Thanks to Julie Harabedian at FSB Associates for making this book available for review (months ago – sorry it’s taken me so long to get to it)! Home Girl: Building a Dream House on a Lawless Block Judith Matloff Random House, 2008 (hardcover) (ISBN 1400065267 / 9781400065264) Nonfiction/memoir, 304 pages First sentence: I needed to get a second look. After all, I had just pledged our entire savings on a house in Harlem, without informing […]
This review is based on an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) received through LibraryThing’s Early Reviewers Program. Honeymoon in Tehran: Two Years of Love and Danger in Iran Azadeh Moaveni Random House, 2009 (hardcover) (ISBN 140006645X / 9781400066452) Memoir, 352 pages First sentence: In the late spring of 2005, I returned to Iran to report on the country’s presidential election. Book Description (summarized): In 2005, Azadeh Moaveni, longtime Middle East correspondent for Time magazine, returns to […]
>>Thanks to Anna Jarzab of Authors on the Web for offering me the opportunity to read and review this book – sorry it’s taken so long! (My copy is an ARC; the book was published in October 2008). Buffalo Gal Laura Pedersen Fulcrum Publishing, 2008 (paperback original) (ISBN 1555916929 / 9781555916923) Memoir, 256 pages First sentence: “Buffalo, New York, probably turns out more priests and nuns than any other city, except perhaps Rome.” (That’s the […]
(I don’t participate in The Sunday Salon, but it seems like Sunday is a good alternate day for posting book reviews if they don’t show up here on Thursdays. New year, new tradition?) Thanks to Felicia Sinusas of Jane Wesman Public Relations for noticing this book on my wish list and arranging for me to receive a copy to read and review – sorry it’s taken so long! The Pages in Between: A Holocaust Legacy […]
My Book Talk Master List, which is always linked in my sidebar, contains links to all the posts where I have reviewed books, and has been updated for 2008 year-to-date. Strictly from a number-crunching perspective, 35 books works out to about 1.5 weeks per book or 0.6 books per week, which is probably not bad generally, but for someone who counts herself as a member of the book-blogging community, it’s just sad. If I were […]
Thanks to Lisa Munley of TLC Book Tours for offering me the chance to read and review this book! Keeping Kids Out of the Middle: Child-Centered Parenting in the Midst of Confiict, Separation, and Divorce Benjamin Garber, Ph.D HCI Publications, 2008 (ISBN 0757307116 / 978-0757307119) Nonfiction: Health/Relationships, 292 pages Book description (via TLC Book Tours website – summarized): When co-parents conflict, their kids get caught in the middle. They become “adultified,” infantilized, and alienated. They’re […]
Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time Rob Sheffield Three Rivers Press, 2007 (paperback) (ISBN 1400083036 / 9781400083039) Nonfiction/memoir, 240 pages First Sentence: The playback: last night, Brooklyn, a pot of coffee, and a chair by the window. I’m listening to a mix tape from 1993. Book Description: In the 1990s, when “alternative” was suddenly mainstream, bands like Pearl Jam and Pavement, Nirvana and R.E.M.—bands that a year before […]
Disclosure: I was provided with a free copy of this book for review via Nicole Bruce at The Book Report Network. I received no other compensation. Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon–And the Journey of a Generation Sheila Weller Atria Books, 2008 (hardcover) (ISBN 0743491475 / 9780743491471) Biography/music/history, 592 pages First Sentence: One day after school, fourteen-year-old Carole Klein sat on the edge of her bed in a room wallpapered with pictures […]
Disclosure: A copy of this book was sent to me for review via Nicole Bruce at Authors on the Web. I received no other compensation. Apples and Oranges: My Brother and Me, Lost and FoundMarie Brenner Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, 2008 (ISBN 0374173524 / 9780374173524)Memoir, 288 pages First Sentence: We fight at the dinner table. Book Description: Marie Brenner’s brother, Carl—yin to her yang, red state to her blue state—lived in Texas and in the […]
A big “thank you!” to today’s guest blogger, Veronica, who generously responded to my recent request for guest posts by offering to cross-post a book review of my choice. I selected the following, on a topic which I find quite fascinating, and I which I hope will interest you too. This was originally posted on Veronica’s blog. Find out a little more about her at the end of this post.================================ There’s this book on my […]
Today’s guest blogger is posting his very first book review, so please be kind. However, his selection is pretty close to his normal sports-blogging turf, and I think he did pretty well with it – but then again, what do I know? I’m only his mother, but I hope you find his contribution as enjoyable as I did. Find out a little more about Chris at the end of this post.================================ It’s probably best to […]
My choice for Book of the Year (Nonfiction), 2008 But Enough About Me: How a Small-Town Girl Went From Shag Carpet to the Red Carpet (or A Jersey Girl’s Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous) Jancee Dunn Harper Collins, 2007 (paperback) (ISBN 0060843659 / 9780060843656) Memoir, 288 pages First Sentence: Approach with caution. Book Description: New Jersey in the 1980s had everything Jancee Dunn wanted: trips down the shore, Bruce Springsteen, a tantalizing array of […]
