Book reviews, book-related news and author interviews
Updated: 49 min 40 sec ago
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 07:31
In some ways, having a crisp new copy of Thomas H. Raddall’s Halifax: Warden of the North (Nimbus) in hand seems like something of a miracle. First published in 1948, Halifax: Warden of the North won the Governor Generals Award for non-fiction in that year and, in editions in the years between, it has always been a standard text and research tool on the history of Halifax, Nova Scotia.The book
Tue, 06/01/2010 - 01:02
You can blame the economic downturn for sending readers scurrying for the unreal. Or you could look at Stephanie Meyers or further back and point fingers at Bram Stoker or Anne Rice but, whatever the case, vampires are everywhere this season.I can’t imagine that there is market enough for all of the books being published with vampiric themes. After all, once bitten, do you really need to go back?
Mon, 05/31/2010 - 16:00
On the off-chance you’re not sick to death of hearing about Larry King, his 2009 biography is now available in paperback. Considering all the King-related news lately, some of the most recent personal material in the book is given a new spin. Even so, much of what made Larry King: My Remarkable Journey (Weinstein Books) highly readable a year ago is no less interesting now. King is, after all,
Sun, 05/30/2010 - 13:00
With eight very strong books to her credit, Terry Griggs is coming to be recognized as one of Canada’s foremost children’s storytellers (even though it was her short fiction collection, Quickening, that was shortlisted for the Governor General’s Award.)Griggs is perhaps best known for the books that make up the Cat’s Eye Corner trilogy: Cat’s Eye Corner, The Silver Door and Invisible Ink. Young
Sun, 05/30/2010 - 08:08
There is only one thing really compelling about The Trials of Roderick Spode (Sourcebooks) and that’s the name of the spine. That is, it would be the name on the spine if the book were thick enough to have one. But the name, in our culture, is legendary and certainly spine-worthy: David Mamet. Yes that David Mamet -- after all, there can only be one -- Speed-the-Plow, Glengarry Glenross, Wag the
Sat, 05/29/2010 - 16:00
The second day of Book Expo was brighter than the first. There was something about the energy of the room. People seemed a little looser; I certainly was. I got Jeff Kinney to record a short video for my 9-year-old son’s class. I scored a nice pile of galleys. I accidentally met a publicist I’ve known only through e-mail and telephone calls (he looked nothing like I thought he would). I grabbed
Fri, 05/28/2010 - 07:45
The literary world of Shirley Jackson (1916-1965) was an ephemeral place, and not in a pretty way. To look through Jackson-tinted glasses is to never be quite sure what you’re looking at. A calm day in a normal life can erupt into a madness -- and perhaps back -- in the blink of an eye.Shirley Jackson: Novel & Stories (Library of America) is edited by another esteemed writer of whose work has a
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 23:59
Well, this is a surprise. From The New York Times:The next James Bond book will be written by Jeffery Deaver, the best-selling thriller writer, Simon & Schuster announced on Thursday. The novel, with the working title “Project X,” is expected to be set in the present day and take Bond to at least three “exotic locations around the globe.” It is scheduled for publication in May 2011. Mr. Deaver,
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 17:31
BookExpo America -- Mecca for the North American book business -- is happening now in New York City. Usually a massive, three-day weekend affair of parties, galleys and schmoozing, this year’s show is toned down a bit to two days during the week. Instead of occupying two full floors at Jacob Javits Center, the whole show takes place in one very big room and several meeting rooms. It’s still a
Thu, 05/27/2010 - 17:28
I did not warm instantly to David J. Williams’ Autumn Rain trilogy. Looking back, there’s really only one reason for this: the future he paints -- with panache and skill -- is a little too real and some of what he writes is a little too close for comfort. Like a lot of people, most of the time I’m happiest taking my SF/F with some rose-colored glasses, in a way. I want it to feel real, but it
Wed, 05/26/2010 - 16:34
When Artie Shaw died in 2004 at the age of 94, I was among those surprised that he was still alive: he had quit performing half a century before. “I did all you can do with a clarinet,” Shaw said about his early retirement. “Any more would have been less.”Tom Nolan’s account of Shaw’s life in Three Chords for Beauty’s Sake (W.W. Norton) is both respectful and in-depth. Author and journalist Nolan
Tue, 05/25/2010 - 14:21
Love and revenge is a sweet and sour mix that permeates the lives of the secret agents in Olen Steinhauer’s The Nearest Exit (Minotaur). In this new novel’s prologue, Henry Gray, a young hack journalist, is tossed off his balcony. He is in the possession of an enigmatic letter from the now dead director of The Company, Tom Grainger. The Company was introduced in Steinhauer’s previous thriller,
Tue, 05/25/2010 - 08:16
While I found Baby Body Signs (Bantam) to be a tremendously interesting book, I’m not convinced it’s a good idea. While it’s interesting to know when a snoring baby is okay and when the snoring might be a sign of sleep apnea and it’s probably not a bad thing to know what sort of freckles might signal a rare genetic disorder, is this really information that new parents should be loaded up with?
Tue, 05/25/2010 - 00:34
Our sister publication, The Rap Sheet, was born on this day four years ago. In honor of the event, Rap Sheet editor J. Kingston Pierce looks back on the incredible highlights of the last 52 weeks of crime fiction coverage here.
Mon, 05/24/2010 - 20:00
Barcelona-born Carlos Ruiz Zafón’s debut novel, The Shadow of the Wind, was an international bestseller and something of a publishing phenomena. His follow-up, The Angel’s Game, was -- arguably -- one of the most important books published last year: out last week in a stunning paperback edition from Anchor Books.Ruiz Zafón’s lush and gothic brand of magic realism keeps readers wondering at the
Sat, 05/22/2010 - 12:00
One can get blasé. Yet another cookbook, chockfull of brilliantly illustrated recipes. If you love cookbooks -- as I really do -- it’s difficult to not get jaded after a time. But flipping through Stonewall Kitchen Appetizers (Chronicle Books), completely prepared to yawn while turning pages, one recipe after another caught my eye and fired my imagination. The flavors, the textures, the daring
Sat, 05/22/2010 - 07:05
While we love the energy that’s been expended to create Orca Book’s new Rapid Reads series, it seems to us to be one of those ideas that look good on paper before you realize that the mousetrap has been reimagined... and it’s still just a mousetrap.Rapid Reads launched this spring with four titles: Love You to Death by Gail Bowen, The Middle Ground by Zoe Whittall, The Spider Bites by Medora Sale
Fri, 05/21/2010 - 18:15
At first glance, Natural Houses (Princeton Architectural Press) seems very specific. And it is, I suppose. It’s a very tight and beautifully published portfolio of the work of a single design firm: that of Andersson-Wise in Austin, Texas. But those passionate -- or even interested -- in a new design vernacular will do well to have a close look at the living visions of Chris Wise and Arthur
Fri, 05/21/2010 - 16:54
Mary Sharratt’s richly imagined new novel hinges on a set of historically documented witch trials that took place in 17th century England.Sharratt (The Real Minerva, Vanishing Point) brings her magic to Daughters of the Witching Hill (Houghton Mifflin), delivering a complex set of characters and establishing just the right note of doubt: were they innocent women? Or was there something to the
