Merely Impassioned | The Book Shark

Throw This Book Away

by Donna | Jun 12, 2012 | Fiction, Merely Impassioned | 0 Comments

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Time to toss your copy of Zeitoun in your curbside recycling bin; it can land on top of Three Cups of Tea in the corner of the bin reserved for books that don’t even deserve donation to a library because they turned out to be dishonest accounts narrated by shysters

Formerly Favorite Authors Suffer Simultaneous Brain Damage

by Donna | Jul 2, 2011 | Fiction, Merely Impassioned | 3 Comments

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What a disheartening year it’s been for those of us who want to believe that an author’s subsequent book will be as good as the one that preceded it. Such a string of much-anticipated follow-ups that have fallen flat on their face…

Iceland

by Donna | Apr 26, 2010 | Merely Impassioned, Opinions | 0 Comments

Did we really need a new book in which the author (according to the most recent issue of Publishers Weekly) “peppers the narrative with neologisms supposedly coined by famous gossip columnists, and annoyingly styles the text so that nearly every name, brand name, and...

Another Cover Art Disappointment

by Donna | Oct 25, 2009 | Merely Impassioned, Opinions | 0 Comments

Who doesn’t love a vintage photograph from the author’s childhood on the cover of her memoir? When the image is just right, these covers are among the best. But if a photo that speaks directly to the story does not exist, why force an inappropriate one upon the book?...

Punctuation Matters

by Donna | Sep 12, 2009 | Merely Impassioned, Opinions | 0 Comments

This month I read two memoirs that I would be giving glowing reviews to, if only they had employed quotation marks. Is anyone else fed up with the idea that quotation marks in dialogue are unnecessary? Basic rules of grammar and punctuation exist for a reason (to...

Detectives and CIA Operatives Must Go

by Donna | Aug 13, 2009 | Merely Impassioned, Opinions | 3 Comments

(This opinion first appeared in February 2003) The following words and phrases have no business in a decent book: FBI CIA Washington insider sophisticated weaponry special agent top-secret cigar-smoking helicopters submarines tanks ill-gotten business vigilante hit...