Book reviews and more!

SOME OF MY LIVES, by Rosamond Bernier

May 3, 2012

AN ELEGANT COLLAGE OF a memoir from writer, art historian Rosamond Bernier; fun and gossipy about the greats.

Grade: SOLID B

SOME OF MY LIVES: A SCRAPBOOK MEMOIR
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
2011

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CHOCOLATE COVERED MURDER, by Leslie Meier

May 2, 2012

CHARMING COZY MYSTERY set in small-town coastal Maine features a local newspaper reporter (and mom) as sleuth.

Grade: SOLID B

CHOCOLATE COVERED MURDER
Kensington
2011

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HIDE ME AMONG THE GRAVES, by Tim Powers

May 1, 2012

INTRICATE VICTORIAN TALE of horror finds ghosts and vampires haunting London’s literati. Chilling and poetic!

Grade: A MINUS

HIDE ME AMONG THE GRAVES
HarperCollins
2012

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THIS LOVE IS NOT FOR COWARDS, by Robert Andrew Powell

April 30, 2012

TOUCHING TRUE STORY of the pride and hope the beleaguered citizens of Ciudad Juárez have found in soccer.

Grade: SOLID B

THIS LOVE IS NOT FOR COWARDS: SALVATION AND SOCCER IN CIUDAD JUAREZ
Bloomsbury USA
2012

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NINETY DAYS: A MEMOIR OF RECOVERY, by Bill Clegg

April 29, 2012

CLEAR-EYED, CANDID, AND BEAUTIFULLY written, Bill Clegg’s memoir of recovery from addiction stirs the soul.

Grade: B PLUS

NINETY DAYS: A MEMOIR OF RECOVERY
Little, Brown
2012

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THE LIVES OF MARGARET FULLER, by John Matteson

April 28, 2012

IMPECCABLY RESEARCHED BIOGRAPHY of the fascinating 19th century American Transcendentalist Margaret Fuller.

Grade: B PLUS

THE LIVES OF MARGARET FULLER: A BIOGRAPHY
W. W. Norton & Company
2012

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THE VOYAGE OF THE ROSE CITY, by John Moynihan

April 27, 2012

SNAPSHOTS OF A LOST ERA vividly captured in a young writer/artist’s diary of his 1980 Merchant Marine voyage.

Grade: SOLID B

THE VOYAGE OF THE ROSE CITY: AN ADVENTURE AT SEA
Random House
2011

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RAYLAN, by Elmore Leonard

April 26, 2012

KENTUCKY NOIR RIDES again in these latest adventures of Elmore Leonard’s US Marshal antihero, Raylan Givens.

Grade: B PLUS

RAYLAN
William Morrow
2012

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RAGNAROK, by A. S. Byatt

April 25, 2012

POETIC, COMPELLING MEDITATION on the power of myth: a girl’s fascination with Norse legend during, after WWII.

Grade: A MINUS

RAGNAROK: THE END OF THE GODS
Grove
2012

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IT’S PROBABLY NOTHING, by Beach Conger

April 24, 2012

CHARMING, CHATTY MEMOIR from a Vermont country doctor has plenty of humor, compassion, and local color.

Grade: SOLID B

IT'S PROBABLY NOTHING: MORE ADVENTURES OF A VERMONT COUNTRY DOCTOR
Chelsea Green
2011

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