18 reviews 8 YES · 6 DEPENDS · 1 DNF · 3 NO Who this is

• LITERARY FICTION Roundtable Blindness José Saramago · 1995 Even with those problems, Blindness stayed with me because it is specific about failure. The Failure Is Not the Blindness YES
• NONFICTION Roundtable Into Thin Air Jon Krakauer · 1997 I finished Into Thin Air impressed, disturbed, and more skeptical of the word “adventure” than I was before. The Mountain Is Dangerous. The System Is Worse. YES
• HISTORICAL FICTION Roundtable Lonesome Dove Larry McMurtry · 1985 My final judgment is that Lonesome Dove earns its reputation because it is not really a celebration of the West. A Great Book About Men Who Cannot Stop Moving YES
• LITERARY FICTION Roundtable Set This House in Order Matt Ruff · 2003 I would recommend it to a reader who can tolerate an elaborate premise, wants characters who are specific rather than merely symbolic, and does not mind a novel that keeps showing its internal machinery. A Very Complicated House, Built One Avoided Truth at a Time DEPENDS
• LITERARY FICTION Roundtable The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay Michael Chabon · 2000 I would not recommend reading it when you need something efficient. The Escape Is Never the Point DEPENDS
• LITERARY FICTION Roundtable The Covenant of Water Abraham Verghese · 2023 That is a meaningful achievement for a novel this large. A Family Tree with Water at the Root YES
• SCIENCE FICTION Roundtable The Spare Man Mary Robinette Kowal · 2022 I recommend it to readers who enjoy character-driven science fiction mysteries and do not mind a long route through the evidence. A Murder Mystery With Too Many Permissions DEPENDS
• LITERARY FICTION Roundtable Theo of Golden Allen Levi · 2023 There is a version of Theo of Golden that I would recommend without hesitation. A Good Man, With Too Much Help From the Author DEPENDS
• NONFICTION Roundtable Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance Robert M. Pirsig · 1974 The honest response is to say that this one works intermittently. A Good Repair Buried Under Too Much Philosophy DEPENDS
• CRIME & THRILLER Roundtable Unspoken Truths Liz Mistry · 2019 I don't need every loose end tied off with a bow, but I do need to believe the people tying them had a plan. A lot of plot, not much chain of custody DEPENDS
• ROMANCE Roundtable Kingdom of Thorns Katherine Macdonald · 2020 I am not usually patient with found-family montages, but the bandit chapters earn the later graves. Do not touch her, and do not call her a prize YES
• CRIME & THRILLER Roundtable One Death at a Time Abbi Waxman · 2025 I no longer believed the next chapter would start the job. I Stopped After the Funeral DNF
• CRIME & THRILLER Roundtable Perfect Remains Helen Fields · 2017 Ailsa Lambert later says the teeth and bone did not degrade at the same rate, which only makes sense if the teeth went in separately. I spent most of this book arguing with a planted tooth YES
• ROMANCE Roundtable Shadow Assassin Elle James · 2021 The later revelation that the data survives solves the plot problem without erasing what that physical thing meant to her. The Mission Ends, and the Loose Ends Mostly Make Sense YES
• WESTERN Roundtable The Broken Bow Larry D. Sweazy · 2022 I nearly put the book down twice in the middle of Gladdy's long journey, and I stayed only because I had to know what happened to Oliver and Charlie. The man who kept his word YES
• CRIME & THRILLER Roundtable The Forgotten David Baldacci · 2012 You cannot build a mystery by withholding the core investigative work from the audience until the final confrontation. Broken Permissions and Comic Book Physics NO
• HORROR Roundtable The Gospel of Z Stephen Graham Jones · 2014 I have a harder time with an organization that cannot keep an audit trail and still lectures about the future of the species. The systems do not survive contact with Monday NO
• ROMANCE Roundtable Wyoming Cowboy Marine Nicole Helm · 2019 That is two workflows that never sync, and the book calls it protection. The Queue Is Empty and Nobody Owned It NO

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