August 2010
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 12
F R E E
NEW AND OF INTEREST
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The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest
Blomqvist and Salander kick butt Page 9
Recovering Apollo 8: And Other Stories
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Explores that ethereal and elusive soubriquet we call “human” Page 10
Livermore Valley Wine Visits Fabulous wines...right in your backard Page 11
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Napa’s Bounty! T
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By Cate Conniff-Dobrich Chronicle Books, $27.50, 208 pages
his book is solely responsible for my gastronomic adventure to the breathtaking Napa Valley. For many years, The Culinary Institute of America has been the alma mater of renowned chefs and culinary experts around the world. In this tome, author Cate Conniff does a wonderful job presenting the sumptuous dishes of the CIA which incorporate the local ingredients of the valley. The book is a brilliant cornucopia of all things Napa, and Chef Michael Chiarello’s foreword further validates it.
The sustainability aspect is especially outstanding since the food preparation procedure and edible elements are divided into seasons, making it simple for any conscientious gourmand to whip up these awardwinning dishes. Vibrant photographs of the valley during different seasons will prompt any reader to plan a trip to Napa soon. The delectable and mouth-watering foods that abound the pages of this book have come alive in my own kitchen. Must-try dishes, especially for summer, are WaterSee SEASON’S, page 18
Pornland
Porn culture meets pop culture Page 19
More Than Just a Game The fight for the right to sport Page 21
90 Reviews INSIDE!
Children’s Books My Father is Taller Than a Tree By Joseph Bruchac Dial Books for Young Readers, $16.99, 32 pages Thirteen diverse father-son pairs are beautifully rendered in crayon and coloredpencil drawings in My father is Taller than a Treeby Joseph Bruchac, illustrated by Wendy Anderson Halperin. “He pats my back when I feel sad. He understands ‘cause he’s my dad.” Halperin has created scenes of country, city, small town living and all four seasons on these pages set up in tile-like panels across each two-page spread. The quality of the artwork is very high. The rhyming text feels like it is written for the end rhyme and is very simplistic, and first time through it is confusing for children that this is not one child’s tale of his dad (why does the dad keep appearing different each page?), but showing a young dad, an old dad, an Asian-American dad, a blind dad, an African-American dad, a Mexican-American dad, whether they are called “Pa” or “Mi Papa” or “Pop” or “Dad,” will allow many different children to see someone like their own dad in the pages and perhaps reflect on the simple things in life. A father who spends time with his child, who listens to him, who teaches him things, who respects the child for what he is able to do; even if these men are short in stature, they are all tall fathers in this child’s book. Reviewed by Robin Martin Would You Rather Be a Pollywog: All About Pond Life (Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library) By Bonnie Worth Random House Books for Young Readers, $8.99, 45 pages When my oldest child was a preschooler, someone advised me not to read at my child’s perceived level. Instead, I should provide books that were above his level because
he would understand more than I expected. Repeatedly, this advice proved correct, and I remain grateful that I did not miss opportunities to provide what he was in fact ready to understand. For this reason, I love Would You Rather Be a Pollywog: All About Pond Life. Part of The Cat in the Hat Learning Library, this book uses Dr. Seuss’s character and style to convey fairly advanced information about pond life to beginning readers. Pollywog touches on microscopic pond life, snails and leeches, the metamorphosis of different insects, water boatmen and water striders, several species of fish, kingfishers, ducks and ducklings, frog and newt life cycles, and turtles. All of this is done in charming rhyme. Pronunciation keys are provided for complex words such as spirulina, amoeba, metamorphosis, and lamellae. Pollywog also includes a glossary and a resource list for further reading. In sum, this is a terrific book. Be prepared, though. You might be pleasantly shocked to hear what suddenly crops up in your young reader’s conversations. Reviewed by Annie Peters Just Like Mama By Leslea Newman Abrams Books for Young Readers, $15.95, 29 pages Sweet, imaginative and true to life, Just Like Mama is age appropriate and enjoyable to read to young children, even infants. It presents full-page, colorful and easy-to-decipher drawings on every page, guaranteeing gleeful entertainment. Writer Leslea Newman and illustrator Julia Gorton are a decidedly good partnership for children’s books. The font is unique in its attempt
to look handwritten, and might prove difficult for a youngster to learn to read from. A great tale, however, for moms to read to their children and enjoy the pictures with them. Just Like Mama may even inspire a few misty eyes in those moms and bring memories back to life, or create new ones to share with their children. This is definitely a good choice in reading material for a child’s first library collection. “In her funny flowered hat and her sunny yellow clogs, she pulls up weeds, and waters seeds, and helps me hunt for frogs. Nobody gardens just like Mama.” Reviewed by M. Chris Johnson A Wizard from the Start By Don Brown Houghton Mifflin Books for Children, $17.00, 32 pages As a child, Thomas Edison had his head in the clouds, earning disapproval from his teacher. Once he was set free from the traditional ways of the classroom, however, his fervent curiosity propelled him to great heights of learning and invention — culminating in such world-changing things as the electric light bulb. Along the way, Edison dabbled successfully in several business endeavors, including selling newspapers on commuter trains and working as a skilled telegraph operator. With the support of his loving parents and his belief that “the more to do, the more to be done,” Edison secured 1,093 patents in his lifetime and remains a household name today. With watercolor illustrations depicting Edison’s world in all its period detail, Wizard bounds through his life without lingering too long on any one stage. Writer Don Brown’s sense of pacing and his careful selection of relevant episodes ensure that
D OW NLOA D IT ! kidsbookapp.com or
young readers remain engaged with the story of how an industrious young boy became a wizard. Wizard is a worthy historical addition to any child’s library. Reviewed by Margo Orlando Littell The Once Upon a Time Map Book: Take a Tour of Six Enchanted Lands By Barbara G. Hennessy, Illustrated by Peter Joyce Candlewick Press, $6.99, 16 pages Have you ever wondered what Alice’s Wonderland looks like? How about the Land of Oz? Or perhaps the magical island of Peter Pan’s Neverland? With The Once Upon A Time Map Book you can find out! The book features tours of six fantastical worlds: Jack and the Beanstalk’s Cloud Kingdom, Aladdin’s kingdom, Snow White’s Enchanted Forest, Wonderland, Neverland, and the Land of Oz. Each map is wonderfully detailed, with small “hidden pictures” young readers will enjoy finding. But it’s much more than a normal search-and-find book. Kids may quickly memorize where each picture is and move on, but there’s plenty more details to be discovered beyond the hidden ones. The book is also a great tool for learning map-reading skills, as each map has a compass and map-reading instructions accompanying it. Adults and children alike will find all sorts of hidden surprises as they scan their favorite storybook lands. Hopefully the author has a sequel coming soon because readers will be eager to see more after exploring these six maps. This book would make a great addition to any teacher’s classroom library. Reviewed by Alyssa Feller
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Book Review 1776 Productions 1215 K Street, 17th Floor Sacramento, CA 95814 Ph. (916) 503-1776 info@1776productions.com EDITOR IN CHIEF Ross Rojek ross@1776productions.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR Kaye Cloutman kaye.cloutman@1776productions.com
IN THIS ISSUE Children’s.......................................................2 Historical Fiction............................................4 Horror............................................................4 Modern Literature..........................................5 History...........................................................6 Current Events...............................................6
GRAPHIC DESIGN/LAYOUT Heidi Komlofske heidi.komlofske@1776productions.com
Poetry & Short Stories....................................7
Rowena Manisay
Mystery, Crime & Thrillers.............................8
COPY EDITORS Joe Atkins Megan Just Lori Miller Viola Allo Glenn Rucker
Young Adult....................................................9 Popular Fiction...............................................9 Science Fiction & Fantasy.............................10
EDITORIAL ASSISTANTS Jen LeBrun Mary Komlofske Aiya Madarang
Livermore Valley Wine Visits........................11
WEBSITE/SOCIAL NETWORKING/ APP DEVELOPMENT Ariel Berg Gwen Stackler Robyn Oxborrow Deborah Lewis
Biographies & Memoirs................................15
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Tweens.........................................................15 Local Calendr................................................16 Art, Architecture & Photography................. 17 Business & Investing.................................... 17 Cooking, Food & Wine..................................18 Sequential Art..............................................18 Science & Nature..........................................19
The San Francisco Book Review is published monthly by 1776 Productions. The opinions expressed in these pages are those of the individual writers and do not necessarily reflect the views of the San Francisco Book Review or San Francisco Book Review advertisers. All images are copyrighted by their respective copyright holders. All words © 2010, 1776 Productions. August 2010 print run 10,000 copies.
