Don Bott (Author of 40 Years, 40 Stories)

Don Bott wants to read Venetian Vespers by John Banville	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 04, 2025 08:31AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Venetian Vespers by John Banville. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Venetian Vespers by John Banville <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott wants to read The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oct 04, 2025 08:22AM · like · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott rated a book it was amazing Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I enjoyed Tommy Orange’s debut, “There There.” So I came to this book, which is somewhat a sequel, with high expectations but also some reservations. I was thoroughly impressed by this book. What a strong follow up from one of the most powerful young ...more
Oct 02, 2025 06:32PM · 2 likes · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott rated a book really liked it The Known World by Edward P. Jones	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I like a great deal about this book, and I certainly understand how it earned the Pulitzer Prize. Let’s start with the good: The plot is both complex and fascinating, allowing to learn about a world that for many of us was far from known: how a few b ...more
Sep 14, 2025 02:27PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Known World by Edward P. Jones. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Known World by Edward P. Jones <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott rated a book really liked it Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Poetic treatment of a fascinating question as to how we should treat the world that surrounds us, focused, of course, on natural waterways. I agree with the author, but I suspect I would have been just as persuaded had this been a long essay. To be fai ...more
Sep 14, 2025 02:27PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott rated a book really liked it Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Poetic treatment of a fascinating question as to how we should treat the world that surrounds us, focused, of course, on natural waterways. I agree with the author, but I suspect I would have been just as persuaded had this been a long essay. To be fai ...more
Sep 14, 2025 02:23PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott wants to read The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida by Shehan Karunatilaka (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Aug 09, 2025 06:31PM · like
Don Bott rated a book it was amazing These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Romance, perhaps. And while that is neither my go-to nor my favorite genre, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, the characters who are both wicked and sad, and the writer’s witty and often acerbic style. It is the story of a Labor Day “celebration” (don’ ...more
Aug 07, 2025 05:51PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott rated a book liked it Never Flinch (Holly Gibney, #4) by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I like Stephen King’s writing, especially that which is not of the horror genre. (Nothing against him there; I just don’t enjoy horror novels — or films, for that matter.) What I like in Never Flinch is the multiple storylines that manage to all come ...more
Aug 03, 2025 12:05PM · 1 like · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Never Flinch by Stephen King. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Never Flinch by Stephen King <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Don Bott rated a book it was amazing Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
This is a 500-plus page book, and I raced through it in less than two days. Sometimes page-turners are just a never ending succession of hard-to-fathom twists, ultimately lacking depth and believability. This, however, is a page-turner with substance ...more
Jul 09, 2025 05:07PM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Finding Grace by Loretta Rothschild <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

Don Bott wants to read

Venetian Vespers
by John Banville

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Don Bott wants to read

The Art of a Lie
by Laura Shepherd-Robinson (Goodreads Author)

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Don Bott rated a book it was amazing

Wandering Stars
by Tommy Orange (Goodreads Author)

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I enjoyed Tommy Orange’s debut, “There There.” So I came to this book, which is somewhat a sequel, with high expectations but also some reservations. I was thoroughly impressed by this book. What a strong follow up from one of the most powerful young ...more

Don Bott rated a book really liked it

The Known World
by Edward P. Jones

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I like a great deal about this book, and I certainly understand how it earned the Pulitzer Prize.

Let’s start with the good: The plot is both complex and fascinating, allowing to learn about a world that for many of us was far from known: how a few b ...more

Don Bott rated a book really liked it

Is a River Alive?
by Robert Macfarlane (Goodreads Author)

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Poetic treatment of a fascinating question as to how we should treat the world that surrounds us, focused, of course, on natural waterways.

I agree with the author, but I suspect I would have been just as persuaded had this been a long essay.

To be fai ...more

Don Bott rated a book really liked it

Is a River Alive?
by Robert Macfarlane (Goodreads Author)

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1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Poetic treatment of a fascinating question as to how we should treat the world that surrounds us, focused, of course, on natural waterways.

I agree with the author, but I suspect I would have been just as persuaded had this been a long essay.

To be fai ...more

Don Bott wants to read

The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida
by Shehan Karunatilaka (Goodreads Author)

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Don Bott rated a book it was amazing

These Summer Storms
by Sarah MacLean (Goodreads Author)

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Romance, perhaps. And while that is neither my go-to nor my favorite genre, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, the characters who are both wicked and sad, and the writer’s witty and often acerbic style.

It is the story of a Labor Day “celebration” (don’ Romance, perhaps. And while that is neither my go-to nor my favorite genre, I thoroughly enjoyed this story, the characters who are both wicked and sad, and the writer’s witty and often acerbic style.

It is the story of a Labor Day “celebration” (don’t call it a funeral!) for tech guru Franklin Storm, the brilliant, arrogant, charming and all-controlling founder of a tech brand very much like Apple. We begin the story by following Alice, the third of four children, who has been the prodigal child for five years. While the book goes on to describe her three siblings with great depth over the course of the book, Alice is far and away the central focus.

What should be a time for family to gather and mourn, particularly to support their widowed mother, Elizabeth, soon becomes an absurd and macabre game, with Franklin still calling the shots.

Jack steps in as the “fixer,” the one who delivers the rules of the game while monitoring how the characters progress. Oldest child Greta needs to break off a relationship, lone son Sam has to complete Herculean tasks of manual labor, and Alice just has to stay on the family’s island, despite how much of an outsider they make her feel. Mother Elizabeth, meanwhile, has to tell the truth, and youngest child Emily has no task whatsoever. Everyone MUST complete their task or no one will inherit anything. Mind you, Franklin Storm was worth billions.

