Book rants, raves, & (w)rite-ups.

The Rhapsodies

The Book Rhapsodies, or book write-ups/book reviews, in alphabetical order:

Note: This page is undergoing major renovation.

Book Image Title and Author Year Posted Rating

. . . . . 0-9 . . . . .
1984 by George Orwell 2011 4/5
2666 by Roberto Bolaño 2666 by Roberto Bolaño 2013 4/5
84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 84, Charing Cross Road by Helene Hanff 2012 4/5

. . . . . A . . . . .
Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner Absalom, Absalom! by William Faulkner 2012 4/5
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain 2011 3/5
After the Birthday Party: Tales of Love, Loss, Hope, and Regret After the Birthday Party 2012 5/5
The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton 2012 2/5
Animal Farm by George Orwell 2011 5/5
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 2012 4/5
The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand The Art of Fiction by Ayn Rand 2011 4/5
Atonement by Ian McEwan Atonement by Ian McEwan 2012 5/5

. . . . . B . . . . .
Bee Season by Myla Goldberg Bee Season by Myla Goldberg 2011 3/5
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath The Bell Jar 2012 4/5
Beloved by Toni Morrison 2011 3/5
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell Black Swan Green by David Mitchell 2012 5/5
Blindness by José Saramago Blindness by José Saramago 2011 5/5
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak The Book Thief by Markus Zusak 2013 5/5
Brave New World by Aldous Huxley Brave New World by Aldous Huxley 2012 3/5
Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh Brideshead Revisited by Evelyn Waugh 2012 4/5
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz 2011 4/5

. . . . . C . . . . .
Candide by Voltaire 2011 2/5
The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger 2011 3/5
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl 2013 3/5
Charming Billy by Alice McDermott Charming Billy by Alice McDermott 2012 1/5
Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell 2012 5/5
The Color Purple by Alice Walker 2011 4/5
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon 2011 1/5

. . . . . D . . . . .
Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler Darkness at Noon by Arthur Koestler 2012 3/5
Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez Dead Stars by Paz Marquez Benitez 2013 2/5
Death at Intervals by José Saramago Death at Intervals by José Saramago 2011 5/5
Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather Death Comes for the Archbishop by Willa Cather 2012 4/5
The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen The Death of the Heart by Elizabeth Bowen 2013 4/5
Disgrace by J. M. Coetzee 2011 2/5
Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris 2011 4/5

. . . . . E . . . . .
Empire Falls by Richard Russo 2011 3/5

. . . . . F . . . . .
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury 2013 3/5
Fatelessness by Imre Kertész Fatelessness by Imre Kertész 2012 5/5
The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness The Fish Can Sing by Halldór Laxness 2013 4/5
The Food of the Gods by H. G. Wells 2011 3/5
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley Frankenstein by Mary Shelley 2012 4/5

. . . . . G . . . . .
The Gathering by Anne Enright The Gathering by Anne Enright 2012 4/5
Gilead by Marilynne Robinson Gilead by Marilynne Robinson 2011 5/5
Ghostwritten by David Mitchell Ghostwritten by David Mitchell 2012 5/5
The God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza The God of Carnage by Yasmina Reza 2012 4/5
The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck 2011 3/5
A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler A Good Scent from a Strange Mountain by Robert Olen Butler 2011 4/5
The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago The Gospel According to Jesus Christ by José Saramago 2012 5/5
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck 2012 4/5
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 2012 3/5

. . . . . H . . . . .
The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers 2011 5/5
Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad 2011 3/5
The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova 2012 2/5
The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien The Hobbit by J. R. R. Tolkien 2012 4/5
Home by Marilynne Robinson Home by Marilynne Robinson 2012 5/5
The Hours by Michael Cunningham 2011 5/5
Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson Housekeeping by Marilynne Robinson 2013 5/5
How to Travel with a Salmon and Other Essays by Umberto Eco 2011 4/5
Hunger by Knut Hamsun Hunger by Knut Hamsun 2012 5/5

. . . . . I . . . . .
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote In Cold Blood by Truman Capote 2012 4/5
Independence Day by Richard Ford 2011 2/5
Independent People by Halldór Laxness Independent People by Halldór Laxness 2012 5/5
Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri 2011 5/5
Ironweed by William Kennedy Ironweed by William Kennedy 2012 4/5

. . . . . J . . . . .
Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë 2012 5/5

. . . . . K . . . . .
The Known World by Edward P. Jones The Known World by Edward P. Jones 2012 5/5

. . . . . L . . . . .
The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller The Land of Green Plums by Herta Müller 2012 4/5
The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst The Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst 2012 5/5
Lord of the Flies by William Golding Lord of the Flies by William Golding 2011 5/5
The Lover's Dictionary by David Levithan The Lover’s Dictionary by David Levithan 2012 3/5

. . . . . M . . . . .
The Mambo Kings Play Songs of Love by Oscar Hijuelos 2011 1/5
Martin Dressler: The Tale of an American Dreamer by Steven Millhauser 2011 2/5
Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris 2011 4/5
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides 2011 4/5
Mother's Milk by Edward St. Aubyn Mother’s Milk by Edward St. Aubyn 2012 3/5
Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem Motherless Brooklyn by Jonathan Lethem 2012 5/5
My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk My Name Is Red by Orhan Pamuk 2012 4/5
Mysteries by Knut Hamsun Mysteries by Knut Hamsun 2013 5/5
Mysterious Skin by Scott Heim 2011 5/5
Mythology by Edith Hamilton Mythology: Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes by Edith Hamilton 2012 4/5

. . . . . N . . . . .
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro 2011 5/5
No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel Garcí­a Márquez No One Writes to the Colonel and Other Stories by Gabriel García Márquez 2013 4/5
Noli Me Tángere by José Rizal Noli Me Tángere by José Rizal 2012 4/5

. . . . . O . . . . .
Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald Offshore by Penelope Fitzgerald 2012 3/5
The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway 2011 3/5
Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout 2012 3/5
The Once and Future King by T. H. White 2011 3/5
One Hundred Years Of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez 2012 4/5

. . . . . P . . . . .
The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek 2012 5/5
Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion Play It As It Lays by Joan Didion 2013 5/5
Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen 2012 3/5
A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man by James Joyce 2012 1/5
Possession by A. S. Byatt Possession by A. S. Byatt 2012 4/5

. . . . . Q . . . . .

