Tag: reviews

(Audio)Book Talk: WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, by Lionel Shriver
February 19, 2013 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: WE NEED TO TALK ABOUT KEVIN, by Lionel Shriver

We Need to Talk About Kevin: A Novel Lionel Shriver (Wikipedia page) (Goodreads) Audiobook read by Coleen Marlo Harper Perennial (2006), Paperback (ISBN 006112429X / 9780061124297) Fiction, 432 pages Source: Purchased paperback; purchased audiobook (Harper Audio, 2011; Audible ASIN B006QGIFWC) Reason for reading: Personal (long-term TBR, topical fiction) Opening lines: “Dear Franklin, “I’m unsure why one trifling incident this afternoon has moved me to write to you. But since we’ve been separated, I may most […]

TLC Book Tour: NEWS FROM HEAVEN, by Jennifer Haigh
February 12, 2013 reading

TLC Book Tour: NEWS FROM HEAVEN, by Jennifer Haigh

News From Heaven: The Bakerton Stories Jennifer Haigh (Facebook) Harper (January 2013), Hardcover (ISBN 0060889640 / 9780060889647) Fiction (linked short stories), 256 pages Source: ARC from publisher Reason for reading: TLC Book Tour Opening lines (from the first story, “Beast and Bird”): “Every Sunday morning, at seven o’clock promptly, the two Polish girls crossed the park and walked fifty blocks downtown to church. Early morning: the avenue wide as a farmer’s field, the sunlight tempered […]

Book Talk: THE HISTORIAN, by Elizabeth Kostova
February 4, 2013 reading

Book Talk: THE HISTORIAN, by Elizabeth Kostova

The Historian Elizabeth Kostova (Facebook) Back Bay Books (2006), Paperback (ISBN 0316154547 / 9780316154543) Fiction, 704 pages Source: Purchased Reason for reading: Personal Opening lines: “In 1972 I was sixteen–young, my father said, to be traveling with him on his diplomatic missions. he preferred to know I was sitting attentively in class at the International School of Amsterdam; in those days his foundation was based in Amsterdam, and it had been home for so long […]

BlogHer Book (Club) Talk: HERE I GO AGAIN, by Jen Lancaster
January 31, 2013 reading

BlogHer Book (Club) Talk: HERE I GO AGAIN, by Jen Lancaster

Here I Go Again: A Novel Jen Lancaster (Facebook) (Twitter) NAL (January 2013), Hardcover (ISBN 0451236726 / 9780451236722) Fiction, 320 pages Source: Publisher Reason for reading: BlogHer Book Club The BlogHer Book Club is sponsored by Penguin Group. BlogHer arranged for me to receive a copy of this book as a Book Club participant, and compensates me for this review and participation in online discussions. All opinions expressed are my own. Opening lines (from the Prologue): “Every high […]

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: THE TELL, by Hester Kaplan
January 29, 2013 reading

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: THE TELL, by Hester Kaplan

The Tell: A Novel Hester Kaplan Harper Perennial (January 2013), trade paper (ISBN 0062184024 / 9780062184023) Fiction, 352 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (January 22, 2013). Shelf Awareness provided a galley of the book and compensation for the review. Opening lines: “For weeks he’d waited for the wild lilacs arching over the carriage house to come to bloom. Then, back from teaching and a plodding swim […]

Book Talk: THE REVOLUTION WAS TELEVISED, by Alan Sepinwall
January 24, 2013 reading

Book Talk: THE REVOLUTION WAS TELEVISED, by Alan Sepinwall

The Revolution Was Televised: The Crooks, Cops, Slingers and Slayers Who Changed TV Drama Forever Alan Sepinwall (Blog) (Twitter) Self-published by What’s Alan Watching? (November 2012), trade paper (ISBN 0615718299 / 9780615718293) Nonfiction: essays/pop culture, 306 pages Source: Purchased ebook (Smashwords: ISBN 9781301879960) Reason for reading: Personal; recommended by Linda Holmes of Pop Culture Happy Hour Excerpt from an Excerpt (previously published on Grantland.com): “The story of Lost makes no sense. And by that I […]

