Books

Book Review: “Creation Lake” — A Jumble of Fact and Whimsical Imagination

October 4, 2024
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Rachel Kushner’s latest novel is mélange of vignettes, stand-alone or linked flash essays, and portentous bits of wisdom.

Book Review: Paolo Giordano’s “Tasmania” — A Brilliant Novel about Being Blinded by Personal Catastrophes

October 1, 2024
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An absorbing novel that builds steadily, not to a shattering or violent conclusion (all the violence is in the past or offstage) but to a quiet release that is humane and persuasive.

Book Review: “Fugitive: My Childhood on the Hollywood Blacklist” — A Still Relevant Warning

September 26, 2024
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Tony Kahn’s memory is extraordinary, and his talents as a writer, illustrator, and designer are prodigious.

Children’s Book Reviews: Animal Buddies with a Message

September 25, 2024
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Two new wordless picture books feature animals as friends, revealing greater truths about community and the environment.

Book Review: The Music Is You — August Kleinzahler’s “A History of Western Music”

September 24, 2024
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August Kleinzahler’s “A History of Western Music” will be a special treat for poetry readers who also appreciate music in all its forms and genres.

Book Reviews: Joan Acocella and Andrea Marcolongo — Writers Who Think Fearlessly

September 19, 2024
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Joan Acocella is more than a critic. She is a thinker, writing at a time when thinkers are not valued much, when exegesis in places other than scholarly journals sometimes seems like a lost art.

Book Review: “We Solve Murders” — A Slight Whodunit

September 19, 2024
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This novel is a fun, light read. But best-selling author Richard Osman needs to take more time to delve into his characters if he wants to equal his previous cozy mysteries.

Book Review: “Prison Life: Pain, Resistance, and Purpose” — No Man Should be an Island

September 18, 2024
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What Ian O’Donnell underlines so powerfully in “Prison Life” is the necessity of positive human interaction anywhere, including among incarcerated citizens.

Book Review: “The Wildes” — Oscar Wilde’s Family Values

September 17, 2024
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If you want to tell people the truth,” quipped Oscar Wilde, “make them laugh, otherwise they’ll kill you.” Louis Bayard’s novel offers a compelling vision of what happened to Oscar and his family when the laughter stopped.

Book Review: “Women and Children First” — Keeping Their Heads Above Water

September 16, 2024
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In her debut novel, Alina Grabowski taps into today’s zeitgeist — this is a story of compelling women who must deal with men who disappear or let them down.

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