Both Ways is the Only Way I Want It by Maile Meloy

On August 22, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

There is one line in Maile Meloy’s newest story collection that completely slayed me. (It’s on page 97.) And in fact, there are many moments before and after that line that left me awestruck as I wondered how she was able to capture a feeling–typically one that’s very familiar, like the flushing embarrassment of an unexpected advance, or the sudden fury found in a bout of sibling rivalry–and create it anew.

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Motherless Brooklyn by Janathan Lethem

On August 22, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Hard-boiled crime fiction has never seen the likes of Lionel Essrog, the barking, grunting, spasmodically twitching hero of Lethem’s gonzo detective novel that unfolds amidst the detritus of contemporary Brooklyn.

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Homicide Survivors Picnic and Other Stories by Lorraine M. Lopez

On August 22, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Fiction. Latino/Latina Studies. “In a voice that is all at once hilarious and mischievous, searing and seething and sardonic, Lorraine Lopez presents, in her most necessary book to date, a celebration of the liberating power of bad behavior,” writes Heather Sellers about HOMICIDE SURVIVORS PICNIC AND OTHER STORIES. Most of the stories are set in the South and focus around family relationships, by birth and choice, among characters from Latino and other backgrounds.

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Sarah’s Key by Tatiana de Rosnay

On August 22, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

A powerful novel… Tatiana de Rosnay has captured the insane world of the Holocaust and the efforts of the few good people who stood up against it in this work of fiction more effectively than has been done in many scholarly studies. It is a book that makes us sensitive to how much evil occurred and also to how much willingness to do good also existed in that world.

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Water for Elephants: A Novel by Sara Gruen

On August 22, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Water for Elephants is the story of Jacob’s life with this circus. Sara Gruen spares no detail in chronicling the squalid, filthy, brutish circumstances in which he finds himself. The animals are mangy, underfed or fed rotten food, and abused. Jacob, once it becomes known that he has veterinary skills, is put in charge of the “menagerie” and all its ills. Uncle Al, the circus impresario, is a self-serving, venal creep who slaps people around because he can.

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Live to Tell: A Detective D. D. Warren Novel by Lisa Gardner

On August 20, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

At the heart of Gardner’s outstanding fourth novel featuring Boston PD detective Warren (after The Neighbor) are some very sick kids, notably Lucy, a nine-year-old feral girl who self-mutilates when any attention is given to her, and Evan, an eight-year-old boy who during fits threatens to kill his mother.

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Tough Customer: A Novel by Sandra Brown

On August 20, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

From acclaimed best-selling author Sandra Brown, Tough Customer is a heart-pounding tale about obsession and murder, the fragile nature of relationships, and, possibly, second chances.

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Alfred M. Albers: Author & Magician

On August 19, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Are these two books – “Of Ghosts and Magic,” and “House of Tarot Cards” – on your reading list? If not, they should be! Al Albers has received outstanding reviews from readers across the U.S. and from Canada.

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Scotland’s Image-Maker Sir Walter Scott ‘Invented English Legends’

On August 17, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

Speaking at the Edinburgh international book festival, Stuart Kelly argued that Scott invented a raft of English national stereotypes.

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Premiere (On the Runway) by Melody Carlson

On August 16, 2010, in Book Reviews, by Wilfried F. Voss

In Carlson’s (the Diary of a Teenage Girl series) latest, which launches the On the Runway series, 18-year old narrator Erin, who loves being behind the camera, and her 19-year old sister, Paige, who shines in front of one, land a contract to star in a fashion-focused TV show.

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