Book Reviews

Search in the box (in left sidebar) for any review on this site, or browse the alphabetical list below:

• 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton (10/5/09)
• Abundance, A Novel of Marie Antoinette by Sena Jeter Naslund (6/13/08 )
• Admit One:  A Journey Into Film by Emmett James (5/31/08 )
• Alice, Let’s Eat by Calvin Trillin (2/4/12)
• Alice’s Tea Cup by Haley Fox and Lauren Fox (1/15/11)
• Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (4/3/10)
• The Artist Within: A Guide to Becoming Creatively Fit by Whitney Ferre (12/21/08)
• Backseat Saints by Joshilyn Jackson (8/2/10)
• Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell (audiobook) (4/20/09)
• Beautiful Boy:  A Father’s Journey Through His Son’s Addiction by David Sheff (5/29/08 )
• Beg, Borrow, Steal by Michael Greenberg (9/13/09)
• Behind the Mask … No More by Byron Nease (9/22/09)
• Bel Canto by Ann Patchett (10/05/08 )
• Benny & Shrimp by Katarina Mazetti (8/24/09)
• Best Intentions by Emily Listfield (5/6/09)
• Bird by Bird by Anne Lamott (12/01/09)
• Birds of a Feather by Jacqueline Winspear (1/31/11)
• Bite Me by Julie Albert and Lisa Gnat (8/7/10)
• Blame by Michelle Huneven (9/10/09)
• Blindness by Jose Saramago (3/7/11)
• Blink by Malcolm Gladwell (5/21/08 )
• Blog Blazers by Stephane Grenier (1/13/09)
• Bossypants by Tina Fey (6/6/11) (audiobook)
• The Brass Verdict by Michael Connelly
• Brava, Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (2/19/10)
• Breathing Out the Ghost by Kirk Curnutt (2/12/09)
• Brief Interviews with Hideous Men by David Foster Wallace (3/19/10)
• The Brightest Moon of the Century by Christopher Meeks (3/3/09)
• The Bucolic Plague by Josh Kilmer-Purcell (8/20/10)
• The Cake Mix Doctor Returns! by Anne Byrn (10/27/09)
• The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand (7/7/09)
• The Center of the Universe: A Memoir by Nancy Bachrach (8/11/09)
• A Change in Altitude by Anita Shreve (1/29/10)
• Chronicles of Old New York by James Roman (9/14/10)
• Clara’s Kitchen by Clara Cannucciari (3/20/10)
• Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff (1/10/11)
• The Coffins of Little Hope by Timothy Schaffert (4/21/11)
• A Cold-Blooded Business by Marek Fuchs (4/8/11)
• Confessions of a Jane Austen Addict by Laurie Viera Rigler (7/1/08 )
• Cookie Swap! by Lauren Chattman (11/4/10)
• The Cooking with Trader Joe’s Cookbook: Dinner’s Done! (3/5/11)
• The Curse of the Good Girl: Raising Authentic Girls with Courage and Confidence by Rachel Simmons (9/3/09)
• The Danish Girl by David Ebershoff (5/24/10)
• Day for Night by Frederick Reiken (6/29/10)
• Defending Jacob by William Landay (1/30/12)
• Desserts 4 Today by Abigail Johnson Dodge (10/16/10)
• Devil in Winter by Lisa Kleypas (2/15/10)
• Don’t Sing at the Table by Adriana Trigiani (11/15/10)
• The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian (1/9/12)
• Drawers & Booths by Ara 13 (4/2/09)
• Earth by Jon Stewart (1/21/11)
• Easy Entertaining by Patricia Mendez (10/23/08 )
• Eat Me!: The Food and Philosophy of Kenny Shopsin by Kenny Shopsin (9/21/08 )
• Embroideries by Marjane Satrapi (11/29/10)
• Emotional Geology by Linda Gillard (4/22/10)
• The End of the Alphabet by C. S. Richardson (1/3/09)
• Every Day in Tuscany by Frances Mayes (3/16/10)
• Every Last Cuckoo by Kate Maloy (4/9/09)
• Every Last One by Anna Quindlen (3/24/11)
• Everything Asian by Sung J. Woo (10/19/09)