Religion........................................................21
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FROM THE EDITOR Summer is supposed to be a time of relaxation: long, leisurely vacations, quiet nights on the porch, kids off to summer camp for weeks on end. Was that our summer? With that kind of lead-in, you know it wasn’t. In July, we launched our first iPhone book review app, the appropriately named Kids Book App (kidsbookapp.com) with most of the Children’s, Tweens, and Young Adult book reviews we’ve done so far in our two years of reviewing books. We’ll be updating the reviews weekly, and will have a weekly Children’s author podcast included in our next update later this month. Our August issue includes a four-page advertising insert for the Livermore Valley. Heidi (Co-publisher, design-layout-and-everything-else-person) was born and raised in Livermore, and, as she says in her introduction to the section, was amazed at how much it’s changed since she moved away. Heidi and I had a great time visiting the Livermore wineries as we prepared the section, and, in order to help ourselves find our way around, we created the first and only iPhone app for the Livermore Valley. You can find more information about it at 1776productions.com/ livermore, and it should be available for free download the second week in August. This issue has some great books, equally wonderful reviews, and plenty of stuff to appeal to most any taste. We hope you find something new to read that you wouldn’t have considered, and if you do, let us know. Both the San Francisco and Sacramento Book Review websites allow for comments on the reviews, and as we still so very rarely get emails or letters, drop by the site to leave your comments there. Thanks again for picking us up. Ross Rojek —Editor-in-Chief ross@1776productions.com 1776 Productions
Spirituality...................................................20
Coming Up...
Sports & Outdoors........................................20
September brings a couple of major milestones – the second anniversary of the Sacramento Book Review, the first anniversary of the San Francisco Book Review, and our Fall Science Fiction & Fantasy insert. This will be our third SF&F insert, and to really make it memorable, we’re also going to have – wait for it – an iPhone app with all our existing reviews, plus some extras to make it worth downloading.
Humor-NonFiction.......................................22 Reference......................................................22
August 10
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Historical Fiction An American Type: A Novel By Henry Roth, Willing Davidson, Editor Norton, $25.95, 283 pages Henry Roth wrote his classic Call it Sleep in 1934, while living with an NYU professor—his lover and literary mentor. In this posthumous novel, set in 1938, Roth’s alter ego, Ira Stigman, drives his Model T to the artist’s colony of Yaddo, where he’s been invited to stay and where he meets the tall, elegant M (the composer Muriel Parker). Jewish boy from the East Side ghettoes and austere Daughter of the American Revolution fall in love. In an impassioned, surreal encounter, Stigman breaks the “umbilicus” to the older, flinty Edith; to seal the break and free himself for a life with M, he turns his Model T toward L.A., with a semi-paranoid, bullying, Communist, steel hook for a hand, as his companion. Depression era L.A. fails to offer screenwriting work but teems with sensual pleasures, tawdry arcades and shooting galleries, cheap booze, and illegal rackets run from sleazy bars on lamp-lit boulevards. Stigman must sell his Model T to eat. His future uncertain, he must face a dark, arduous journey back to M in New York. Hitching rides with other quintessential American types, Stigman carries us with him to a moving denouement. Reviewed by Zara Raab
Horror Songs of a Dead Dreamer By Thomas Ligotti Subterranean Press, $40.00, 282 pages The stuff of our nightmares, are they really just a passing scare or do they show us something deeper and more sinister? In this reprinted collection, originally published in 1981, we get to revisit the stories of Thomas Ligotti. A very Lovecraft and Poe-inspired collection of stories, the book aims more to scare us with the dark and deep philosophical brooding, and pain, going deep into our dreams
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A Star’s Legacy: Volume One of The Magdala Trilogy By Peter Longley iUniverse, $28.95, 555 pages It is a time of great change and unprecedented prosperity in the Middle East. Romans are settling across the land, raising conflicting feelings of hope and hatred within the Jewish population that they rule over. King Herod’s reign is waning, spurred on by his debilitating illness and the intrigues of his weak offspring. And in the heavens, a strange star sets the night ablaze while soothsayers and mystics prophesy downfall, redemption and the coming of the Messiah. Under this heavenly talisman three strangers are born, whose lives take them across the shores of Galilee, to the heart of the Roman Empire, to the holy city of Jerusalem, and even further afar as their destinies slowly come together. In A Star’s Legacy,— the first book in the Magdala Trilogy— Peter Longley sets out to weave the tale of one of the most familiar, yet least-known women of history: Mary Magdalene. In much the same way that Marion Zimmer Bradley reconstructed the Arthurian legend in The Mists of Avalon, Longley blends a fantastic mixture of historical and fictional figures and events to narrate the early lives of Joshua, (also known as Jesus of Nazareth,) Maria, (also known as Mary Magdalene,) and Linus Flavius, (son of a high-ranking Roman official.) Using simple, effective prose, Longley tells an engaging tale that offers plausible explanations of those well-known stories of
the miraculous, such as the virgin birth and the turning of water into wine. A warning: be ready for the abrupt descriptions of some events, with months or years passing within a single paragraph, and beware the sometimes oblique motivations of certain characters, which leave you slightly unsure as to why they believe what they believe. Yet, overall, Longley tells an intriguing story in a setting that is both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time. Sponsored Review
and our nightmares. It attempts to peel back the curtain to show what we are truly made of. Each story is self-contained, so you can jump around the book. Some of the basic themes flow from story to story: dark houses, dark minds, dark books. Even though there are no blood and gore scenes, this collection is not for the faint of heart. It is for people who like Lovecraft-type stories, the dream monsters. These stories will cause you to look in your mirror twice to see what you truly see, to avoid dark houses in bad neighborhoods, and not to inquire too deeply in used bookstores. Reviewed by Kevin Winter
