Book reviews and more!

SOFT APOCALYPSE, by Will McIntosh

September 17, 2011

NEAR-FUTURE DISASTER novel places its slacker protagonist in a world where civilization ends with a whimper.

Grade: SOLID B

SOFT APOCALYPSE
Night Shade Books
2011

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NO REGRETS: THE LIFE OF EDITH PIAF, by Carolyn Burke

September 16, 2011

NEWEST EDITH PIAF biography will delight fans of the French singer with the breadth and depth of its research.

Grade: SOLID B

NO REGRETS: THE LIFE OF EDITH PIAF
Knopf Doubleday
2011

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THIS LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS, by Melissa Coleman

September 15, 2011

HEARTBREAKINGLY DIRECT, BEAUTIFUL and wrenching memoir of a 1970s childhood on a pioneering organic farm.

Grade: B PLUS

THIS LIFE IS IN YOUR HANDS: THE STORY OF MY FAMILY'S DREAM
HarperCollins
2011

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THE NIGHTMARE THIEF, by Meg Gardiner

PAMPERED RICH KIDS on an adventure game turned deadly find help from an intrepid shrink, EMT in tense thriller.

Grade: SOLID B

THE NIGHTMARE THIEF
Penguin Group
2011

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MIDNIGHT MOVIE by Tobe Hooper

September 14, 2011

TOBE HOOPER’S DEBUT novel provides the gritty, witty, gross horror you expect from Mr. Texas Chainsaw Massacre. B PLUS

MIDNIGHT MOVIE
Crown Publishing Group
2011

Grade: B PLUS

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THE INSTANT PHYSICIST by Richard A. Muller

September 13, 2011

LIGHTHEARTED AND INFORMATIVE illustrated look at the physics of everyday life has laughs and facts aplenty. SOLID B

THE INSTANT PHYSICIST
W. W. Norton & Company
2010

Grade: SOLID B

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A MOST DANGEROUS BOOK by Christopher B. Krebs

September 11, 2011

COMPELLING, IMPECCABLY RESEARCHED look at the power of Tacitus in German mythmaking through history. Chilling! B PLUS

A MOST DANGEROUS BOOK: TACITUS’S GERMANIA FROM THE ROMAN EMPIRE TO THE THIRD REICH
Norton, W. W. & Company, Inc.
2011

Grade: B PLUS

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THE SILENT LAND by Graham Joyce

September 10, 2011

GORGEOUSLY ATMOSPHERIC, SPOOKY novel from Graham Joyce. Is it existential mystery? Horror? A gem no matter what. B PLUS

THE SILENT LAND
Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
2011

Grade: B PLUS

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REIGN OF MADNESS by Lynn Cullen

September 9, 2011

JUICY 16TH-CENTURY ROYALTY saga; not the Tudors for a change, but Juana of Castile. Great characterizations! B PLUS

REIGN OF MADNESS
Penguin Group (USA) Incorporated
2011

Grade: B PLUS

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WORLD WAR TWO WILL NOT TAKE PLACE by Bill James

September 8, 2011

INTRIGUING ALTERNATE HISTORY posits a world in which the Hitler-Chamberlain peace talks went differently. SOLID B

WORLD WAR TWO WILL NOT TAKE PLACE
Severn House Publishers Ltd
2011

Grade: SOLID B

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