. . . . . R . . . . .
Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow Ragtime by E. L. Doctorow 2012 3/5
The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane 2013 3/5
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro 2012 5/5
Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates 2013 5/5
The Road by Cormac McCarthy 2011 5/5

. . . . . S . . . . .
The Sea by John Banville The Sea by John Banville 2011 4/5
The Secret Sharer by Joseph Conrad 2011 2/5
The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles The Sheltering Sky by Paul Bowles 2011 3/5
The Shipping News by Annie Proulx The Shipping News by Annie Proulx 2011 4/5
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse 2011 3/5
A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood 2012 4/5
Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut 2012 4/5
Sophie’s World by Jostein Gaarder 2011 4/5
The Sound and the Fury by William Faulkner 2011 4/5
The Stories of John Cheever by John Cheever 2011 5/5
The Stranger by Albert Camus The Stranger by Albert Camus 2012 3/5

. . . . . T . . . . .
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe 2011 2/5
A Thousand Acres by Jane Smiley 2011 4/5
This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz This Is How You Lose Her by Junot Díaz 2013 4/5
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell 2012 5/5
The Tin Drum by Günter Grass The Tin Drum by Günter Grass 2013 2/5
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 2011 5/5
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller 2012 1/5
Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda Twenty Love Poems and a Song of Despair by Pablo Neruda 2013 5/5

. . . . . U . . . . .
The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera 2011 5/5

. . . . . V . . . . .
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides 2012 5/5
A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan A Visit from the Goon Squad by Jennifer Egan 2012 4/5

. . . . . W . . . . .
Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett 2012 3/5
War And Peace by Leo Tolstoy War and Peace by Leo Tolstoy 2012 4/5
What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver What We Talk About When We Talk About Love by Raymond Carver 2013 5/5
White Noise by Don DeLillo 2011 4/5
The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga The White Tiger by Aravind Adiga 2012 4/5
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë 2011 4/5

. . . . . X . . . . .

. . . . . Y . . . . .

. . . . . Z . . . . .

Review Backlog:

  • 2012:
  1. Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy
  2. The Death of Artemio Cruz by Carlos Fuentes
  3. Goodbye, Columbus by Philip Roth
  4. The Little Prince by Antoine De Saint-Exupery
  5. A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess
  6. Number9Dream by David Mitchell
  7. The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon
  8. The Book Group Book by Ellen Slezak
  9. The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams
  10. Life of Pi by Yann Martel
  11. The Sea, the Sea by Iris Murdoch
  12. The Echo Maker by Richard Powers
  13. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta
  14. Brokeback Mountain by Annie Proulx
  15. White Teeth by Zadie Smith
  16. The Fellowship of the Ring by J. R. R. Tolkien
  17. Last Orders by Graham Swift
  • 2011:
  1. The Master by Colm Toibin
  2. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
  3. Remembering Babylon by David Malouf
  4. Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
  5. Ilustrado by Miguel Syjuco
  6. The Bridge of San Luis Rey by Thornton Wilder
  7. Hotel du Lac by Anita Brookner
  8. Wide Sargasso Sea by Jean Rhys
  9. Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston
  10. Deliverance by James Dickey
  11. The Moviegoer by Walker Percy
  12. True History of the Kelly Gang by Peter Carey
  13. Atomised by Michel Houellebecq
  14. A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
  15. Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
  16. The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
  17. The Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai
  18. Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison
  19. Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie
  20. All the King’s Men by Robert Penn Warren
Note: These writings are cross-posted at Goodreads.

4 Responses to “The Rhapsodies”

    • Angus Miranda

      Yep! This is a list of books I’ve read and has links to my book write-ups. I refuse to call them reviews because some of them are not really reviews.

  2. Melanie Navarro

    Hi Angus,

    I came across your blog and I was wondering if you will be interested in reviewing the book of a Danish crime writer Inger Wolf who has just released her first novel as an e-book in English. We will be pleased if you can consider it for a review, if you are interested we are more than happy to send you a free copy in whatever format you like (PDF, EPUB, MOBI).

    Author: Inger Wolf
    Title: Evil Water
    Genre: Crime/Mystery
    Format: E-book
    Synopsis: Two women disappear without a trace, and the same autumn a farmer on the outskirts of Århus finds them murdered in suitcases under a heap of stone. The skin of one woman is filled with the letter Y and the other has a rare flower in her hair. Inspector Daniel Trokic is leading the case which goes in several directions: to a tribal population in Africa, religious insanity and a horrifying meeting with leeches. When a third woman disappears, Trokic is under pressure to find out what the killer wants to say with his macabre scenery and rituals.

    You can find more information about Inger Wolf on her website http://www.ingerwolf.com.

    Amazon Link: http://www.amazon.com/Evil-Water-ebook/dp/B00AP6AMRA/ref=tag_stp_s2f_edpp_scandi22es

    Thank you for your time. We hope to hear from you soon.

    Best regards,
    Melanie Navarro
    Black Cat Edition
    melanie@blackcatedition.dk

    Reply

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