ShelfAwareness Archives | Page 6 of 6 | The 3 R's: Reading, 'Riting, and Randomness

February 7, 2012 reading

Book Talk: Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis, by Lauren Winner (Shelf Awareness review)

Still: Notes on a Mid-Faith Crisis Lauren Winner HarperOne, 2012 (January 31) hardcover (ISBN 0061768111 / 9780061768118) Nonfiction/memoir/spirituality, 272 pages A version of this review was originally published in Shelf Awareness, Readers’ Edition (January 31, 2012); SA’s editors provided compensation and a galley of the book. The cover image links to IndieBound.org. I am an IndieBound affiliate. Lauren Winner told the story of her conversion from Judaism to Christianity in her first memoir, 2002’s Girl […]

January 31, 2012 reading

Book Talk: The Night Swimmer, by Matt Bondurant (Shelf Awareness review)

The Night Swimmer: A Novel Matt Bondurant Scribner (2012), Hardcover (ISBN 1451625294 / 9781451625295) Fiction, 288 pages A version of this review was originally published in Shelf Awareness, Readers’ Edition (January 24, 2012); SA‘s editors provided compensation and a galley of the novel. The cover image links to IndieBound.org. I am an IndieBound affiliate. The narrator and titular character of Matt Bondurant’s third novel, The Night Swimmer, is Elly Bulkington. When her husband Fred is […]

December 13, 2011 reading

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: One Hundred And One Nights, by Benjamin Buchholz

One Hundred and One Nights: A NovelBenjamin BuchholzBack Bay Books (2011), Paperback original (ISBN 0316133779 / 9780316133777)Fiction, 368 pages Portions of this review were originally published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (12/9/11), which supplied an Advance Reader Copy (furnished by the publisher) and payment. All opinions expressed are my own. Abu Saheed–”Father Truth”–is the ironically-chosen pseudonym of the narrator of Benjamin Buchholz’ debut novel, One Hundred and One Nights. The site of his new shop […]

December 5, 2011 reading

Shelf Awareness (Audio)Book Talk: Just Kids, by Patti Smith

This is a compensated review originally written for Shelf Awareness for Readers, which did not publish it. It is posted here with permission. I have a personal copy of this book, but hadn’t yet read it when I was offered the audiobook for review. Just Kids Patti Smith HarperAudio (July 2011), unabridged audio CD (ISBN 9780062109385) Memoir, 9 CDs Just Kids, Patti Smith’s memoir of her friendship with Robert Mapplethorpe, which began with a random […]

November 17, 2011 reading

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: The Daughter She Used to Be, by Rosalind Noonan

The Daughter She Used to Be Rosalind Noonan Kensington (2011), Paperback original (ISBN 0758241682 / 9780758241689) Fiction, 352 pages Portions of this review were originally published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (11/4/11), which supplied an Advance Reader Copy (furnished by the publisher) and payment. All opinions expressed are my own. The blood of the Sullivan family has run NYPD blue for two generations. Those who didn’t become cops married them or, in the case of […]

November 1, 2011 reading

Shelf Awareness Book Talk: True Strength, by Kevin Sorbo

True Strength: My Journey from Hercules to Mere Mortal–and How Nearly Dying Saved My Life Kevin Sorbo Da Capo Press (October 2011), Hardcover (ISBN 0306820366 / 9780306820366) Memoir, 296 pages Portions of this review were originally published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (10/21/11), which supplied an Advance Reader Copy (furnished by the publisher) and payment. All opinions expressed are my own. Kevin Sorbo played the title role in the popular action drama Hercules: The Legendary […]

September 28, 2011 reading

Shelf Awareness Review: Stasiland: Stories From behind the Berlin Wall, by Anna Funder

This is a compensated review originally published in Shelf Awareness for Readers and is reprinted here with permission. The cover image shown is an affiliate link to IndieBound.org. Stasiland: Stories From Behind the Berlin Wall Anna Funder Harper Perennial (2011) trade paperback original (ISBN 1862075808 / 9781862075801) History, 304 pages The Berlin Wall existed for forty years as both a physical and symbolic barrier in a city and a country divided by ideology; it’s been over […]

September 22, 2011 reading

Book Talk: A Year and Six Seconds, by Isabel Gillies

This is a compensated review written for Shelf Awareness for Readers and is posted here with permission. A Year and Six Seconds: A Love Story Isabel Gillies Voice (August 2, 2011), hardcover (ISBN 9781401341626) Memoir, 256 pages Isabel Gillies believes it takes a full six seconds to fall in love. However, one has to be ready and willing to experience those six seconds. After Gillies’ first marriage ended, it took about a year for her to […]

September 19, 2011 reading

Book Talk: Where You Left Me, by Jennifer Gardner Trulson

This is a compensated review originally written for Shelf Awareness for Readers and is posted here with permission. Where You Left Me Jennifer Gardner Trulson Gallery Books (August 30, 2011), hardcover (ISBN 9781451621426) Memoir, 256 pages The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center took their single greatest toll on the financial-services firm Cantor Fitzgerald, which lost more than 600 employees. Jennifer Gardner’s husband Doug was a senior executive at Cantor, and was […]

July 20, 2011 reading

Shelf Awareness review: Kindred Spirits by Sarah Strohmeyer

Kindred Spirits Sarah Strohmeyer Dutton Adult (2011), Hardcover (ISBN 0525952225 / 9780525952220) Fiction, 304 pages The following review was originally published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (7/12/2011 edition) and is reprinted with permission. One of the things that keeps long-term relationships interesting is that there are always new things to discover about the other person. The Ladies’ Society for the Conservation of Martinis, which grew out of a PTA meeting postmortem, learns this after the […]

July 7, 2011 reading

Shelf Awareness review: Love Child by Sheila Kohler

Love Child: A Novel Sheila Kohler Penguin (2011), trade paper (ISBN 9780143119197) Fiction, 256 pages The following review was originally published in Shelf Awareness for Readers (7/1/2011 issue) and is reprinted with permission. Sheila Kohler’s Love Child centers on the theme of domestic complications. This novel packs a lot of story into its pages: Bill is a South African woman in the pre-apartheid years, a relatively recent and relatively young widow with two teenage sons in […]

June 17, 2011 reading

The Shelf Awareness READERS’ ISSUE is here!

You may have heard of Shelf Awareness, the daily e-mail newsletter with the tagline “Daily Enlightenment for the Book Trade,” but thought it wasn’t for you because…well, you’re not in the “book trade.” Well, think again. As of today, that’s changed. Today, Shelf Awareness launches its new “Readers Edition.” It will come to you twice each week, on Tuesday and Friday mornings. Editor Bethanne Patrick (@TheBookMaven) promises that each edition of the Readers’ Shelf will […]

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