• FamilyFun Fast Family Dinners ed. Deanna F. Cook (5/8/09)
• Family Planning by Karan Mahajan (1/18/09)
• Fat Families Thin Families by Amy Hendel (8/28/09)
• The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard (1/24/11)
• Flawless by Scott Andrew Selby and Greg Campbell (4/9/10)
• The Foremost Good Fortune by Susan Conley (3/14/11)
• Freedom by Jonathan Franzen (12/16/10)
• The Front Porch Prophet by Raymond L. Atkins (11/11/08 )
• The Game On! Diet by Krista Vernoff and Az Ferguson (6/29/09)
• The Gendarme by Mark Mustian (9/7/10)
• The Genizah at the House of Shepher by Tamar Yellin (7/9/08 )
• The Girl Who Fell from the Sky by Heidi W. Durrow (3/22/10)
• Girls in Trucks by Katie Crouch (7/10/09)
• Give + Take by Stona Fitch (2/1/10)
• Going Down South by Bonnie J. Glover (9/27/08 )
• A Grown-Up Kind of Pretty by Joshilyn Jackson (1/23/12)
• Guernica by Dave Boling (10/09/08 )
• The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows (8/31/09)
• The Hand That First Held Mine by Maggie O’Farrell (4/12/10)
• Have I Got a Guy for You ed. by Alix Strauss (4/27/10)
• Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day by Jeff Hertzberg and Zoe Francois (12/22/09)
• Heft by Liz Moore (2/13/12)
• The Heroine’s Bookshelf by Erin Blakemore (11/9/10)
• Holidays on Ice by David Sedaris (12/10/08 )
• The Home Owner’s Diary by Della Sheffield (3/23/10)
• Homer & Langley by E. L. Doctorow (8/23/10)
• House & Home by Kathleen McCleary (9/15/08 )
• How Not to Look Old by Charla Krupp (5/22/09)
• How to Buy a Love of Reading by Tanya Egan Gibson (10/4/10)
• Hurry Down Sunshine by Michael Greenberg (9/5/08 )
• I Remember by Joe Brainard (12/27/10)
• The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot (6/8/10)
• In Hovering Flight by Joyce Hinnefeld (11/14/08 )
• The Island by Elin Hilderbrand (10/25/10)
• The Islands of Divine Music by John Addiego (12/17/08)
• It’s Beginning to Hurt by James Lasdun (8/17/09)
• Key West: A Comprehensive Guide to Florida’s Southernmost City by Sarah Goodwin-Nguyen (11/7/08 )
• Kim by Rudyard Kipling (12/27/09)
• The Kitchen Daughter by Jael McHenry (4/14/11)
• The Kite Runner: A Portrait of the Marc Forster Film by David Benioff and Khaled Hosseini (9/12/08 )
• Kristin Lavransdatter: The Wreath by Sigrid Undset (10/30/09)
• The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry (7/27/08 )
• Last Child in the Woods by Richard Louv
• Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel (8/7/09)
• The Last Summer (of You & Me) by Ann Brashares (7/12/08 )
• Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann (5/10/10)
• Liberty and Tyranny by Mark Levin (6/17/09)
• Lidia Cooks from the Heart of Italy by Lidia Matticchio Bastianich and Tanya Bastianich Manuali (2/17/10)
• A Long Stone’s Throw by Alphie McCourt (4/5/10)
• A Long Way Down by Nick Hornby (7/22/08 )
• Lopsided by Meredith Norton (9/26/09)
• The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott by Kelly O’Connor McNees (3/28/10)
• The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown (10/14/09)
• The Lotus Eaters by Tatjana Soli
• Love and Biology at the Center of the Universe by Jennie Shortridge (11/05/08 )
• Love is the Higher Law by David Levithan (9/11/09)
• Love or Something Like It by Deirdre Shaw (11/20/09)
• Love You to Pieces:  Creative Writers on Raising a Child with Special Needs ed. by Suzanne Kamata (7/6/08 )
• Lucia, Lucia by Adriana Trigiani (5/20/10)
