Category: book reviews

Book Talk: LOVE HER, LOVE HER NOT: THE HILLARY PARADOX, edited by Joanne C. Bamberger
December 3, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: LOVE HER, LOVE HER NOT: THE HILLARY PARADOX, edited by Joanne C. Bamberger

Love Her, Love Her Not: The Hillary Paradox edited by Joanne Cronrath Bamberger (Twitter) She Writes Press (November 2015), trade paper (ISBN 1631528068 / 9781631528064) Nonfiction: politics/essays, 226 pages   A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (November 24, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. This post contains affiliate links to Indiebound. […]

(Audio)book Talk: YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST) by Felicia Day, read by the author
November 19, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)book Talk: YOU’RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST) by Felicia Day, read by the author

  You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost): A Memoir Felicia Day (book website) (Twitter) (Facebook) Audiobook read by the author Touchstone Books (August 2015), hardcover (ISBN 1476785651 / 9781476785653) Nonfiction: memoir, 272 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Simon & Schuster Audio, August 2015, ISBN 9781442386822)   This review contains links to indiebound.org   In the introduction to her memoir You’re Never Weird on the Internet (Almost), Felicia Day describes herself as “Comic-Con famous.” In the nerdy, Comic-Con-adjacent circles I hover […]

(Audio)Book Talk: CAREER OF EVIL by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling), read by Robert Glenister
November 17, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: CAREER OF EVIL by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling), read by Robert Glenister

Career of Evil (A Cormoran Strike Novel) Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling) Audiobook read by Robert Glenister Mulholland Books (October 2015), hardcover (ISBN 0316349933 / 9780316349932) Fiction (mystery/crime), 512 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Hachette Audio, October 2015, 9781478962670, Audible ASIN B014JXQMEG)   This review contains affiliate links to Indiebound.org.         A few weeks ago, not long after I’d found myself idly wondering when J.K. Rowling’s crime-writing alter ego, Robert Galbraith, would have a new book […]

(Audio)Book Talk: NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman, read by the author
October 27, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: NEVERWHERE by Neil Gaiman, read by the author

Neverwhere: The Author’s Preferred Text Neil Gaiman (Twitter) Audiobook read by the author William Morrow (2015), hardcover reprint (ISBN 0062371053 / 9780062371058) Fiction: fantasy, 336 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Harper Audio, 2007, ISBN 9780061549113, Audible ASIN B000XSAXXS) for the Neverwhere Readalong (#NeverwhereRAL), October 2015   This post contains affiliate links to Indiebound.   —————————————————————————————————–     My official line is that I rarely read “genre” fiction. I’ve recently realized that my only real support for […]

(E)Book Talk: LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE by Jessica Knoll
October 13, 2015 book reviews, reading

(E)Book Talk: LUCKIEST GIRL ALIVE by Jessica Knoll

Luckiest Girl Alive: A Novel Jessica Knoll (Twitter) (Facebook) Simon & Schuster (May 2015), hardcover (ISBN 9781476789637) Fiction: 350 pages Source: Purchased ebook (iBooks, ISBN 9781476789651) This post contains affiliate links to IndieBound. The discussion contains potential spoilers for the novel Luckiest Girl Alive. High-school humiliation, shocking tragedy, personal reinvention, the conviction that the “right” old-money marriage will change your life; we’re all pretty well acquainted with the plot points of Jessica Knoll’s first novel, […]

Book Talk: PRESCHOOLED by Anna Lefler
October 8, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: PRESCHOOLED by Anna Lefler

Preschooled: A Novel Anna Lefler (Twitter) (Facebook) Full Fathom Five Digital (2015), trade paper (ISBN 1633700712 / 9781633700710) Fiction, 336 pages Source: ARC provided by the author I have known Anna Lefler since 2008, when we met as contributors to the Los Angeles Moms Blog, and consider her a friend. I was happy to be offered an advance copy of her first published novel, and while I admit to being predisposed in its favor, I […]