This novel has the potential to be a highly disturbing Franzen-like story of warring siblings trying to survive in the battlefield — and for small stretches of time it is just that. Scenes are painful to read, and it is sad to contemplate how a family can crumble in the way it has, despite seeming to have everything.

But every time it starts to descend into that dark world, there is something uplifting or romantic or even light. The discordance should be a flaw, and maybe it is, but man, those Franzen books can be brutal. These characters, it seems, so want to get along, want to find love and closure. As a reader, I just didn’t mind.

The narrative voice is wonderful. Many occasions to smile, lots of commentary delivered via sarcasm. I enjoyed the book from cover to cover. ...more

Don Bott rated a book liked it

Never Flinch (Holly Gibney, #4)
by Stephen King (Goodreads Author)

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I like Stephen King’s writing, especially that which is not of the horror genre. (Nothing against him there; I just don’t enjoy horror novels — or films, for that matter.)

What I like in Never Flinch is the multiple storylines that manage to all come I like Stephen King’s writing, especially that which is not of the horror genre. (Nothing against him there; I just don’t enjoy horror novels — or films, for that matter.)

What I like in Never Flinch is the multiple storylines that manage to all come together without much contrivance. Every reader can see it coming, of course, but that almost makes it better. How is King going to bring all the characters together. We know the city and the weekend. Will it be in the arena where the legendary soul singer will be singing? Will it be at a softball diamond, where a grudge match (for charity) is taking place between cops and firefighters? Will it be in an abandoned hockey arena?

Because of the multiple strands, two of which involve investigating who may be responsible for crimes and threats, there are many, many characters to keep in mind — and even more names just thrown in. As a result, very few of the characters are richly developed, especially the “good ones” who are chasing down leads. Both Holly, private investigator, and Izzy, the cop, feel flat and cliched, at times comically so. By contrast, the antagonists, Trig and Chris, are complex. Over the course of the story, we discover more and more layers that make up these two.

I’ll take this a bit further, which I hope will justify a three-star rating for a five-star writer. The characterization often comes across as mocking of the folksy habits — and especially speaking patterns — of Midwesterners. I should point out that I am not a Midwesterner myself, but hearing Holly use “expletives” like “bullpoop” just comes as odd, and largely unexplained. In fact, much of the dialogue of many of the characters sounds like a caricature of folksiness, not something I recall when he sets his stories in New England.

The contemporary themes resonate well: King immerses us in a world of hate and divisions, where people become violent, even willing to kill, without rational provocation. I hate seeing what takes place in both of the major timelines, and yet I cannot deny how realistic they are. ...more

Don Bott rated a book it was amazing

Finding Grace
by Loretta Rothschild

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This is a 500-plus page book, and I raced through it in less than two days. Sometimes page-turners are just a never ending succession of hard-to-fathom twists, ultimately lacking depth and believability. This, however, is a page-turner with substance This is a 500-plus page book, and I raced through it in less than two days. Sometimes page-turners are just a never ending succession of hard-to-fathom twists, ultimately lacking depth and believability. This, however, is a page-turner with substance.

As others on Goodreads have reported, it is nearly impossible to summarize this book without divulging too much. So let me try to say what little I can but still spotlight what the author — in her debut novel! — does so well.

The story is told by Honor Wharton, a young mother who, for the entirety of the first chapter, is angry with her husband, even though it is Christmas time and the family is staying in a beautiful suite in Paris. They have a 4 year old daughter, Chloe, and much of their anger is whether they should continue to pursue another child, this time through surrogacy. It is a tense, even disturbing chapter, and yet no reader can be prepared for what happens at the end of it.

The married couple remains central to the story, and yet there is so much more.

What amazed me throughout the reading was how the author chose to narrate the book. Honor is a remarkable narrator who possesses an omniscience that we would rarely see from a first-person perspective. The storyline is fascinating, and yet how it is told, through Honor, is almost more fascinating. The technique could feel gimmicky; it does not.

Almost every secondary character comes to life as a three-dimensional form, notably Honor’s good friends, Lauren and Annie, and Honor’s mother, Collette. Of course, the title character, Grace, about whom I’ve said nothing, is a central character with many dimensions as well. Finally, there is Tom, a man who is broken and beaten down for much of the novel. At times, life has piled onto him in obscenely cruel ways; other times, he just makes mistakes. It is easy to criticize him, just as easy to sympathize with him.

This is a remarkable debut novel that grabs the reader literally from the first sentence and without gimmicks. I look forward to her future efforts. ...more

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Preview — These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

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	40 Years, 40 Stories: Lessons for Educators in their First or Final Year of Anytime in Between it was amazing 5.00 avg rating — 4 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	being Lehigh: an essay in photographs by H. Heist, Don Bott (Goodreads Author), Marvin Simmons 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings — published 1997 — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

Don’s Year In Books

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Don’s Bookshelves

Don’s Friends (124)

Don Bott

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See a Problem?

Preview — Venetian Vespers by John Banville

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Preview — The Art of a Lie by Laura Shepherd-Robinson

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Preview — Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange

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Preview — The Known World by Edward P. Jones

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Preview — Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

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Preview — Is a River Alive? by Robert Macfarlane

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Preview — These Summer Storms by Sarah MacLean

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Preview — Never Flinch by Stephen King

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