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls By Steve Hockensmith Quirk Books, $12.95, 287 pages Well before the dashing Mr. Darcy would turn Elizabeth Bennet’s life upside down, the world was much simpler. That is, until the dreadfuls returned. As Mr. Bennet tries to rally support to battle the coming scourge, he also brings shame on the family by insisting that his daughters learn to fight the zombie menace. With scientists, martial artists, and soldiers descending on the quiet town in the wake of the threat, Lizzie and her sisters find themselves under siege from suitors and dreadfuls alike. Many may deny that Pride and Prejudice and Zombies had any charm at all, but in my opinion, a lot of its charm was centered around how true the story endeavored to
Dearest Cousin Jane By Jill Pitkeathley Harper Paperbacks, $13.99, 266 pages The fascination with Jane Austen comes alive yet again in a novel about Jane, her family, and particularly her relationship with free spirited Aunt Eliza. Eliza, whose first husband was a count from France, eventually put to death during the Reign of Terror, was called Comtesse de la Feuillide. Eliza was Jane’s most loyal fan, and encouraged her to write, even when others considered it scandalous for a woman. Jane’s “scribblings” began in childhood and often reflected her experiences, even though she claimed that she did not write from real life. For instance, the fact that she, her sister Cassandra, and her mother were forced from their family home after their father’s death, and moved into a cottage belonging to relatives inspired “Sense and Sensibility.” A visit to Bath (which she loathed) inspired “Northanger Abbey.” Different mem-
bers of her family, including Jane, narrate the chapters. Although Eliza is supposed to be the featured character, there are so many others assisting in the narration, she doesn’t stand out. She does, however, have “modern” ideas, such as ignoring the common expectation that Jane should marry and have children rather than write novels. Nevertheless, Eliza is a likable character, as are most of the others. The novel moves along at a pace that you’d expect from Jane Austen – slowly and steadily. Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson The Scarlet Lion By Elizabeth Chadwick Landmark, $14.99, 554 pages The Scarlet Lion tells the story of the famed English knight William Marshall after the death of Richard the Lionheart. The book begins after the events of Elizabeth Chadwick’s The Greatest Knight. Marshall and his ever-expanding family become victims of the whims of King John’s paranoid and arguably sadistic nature. While the country is at war with France and Marshall is out of favor with the king, he must play a dangerous political game to maintain his Norman, English, and Irish lands. As is always the case with Chadwick, her attention to historical detail is evident. In this novel, unfortunately, the pacing of the narrative is often sacrificed to period details. Events often begin to feel like a chronological list rather than components of an organic whole. Readers will enjoy Chadwick’s See SCARLET, page 16
remain to the original, in both tone and plotline. Dawn of the Dreadfuls made no such effort. The characters became caricatures; Mrs. Bennet in particular was an intolerably shrill irritant, rather than a mere annoyance. And, to be honest, it’s a prequel book. We know that Elizabeth is single when the original book starts, so why should we care about either of the potential love interests? In the end, we shouldn’t, and we don’t. That sums up the reading experience perfectly. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas
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Modern Literature Then Came the Evening By Brian Hart Bloomsbury, $25.00, 265 pages All families in good literature are fractured, and the fissures run deep in the Dorner family. As this gritty debut novel opens, Bandy Dorner’s cabin is burning, he has driven his car into a canal, he has shot a policeman, and his pregnant wife Iona is leaving town with another man. The story jumps forward to Bandy in prison reading a letter from Iona telling him his son Tracy has turned eighteen. It’s the first time Bandy has heard about the boy. When Tracy visits Bandy before his release and tells him of his intention to fix up the family homestead in Lake Fork, Idaho, the stage is set for a tense reunion. “He looked back at the house and felt loathsome toward it: It was just a house, not a future, not a home in any sense that he wanted it to be.” Hart’s clipped prose mirrors the stark Western landscape. The brutally violent prison scenes ring true, especially with the prison slang peppered throughout. However, this realism does not hold consistently throughout the story. For example, Hart’s treatment of Iona’s life falls flat in comparison. Hart’s use of an omniscient narrator is emotionally distancing, which may make it difficult for some readers to find the actors in his family saga very sympathetic. On the whole, though, this is a solid, original work that defies convention. Reviewed by Deb Jurmu Fall Asleep Forgetting By Georgeann Packard The Permanent Press, $28.00, 269 pages One clear fact in Fall Asleep Forgetting is that Paul is dying. It’s also apparent that his wife Sloan is distraught about this. What the third main character, Claude, feels about the situation wanders all over the map. Paul wants to maintain some control over his imminent death. Claude and a nine-yearold named Six, who wants to save his soul, make hash of his intricate plan while Sloan mopes in a dream world of her own. More than once, I wanted to shake Georgeann Packard, whose first novel this is, and ask, why didn’t you tell me that sooner? It doesn’t help that the story is spun from a number of points of
view, including Claude’s circumspect diary notations about her photos, which illustrate the book. But the book has too much vivid description of Long Island and its secluded beaches, as well as the flotsam of characters washed up over the years on its shore, to just write the author off. Packard also shows great skill at building tension in spite of the meandering of the story. Reviewed by Marj Stuart The Gin Closet By Leslie Jamison Free Press, $25.00, 274 pages In her beautifully written debut novel The Gin Closet, Leslie Jamison portrays multiple generations of women with baggage, women who suffer, and their relationships with one another. The book tells the tale of Stella, a Los Angeles transplant to New York who is working as a personal assistant to a nasty, neurotic selfhelp author, attending vapid, self-indulgent cocktail parties, and having an aimless affair with a professor. Stella’s life is turned upside down when she becomes caretaker for her ailing grandmother—and, after her grandmother’s death, when she begins to get to know her mother’s long-estranged sister Tilly, whose life has been full of tribulations, from substance abuse to prostitution, and sees that their lives and experiences are, in many ways, not that different. Jamison is a strong writer and The Gin Closet is a very modern novel, very in keeping with the times. As writing, it is an exciting read. But the Los Angeles to New York to San Francisco journey of discovery seems trite and clichéd, and it would be nice to see something a less predictable coming from such a talented, promising author. Reviewed by Ashley McCall The Cambridge Companion to Literature of Los Angeles Edited by Kevin McNamara Cambridge University Press, $85.00, 248 pages The city of Los Angeles is difficult to define: Is it just the city and county, or do you include all the suburbs and neighborhoods that make up the vast and sprawling metropolis? In the latest companion from Cambridge, various contributors tackle literature and Los Angeles, especially authors who set their works within the City of An-
