Book reviews and more!

GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE, by James Lasdun

May 3, 2013

CANDID, UNSETTLING, ELOQUENT memoir from a writer who was the target of a former student’s obsession.

Grade: B PLUS

GIVE ME EVERYTHING YOU HAVE: ON BEING STALKED
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2013

Tags: , , , ,

THE OFFICE OF MERCY, by Ariel Djanikian

May 2, 2013

ON A POSTAPOCALYPTIC EARTH, bunker-dwelling survivors try to regiment the world around them.  Thoughtful SF.

Grade: B PLUS

THE OFFICE OF MERCY
Viking
2013

Tags: , , ,

SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES, by Alan Bradley

May 1, 2013

WONDERFUL ENGLISH COZY features a precocious sleuth, a spooky tomb, and various 1950s village shenanigans.

Grade: B PLUS

SPEAKING FROM AMONG THE BONES: A FLAVIA DE LUCE NOVEL
Delacorte
2013

Tags: , , ,

THE DINNER, by Herman Koch, translated by Sam Garrett

April 30, 2013

SAVAGE BLACK COMEDY mocks social climbing, politics, family ties, Dutch society, the idea of sanity itself.

Grade: A MINUS

THE DINNER
Random House/Crown/Hogarth
2013

Tags: ,

AFTER VISITING FRIENDS, by Michael Hainey

April 29, 2013

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS ABOUT his father’s 1970 death inspire a reporter to dig deep into his family history.

Grade: SOLID B

AFTER VISITING FRIENDS: A SON'S STORY
Scribner
2013

Tags: , ,

THE TELEPORTATION ACCIDENT, by Ned Beauman

April 28, 2013

A WILD HISTORICAL PICARESQUE races from 1930s Berlin to LA, complete with pulp staples like ghosts and spies.

Grade: B PLUS

THE TELEPORTATION ACCIDENT
Bloomsbury
2013

Tags: , , ,

THE PRINCE OF PARADISE, by John Glatt

April 27, 2013

A PAMPERED HOTEL HEIR, a troubled marriage, and a brutal murder add up to a compelling true crime story.

Grade: SOLID B

THE PRINCE OF PARADISE: THE TRUE STORY OF A HOTEL HEIR, HIS SEDUCTIVE WIFE, AND A RUTHLESS MURDER
St. Martin's
2013

Tags: , ,

STORM KINGS, by Lee Sandlin

April 26, 2013

EARLY TORNADO CHASERS in the US, from Ben Franklin through the 20th century, profiled in a lively history.

Grade: B PLUS

STORM KINGS: THE UNTOLD HISTORY OF AMERICA'S FIRST TORNADO CHASERS
Pantheon
2013

Tags: , , , , , ,

THE ABUNDANCE, by Amit Majmudar

April 25, 2013

TOUCHING, GRACEFUL NOVEL about adult children caring for aging parents, connecting with their Indian heritage.

Grade: B PLUS

THE ABUNDANCE
Henry Holt & Company
2013

Tags: , , , ,

THE MYTHS OF HAPPINESS, by Sonja Lyubomirsky

April 24, 2013

UPDATES FROM THE HAPPINESS psychology front, with a fresh take on conventional wisdom about joy, satisfaction.

Grade: B PLUS

THE MYTHS OF HAPPINESS: WHAT SHOULD MAKE YOU HAPPY, BUT DOESN'T; WHAT SHOULDN'T MAKE YOU HAPPY, BUT DOES
Penguin
2013

Tags: , , , , ,