Monthly Archives: May 2013

Taken (The Watchers Trilogy 0.5), by Karice Bolton (2012)

Posted on May 19, 2013 by

It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas, as the song goes. Athen and Ana have their tree up, and their friends Arie and Cyril are coming over. There’s woodsmoke in the air, and the first snowfall is nigh. If … Continue reading →

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Cotton Tenants: Three Families, by James Agee and Walker Evans (2013)

Posted on May 19, 2013 by

(nb: I received an advance review copy of this book from the publisher via Edelweiss) “Cotton Tenants: Three Families” takes us inside the backbreaking work and soul-breaking poverty of three tenant farmers in 1936 rural Alabama. It is hard to … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Books of the Year, Books, History, Memoir or Biography, Non Fiction and/or Commentary | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

The Girl, The Gold Tooth, And Everything: A Novel, by Francine LaSala (2012)

Posted on May 15, 2013 by

(nb: I received a review copy of this title from the publisher via NetGalley) In the past 16 months, I’ve read 168 books, and I can count on one hand those that hooked me as quickly and thoroughly, relentlessly chained … Continue reading →

Posted in Best Books of the Year, Books, Literary or Genre Fiction, Mysteries/Thrillers | Tagged , | Leave a comment

Tender Is the Night, by F. Scott Fitzgerald (1933)

Posted on May 13, 2013 by

Reading “Tender Is the Night” is like watching clips of Babe Ruth’s last season: his body decrepit, his spirit broken, Babe was just trying to force greatness where there wasn’t any left in the tank. He kept falling down. He … Continue reading →

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Screwed, by Laurie Plissner (2013)

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

(nb: via NetGalley,I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for my unbiased review) I wanted to like “Screwed.” Based on the description and the cover, I was intrigued: the “perfect” daughter of super-conservative abstinence-only championing parents has sex … Continue reading →

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Playing With Purpose: Mariano Rivera: The Closer Who Got Saved, by Jesse Florea & Mike Yorkey (2013)

Posted on May 11, 2013 by

(nb: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley) The last baseball book I read before this one was “The Last Boy: Mickey Mantle and the End of America’s Childhood”, which recounted the misbehavior and redemption of Yankee … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Children, Memoir or Biography, Religion/Spirituality, series, Young Adult | Tagged , | Leave a comment

VJ: The Unplugged Adventures of MTV’s First Wave, by Nina Blackwood, et al (2013)

Posted on May 10, 2013 by

(nb: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley) To those of us who grew up in the early 1980’s, it’s impossible not to remember MTV. The videos’ quality was generally horrific–as was some of the music–but MTV … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Memoir or Biography | 1 Comment