Book reviews and more!

BETWEEN MAN AND BEAST, by Monte Reel

May 13, 2013

SUPERB TRUE ADVENTURE tale of the first Western explorer/naturalist to study, document (and hunt) gorillas.

Grade: B PLUS

BETWEEN MAN AND BEAST: AN UNLIKELY EXPLORER, THE EVOLUTION DEBATES, AND THE AFRICAN ADVENTURE THAT TOOK THE VICTORIAN WORLD BY STORM
Doubleday
2013

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RAISING CUBBY, by John Elder Robison

May 12, 2013

FIERCE, FUNNY, LOVING memoir of father and son—both creative, adventurous, and living with Asperger’s.

Grade: B PLUS

RAISING CUBBY: A FATHER AND SON'S ADVENTURES WITH ASPERGER'S, TRAINS, TRACTORS, AND HIGH EXPLOSIVES
Crown
2013

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THE BONE MAN, by Wolf Haas

May 11, 2013

WRYLY FUNNY AUSTRIAN private-eye yarn mixes hardboiled detective tropes with a healthy shot of satire.

Grade: B PLUS

THE BONE MAN
Melville House
2013

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DR. BRINKLEY’S TOWER, by Robert Hough

May 10, 2013

A TINY MEXICAN VILLAGE is transformed by a US quack doctor’s pirate radio station. Lovely 1930s historical.

Grade: SOLID B

DR. BRINKLEY'S TOWER
Steerforth Press
2013

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ORKNEY, by Amy Sackville

May 9, 2013

DELICATE AND EVOCATIVE NOVEL tells a modern fairy tale of a professor and his elusive, beautiful young wife.

Grade: B PLUS

ORKNEY
Counterpoint
2013

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BAD PHARMA, by Ben Goldacre

May 8, 2013

“MEDICINE IS BROKEN” argues Dr. Ben Goldacre in an expose of drug testing and marketing as parts of the issue.

Grade: B PLUS

BAD PHARMA: HOW DRUG COMPANIES MISLEAD DOCTORS AND HARM PATIENTS
Faber & Faber
2013

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DEATH OF YESTERDAY, by M. C. Beaton

May 7, 2013

HIGHLAND SLEUTH EXTRAORDINAIRE Hamish Macbeth solves his most complex crime yet.  Wonderful Scottish detail!

Grade: B PLUS

DEATH OF YESTERDAY: A HAMISH MACBETH MYSTERY
Grand Central
2013

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NECESSARY EVIL, by Ian Tregillis

May 6, 2013

NAZI CYBORG WARRIORS, warlock magic, and time travel combine in this brilliant, spooky World War II thriller.

Grade: B PLUS

NECESSARY EVIL
Tor
2013

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FAREWELL, FRED VOODOO, by Amy Wilentz

May 5, 2013

IMAGES OF HAITI after the 2010 earthquake, from a US journalist trying to see past her outsider’s perspective.

Grade: B PLUS

FAREWELL, FRED VOODOO: A LETTER FROM HAITI
Simon & Schuster
2013

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DONNYBROOK, by Frank Bill

May 4, 2013

BRUTAL NO-HOPER NOIR, set against an Indiana landscape of violence and despair.  Grim, gory, haunting.

Grade: B PLUS

DONNYBROOK
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2013

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