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THE DEATH INSTINCT, by Jed Rubenfeld

June 19, 2011

AMBITIOUS HISTORICAL THRILLER begins with interesting premise, but tries too hard and ends up over the top.

Grade: B MINUS

THE DEATH INSTINCT
Riverhead
2011

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THE JERSEY STING, by Ted Sherman and Josh Margolin

June 18, 2011

INSIDE 2009’S MEGA-SCANDAL of corruption, bribery, Ponzi schemes, money laundering, organ trading in New Jersey.

Grade: B PLUS

THE JERSEY STING: A TRUE STORY OF CROOKED POLS, MONEY-LAUNDERING RABBIS, BLACK MARKET KIDNEYS, AND THE INFORMANT WHO BROUGHT IT ALL DOWN
St. Martin's
2011

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SNOWBALL, DRAGONFLY, JEW, by Stuart Ross

June 17, 2011

COMPLEX, INTRIGUING EXPERIMENTAL novel about family and memory traces the lines between sanity and madness.

Grade: SOLID B

SNOWBALL, DRAGONFLY, JEW
ECW Press
2011

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DOC, by Mary Doria Russell

June 16, 2011

SPRAWLING BIOGRAPHICAL NOVEL centers on gentleman gambler, gunslinger Doc Holliday; Wyatt Earp steals the book.

Grade: SOLID B

DOC
Random House
2011

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NOISE, by Darin Bradley

June 15, 2011

GRIM NEAR-FUTURE APOCALYPSE centers around a youth movement poised between anarchy and fascism.  Chilling.

Grade: B PLUS

NOISE
Spectra
2011

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A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, by Deborah Harkness

June 14, 2011

EPIC, BOOKISH FANTASY blends witches, vampires, medieval history, romance in an engrossing ladycentric read.

Grade: A MINUS

A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES
Viking
2011

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MOONFACE: A TRUE ROMANCE, by Angela Balcita

June 13, 2011

THE FUNNIEST, MOST TOUCHING memoir about love and marriage and parenthood and kidney transplants ever written.

Grade: B PLUS

MOONFACE: A TRUE ROMANCE
Harper Perennial
2011

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ROSEANNEARCHY, by Roseanne Barr

June 12, 2011

CAUSTIC AND WITTY as ever, Roseanne Barr’s tidbits of grandmotherly wisdom and snark from her Hawai’i nut farm.

Grade: SOLID B

ROSEANNEARCHY: DISPATCHES FROM THE NUT FARM
Simon and Schuster
2011

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23 THINGS THEY DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT CAPITALISM, by Ha-Joon Chang

June 11, 2011

ACERBIC, ICONOCLASTIC, WITTY take on free-market economists’ dogmas from a University of Cambridge economist.

Grade: A MINUS

23 THINGS THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT CAPITALISM
Bloomsbury
2011

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ALL FACTS CONSIDERED, by Kee Malesky

June 10, 2011

AMUSING COMPENDIUM of random information, curated by NPR’s librarian, may be every nerd’s favorite beach read!

Grade: SOLID B

ALL FACTS CONSIDERED: THE ESSENTIAL LIBRARY OF INESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
John Wiley & Sons
2010

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