Introduction

Welcome to Books High and Low, a blog intended to provide reviews of new books, but also film, television, and more. My goal is to post 3-4 times per week and I will be reviewing both fiction and non-fiction. I read a wide variety of fiction, including contemporary and historical fiction, literary and popular. I enjoy mysteries, science fiction, fantasy, and more. My non-fiction interests include history, memoir, and biography, and anything else that catches my interest. I've kept a journal of all of the books that I've read and films that I've seen since 1994. I start three new lists each year: films, fiction and non-fiction. I've enjoyed going back over the years to see what books I read and when, which ones stuck with me, and which ones I can't even remember.

Here's a list of the five most recent fiction books that I've read:

1. Jason Mott The Returned.
2. Hannah Kent Burial Rites.
3. Dave King The Ha-Ha.
4. Ivy Pochoda Visitation Street.
5. Louise Penny How the Light Gets In.

Some of these I received when I attended Book Expo America, held in New York in May, 2013. This is a great convention for booksellers and librarians; it's possible to get advance reading copies of upcoming fall titles, and there are hundred of authors in attendance, speaking at special events and signing their books. To find out about the 2014 BEA convention, check out their website:

Book Expo America

Here's a list of five recent non-fiction books that I've read (I'm not counting the books that I read for work):

1. Lori Duron Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender-Creative Son.
2. Gwen Cooper Homer's Odyssey. (This is actually about a cat!)
3. Nica Lalli Nothing: Something to Believe In.
4. Chelsea Handler Are You There Vodka: It's Me, Chelsea.
5. Molly Katz Jewish as a Second Language, 2nd ed.

So, you can see that there's a bit of variety!

In my next post I will write about some of these books.