• About this blog

feastonbooksblog

~ Time is precious – read the best first

feastonbooksblog

Monthly Archives: August 2017

The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel

23 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Biography, case studies, Non-fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

hermits, Maine, nature, recluses, Smithfield region, solitude, survival, thieves

If you have ever dreamed of getting away from it all, then this is the book for you!

In 1986, a young man seeking a quiet and peaceful life, drove his car into the back woods of Maine, left the keys on the dashboard and disappeared for 27 years.  Where did he sleep, what did he eat, how did he survive the black fly season and the rain and the bitter cold and was he ever lonely?  All these questions and many more will be answered.  P.S. This book has a Metrowest Boston connection.

“A story that takes the two primary human relationships—to nature and to one another—and deftly upends our assumptions about both. This was a breathtaking book to read and many weeks later I am still thinking about the implications for our society and—by extension—for my own life.”—Sebastian Junger

“An absorbing exploration of solitude and man’s eroding relationship with the natural world. Though the ‘stranger’ in the title is Knight, one closes the book with the sense that Knight, like all seers, is the only sane person in a world gone insane—that modern civilization has made us strangers to ourselves.”—Nathaniel Rich, The Atlantic

Find this book                  large print                  audio cd’s

The Last Painting of Sara De Vos by Dominic Smith

16 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction, Historical Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

17th century, art forgeries, art historians, Dutch painting, Netherlands, Sarah van Baalbergen (1607-1638?), women artists

This beautifully written novel is centered around a seventeenth-century Dutch painting. It follows the story of its creator, the man who inherits it, and the woman hired to create a forgery. While the book spans a few countries and time periods, its focus always remains on its engaging characters.

Highly evocative of time and place, this stunning novel explores a triumvirate of fate, choice, and consequence and is worthy of comparison to Tracy Chevalier’s “Girl with a Pearl Earring “and Donna Tartt’s “The Goldfinch “.” . . “Just as a painter may utilize thousands of fine brushstrokes, Smith slowly creates a masterly, multilayered story that will dazzle readers of fine historical fiction. Library Journal (starred review)

Gliding gracefully from grungy 1950s Brooklyn to the lucent interiors of Golden Age Holland and the sun-splashed streets of contemporary Sydney, the novel links the lives of two troubled, enigmatic, and hugely talented young women, one of them an artist, the other, her forger. A page-turning book with much to say about the pain and exhilaration of art and life. Geraldine Brooks, author of “The Secret Chord”

Find this book              large print              audio cd’s

The Nix by Nathan Hill

02 Wednesday Aug 2017

Posted by Weston Public Library Staff in Fiction

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Americans, desertion and non-support, family secrets, mothers and sons, Norway, riots in Chicago, runaway wives, self-realization

Samuel, a college professor and failed novelist, has not seen his mother in over twenty years since she left him and his father. When she is arrested for a political protest, he decides to see her again and learn more about her past, particularly her time as a young woman in 1960s Chicago. An engrossing, funny book with many characters and time periods.

“A fantastic novel about love, betrayal, politics and pop culture—as good as the best Michael Chabon or Jonathan Franzen.” —People 

“It broke my heart, this book. Time after time. It made me laugh just as often. I loved it on the first page as powerfully as I did on the last.” —Jason Sheehan, NPR.org

Find this book                   large print                   audio cd’s

Subscribe

  • Entries (RSS)
  • Comments (RSS)

Archives

  • February 2023
  • January 2023
  • December 2022
  • November 2022
  • October 2022
  • September 2022
  • August 2022
  • July 2022
  • June 2022
  • May 2022
  • April 2022
  • March 2022
  • February 2022
  • January 2022
  • December 2021
  • November 2021
  • October 2021
  • September 2021
  • August 2021
  • July 2021
  • June 2021
  • May 2021
  • April 2021
  • March 2021
  • February 2021
  • January 2021
  • December 2020
  • November 2020
  • October 2020
  • September 2020
  • August 2020
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • May 2020
  • April 2020
  • March 2020
  • February 2020
  • January 2020
  • December 2019
  • November 2019
  • October 2019
  • September 2019
  • August 2019
  • July 2019
  • June 2019
  • May 2019
  • April 2019
  • March 2019
  • February 2019
  • January 2019
  • December 2018
  • November 2018
  • October 2018
  • September 2018
  • August 2018
  • July 2018
  • June 2018
  • May 2018
  • April 2018
  • March 2018
  • February 2018
  • January 2018
  • December 2017
  • November 2017
  • October 2017
  • September 2017
  • August 2017
  • July 2017
  • June 2017
  • May 2017
  • April 2017
  • March 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • September 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • March 2016
  • February 2016
  • January 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015
  • August 2015
  • July 2015
  • June 2015
  • May 2015
  • April 2015
  • March 2015
  • February 2015
  • January 2015
  • December 2014
  • November 2014
  • October 2014
  • September 2014
  • August 2014
  • July 2014
  • June 2014
  • May 2014
  • April 2014
  • March 2014

Categories

  • 20th century
  • action
  • adventure
  • anecdotes
  • Biographical fiction
  • Biography
  • case studies
  • chronically ill
  • Comedy
  • crimes against
  • cuisine
  • detective
  • Drama
  • England
  • fantasy
  • Federal Bureau of Investigation
  • Fiction
  • Future
  • Graphic novel
  • Historical Fiction
  • History
  • homicide investigation
  • Horror
  • Humor
  • London
  • magic
  • meaning of life
  • memoir
  • murder
  • murder and investigation
  • mystery
  • nature
  • Non-fiction
  • poetry
  • romance
  • Science fiction
  • Sports
  • suspense
  • thriller
  • Travel
  • True crime
  • Uncategorized
  • United States
  • western

Meta

  • Register
  • Log in
Weston Public Library 781 786 6150

Blog at WordPress.com.

  • Follow Following
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Join 142 other followers
    • Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
    • feastonbooksblog
    • Customize
    • Follow Following
    • Sign up
    • Log in
    • Report this content
    • View site in Reader
    • Manage subscriptions
    • Collapse this bar
 

Loading Comments...