

  ---

  Other Poems:

  1. A Little Night Musing
  2. To Rosemarie
  3. Wind Sounds

     ---

  Short Stories:

  Writing is making sense of life. You work your whole life and perhaps you've
  made sense of one small area. - Nadine Gordimer .

  

  1. Crossing the San Juan
  2. Snakeeyes
  3. Foreign Postage
  4. Double Play

  FAVORITE QUOTATIONS:

  1. Quotations on Books
  2. Quotations on Poetry
  3. Quotations on Writing

  ---

  

  
  

  Number of Visitors

  1. 

     

     Links to other sites on the Web

     BOOKS:
     Inkspot-Resources for Writers
     Amazon-lots of reviews, purchase
     Barnes and Noble-lots of reviews, purchase
     Bartleby site-full text of many classic novels and poems.
     Borders-lots of reviews, purchase
     Book Lovers-Outstanding site, many  links, features, etc.
     Books and Reading-first chapters from recent reviews

     POETRY:
     Poetry Society of America-good resources, links
     Academy of American Poets-resources, links

     WRITING:
     Writers Write-resources and links
     Writelinks-links and features for writers
     Great Writers-Nobel, Pulitzer, other prize-winners
     
     
     
     

     Sign My Guestbook View My Guestbook

     Come back soon, and please drop me a line.

     � 1997 tscanlan@msn.com
     

     

     Updated April 29, 2008

     New Book reviews to be added soon. 

     ---

     This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page