Reader’s Advisory

I met with a former student the other day for dinner. She had great news: she was accepted into medical school. As we were catching up, she said that her mother had given her instructions that she was to get more book recommendations from me. Her mom was so pleased with my suggestions of The Thirteenth Tale and The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie that she only wants to get book recommendations from me! That made me exceedingly happy, then it made me very nervous.

It’s hard to always get a book recommendation right all the time. It is nice when you are on a good recommendation streak, but I am a bit fearful now of screwing it up. I suggested Beat the Reaper and The Hunger Games and then said I would have to give it some more thought. I haven’t been reading much lately and I wanted to make sure my picks would be good ones. If anyone has any sure fire hits out there, let me know!

Beat the Reaper: A Novel by Josh Bazell


My rating: 5 of 5 stars
I bought this book on impulse at the buy one get one half off Border's table before we left on a flight. It said it was a mix of Tarantino and the Coen brothers, which intrigued me. The storyline has Dr. Peter Brown interning at Manhattan's worst hospital where he meets someone from his very bad past: his hit man past. Then the book takes a quirky turn.

Yep, this book is a mix of Tarantino and the Coen brothers. It was so awesome that I finished it in one day, read it nonstop on the plane. It is a page turner and so wild that it defies description.

So if you like Carl Hiaasen, Quentin Tarantino and the Coen brothers and you don't mind a little blood and gore, pick up this crazy, wonderful read.

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