(Beacon News, Jan. 18, Teresa Budasi)

My favorite of 2008 is the latest novel by Wally Lamb. A decade has passed since Lamb was doubly blessed by Oprah and shot to literary fame. In 1997, the talk show queen chose his first novel, “She’s Come Undone,” as her fourth Oprah’s Book Club selection. His follow-up, “I Know This Much Is True,” was chosen a year later.

So now, 10 years later, comes “The Hour I First Believed,” which supposes the life of a couple trying to put back the pieces of their lives in the wake of the Columbine High School tragedy. Books like this are my favorite kind to read — novels with long, sprawling chapters, where characters are thoughtfully drawn out with multiple, interconnecting story lines — so that’s why it tops my list. It’s a hefty volume, 700-plus pages, and I look forward to every single page turn. (Editor’s note: Sugar Grove resident Greg Zanis, who famously and controversially built and installed crosses near Columbine after the shootings, is mentioned in this fictionalized account.)

So now, 10 years later, comes “The Hour I First Believed,” which supposes the life of a couple trying to put back the pieces of their lives in the wake of the Columbine High School tragedy. Books like this are my favorite kind to read — novels with long, sprawling chapters, where characters are (more…)

(mcherald.com, Nov. 22, JC Patterson)

Here’s a by-the-book breakdown of fine reads I have known and appreciated this year.

The Big Boys: Heavyweight hits like Richard Price’s Lush Life, The Story Of Edgar Sawtelle by David Wroblewski , and my favorite read of 2008: The Given Day by Dennis Lehane, topped bestseller lists and Oprah’s Bookclub. These massive parables of crime, historical cops and a boy and his dogs are flat out brilliant.

Lady Killers: A bevy of female authors, featuring Nevada Barr‘s long-awaited Winter Study gave the female lead muscles aplenty. Also impressive is April Smith’s The Judas Horse and Andrea Kane‘s Twisted. Like Barr’s Anna Pigeon, both spotlight damaged amazons who work outside the law. Powerful period dramas like The Outlander by Gil Adamson and Ron Rash’s Serena use the (more…)