gels. Each chapter is short and gives you a taste of different genres, from science fiction, to urban literature, to poetry. With the first half of the book dedicated to looking at how literature has changed over time. The object is just to give the reader a taste of what is out there, not to go in depth – and this is what hurts this book. By the time you want more information about a particular subject, be it science fiction or poetry, that chapter is over. The contributors do a good job being concise, but the definition of what makes up Los Angeles eludes even the authors themselves. Reviewed by Kevin Winter Magnolia Wednesdays By Wendy Wax Berkley, $15.00, 431 pages Vivi is a hard-edged investigative reporter whose amusing life circumstances land her squarely in the foreign world of her sister’s Southern suburban existence. Readers get to watch her puzzle through this odd land while also figuring out her personal issues, dealing with family history and shedding her one-woman, “me-against-the-world” mindset. Watching the growth of Viv’s character, as slow as it is, is one of the main draws of this book, as are the multiple (though subtle) back stories of the suburbanites she encounters and befriends. Although a few scenes are a bit slow, the culmination of Viv’s issues and her antics is draining (as they would be in real-life) and readers are likely to count their lucky stars that her situation is not theirs. Readers should not miss the Gone with the Wind comparisons- some explicit, $while others, like the name of Viv’s self-sacrificing sister, Melanie, are more subtle. Several strong characters both negative and positive, add meat to the story – specifically a rival reporter who turns the tables by investigating and then dishing on Viv, and the sister’s mother, who is excellently portrayed through biting dialogue. Reviewed by Allena Tapia Love in Mid Air By Wright, Kim Grand Central Publishing, $23.99, 312 pages If, like me, you’re tired of novels where authors paint wives in stale marriages as pitiful victims, then Kim Wright’s Love in Mid Air will come as a welcome relief. Elyse, the narrator and protagonist, finds herself
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stuck in the “perfection” of wealthy suburban life, struggling with identity and worth, even as she shrivels in her stifling marriage. Her husband Phil, a kind, bland man, cannot understand her lack of satisfaction. On an airplane she meets handsome seductive Gerry, with whom she begins an affair, and begins wondering what life might be like outside her stagnant marriage. “In my dream, he seems to have the power of flight. He is above me, like a hummingbird. He moves from one part of my body to another and I can feel the rapid flap of his wings against my skin. He lowers his head, over and over, as if to drink.” Wright brings needed complexity to her characters, especially Elyse, keeping her multi-dimensionally interesting and investing her with a voice both insightful and humorous. Likewise, the women in Elyse’s book group provide a window into other marriages and a mirror for her own. This is not a novel without flaws, most especially a tendency to engage in unneeded digressions and flashbacks that frustrate an otherwise fluid narrative, but the characters and story remain engaging. I would be remiss to not mention also, that Wright crafts excellent sex scenes, maintaining her protagonist’s emotional tightrope, while appropriately gripping her reader. Over all, a fine debut sure to entertain her readers. Reviewed by Jordan Magill The Girl Who Chased the Moon By Sarah Addison Allen Bantam, $23.00, 269 pages Sarah Addison Allen, author of bestseller Garden Spells, has prepared yet another confection to carry out to the poolside. The Girl who Chased the Moon is pure comfort food, as much as the barbeque sandwiches and delectable cakes that mingle aromatically and atmospherically in the story’s background. Its two sad, yearning female protagonists, so sympathetically sweet they are a little too easy to love, must face down the past in a small Southern town both resist calling home. Emily has come to live with her grandfather after her mother’s death, only to run up against long-held resentments regarding something her mother did as a teenager. Julia has returned only to sell her father’s restaurant and then leave, escaping memories of her youth she cannot move past. Following each of them is a man of the Southern gentleman variety: welldressed, infallibly polite, persistent men See GIRL, page 8
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History Knight: The Medieval Warrior’s [Unofficial] Manual By Michael Prestwich Thames & Hudson, $24.95, 208 pages The only thing that’s unofficial about Knight: The Medieval Warrior’s [Unofficial] Manual is that it was published in the wrong century. It covers training, conduct, weaponry (both melee and siege), fighting technique, how to wage campaigns and wars, and even how to ransom yourself or others. The brief explanation of exchange rates between various forms of coinage was particularly useful, But the book isn’t afraid to discuss unpleasant subjects in unflinching terms, as in the featured quotation, removing some of the gloss from the reputation of knighthood. Like a how-to book mistakenly transported through time, the manual is presented in a straightforward manner, free of the tongue-in-cheek asides to the reader that most unofficial wannabe textbooks traffic in. (Even though the passing reference to the impracticality of gunpowder weapons
is funny to a modern day reader, when considered in context it remains true to the accepted opinions of the period.) Peppered throughout with stories of legendary knights—who knew that Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein was a real knight? —and overloaded with illustrations and detail, Knight: The Medieval Warrior’s [Unofficial] Manual should be your go-to resource for all things sir-ly. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas The Lady in the Tower: The Fall of Anne Boleyn By Alison Weir Ballantine, $28.00, 434 pages Henry VIII broke from Rome and almost got into a war with Charles V over his right to divorce his first wife and marry Anne Boleyn. In the end he was successful; he did divorce his wife without starting a major war, and he did marry Anne Boleyn. But he did not get what he really wanted, and that was a male heir. After a few premature births, Anne Boleyn fell from Henry’s favor and ended up losing her head along with five other people; and Henry would go on to marry Jane Seymour. This is the story of the fall of Anne Boleyn, the Boleyn faction at court, and the men that were killed along with her.
