Book reviews, book-related news and author interviews
Updated: 12 min 28 sec ago
Tue, 07/06/2010 - 08:15
We were off having too much independent fun on the fourth of July to comment on The Huffington Post’s very interesting piece covering “15 Feisty Small Presses and the Books You’re Going to Want From Them.” Clearly, however, this is something we all want to note:To celebrate Independence Day, here are 15 small presses that exemplify the best qualities of this publishing tradition -- so
Mon, 07/05/2010 - 17:00
Beryl Bainbridge (The Bottle Factory Outing, Every Man for Himself) died last week of complications due to cancer. The former actor and award-winning author had been called one of the best novelists of her generation. From her obituary in The Guardian:Darkness lay at the heart of her vision and her most compelling characters. One of the publishers who rejected Harriet Said, the first novel she
Mon, 07/05/2010 - 16:02
While the e-book price wars heat up, a more basic debate is afoot. Forget what kind of electronic book is actually better, which is faster? Electronic books? Or the traditionally printed variety? A recent study delivers some surprising answers. From PCWorld:It will take you longer to read a book on an iPad or Kindle compared to the printed page, according to a recent study. Dr. Jakob Nielsen of
Fri, 07/02/2010 - 16:00
When crime fictionist Peter Temple’s 2005 novel, The Broken Shore, was longlisted for Australia’s most prestigious literary prize, he thought someone had made a mistake. So when his current novel, Truth, actually won the Miles Franklin Award last week, he told The Guardian that he was “absolutely humbled.” From The Guardian:Temple is the first crime novelist ever to win the Miles Franklin,
Thu, 07/01/2010 - 07:45
There’s so much magic in Shapeshifter (Orca Books) it’s difficult to know where to begin. Set in iron age Ireland, we meet Sive a gifted singer who becomes trapped in the body of a deer.The story itself is beautiful and adventure-filled and Bennett’s magic transports us.She could, if she wished, sing a king and his servants to sleep and rob him of his treasures, take revenge on a rival by
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 18:14
There’s something spirited and satisfying in Gayle Brandeis’ prose. She pushes at language with a poet’s heart and skill, leaving us breathless and always wishing for more.All of that was certainly the case with her astonishing The Book of Dead Birds, which won the Bellwether Prize. And it’s true again in Delta Girls (Ballantine), a rich and gorgeous ride with two very different women: a single
Wed, 06/30/2010 - 16:00
Las Vegas-based Central Recovery Press publishes books with a very tight focus. As their name implies, all of CRP’s titles deal with issues of addiction and recovery. While this might seem an almost impossibly esoteric publishing mandate, CRP’s narrow focus ensures that the message they send to the world is measured and deliberate. “Central Recovery Press is committed to offering exceptional
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 12:00
With Andy safely bundled off to college, presumably, Toy Story 3 will be the final installment in what has been a phenomenally successful movie franchise. It’s difficult now to remember that the first movie, 1995’s Toy Story, revolutionized the way animation was both made and seen. But I remember that movie being huge and ground-breaking. The latest film seems to me to have broken less ground,
Tue, 06/29/2010 - 08:07
From the very first, The Zero Mile Diet (Harbour Publishing) makes the 100 Mile Diet seem like last week’s news. That’s no accident. Bestselling author and accomplished seed grower and vendor Carolyn Herriot has pushed the idea of sustainability right to the very edge. Never mind being able to find everything you eat within a 100 mile radius. What about finding everything you need right in your
Mon, 06/28/2010 - 19:17
There’s a certain dependable niceness about Kevin Alan Milne’s storytelling. You understand that there will be upset and dissent, perhaps some confusion. But no one will spend a year tortured and locked in a mountain cabin and if there’s any blood at all, it won’t be the sort that’s cheaply spilled. And you won’t need to skip ahead to see how it all turns out as you can be confident that there’s
Mon, 06/28/2010 - 15:48
Even women who don’t consider themselves to be high achievers will find consolation and potential direction in Wander Woman (Berrett-Koehler). Organizational psychologist and certified master coach Marcia Reynolds here explores some of the feminine myths woven through the modern corporation.Reynolds posits that there is a new generation of women in the workplace: they are both driven and
Fri, 06/25/2010 - 12:00
There’s a great deal to like about The Art of McSweeney’s (Chronicle Books). It is dense with ideas, stuffed with creativity and practically choked by talent. But the thing to like best, at least from where I’m standing, is that The Art of McSweeney’s is like a single volume celebration of the book and a thumb of the nose at the sky-is-falling crowd. Did you say the book has no future? Well The
Thu, 06/24/2010 - 21:15
We loved Kamran Pasha’s debut novel, 2009’s Mother of the Believers. Shadow of the Swords (Washington Square Press) delivers the same rich voice, this time in an epic tale of the Crusades from a perspective you’ve likely never seen before. But though seeing this story from the Muslim viewpointmay be a different place for a Western reader to stand, it is not mere novelty that makes Shadow of the
Thu, 06/24/2010 - 16:00
Not sure how I missed this piece in The Baltimore Sun by the wonderful, thoughtful Garrison Keillor but, despite a dateline nearly one month old, the story has held up very well.Self-publishing will destroy the aura of martyrdom that writers have enjoyed for centuries. Tortured geniuses, rejected by publishers, etc., etc. If you publish yourself, this doesn't work anymore, alas.Interesting
Tue, 06/22/2010 - 07:57
A college student and former army brat hooks herself to a man she’s never met who is 13 years her senior and crosses the country in order to be his companion. Along the way to a life filled with hardship, deprivation and riches she discovers the physical strength to deal with her uncertain reality as well as the spiritual strength to handle challenges beyond any her sheltered upbringing had
Mon, 06/21/2010 - 17:00
The Wildkin’s Curse (Macmillan) a so-called “companion volume” to The Starthorn Tree, can be read as a stand-alone story, though it takes place some years later.The novel is set in a world in which there are different types of people -- the aristocratic starkin, the lower-class hearthkin and the wildkin, who are more or less human, but with an elvish feel about them -- pointed ears and magical
Mon, 06/21/2010 - 16:00
The Australian’s Graeme Blundell muses on the overwhelming popularity of crime fiction, making some interesting observations along the way:A generation ago, crime writing was a minority taste, for many a puritan pleasure, not always admitted to in public; reading mysteries was a sabbatical for the serious-minded. The blockbusters of the ’60s and ’70s, for example, the novels of Irving Stone,
Sat, 06/19/2010 - 08:00
You begin expecting one thing and come upon something entirely different. Unexpected. That describes both Kurt Hoelting’s life of late and it describes his book, The Circumference of Home (Da Capo) an unexpectedly poetic story of one man’s personal mission for change.Hoelting states his mission plainly enough when he describes The Circumference of Home as “one man’s attempt to confront his own
Sat, 06/19/2010 - 07:43
What sort of impact does war have on the human psyche and experience? That's the territory Donna Milner tackles in her lovely sophomore novel, The Promise of Rain (McArthur & Company).The author’s 2009 debut, After River, was quietly published and widely lauded, including a nomination for the IMPAC Award and publication in a dozen countries.The Promise of Rain, covers territory that is different
Fri, 06/18/2010 - 15:30
After a wait of nearly five years, the Wizarding World of Happy Potter opens today. Harry Potter fans from around the world are expected to flock to Orlando, Florida for an up-close-and-personal look at the world of J.K. Rowling’s fictional characters come to life. From The Telegraph:The attraction officially opens today, and to say early visitors are beating the rush is a vast understatement.