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: DADDY LOVE, by Joyce Carol Oates
January 21, 2013 reading

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: DADDY LOVE, by Joyce Carol Oates

Daddy Love Joyce Carol Oates Mysterious Press (January 2013), hardcover (ISBN 0802120997 / 9780802120991) Fiction (mystery/thriller), 240 pages A version of this review was previously published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (January 18, 2013). I was provided with a galley of the novel and compensated for the review. Opening lines: “Take my hand, she said. “He did. Lifted his small hand to Mommy’s hand. This was maybe five minutes before the abduction. “Did she see […]

(Audio)Book Talk: YEAR ZERO, by Rob Reid
January 17, 2013 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: YEAR ZERO, by Rob Reid

Year Zero: A Novel Rob Reid (Facebook) Audiobook read by John Hodgman Del Rey (July 2012), Hardcover (ISBN 0345534417 / 9780345534415) Fiction (SF/speculative), 384 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Random House Audio; Audible ASIN B008J9GD28) Reason for reading: Personal Opening lines: “Aliens suck at music. And it’s not for a lack of trying. They’ve been at it for eons, but have yet to produce even a faintly decent tune. If they had, we’d have detected them […]

Book Talk: HELL IS OTHER PARENTS, by Deborah Copaken Kogan
January 14, 2013 reading

Book Talk: HELL IS OTHER PARENTS, by Deborah Copaken Kogan

Hell Is Other Parents: And Other Tales of Maternal Combustion Deborah Copaken Kogan (Twitter) (Facebook) Hyperion/Voice (2009), Paperback (ISBN 1401340814 / 9781401340810) Nonfiction: essays/memoir, 224 pages Source: Purchased e-book (iBooks: eISBN 9781401394547) Reason for reading: personal Opening lines (from the Prologue, “King of the Mountain”): “‘You’re not going to just leave that tiny girl up there all alone, are you?’ the stranger asks, his tone grave. He’s pointing an accusatory finger up at my daughter, […]

2012 in Review–Reading: Books of the Year!
January 7, 2013 reading

2012 in Review–Reading: Books of the Year!

I’m doing my year-in-review posts a little bit backwards this time around. The reading statistics will be part of the “‘riting-and-randomness” portion of my 2012 review. Today, I’m getting straight to my Books of the Year. This year’s selections are more fiction-heavy, because that represents my reading patterns in 2012. I didn’t set young-adult fiction apart this time, but two of my fiction picks are contemporary, realistic YA–that said, “contemporary” and “realistic” describe my adult-fiction […]

At the movies: LES MISERABLES
January 3, 2013 randomness

At the movies: LES MISERABLES

Les Misérables official movie website Musical drama, 2012 (rated PG-13) Starring: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfried Written by: Claude-Michel Schonberg and Alain Boublil, based on the novel by Victor Hugo Directed by: Tom Hooper Synopsis, via RottenTomatoes.com: Set against the backdrop of 19th-century France, Les Misérables tells an enthralling story of broken dreams and unrequited love, passion, sacrifice and redemption-a timeless testament to the survival of the human spirit. Jackman plays ex-prisoner Jean […]

Book Talk: THE GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, by Lynn Povich
December 31, 2012 reading

Book Talk: THE GOOD GIRLS REVOLT, by Lynn Povich

The Good Girls Revolt: How the Women of Newsweek Sued their Bosses and Changed the Workplace Lynn Povich PublicAffairs (September 2012), Hardcover (ISBN 161039173X / 9781610391733) Nonfiction: History/Women, 288 pages Source: ARC from publisher, obtained at Book Expo America 2012 Reason for reading: Personal Opening lines (Chapter 1): “On March 16, 1970, Newsweek magazine hit the newsstands with a cover story on the fledgling feminist movement, ‘Women in Revolt.’ The bright yellow cover pictured a […]