• The Magicians by Lev Grossman (11/2/09)
• Maisie Dobbs by Jacqueline Winspear (1/17/11)
• Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson (2/7/11)
• The Man’s Book by Thomas Fink (4/25/09)
• The Map of True Places by Brunonia Barry (6/14/10)
• Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Lauren Lipton
• Matrimony by Joshua Henkin (8/14/08 )
• The Memorist by M. J. Rose (1/20/09)
• The Middle Place by Kelly Corrigan (4/13/09)
• Miss Alcott’s E-mail: Yours for Reforms of All Kinds by Kit Bakke (8/14/08 )
• Months and Seasons by Christopher Meeks (8/22/08 )
• Moonlight Mile by Dennis Lehane (11/11/10)
• Mr. Rosenblum Dreams in English by Natasha Solomons (9/27/10)
• Mrs. Lieutenant: A Sharon Gold Novel by Phyllis Zimbler Miller (6/21/08 )
• Muffins & Mayhem by Suzanne Beecham (6/12/10)
• Murder at Longbourn by Tracy Kiely (8/27/09)
• My Name Is Memory by Ann Brashares (9/20/10)
• The Necklace by Cheryl Jarvis (9/4/08 )
• Newspaper Blackout by Austin Kleon (5/14/10)
• The 19th Wife by David Ebershoff (10/20/08 )
• An Object of Beauty by Steve Martin (audiobook) (4/18/11)
• Off the Menu by Christine Son (11/14/08 )
• Olive Kitteridge by Elizabeth Strout (1/9/09)
• The Opposite of Me by Sarah Pekkanen (3/8/10)
• Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook) (3/1/09)
• The Painter from Shanghai by Jennifer Cody Epstein (6/8/09)
• Pardonable Lies by Jacqueline Winspear (2/14/11)
• The Paris Wife by Paula McClain (3/21/11)
• People of the Book by Geraldine Brooks (2/6/09)
• Perfect Life by Jessica Shattuck (1/3/11)
• Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi (1/14/10)
• Pictures of You by Caroline Leavitt (4/11/11)
• Pieces of Happily Ever After by Irene Zutell (3/12/10)
• The Poets Laureate Anthology edited by Elizabeth Hun Schmidt (4/4/11)
• The Postmistress by Sarah Blake (2/8/10)
• The Power of Half by Kevin Salwen and Hannah Salwen (3/2/10)
• Private Life by Jane Smiley (3/29/11)
• Put ‘em Up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton (7/17/10)
• The Puzzle King by Betsy Carter (11/5/09)
• Read, Remember, Recommend by Rachelle Rogers Knight (4/30/10)
• Red Hook Road by Ayelet Waldman (9/22/10)
• The Red Leather Diary by Lily Koppel (4/4/09)
• A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick (3/4/10)
• Requiem, Mass. by John Dufresne (12/17/09)
• Resistance by Anita Shreve (6/30/09)
• Revolutionary Road by Richard Yates (10/27/08 )
• Room by Emma Donoghue (12/20/10)
• Rude Awakenings of a Jane Austen Addict (7/17/09)
• Run by Ann Patchett (10/22/08 )
• Running the Rift by Naomi Benaron (1/2/12)
• Russian Winter by Daphne Kalotay (9/2/10)
• The Safety of Secrets by DeLaune Michel (11/16/08 )
• Santa Responds (11/08 )
• Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay (9/30/08 )
• Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman (1/4/10)
• Scottsboro by Ellen Feldman (7/31/09)
• Scout, Atticus & Boo by Mary McDonagh Murphy (8/9/10)
• Sea Escape by Lynne Griffin (7/8/10)
• The Season of Second Chances by Diane Meier (4/2/10)
• Selected Shorts: American Classics by Symphony Space (3/09/10)
• The Septembers of Shiraz by Dalia Sofer (7/31/08 )
• The Shack by William Paul Young (3/11/09)
• Shanghai Girls by Lisa See (1/7/09)
• ShapeShifter: The Demo Tapes, Year 1 by Susan Helene Gottfried (2/26/09)
• The Shiniest Jewel: A Family Love Story by Marian Henley (8/6/08 )
• Shining City by Seth Greenland (7/17/08 )
