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FRENCH LESSONS by Ellen Sussman

August 21, 2011

BREEZILY ROMANTIC CONFECTION follows the connections between three Parisians and the Americans they tutor. SOLID B

FRENCH LESSONS
Random House Publishing Group
2011

Grade: SOLID B

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AT HOME WITH THE TEMPLETONS by Monica McInerney

August 20, 2011

AUSTRALIAN FAMILY SAGA’S quirky characterizations and local color redeem its soap-operaesque plot. SOLID B #beachread

AT HOME WITH THE TEMPLETONS
Ballantine Books
2011

Grade: SOLID B

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THE BORROWER, by Rebecca Makkai

August 19, 2011

ENCHANTING, LUMINOUS NOVEL about the power (and limitations) of love and of stories. Haunting and delightful.

Grade: A MINUS

THE BORROWER
Viking
2011

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THE OMEGA THEORY, by Mark Alpert

August 18, 2011

QUANTUM PHYSICS THRILLER is an over-the-top pageturner; THE DA VINCI CODE meets A BEAUTIFUL MIND, maybe?

Grade: SOLID B

THE OMEGA THEORY
Simon and Schuster
2011

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DEATH AND THE VIRGIN QUEEN, by Chris Skidmore

August 17, 2011

A TUDOR SCANDAL RETOLD with a journalistic touch in this well researched examination of the Amy Robsart mystery.

Grade: SOLID B

DEATH AND THE VIRGIN QUEEN: ELIZABETH AND THE DARK SCANDAL THAT ROCKED THE THRONE
St. Martin's Press
2011

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BLIND FURY, by Lynda La Plante

August 16, 2011

DRIVEN LONDON DETECTIVE Anna Travis hunts a serial killer in this tense, edgy procedural from Lynda La Plante.

Grade: SOLID B

BLIND FURY
Simon and Schuster
2011

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DRINKING WITH MISS DUTCHIE, by Ed Breslin

August 15, 2011

A BELOVED DOG inspires a man to stop drinking and start living. Touching, candid, and surprisingly wry.

Grade: SOLID B

DRINKING WITH MISS DUTCHIE: A MEMOIR
St. Martin's Press
2011

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WANTON WEST, by Lael Morgan

August 14, 2011

GOSSIPY, FUN HISTORY looks at the madams and dance-hall girls who were high rollers in 19th-century Montana.

Grade: SOLID B

WANTON WEST: MADAMS, MONEY, MURDER, AND THE WILD WOMEN OF MONTANA'S FRONTIER
Chicago Review Press
2011

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THE MEMORY PALACE, by Mira Bartók

August 13, 2011

GORGEOUS, TERRIFYING, HEART-STOPPING memoir of an artist’s life in flight from a schizophrenic mother’s rages.

Grade: B PLUS

THE MEMORY PALACE
Simon and Schuster
2011

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THE PARIS WIFE, by Paula McLain

August 12, 2011

1920s PARIS, VIVIDLY reimagined from the point of view of Hadley Richardson (Mrs. Ernest) Hemingway. Great beachread!

Grade: B PLUS

THE PARIS WIFE
Ballantine
2011

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