About this blog: This blog is a place for conversation about books. I post reviews of what I'm reading--lots of contemporary fiction, but also classics and the occasional work of narrative nonfiction. I am always looking for new books to read, so ...  (More)

About this blog: This blog is a place for conversation about books. I post reviews of what I'm reading--lots of contemporary fiction, but also classics and the occasional work of narrative nonfiction. I am always looking for new books to read, so please share your recommendations in the comments. From time to time I also post about my life as an author in today's rapidly-evolving publishing industry and discuss literary news from the Bay Area and beyond. I am the author of the historical novels "The Disagreement" (2008) and "Father Junípero's Confessor" (2013) and the thriller "The Setup Man," which will be published under my crime-fiction pseudonym, T.T. Monday, in Spring 2014. I am also Associate Professor of English at San José State and Director of the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies at SJSU. In 2011 I taught in Hyderabad, India, on a Fulbright-Nehru Fellowship.  (Hide)