• Skating Around the Law by Joelle Charbonneau (12/6/10)
• The Singer’s Gun by Emily St. John Mandel (5/7/10)
• Slow Cooker Revolution by the editors of America’s Test Kitchen (3/19/11)
• Slow Fat Triathlete:  Live Your Athletic Dreams in the Body You Have Now by Jayne Williams (5/15/08 )
• The Smart One by Ellen Meister (8/29/08 )
• So Easy by Ellie Krieger (2/11/10)
• So Sweet!: Cookies, Cupcakes, Whoopie Pies, and More from Sur la Table (1/14/12)
• The Space Between Us by Thrity Umrigar (5/24/08 )
• The Spirit of the Place by Samuel Shem (6/16/08 )
• Step Back from the Baggage Claim by Jason Barger (7/21/09)
• Stone Creek by Victoria Lustbader (7/24/08 )
• Sundays at Tiffany’s by James Patterson (2/12/10)
• The Swan Thieves by Elizabeth Kostova (9/10/10)
• Sweet Magic by Michel Richard (12/11/10)
• Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley (audiobook) (6/21/10)
• The Swimming Pool by Holly LeCraw (4/6/10)
• Swimsuit by James Patterson (11/13/09)
• Table of Contents by Judi Gelman and Vicki Levy Krupp (4/16/11)
• Talking to Girls about Duran Duran by Rob Sheffield (7/26/10)
• Tan Lines by J. J. Salem (8/4/08 )
• Testimony by Anita Shreve (1/31/09)
• The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer (3/30/09)
• The Tenth Case by Joseph Teller (11/18/08 )
• Things I Want My Daughters to Know by Elizabeth Noble (3/19/09)
• 31 Hours by Masha Hamilton (10/5/09)
• Those Who Save Us by Jenna Blum (10/15/10)
• The Threadbare Heart by Jennie Nash (5/3/10)
• Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin (6/7/08 )
• The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger (7/12/10)
• To the World of Men, Welcome by Nuala Ní Chonchúir (4/29/09)
• Tomato Girl by Jayne Pupek (3/25/09)
• The Twinkies Cookbook (8/6/09)
• The Uncoupling by Meg Wolitzer (5/16/11)
• Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman (audio) (10/29/09)
• Undress Me in the Temple of Heaven by Susan Jane Gilman (print) (2/22/10)
• The Unnamed by Joshua Ferris (audio) (4/20/10)
• Unpolished Gem: My Mother, My Grandmother, and Me by Alice Pung (6/12/09)
• Vera and the Ambassador by Vera and Donald Blinken (11/10/09)
• Very Valentine by Adriana Trigiani (1/26/10)
• The Vigorous Mind by Ingrid E. Cummings (1/27/09)
• Walt Disney World with Kids 2009 by Kim Wright Wiley (3/6/09)
• The Weird Sisters by Eleanor Brown (2/21/11)
• What Can I Bring? Cookbook by Anne Byrn (12/12/09)
• What the Dickens:  The Story of a Rogue Tooth Fairy by Gregory Maguire (5/15/08 )
• What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell (audiobook) (6/10/10)
• What We All Long For by Dionne Brand (8/8/08 )
• When She Flew by Jennie Shortridge (12/7/09)
• When Wanderers Cease to Roam: A Traveler’s Journal of Staying Put by Vivian Swift (11/25/08 )
• A White House Garden Cookbook by Clara Silverstein (7/3/10)
• The Whole Truth by David Baldacci (1/12/10)
• The Widow’s Season by Laura Brodie (9/21/09)
• Wife of the Gods by Kwei Quartey (8/21/09)
• The Wife’s Tale by Lori Lansens (audiobook) 5/2/11)
• The Wishing Year by Noelle Oxenhandler (6/2/08 )
• A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father by Augusten Burroughs (4/26/09)
• Woman Made of Sand by Joann Kobin (1/4/10)
• Work Hard. Be Nice. by Jay Mathews (10/19/09)
• The World in Half by Cristina Henriquez (7/3/09)
• Writing Romance by Vanessa Grant (1/11/09 )
• You Had Me at Woof by Julie Klam (12/13/10)