Alison Weir delves deep into the background of the characters of those involved, from the important to the not-so-important. She describes Anne as someone who over stepped her bounds with Henry, but was also worried at her inability to produce a male heir. Written in a prose that is easy to follow, the only hard part is the many names and titles that the author throws at the reader. This tells a story that has been told again and again. Be careful what you wish for. Reviewed by Kevin Winter The Sixties Unplugged: A Kaleidoscopic History of a Disorderly Decade By Gerard J. DeGroot Harvard University Press, $18.95, 508 pages For many people who remember the Sixties, they remember it as a turbulent decade, a decade that many people felt would change the world. They felt anything was possible, and anyone could do anything they wanted. From the election of President John F. Kennedy, to the escalation in Vietnam, it was
See SIXTIES, page 9
Current Events All That We Say is Ours: Guujaaw and the Reawakening of the Haida Nation By Ian Gill Douglas & McIntyre, $28.95, 328 pages The treatment of the native peoples of the Americas is, both historically and currently, a scourge on the face of the nations that make up the U.S., Canada, and Latin America. In All That We Say is Ours, Ian Gill writes of British Columbia’s Haida Nation, an indigenous group that has, in recent years, teamed with conservationists to face the Canadian government in attempt to regain rights over land that is, arguably, rightfully theirs. The book also tells the story of Giindajin Haawasti Guujaaw, an artist, activist and native historian who has played an integral role in working to maintain and protect the environment and the traditions of his people. While Gill strives to tell the story of a people and their struggle for their rightful place and the respect they deserve from the Canadian government, something about the book feels too close, and almost too casual,
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too unprofessional, as if Gill is writing a story for a friend rather than telling the story of a native group struggling for human and environmental rights. The history is interesting, and the information presented about the Haida, who aren’t a group often spoken of in the American media, is intriguing, but something about the book fails to strike a chord. Unfortunately, the book reads more like a fan manifesto than a history of a people striving to change their position in the world. Reviewed by Ashley McCall The Story of Stuff: How Our Obsession with Stuff Is Trashing the Planet, Our Communities, and Our Health-and a Vision for Change By Annie Leonard Free Press, $26.00, 317 pages Based on the wildly popular Internet video of the same name, The Story of Stuff takes the reader on a journey through the life of our stuff. We all have a lot of stuff. Too much stuff, in fact. And as we consume more stuff and demand that it be cheaper and more immediately available to us, we rarely stop to think about what happens to our old stuff and where all of this cheap, plentiful new stuff comes from. Annie Leonard has spent years trying to
a time of youthful rebellion by the middle class youth against their parents. It was a decade of contrasts, restraints, and experimentation. In the end, one can say nothing much changed after the Sixties were over. In this work, DeGroot examines the decade not chronologically, but thematically. He jumps around from place to place, and event to event. Each section is short and brief, but long enough to give you context and analyze what was happening on
discover all this and more, and what she’s learned is shocking and, frankly, shameful. But Leonard never has to resort to shame; she’s the first to admit that she’s a consumer too, just like us, and her information shows us how easy it can be to forget about all of the hidden costs of the stuff we buy (and throw out). Leonard doesn’t stop there. She also shows us how easy it is to put an end to this obsession we have with our stuff. And, hey, when you’re finished with your copy, do yourself and everyone else a favor and pass it on. Reviewed by Amanda Mitchell A Swamp Full of Dollars By Michael Peel I.B. Tauris & Co., $24.95, 256 pages In Nigeria, oil has boomed and small villages have challenged giant oil companies. The oil rich Nigeria delta region is the focus of the study in this book. Among the author’s various travels in his quest to understand Nigeria’s oil culture, he tells of a violent urban gang that controls much of Lagos
and opposes foreign control of Nigeria’s oil. Peel does a terrific job of exploring the oil economy’s global ties to Nigeria. “The steep drop in Nigeria’s oil markets amid looming recession in leading economies caused the price of oil to plunge from $132.55 a barrel in July 2008 to $40.76 in December 2008 caused further problems for President Yar Adua and his restless country.” In essence, this book is a memoir of life in streets of Lagos and a thoroughly researched expose of how oil has torn its natural environment the people of Nigeria. The author, Michel Peel, has told the history vividly of history in Nigeria and oil in a way which makes it accessible to all and is a fascinating in to Africa’s Wild West. Journalist Michel Peel implies basically what has happened to Nigeria is a strong warning to the United States and other economic powers that have gotten increasingly frantic in their search for new oil sources. Reviewed by Claude Ury
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Poetry & Short Stories A Song Beneath Silence: A Collection of Poetry By Apryl Skies By Apryl Skies AuthorHouse, $16.99, 114 pages Apryl Skies, author of A Song Beneath Silence, has a dreamy name that speaks of seasonality. Her name gives a lot away, makes one think of the uppermost realm of the our planet—the sky—and the visually transient mysteries it holds: clouds, rain, sunlight, moonlight, darkness, and stars. Her poems are filled with these natural elements, and beyond this, they are filled with the supernatural, too. This poet takes it all in! She seeks to transcend the limits of being human and bound to the Earth. Emotions can be liberating, and her poems capture the heights we attain when we love and live passionately. Readers will find her poems intriguing but oftentimes abstract. The choice of concrete images and themes, and how to use them without being too abstract, is something many poets grapple with, because readers seek experiences they can latch onto and make their own. At times, her poems left me wanting more sensory details I could claim. Nonetheless, I could hear the music in her lines and see the landscapes she paints. Every poet is bound to a place; Apryl Skies is rooted in her southern California home, lured by what is near it and beyond it—the ocean and the heavens. She seeks what it means to be human but able to transcend the boundaries of where and how we live and the limits of what we feel and perceive. Sponsored Review The Love Song of A. Jerome Minkoff: And Other Stories By Joseph Epstein Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $24.00, 260 pages The Love Song of A. Jerome Minkoff and Other Stories is a collection of 14 short stories by Joseph Epstein. The main characters for all the stories are successful, contented, Jewish men living in Chicago who, in their middle age, find themselves in situations that test their morality and desire to stay in their comfort zones. Among them are a widowed surgeon who gets thrust into the fast-paced affairs of a woman from Los Angeles; a retired university professor, reputable and known for his literary works until a woman in his past surfaces and renders him doubtful of his skills; and a happily
married and successful businessman contemplating an affair with a much younger subordinate. In Epstein’s stories, there is a general feeling of moderation, staying in the neutral, not rocking the boat, working with what one is accustomed to. There are no extreme emotions, unless it’s from the characters the men are observing. Surprisingly, this seeming lack of passion in the characters is what makes the stories interesting and memorable, projecting a sense of calmness that is a welcome change. If this is what middle age is going to be like, I’m not completely averse to it. Reviewed by D.Harms Collected Stories By Lewis Shiner Subterranean Press, $40.00, 465 pages Moods and emotions are the hidden substance of the 41 short stories from cult author Lewis Shiner, most of which have been published before. Humor, anger, horror, outrage well up in the narratives that dwell primarily on the parallel world themes, which transcend mere science fiction. In fact, they are all too believable and highlight the perfidiousness of political chicanery– as “Perfidia” shows in the Paris Brothel explanation of Glen Miller’s disappearance. The death of Che Guevara is a new story and an outstanding example of Shiner’s work. The revolutionary lives on to become ruler of a stable Argentina, while the US succumbs to a new civil war and chaos through its greedy capitalism. As the last 18 months have proved there is often a fine line that decides the fates of nations and people. Shiner uses dramatic fiction to point out the absurdities in momentous political events; some of his parallel universes make more sense than the one we live in. One discordant feature is that occasionally the narratives are inconclusive, $as though even he is not sure of what comes, or should happen, next. Reviewed by Martin Rushmere White Egrets By Derek Walcott Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $24.00, 90 pages In Derek Walcott’s latest poetry collection, White Egrets, we see this gifted poet and Nobel Prize winner (awarded in 1992) at his best in the craft of poetry. Softened by artful rhyming and musicality, the poems in this collection display Walcott’s gift at using imagery to transport the reader to whatever location and event he documents. We see the white of egrets, the white of waves washing the shores of his Caribbean
