JULY 2011
The Cookbook Collector
By Allegra Goodman
**** SELECTION
LITERARY - In 1999, in the midst of the dot-com boom, two sisters take divergent paths to happiness. (Sept/Oct 2010)
Moonlight Mile
By Dennis Lehane
**** SELECTION
CRIME - Finally, a sequel to Gone, Baby, Gone. (Jan/Feb 2011)
Body Work
By Sara Paretsky
****
CRIME - Chicago-based private detective V. I. Warshawski gets caught in a chain of events leading to some dark truths about the Iraq War. (Nov/Dec 2010)
The Half-Made World
By Felix Gilman
**** SELECTION
SF - Amazon.com's #4 Best SFF Book of 2010. (Jan/Feb 2011)
Composed
A Memoir
By Rosanne Cash
BIOGRAPHY - The daughter of country music legend Johnny Cash sheds light on her musical and literary accomplishments. (Nov/Dec 2010)
The Sugar King of Havana
The Rise and Fall of Julio Lobo, Cuba's Last Tycoon
By John Paul Rathbone
****
BIOGRAPHY - In pre-Castro Cuba, Julio Lobo was a successful businessman who funded rebels during the Cuban Revolution. (Nov/Dec 2010)
AUGUST 2011
To the End of the Land
By David Grossman
**** SELECTION
LITERARY - This novel has tragic parallels--Grossman's son was killed during the 2006 Lebanon war. (Jan/Feb 2011)
Bitter in the Mouth
By Monique Truong
****
LITERARY - Born with a form of synesthesia, Linda Hammerick tastes words, which gives her a strange emotional power. (Nov/Dec 2010)
My Hollywood
By Mona Simpson
****
LITERARY - A Los Angeles couple overwhelmed by the demands of work and children is threatened by a nanny. (Nov/Dec 2010)
I Curse the River of Time
By Per Petterson
****
LITERARY - A man dumped by his wife and trapped in a dead-end factory job learns his beloved mother is dying of cancer. (Nov/Dec 2010)
Percival's Planet
By Michael Byers
****
LITERARY - A cast of scientists and dreamers, both real and imagined, converge in Arizona during the Great Depression. (Nov/Dec 2010)
Zero History
By William Gibson
****
SF - The story featuring megalomaniacal Belgian billionaire Hubertus Bigend began with Pattern Recognition (2003) and continued in Spook Country (**** Nov/Dec 2007). Here, he becomes involved in military contracting. (Nov/Dec 2010)
Charlie Chan
The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History
By Yunte Huang
****
GENERAL NF - The author explores the origins, impact, and enduring legacy of Charlie Chan...
