Monthly Archives: May 2013

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

Posted on May 13, 2013 by tom

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 tom

(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 tom

(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 tom

(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

The Nostradamus Traitor, by John Gardner (2013)

Posted on May 9, 2013 by tom

(nb: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley) Herbie Kruger is a huge man with a huge intellect, and plenty of doggedness to pursue his quarry relentlessly. Outside of work, his Foreign Office coworkers know full-well of … Continue reading →

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Downfall (2004) Sophie Scholl: The Final Days (2005)

Posted on May 9, 2013 by tom

So my doctor gave me some new meds, and whenever I sit up, I get dizzy. So how better to treat this than lying in bed with a double-feature of intense, German WW2 dramas. It turns out, while this was … Continue reading →

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There are Reasons Noah Packed No Clothes, by Robert Jacoby (2012)

Posted on May 6, 2013 by tom

(nb: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley) (nb: I received a review copy from the publisher via NetGalley) Novels tell stories. If you think of, say, the Harry Potter series, J.K. Rowling relates Harry’s adventures as … Continue reading →

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The Camp, by Karice Bolton (2013)

Posted on May 5, 2013 by tom

The Camp by Karice Bolton My rating: 2 of 5 stars Emma didn’t want to go to camp in the first place. It’s the summer before she starts college, and her 18th birthday is just a couple weeks away, but … Continue reading →

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Swans and Klons, by Nora Olsen (2013)

Posted on May 4, 2013 by tom

(nb: I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley) Rubric and Salmon Jo have a seemingly idyllic life. They are students at a top academy. They are ready to begin working with their mentors, and they have each … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, Dystopian, LGBT, Young Adult | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

The S-Word, by Chelsea Pitcher

Posted on May 3, 2013 by tom

(nb: I received a copy from the publisher via NetGalley) Bullying is a big topic these days, with special t-shirts and ribbons, awareness programs, and plenty of good-hearted people trying to prevent it. The sad fact is that bullying has … Continue reading →

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