homeland (St. Lucia), we see the white of his hair, and we know that age has not robbed this poet of his crystal clear imagination. This collection is filled with verses that honor people he has known and lost, as well as creative tributes to places he has visited in his travels. I especially enjoyed the radiant opening poems of the collection and the insightful ones in the second half of the book. I recommend The Lost Empire, A London Afternoon, In the Village, Sixty Years Later, Forty Acres, and Epithalamium, as just a handful of many enjoyable poems to turn to. The final poem is a painfully sweet close to the book and will leave readers feeling that Walcott’s work is a gift of love to the world. Reviewed by Viola Allo When You Say One Thing But Mean Your Mother By Melissa Broder Ampersand, $13.95, 90 pages Melissa Broder’s poems in When You Say One Thing but Mean Your Mother are bold and touch on hushed topics in unexpected ways. Her poem “Dear Billy Collins” asks what it takes to be a poet and why tragedy makes such a necessary ingredient for good poetry. We face our morbid curiosity in “Your Mother Is Dying and I Want Details.” And in “Soup,” we contemplate what makes loving and serving and caring for another so frustrating and imprisoning. Readers will enjoy the vigilant observer in Melissa Broder, but they might also find her tone to be too cynical and sarcastic. This tone helps us laugh at ourselves and the rampant hilarity of our lives, but it also distances the reader from the softness that makes life worth living. Many of us seek this softness and poetry can lead us there, in the same way that the greenery of a park or the shimmer of a pond can soothe the people behind the concrete walls and gray towers of an urban world. Reviewed by Viola Allo Dimanche and Other Stories By Irene Nemirovsky Vintage, $15.00, 293 pages The posthumous publishing of Irene Nemirovsky’s masterpiece, Suite Francaise, was an important literary event. It introduced the wartime French writer to English-speaking audiences, and readers were stunned by her deep reflection on the horrors of war. Now,
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Dimanche and Other Stories has been translated into English for the first time, giving us a chance to love this writer all over again. The stories, which take place throughout France, span the period of pre-war prosperity to post-war terror. The chasm between classes is felt in stories such as “Brotherhood,” where a wealthy Frenchman meets a poor immigrant who shares his last name. A similar gap between people is felt in the title story, where a young girl falls into the same trap of a loveless marriage that her mother did. The wartime stories are horrifying and eye-opening. In each, a character comes to terms with the truth that no one, regardless of money or status, is safe. Nemirovsky’s skill with point-ofview and emotional detail comes shining through as a result of the wonderful translation by Bridget Patterson. This collection of stories is everything literature should be: gripping, beautiful, and thought-provoking. Reviewed by Katie Cappello Something is Out There By Richard Bausch Knopf, $24.95, 268 pages Richard Bausch is a contributor to several popular magazines such as Variety, the New Yorker, and The Atlantic. Something is Out There is his latest collection of short stories. It has eleven stories in it, and all are infused by the sort of common, everyday horror of existence compounded by the banality of the evil humans do to their fellow humans, even the ones they love. The finest examples of this come in the short story that gives the title to this collection, in which a father and husband slip from the roof and rushed to the hospital right before a violent snowstorm. As the family returns home and the weather worsens, they await a relative to arrive who is inexplicably late and now traveling through terrible conditions. An unannounced guest arrives to deliver legal documents of some sort and the day’s events conspire to create in the minds of the characters and reader an ominous, sinister atmosphere. Other excellent examples are Blood and The Reverend Thornhill’s Wife, which like Something is Out There reveal the “everyday” life of “everyday” people, while exposing its fragility, beauty and yes, its cruelty. Reviewed by Jonathon Howard
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Mystery, Crime & Thrillers Broken By Karin Fossum Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $25.00, 265 pages A line of people stands in her driveway but she’s used to seeing them. They’re potential characters, waiting day after day, week after week, sometimes year after year, for her to tell their story. Then one night, the unthinkable happens…one of the characters comes right into her bedroom and demands that she tell his story next. And thus begins the tale of Alvar Eide, an unassuming character who breaks into a nervous sweat at the very thought of talking to a stranger or answering a knock at his door, but who nonetheless harbors an intense desire for his story to be told before it’s too late. “…for humans to be in balance, their external landscape must match their internal one. That’s why I like fog. Darkness and storms. Northern lights, a full moon. Shooting stars. Heavy persistent rain, leaves falling.” In Broken Fossum skillfully creates a story-within-a-story, revealing the unexpected journey of an author who is in the process of understanding her main character, while at the same time relating the actual story of said character. Wielding words like an artist wields a brush, Fossum deftly paints the modest and insecure Alvar, the irrepressible and fatalistic Lindys, and a background of lesser characters with a sharp and haunting vitality. A fantastic read for anyone, especially if you’re under the impression that an author always has complete control over their story… Reviewed by Heather Ortiz First Thrills: High-Octane Stories from the Hottest Thriller Authors By Lee Child Forge, $25.99, 368 pages Lee Child brought us the wildly popular series featuring Jack Reacher, an improbably likable killer. Now he teams up with the International Thriller Writers to bring readers an anthology of short stories that run the gamut from traditional mystery to thrillers involving vampires and zombies in First Thrills: High Octane Stories from the Hottest Thriller Authors I do not like vampire tales. I do not enjoy reading about zombies. Given that caveat, I must admit
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that in this volume, I read both with great enjoyment. They are, indeed, page-turning thrillers. Some of the tales presented fall short of the mark; others, such as Kelli Stanley’s “Children’s Day”, seem destined to become classics. The well-known authors here (Child, Jeffrey Deaver, and Michael Palmer, among others) contributed works to this anthology to help showcase the emerging talents of a baker’s dozen new writers. In all fairness, some of the authors are not “hot” authors – indeed, you’ve never heard of them. However, I predict in the future we will find many of these now-unfamiliar writers at the top of the New York Times Bestsellers lists. A “must add to my library” volume! Reviewed by Claudette Smith Original Sins: A Novel of Slavery and Freedom By Peg Kingman W. W. Norton & Company, $25.95, 416 pages Grace, a portrait painter in nineteenthcentury Philadelphia, is surprised when her old friend Anibaddh returns to America eighteen years after taking her freedom. Her cover story is a desire to introduce a new kind of silk to America, but Grace suspects that the reason is far more personal. What Grace discovers will lead her into the heart of the slaveholding South, where past and present sins will be uncovered, and new crimes committed, in the pursuit of a higher justice not fully understood by the courts. Novelist Peg Kingman evokes an American past many are still squeamish about. Grace is everything society deems unacceptable: an atheist, a free thinker, and holding on to a career that many believe shames her husband. She accepts an invitation and commission from her long-lost relatives, who do not recognize her, and must reexamine her ideas of truth and justice upon visiting Virginia. This novel urges deep thinking, with a complex plot that tidies up quite neatly at the end. Inspired characters and a lush landscape make it easy to get caught up in this story. Reviewed by Holly Scudero The Passage By Justin Cronin Ballantine, $27.00, 784 pages A government experiment goes horribly wrong and leads to 12 test subjects infecting and wiping out a large portion of the human population. The 13th test subject, a young girl named Amy, may be the key to ending this plague. I am possibly a victim of over hype for this book. The concept of the book was won-
