The Front Porch Times on PNN

Book reviews, news from the literary world, and a daily blog by the books editor of The Christian Science Monitor.

Updated: 05 Jul 01:10

04 Jul 18:10

[The Monitor occasionally reprints material from its archives. This review originally ran on May 24, 2005.] In December 1776 Thomas Paine reflected on the year past and wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."

Truck: A Love Story

04 Jul 18:10

In Truck: A Love Story, Michael Perry chronicles a year during which he rebuilds an old pickup, becomes engaged (after many years of bachelorhood), and grows a garden. His prose style is very readable: not overly complex, but not simplistic either. He is both extremely funny and terribly insightful about ...

In the Kitchen

04 Jul 18:10

Restaurants are one of my favorite indulgences. (Cooking is fun. Dishes, less so. And my son is not quite tall enough to inflict with that chore.) As a result, I have stayed far, far away from Anthony Bourdains Kitchen Confidential and any reality series starring Gordon Ramsay.

Where God Was Born

04 Jul 18:10

I'm reading Where God Was Born by Bruce Feiler because I want to learn more about the Middle East.

Prices on Mailers moon book are out of this world

04 Jul 18:10

I can't decide whether this is evidence of the book's staying power, or a sign that its end is near: to commemorate the 40th anniversary of the first lunar landing, the art publisher Taschen will release "Moonfire: the Epic Journey of Apollo 11," a book of photographs from the mission ...