December 9, 2012
WISTFUL, COMPELLING GHOST story in the grand English tradition of Daphne du Maurier and Susan Hill.
Grade: SOLID B
THE GREATCOAT: A GHOST STORY
Atlantic Monthly Press
2012
Tags: Historical Fiction, Horror, Novels, Paranormal, Solid B Reviews
December 8, 2012
EXTRAORDINARY, SWEEPING STORY set in 1950s Malaysia covers questions of love, art, war, cruelty, and beauty.
Grade: A MINUS
THE GARDEN OF EVENING MISTS
Weinstein Publishing
2012
Tags: A Minus Reviews, Historical Fiction, Malaysia, Malaysian Writers, Novels
December 7, 2012
DELICATE, KEENLY OBSERVED novel follows a young girl through the fracture of her family in 1970s Minnesota.
Grade: B PLUS
BUTTER
Northern Illinois University Press/Switchgrass Books
2012
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Novels
December 6, 2012
19TH CENTURY AUSTRALIA comes alive with vivid detail in this picaresque novel of a self-willed, self-made man.
Grade: B PLUS
UTOPIAN MAN
Allen and Unwin
2012
Tags: Australia, B Plus Reviews, Historical Fiction, Novels
December 5, 2012
THE INCOMPARABLE KENYAN WRITER Ngugi wa Thiong’o’s second volume of memoir juxtaposes political and personal.
Grade: A MINUS
IN THE HOUSE OF THE INTERPRETER: A MEMOIR
Knopf Doubleday
2012
Tags: A Minus Reviews, African Writers, Black Writers, Kenya, Kenyan Writers, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Politics, Social and Cultural Commentary
December 4, 2012
SHARP FRENCH THRILLER has an admirably complex plot, lots of action, intriguing neuroscience-fiction premise.
Grade: SOLID B
SYNDROME E
Viking
2012
Tags: Mystery, Novels, Science Fiction, Solid B Reviews, Thriller
December 3, 2012
PLUCKY PLUS-SIZED PARALEGAL and sleuth Odelia Grey is on another complex murder case. Well-done cozy fun!
Grade: SOLID B
HIDE AND SNOOP
Midnight Ink
2012
Tags: Mystery, Novels, Solid B Reviews
CHARMING SCIENCE-FICTION SATIRE pits an entertainment lawyer against the rest of the universe. Snarky fun!
Grade: SOLID B
YEAR ZERO
Del Rey
2012
Tags: Humor, Novels, Science Fiction, Solid B Reviews
December 2, 2012
BITTERSWEET, NUANCED MEMOIR of the writer’s brilliant mother and her too-early decline into dementia. B PLUS
ALL GONE
Riverhead Hardcover
2012
Grade: B PLUS
Tags: B Plus Reviews
December 1, 2012
BITTERSWEET, NUANCED MEMOIR of the writer’s brilliant mother and her too-early decline into dementia.
Grade: B PLUS
ALL GONE: A MEMOIR OF MY MOTHER'S DEMENTIA. WITH REFRESHMENTS
Riverhead
2012
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Family, Memoirs, Mental Health and Illness, Neuroscience, Non-Fiction