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest By Stieg Larsson Knopf, $27.95, 563 pages
Unless you’ve lived in a cave for the last two years, you’ve heard of, or even read, the trio of books by Stieg Larsson known as the Millennium Trilogy. Originally written in Swedish, all have been translated into dozens of other languages, and are international best sellers, with 40 million copies sold so far. Unfortunately for fans of the series, the author suffered a fatal heart attack, but not before delivering three completed manuscripts to his editor. There’s an incomplete fourth and possibly fifth manuscript that his girlfriend of 30 years is using as leverage in a scuffle over his estate. (She inherited nothing since Sweden doesn’t recognize common-law marriage. “Salander knew she did not have a chance. When she made a mistake -- which would happen sooner or later -- she was dead.” For now, readers will have to be content with the three already published: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, The Girl Who Played with Fire, and the recently released, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest. For those of you just emerging from inside your cave, the series revolves around crusading investigative journalist Mikael Blomkvist, and the strange but brilliant punk computer hacker, Lisbeth Salander. Blomkvist and Salander are unique and complex characters, with an equally complex relationship. Over the course of the series, they are caught up in serial murders, mysterious disappearances, the Swedish sex trade, and government secret police. A first-time novelist, Larsson has long stretches of exposition, but he is forgiven once the action gets started. Each book leaves off with a cliffhanger, and the next one continues exactly where the last one ended. In the latest, Hornet’s Nest, Salander spends most of the book recovering from a bullet to the brain. She has been a pawn of a faction of the secret police who are trying to hide long-buried secrets. Some readers will skim over details about government’s inner workings, and a court case near the end is dramatic but implausible. Hornet is nevertheless another page-turner. Sweden has already completed film versions of the trilogy, but only the first has reached U.S. theaters. Not unexpectedly, Hollywood bought the rights as well, and there is already a screenplay for The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. It was just announced that Daniel Craig will play Blomkvist, but there is still speculation over who will play Salander. Several unknown actresses are being considered. Because the heart of the series is its two main characters, and their on-screen chemistry has to be perfect, here’s hoping Hollywood gets it right. In the meantime, buy or borrow copies of the three published novels, and savor them. Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson derful and it was well written but did not blow me away. It took about 200 pages to catch my interest and even then it was not a book that I could not put down. The first part of the book covers the discovery of this disease that basically turns people into bloodthirsty creatures with super human speed, strength, etc. The story then flashes to about 100 years in the future after the spread of this disease/ weapon and follows the lives of a set of people who live in a sanctuary descended from children that were rescued and isolated from victims of the virus as they attempt to
survive and fight off these creatures. The main problem was the pacing of the book. It felt like it could have been shorter and at certain points it dragged. Still it leaves the reader hanging for the next book. Reviewed by Debbie Suzuki GIRL, cont’d from page 5 Allen effortlessly dishes up a soul-warming small-town feel, with sprinkles of the otherworldly that add delicious flavor. The ingredients are few and you know them all too well, but it sure does hit that craving for tales of good people finally discovering how surprisingly easy it is to find happiness. Reviewed by Ariel Berg
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Young Adult Heart of a Samurai By Margi Preus Amulet Books, $15.95, 282 pages This captivating novel is based on the true story of John Manjiro, a poor Japanese fisherman’s son, who one day (impossibly) becomes a samurai. Caught in a storm and stranded on an island, Manjiro is rescued by an American ship. But in 1841, Japan is isolated from the world, and boarding an American ship prevents Manjiro from ever returning to Japan. It also puts his life at risk with these “butter stinkers” (westerners). Unlike fellow fishermen, Manjiro wants to know more about lands outside of Japan. His inquisitiveness and yearning for adventure lead him to befriend the ship’s captain. In his three years aboard the ship, he learns English well and becomes an interpreter. Eventually Manjiro makes the decision to travel to America. Unable to return to Japan and not exactly welcomed in America, he grows up to be a man from two cultures. Readers learn how Manjiro becomes the person who forged relationships between Japan and the outside world. I found it easy to be drawn into the
Heart of a Samurai. It’s written simply and is full of adventures that challenge Manjiro’s character. Without realizing it, I slipped into Manjiro’s experiences as if they were my own. Reviewed by Susan Roberts The Necromancer (The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel By Michael Scott Delacorte Books for Young Readers, $18.99, 385 pages The newest installment in The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel series follows Josh and Sophie through new lands and territories as they try to defeat the Dark Elders. John Dee, one of their enemies, is now on the run from his masters, the Dark Elders, as they pursue him through different realms to finalize his death sentence. Cut off from using his powers (they would be traced very easily), he is forced to recreate a plan, one more dangerous than ever. With powerful allies on his side, Dee may evade death once more. Perenelle and Nicholas are on the brink of death, and are trying desperately to help Sophie and Josh, and, ultimately, human-
kind before time runs out. Sophie and Josh, however, are not prepared to put their trust in the Flamels, especially after learning about the twins that came before them — who didn’t make it. Scathach, a close friend and strong ally, is missing in the vast void of time. A new character, Aoife, emerges as Scathach’s twin, with the intentions of recovering Scathach, but with a history that is to be mistrusted. Scott’s accelerated pace and interweaving of myths and legends with the present time make for a book that fans will read in hours, and enjoy for years. It would be an understated comment to say that The Necromancer turns tentative readers into voracious book-lovers. For ages 9-14. Reviewed by Alex Masri Change of Heart By Shari Maurer Westside Books, $16.95, 289 pages Change of Heart by Shari Maurer is a gripping, Herculean tale of matters of the heart. Young aspiring soccer player Emmi and her high school soccer team are about to go to a tournament where college recruiters are expected to scout out new talent for soccer scholarships. The
Popular Fiction Noah’s Children: One Man’s Response to the Environmental Crises A Novel By Huck Fairman Xlibris, $19.99, 315 pages Hamilton Warring is a man driven by a desire to inspire change. On a professional level as a local newspaper reporter, he spreads the word about the environment in peril; on a personal level, he strives to learn from previous mistakes. But Ham struggles to make meaningful connections -- with his increasingly estranged daughter, with the intriguing women he encounters, with a public seemingly indifferent to the looming threat of global warming. When he spearheads the creation of Earthstudies, a web-based forum for discussion and information collection, Ham takes his mission across the country, embarking on a journey that may change his life forever, for better or for worse. Noah’s Children is a curious mix of fiction and nonfiction; the events are fictional, but the information, the controversy, and the issues raised are very much based in reality. And the fundamental question raised by both the novel and its protagonist is what will it take to shake us out of our complacency?