(Audio)Book Talk; SECONDHAND SOULS by Christopher Moore, read by Fisher Stevens
October 6, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk; SECONDHAND SOULS by Christopher Moore, read by Fisher Stevens

Secondhand Souls: A Novel Christopher Moore (Twitter) (Facebook) Audiobook read by Fisher Stevens William Morrow Books (August 2015), hardcover (ISBN 0061779784 / 9780061779787) Fiction, 352 pages Source: Audiobook borrowed from Los Angeles Public Library via Overdrive (Harper Audio, August 2015; ISBN 9780062374103) ————————————————————————————————————-   There’s a colony of ghosts inhabiting the Golden Gate Bridge, and they’ve started talking to Mike Sullivan, the bridge painter. A banshee—harbinger of death—has been visiting retired police officer/reluctant soul-recoverer/bookselling Death […]

(Audio)Book Talk: IT’S WHAT I DO by Lynsey Addario, read by Tavia Gilbert
October 1, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: IT’S WHAT I DO by Lynsey Addario, read by Tavia Gilbert

It’s What I Do: A Photographer’s Life of Love and War Lynsey Addario (Twitter) (Facebook) Audiobook read by Tavia Gilbert Penguin Press (February 2015), hardcover (ISBN 159420537X / 9781594205378) Nonfiction: memoir/journalism, 368 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Blackstone Audio, February 2015: ISBN 9781481505833, Audible ASIN B00SYNWZBC) This post contains affiliate links to IndieBound.   —————————————————————————————————————       Photojournalist Lynsey Addario has done much of her work in a post-9/11 world, in the part of the world […]

Book Talk; GOOD MOURNING by Elizabeth Meyer (via Shelf Awareness)
September 29, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk; GOOD MOURNING by Elizabeth Meyer (via Shelf Awareness)

Good Mourning: A Memoir Elizabeth Meyer (Twitter) (Facebook), with Caitlin Moscatello Gallery Books (August 25, 2015), hardcover (ISBN 1476783616 / 9781476783611) Nonfiction: memoir, 288 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (September 11, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. This post contains affiliate links to Indiebound. Good Mourning is the story […]

Book Talk: THE ADMISSIONS by Meg Mitchell Moore (via Shelf Awareness)
September 24, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: THE ADMISSIONS by Meg Mitchell Moore (via Shelf Awareness)

The Admissions: A Novel Meg Mitchell Moore (Twitter) (Facebook) Doubleday (August 18, 2015), Hardcover (ISBN 0385540043 / 9780385540049) Fiction, 320 pages   A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (September 4, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. This post contains affiliate links to IndieBound.   The Admissions is Meg Mitchell Moore’s account of a very eventful autumn for the Hawthornes of Marin […]

Book Talk: WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner (via Shelf Awareness)
September 22, 2015 book reviews, reading

Book Talk: WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner (via Shelf Awareness)

Who Do You Love: A Novel Jennifer Weiner (Twitter) (Facebook) Atria Books (August 11, 2015), Hardcover (145161781X / 9781451617818) Fiction, 400 pages $27.00   A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (August 28, 2015). Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received and posted. This post contains affiliate links to IndieBound.   ————————————————————————————————————— In Who Do You Love, Jennifer Weiner […]

(Audio)Book Talk: STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel, read by Kirsten Potter
September 17, 2015 book reviews, reading

(Audio)Book Talk: STATION ELEVEN by Emily St. John Mandel, read by Kirsten Potter

Station Eleven: A Novel Emily St. John Mandel (Twitter) Audiobook read by Kirsten Potter Vintage (June 2015), trade paper (ISBN 9780804172448) Fiction, 352 pages Source: Audiobook borrowed from Los Angeles Public Library via Overdrive.com (Random House Audio, June 2014, ISBN 9780553397987)   This post contains affiliate links to Indiebound. I’m inconsistent in my response to “everyone’s talking about it” novels, but more often than not, I tend to wait until the talk has died down a bit. Everyone was talking […]