You are browsing the archive for August2012
August 31, 2012
A MOTHER’S MEMOIR of her son’s autism, and of his fierce determination to work and advocate for independence.
Grade: SOLID B
NEXT STOP: A MEMOIR OF FAMILY
Putnam/Amy Einhorn Books
2012
Tags: Memoirs, Mental Health and Illness, Non-Fiction, Social and Cultural Commentary, Solid B Reviews
August 30, 2012
SLY, GRIMLY CHARMING prep-school thriller: part HARRIET THE SPY, part THE SECRET HISTORY, entirely engrossing.
Grade: A MINUS
THE YEAR OF THE GADFLY
Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
2012
Tags: A Minus Reviews, Mystery, Novels, Thriller
August 29, 2012
TENSE PARANORMAL THRILLER with a touch of snark as the UK’s supernatural secret service takes on US cultists.
Grade: B PLUS
THE APOCALYPSE CODEX: A LAUNDRY FILES NOVEL
Penguin/Ace
2012
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Fantasy, Novels, Paranormal, Science Fiction
August 28, 2012
COMPELLING, WELL RESEARCHED look at the US’s culture of trash creation and its impact on the environment.
Grade: B PLUS
GARBOLOGY: OUR DIRTY LOVE AFFAIR WITH TRASH
Penguin/Avery
2012
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Environmentalism, Non-Fiction, Social and Cultural Commentary
August 27, 2012
LIGHTHEARTED CHICK-LIT tone sits oddly with the “seeing ghosts” theme of this novel. Great LA details, though!
Grade: SOLID B
THE AFTER WIFE
Random House
2012
Tags: Novels, Solid B Reviews, Women's Fiction
August 26, 2012
RETURNING TO DETROIT after a mysterious murder, a man and woman find new hope as well as answers. Atmospheric.
Grade: B MINUS
SAY NICE THINGS ABOUT DETROIT
W. W. Norton & Company
2012
Tags: B Minus Reviews, Mystery, Novels
August 25, 2012
MEDITATIVE, ELOQUENT ESSAYS from novelist Marilynne Robinson touch on faith, aging, and the joy of reading.
Grade: B PLUS
WHEN I WAS A CHILD I READ BOOKS: ESSAYS
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2012
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Essays, Non-Fiction, Religion and Spirituality, Social and Cultural Commentary
August 24, 2012
CHARMING COMIC NOVEL in blog form follows a sweet but dim English housewife through a crash course in reality.
Grade: SOLID B
A SURREY STATE OF AFFAIRS
Penguin Group/Pamela Dorman Books
2012
Tags: Humor, Novels, Solid B Reviews, Women's Fiction
August 23, 2012
QUIRKY, HIGHLY INFORMATIVE overview of laws about sexual behavior from Hammurabi to the trial of Oscar Wilde.
Grade: SOLID B
SEX AND PUNISHMENT: FOUR THOUSAND YEARS OF JUDGING DESIRE
Counterpoint
2012
Tags: History, Legal History, LGBTQ Interest, Non-Fiction, Sexuality, Social and Cultural Commentary, Solid B Reviews
August 22, 2012
GORGEOUS, ELEGAIC PRIVATE-EYE yarn captures the spirit of 1970s Chile–with poet Pablo Neruda as the client!
Grade: B PLUS
THE NERUDA CASE
Penguin
2012
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Chile, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Novels