Can't Do It Newtown By Matthew Lysiak I can't read this book. I tried. Then I tried skimming. I'd read a paragraph here or there and it would just wreck me. I honestly don't know who can read this whole book. Lysiak is a good writer and he does his best here, but it's just brutal. The book's first pages tug … [Read more...]
Book Review: The Kitty
Me? Ow. The Kitty By S. Flynn Oh dear. A man buys a house in Enfield and gets married to a woman who quickly leaves him but there's a cat there that he adopts and names Kitty. Kitty is a good cat and gets the man through his difficulties. The man takes in a few other abandoned cats and comes to very … [Read more...]
UConn Basketball Books (Pre-2000)
U-C-O-N-N! UCONN! UCONN! UCONN! (basketball books) Dozens of books have been written about UConn's storied men's and women's basketball programs. After all, they won nearly 20 national championships together and in 2004 and 2014, they both won. I assume many are not dissimilar to many others. So I will read them, … [Read more...]
UConn Basketball Books (2000-2010)
U-C-O-N-N! UCONN! UCONN! UCONN! (basketball books) Dozens of books have been written about UConn's storied men's and women's basketball programs. After all, they won nearly 20 national championships together and in 2004 and 2014, they both won. I assume many are not dissimilar to many others. So I will read them, … [Read more...]
Book Review: Turning the Tables
Merda Pura Turning the Tables, Teresa Giudice The pandemic has been wild. We've all done things we never thought we'd do... going a week without a shower, eating ice cream for breakfast, learning what Minecraft actually is... and reading a prison memoir from a "Real Housewife of New Jersey." Or her ghostwriter. … [Read more...]
CT Books, Movies, People, & Stories
Connecticut Books, People, & Essays I probably shouldn’t have ever begun reading and writing about Connecticut books. It’s just one of those lists that I can’t possibly “finish” in any meaningful way. But that’s fine, I don’t mind. If you’re into books, I also review non-Connecticut hiking books and the Modern … [Read more...]
Book Review: Nobody’s Fool
Pinning it Down Nobody’s Fool: The Life and Times of Schlitzie The Pinhead By Bill Griffith Full disclosure: I’m not much of a Zippy fan. I know, I know, this is blasphemy for someone like me who can be a bit obsessed with all thing Connecticut. After all, in Bill Griffith’s long running Zippy the Pinhead comic … [Read more...]
Book Review: Sufferings in Africa
”Captain Jack Will Get You Enslaved Tonight” Sufferings in Africa, 1817 By Captain James Riley I’m not really sure why I decided to read this book for the purposes of a CTMQ “Connecticut” book review. Actually, that’s not true – I know exactly why I did. Back when the boys and I poked around Holy Apostles College … [Read more...]
Book Review: Afoot in Connecticut
A Foot in My Mouth (Probably) Afoot in Connecticut, 2013 By Eric D. Lehman Afoot in Connecticut is a love letter to many things. In fact, it begins with a story wherein the author hikes off-trail among the quarry cliffs at Sleeping Giant State Park in Hamden to bury love letters from an ex-girlfriend and ends with … [Read more...]