Book reviews and more!

MOONFACE: A TRUE ROMANCE, by Angela Balcita

June 13, 2011

THE FUNNIEST, MOST TOUCHING memoir about love and marriage and parenthood and kidney transplants ever written.

Grade: B PLUS

MOONFACE: A TRUE ROMANCE
Harper Perennial
2011

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ROSEANNEARCHY, by Roseanne Barr

June 12, 2011

CAUSTIC AND WITTY as ever, Roseanne Barr’s tidbits of grandmotherly wisdom and snark from her Hawai’i nut farm.

Grade: SOLID B

ROSEANNEARCHY: DISPATCHES FROM THE NUT FARM
Simon and Schuster
2011

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23 THINGS THEY DON’T TELL YOU ABOUT CAPITALISM, by Ha-Joon Chang

June 11, 2011

ACERBIC, ICONOCLASTIC, WITTY take on free-market economists’ dogmas from a University of Cambridge economist.

Grade: A MINUS

23 THINGS THEY DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT CAPITALISM
Bloomsbury
2011

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ALL FACTS CONSIDERED, by Kee Malesky

June 10, 2011

AMUSING COMPENDIUM of random information, curated by NPR’s librarian, may be every nerd’s favorite beach read!

Grade: SOLID B

ALL FACTS CONSIDERED: THE ESSENTIAL LIBRARY OF INESSENTIAL KNOWLEDGE
John Wiley & Sons
2010

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CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE, by Susan Elizabeth Phillips

June 9, 2011

LIGHTHEARTED ROMANTIC COMEDY stars a jaded heroine and the golden boy of a hilariously ridiculous Texas town.

Grade: SOLID B

CALL ME IRRESISTIBLE
HarperCollins
2011

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HISTORY OF A SUICIDE: MY SISTER’S UNFINISHED LIFE, by Jill Bialosky

June 8, 2011

A SISTER’S SHORT LIFE, and her suicide at age 21, are explored by a writer in this poetic, touching memoir.

Grade: B PLUS

HISTORY OF A SUICIDE: MY SISTER'S UNFINISHED LIFE
Atria
2011

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MEDICAL MUSES, by Asti Hustvedt

June 7, 2011

ENGROSSING HIDDEN HISTORY of three 19th-century Frenchwomen whose cases inspired modern neurology, psychology.

Grade: B PLUS

MEDICAL MUSES: HYSTERIA IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY PARIS
W. W. Norton & Company
2011

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ONE WAS A SOLDIER, by Julia Spencer-Fleming

June 6, 2011

RETURNING VETERANS’ ANGUISH, challenges are at the core of this complex, thoughtful mystery, 7th in a series.

Grade: A MINUS

ONE WAS A SOLDIER
St. Martin's
2011

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TITANIC THOMPSON: THE MAN WHO BET ON EVERYTHING, by Kevin Cook

June 5, 2011

FASCINATING BIOGRAPHY of the old-time extreme gambler “Titanic” Thompson, inspiration for GUYS AND DOLLS.

Grade: SOLID B

TITANIC THOMPSON: THE MAN WHO BET ON EVERYTHING
W. W. Norton & Company
2010

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THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DETECTIVE CROSSES THE LINE, by Richard Yancey

June 4, 2011

HAPLESS, NEUROTIC SLEUTH Teddy Ruzak is back with  another complicated (and less lighthearted than usual) case.

Grade: SOLID B

THE HIGHLY EFFECTIVE DETECTIVE CROSSES THE LINE
St. Martin's/Minotaur
2011

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