Good girls love books. And so do bad girls. And boys. Grandmas, too. So it would be a nice idea to reward the bibliophiles in your life for their good (or deliciously bad) behavior over this year with a book that’s right down their alley. They’ll either thank you or spank you for it.
Book Reviews
Pining for a bloody Christmas? Atkinson (and protagonist P.I. Jackson Brodie) fans won’t be disappointed: Her trademark plot twists, literary allusions and wicked sense of humor are all here to compensate for the ever-rising body count. (LLC)
Book Reviews
¡Ask a Mexican! by Gustavo Arellano should be a well-known guilty pleasure to Alibi readers. Arellano has kept at it with Orange County , a combination of autobiography and family history in which the Hispanic American immigrant experience is laid bare. The backdrop is the nation’s fifth most populous county, with all of its cultural tension, assimiliation and general far-right weirdness. (TG)
Book Reviews
The magazine Sexology was founded in 1933 and provided key coverage of such taboo topics as breast-feeding fathers, categories of French prostitutes and Adolf Hitler’s secret sex life. This volume excerpts articles from the ’30s through ’50s. Fascinating and possibly instructive. (EAH)
Book Reviews
An international bestseller, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson is a careening crime novel that tackles business corruption, violence against women and the disturbing secrets of a powerful family. The first in a trilogy, this book is far more dark and demanding than most books of this genre. An utterly compelling read. (EAH)
Book Reviews
Down and Out on Murder Mile is a semi-autobiographical story of heroin addiction, but don’t assume to find a preachy cautionary tale between its covers. A survivor of the full-blast rock ’n’ roll lifestlyle, O’Neill knows his subject all too well, and the fatalism of a deeply entrenched dependence on substance abuse shows in his tight prose. (TG)
Book Reviews
Another debut novel, this one by Cornwall’s Nick Harkaway, paints the picture of a world in which all naughty boys would thrill to live—or at least grab a quick pint. The Gone-Away World presents the epic story of a looming apocalypse after the apocalypse: the Livable Zone teeters on the brink of extinction, facing invasion from monsters, pirates and all manner of unfriendly left in the wake of the Go Away War. (TG)
Book Reviews
A novel by Tesuque-based first time author Kathryn Walker, A Stopover in Venice is a love song to the art, architecture, and history of the City of Water. Protagonist Nel is married to a famous musician, whom she abandons along with his touring entourage by stepping off a Rome-bound train. In Venice, she attempts to unravel the mystery of a forgotten painting in the home of a wise old signora and her dog Leo. (TG)
Book Reviews
Your graphic novel-loving friends will thrill to own The Absolute Sandman, Volume 3 , the final installment in a series of sumptuous leather-bound volumes compiling the classic Sandman stories by Neil Gaiman. Along with the series’ climactic chapters, this volume contains a few previously unreleased stories, as well as the self-contained “Ramadan.” (TG)
Book Reviews
Doty’s latest memoir provides two love stories squared via two rescued dogs: loyal Arden, who shepherds the author through his lover’s death from AIDS; and joyful jester Beau, the dogged cupid in Doty’s more recent relationship. Doty’s writing is so seemingly effortless that the reader may lose sight of his magical way of turning of a phrase. (LLC)
Book Reviews
In The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox , when Iris Lockhart learns she’s custodian for a great aunt she didn’t know existed, family secrets both old and new are revealed. O’Farrell takes an unflinching look at the consequences of being an eccentric woman in this gorgeously written book, which will haunt you long after you’ve finished. (LLC)
Book Reviews
In 1984, Peter Feldstein travelled to Oxford, Iowa, and photographed every resident. He returned 20 years later with writer Stephen G. Bloom to do it again. The result is a stunning, alternately inspiring and heartbreaking, work that will prove to be an enduring portrait of an America in transition. (EAH)
Book Reviews
Have a kitchen question you fear is too mundane to ask your foodie friends? For 10 years, How to Cook Everything has provided answers to exactly those kind of questions. The newest edition snazzes things up with pictures and an easy-to-follow organizational style. This is essential for anyone who eats food and lives in a place with a kitchen. (EAH)
