March 25, 2011
THE GREAT AMERICAN Opera Novel is sprawling, sensual, erudite, campy, and not for everyone–just like opera!
Grade: B PLUS
THE METROPOLIS CASE
Crown
2010
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Historical Fiction, LGBTQ Interest, Music, New York City, Novels
March 24, 2011
THE DELIGHTFULLY CANTANKEROUS Puzzle Lady is back in her 12th mystery. Lots of fun, as ever, and a strong plot.
Grade: B PLUS
THE KENKEN KILLINGS
St. Martin's/Minotaur
2011
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Mystery, Novels
March 23, 2011
CANDID, UPBEAT MEMOIR of divorce from a women’s magazine editor surprised by her husband’s choice to leave.
Grade: SOLID B
FALLING APART IN ONE PIECE: ONE OPTIMIST'S JOURNEY THROUGH THE HELL OF DIVORCE
Simon and Schuster
2010
Tags: Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Solid B Reviews
March 22, 2011
YEE-HAW! THE HOLMES on the Range boys vs. rival detectives at Chicago’s 1893 Exposition. Lots of thrills here!
Grade: A MINUS
WORLD'S GREATEST SLEUTH! A HOLMES ON THE RANGE MYSTERY
St. Martin's/Minotaur
2011
Tags: A Minus Reviews, Historical Fiction, Mystery, Novels
March 21, 2011
ENGAGING HISTORY of the early 20th century’s most influential anarchists, communists, Utopians, fringe thinkers.
Grade: B PLUS
THE WORLD THAT NEVER WAS: A TRUE STORY OF DREAMERS, SCHEMERS, ANARCHISTS, AND SECRET AGENTS
Pantheon
2010
Tags: B Plus Reviews, History, Non-Fiction, Politics
March 20, 2011
THOUGHTFUL, WARM-HEARTED, and snarky memoir of high-risk parenting by the mother of an extremely premature baby.
Grade: SOLID B
HALF BAKED: THE STORY OF MY NERVES, MY NEWBORN, AND HOW WE BOTH LEARNED TO BREATHE
Running Press
2010
Tags: Health, Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Parenting, Solid B Reviews
March 19, 2011
ROLLICKING HISTORICAL MYSTERY adds a salty madam of a heroine to the usual Victorian intrigue.
Grade: SOLID B
INDIA BLACK
Penguin/Berkley
2011
Tags: Historical Fiction, Mystery, Novels, Solid B Reviews, Women's Fiction
March 18, 2011
A JOURNEY INSIDE the power and processes of reading and writing, delicately led by Turkish Nobelist Orhan Pamuk.
Grade: B PLUS
THE NAIVE AND THE SENTIMENTAL NOVELIST
Harvard University Press
2010
Tags: B Plus Reviews, Literary Criticism, Literary History, Non-Fiction, Turkish Writers
March 17, 2011
CHARLIE CHAN LIVES in this utterly absorbing look at the real Hawai’i cop who inspired the fictional detective.
Grade: A MINUS
CHARLIE CHAN: THE UNTOLD STORY OF THE HONORABLE DETECTIVE AND HIS RENDEZVOUS WITH AMERICAN HISTORY
W. W. Norton & Company
2010
Tags: A Minus Reviews, Biography, Chinese Writers, Chinese-American Writers, Hawai'i, History, Literary History, Non-Fiction, United States, Writers of Color
March 16, 2011
SNARK MEETS SELF-HELP in this comedian’s memoir of her past relationship disasters. Some laughs, some insights.
Grade: SOLID B
I DON'T CARE ABOUT YOUR BAND
Gotham
2010
Tags: Memoirs, Non-Fiction, Solid B Reviews