You are browsing the archive for May2009
May 31, 2009
AN EVANGELICAL GIRLHOOD in 1970s Missouri, remembered with a refreshing touch of sardonic, yet always loving, wit. B PLUS
DATING JESUS: A STORY OF FUNDAMENTALISM, FEMINISM, AND THE AMERICAN GIRL by Susan Campbell
Boston: Beacon Press
January 2009
Grade: B PLUS
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Religion, United States
May 30, 2009
CHATTY, breezy look at the business and culture of defying the aging process engages, but avoids the big questions. B PLUS
DRINKING PROBLEMS AT THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH by Beth Teitell
New York: William Morrow
October 2008
Grade: B PLUS
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Health, Non-Fiction, Science
May 29, 2009
SWEET MEMOIR of growing up Japanese in rural Indiana has charm, poignancy, but may seem slight to some readers. B PLUS
BENTO BOX IN THE HEARTLAND: MY JAPANESE GIRLHOOD IN WHITEBREAD AMERICA by Linda Furiya
Berkeley, CA: Seal Press
January 2009
Grade: B PLUS
Tags: Asian-American Writers, B Plus Reviews, Food Writing, Japanese-American Writers, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Writers of Color
May 28, 2009
SPOOKY TALE outlines a grim near-future in spare, simple language reminiscent of Palahniuk, early Stephen King. A MINUS
THE SUICIDE COLLECTORS by David Oppegaard
New York: St. Martin’s Press
December 2008
Grade: A MINUS
Tags: A Minus Reviews, Horror, Novels, Science Fiction, SF
May 27, 2009
LITERATE CHICKFIC with a few new twists: artist heroine, composer hero, grad-school setting. Still, familiar turf. B PLUS
EVERYONE IS BEAUTIFUL by Katherine Center
New York: Ballantine Books
February 2009
Grade: B PLUS
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Novels, Women's Fiction
May 26, 2009
FUNNY VIGNETTES of Hollywood helicopter parents and media madness offer laughs, insights, but don’t hold together. B MINUS
MOTHER ON FIRE: A TRUE MOTHER F%#$@ STORY ABOUT PARENTING by Sandra Tsing Loh
New York: Crown
August 2008
Grade: B MINUS
Tags: Asian-American Writers, B Minus Reviews, Humor, Non-Fiction, Parenting, Writers of Color
May 25, 2009
20th-CENTURY FABLE of a black family and community in Oklahoma, told in rich, lyrical language. Vivid characters. A MINUS
LIFE IS SHORT BUT WIDE by J. California Cooper
New York: Doubleday
March 2009
Grade: A MINUS
Tags: A Minus Reviews, African American Writers, Black Writers, Novels, Writers of Color
May 24, 2009
MATHEMATICAL MODELS/algorithms, and how they’re being used to describe/predict human behavior, chattily presented. SOLID B
THE NUMERATI by Stephen Baker
New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
August 2008
Grade: SOLID B
Tags: Mathematics, Non-Fiction, Science, Solid B Reviews
May 23, 2009
19TH CENTURY US SOCIAL HISTORY, centering on a star-studded 1882 banquet honoring Social Darwinist Herbert Spencer. SOLID A
BANQUET AT DELMONICO’S: GREAT MINDS, THE GILDED AGE, AND THE TRIUMPH OF EVOLUTION IN AMERICA by Barry Werth
New York: Random House
January 2009
Grade: SOLID A
Tags: History, History of Science, Non-Fiction, Science, Solid A Reviews, United States
May 22, 2009
THE GREAT KOREAN-AMERICAN NOVEL in stories. Fresh/ nuanced/funny/touching; vivid pix from an immigrant kid’s life. A MINUS
EVERYTHING ASIAN by Sung J. Woo
New York: Thomas Dunne Books
April 2009
Grade: A MINUS
Tags: A Minus Reviews, Asian-American Writers, Korean-American Writers, Novels, Writers of Color