While the novel can get a bit preachy at times—of course, when you’re talking about massive extinctions and global climate change, a little preachiness is warranted, I think—it triumphs in the exploration of its protagonist. Ham is deeply flawed, obsessive, myopic, sometimes even somewhat misanthropic, but that’s all by design. He is our proxy, representing both our virtues and our failures. His journey becomes synonymous with that of all of mankind: hope, disillusionment, outrage, fear...they’re all present in Ham. But he also becomes a symbol of the Earth itself. His happiness, his interactions with others, his very ability to live is affected by what he learns, his conduct, and his decisions. He is so burdened by his knowledge, his despair, and the omnipresent pressure of looming catastrophe, that even in moments of peace and contentment, those darker, deeper thoughts are never far from his mind. What often makes
him unlikable is what also makes him compelling. Noah’s Children isn’t perfect, but it is a valuable exercise in opening lines of communication—a key first step to initiating lasting change. Sponsored Review Sea Escape: A Novel By Lynne GriffinSimon & Schuster, $25.00, 304 pages Laura’s life is filled to the brim with her two children, an aging mother, an adoring husband, and a job – not necessarily in that order. Her major goal in this story is to make contact with and get to know her mother Helen while she still can, a challenge as the book opens with Helen having a stroke. Helen’s life has always focused on decorating her home and rereading the love letters written by her longdead husband. Does this plot sound familiar?
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event is a big affair for Emmi, not only to fulfill her dream of playing soccer in college, but to win this for her teammates as well. Yet, she comes down with a terrible cold. During this crucial tournament, Emmi collapses and is taken to the Emergency room only to find out she has myocarditis, which has destroyed her heart. She needs a heart transplant. As if being sixteen and out for the rest of the school year weren’t enough to deal with, she is cut off from her entire world, including a budding romance with a boy named Sam. Emmi is later faced with a different matter of the heart when she meets a young man named Abe, who also had a heart transplant. First-time youngadult author Shari Maurer suitably portrays the character’s challenges as a sixteen-yearold with such a serious health issue. Tenderly told, this story is aptly written for teens. It’s poignant, informative and bathed in all kinds of emotions. The author succinctly describes the transplant process with detailed medical accuracy and compassion, while clinging to the tyranny of just being sixteen. Captivating, touching tale! Reviewed by M. Chris Johnson
SIXTIES, con’t from page 6 the Sixties. Instead he brings an even keel approach, it is past time that historians take an even look at this decade, and DeGroot is on the right track. Reviewed by Kevin Winter
Laura finally decides to invade her mother’s privacy and read the love letters from her father. Surprise, surprise – reality is not what she has been led to believe. Inevitably, Helen has another stroke and dies. The book ends with Laura’s estranged brother giving her his share of Sea Escape, the house they were both raised in and Helen kept as a shrine to something that wasn’t real. The reader is ultimately relieved to have it over. Author Lynne Griffin has a reputation as an expert on family life. Unfortunately, that expertise doesn’t carry over into storytelling, at least not in Sea Escape. Her characters are undeveloped, and the plot plods along like a textbook. Reviewed by Marj Stuart
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Science Fiction & Fantasy Glimmerglass (Faeriewalker, Book 1) By Jenna Black St. Martin’s Griffin, $9.99, 304 pages Dana, a half Faerie-half human, 16-yearold has had enough when her mother shows up to her recital drunk – again. She decides to run off to find her father, who is supposedly some important lord in the Faerie world. Little does she realize that she has just dropped herself into the middle of a Faerie political battle, with each side hoping to use Dana as a pawn to aid their bid for power. This book has left me with mixed feelings, as the world in which the story takes place is fascinating and I love most of the characters. Dana does not know who is really telling her the truth, and even when the people around her claim to be truthful, she still knows they are not revealing everything. So the reader is left guessing at the true motives of everyone Dana meets. My main problem is with Dana herself. I find her so self-centered and whiny that it makes it difficult to really like her. Still, the rest of the cast more than makes up for it, and will leave the reader eager for the next book. Reviewed by Debbie Suzuki The Ragged Man By Tom Lloyd Pyr, $16.00, 544 pages Lord Isaak is dead but not before striking down Lord Styrax’s son, leaving the Menin victorious but vulnerable as their leader succumbs to catatonic grief at the loss of his heir. In the lull following the war, King Emin grimly pursues the savage mission he has dedicated his life to while the child-god Ruhen is hailed as the savior of the war-torn Land. And over all a Shadow grows as men and gods draw battle lines in blood. In The Ragged Man, the fourth book of his Twilight Reign series, Lloyd draws the reader even further into the lives (and deaths) of his large and unforgettable cast of players. To open this book is to fall into it, and reaching the end doesn’t automatically mean you’re done. From the tortured plains of the afterworld, to the spectacle of magic, to the creation and destruction of gods, Lloyd crafts an impressive tapestry of characters, motivations, actions, and purpose that will have you turning pages non-stop. If you’re looking for something to sink your teeth into, I highly recommend this book and the entire series. Reviewed by Heather Ortiz
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Tongues of Serpents By Naomi Novik Del Rey, $25.00, 288 pages Tongues of Serpents is the sixth book in Naomi Novik’s Temeraire series. This alternate history fantasy series is set during the Napoleonic Wars and centers on Britain’s Royal Aerial Corps of dragons. In this installment, the former Captain Laurence has been transported to New South Wales along with his dragon, Temeraire. They arrive in the midst of a local rebellion and, to avoid entanglement, accept an assignment to explore the interior of Australia. At its heart, this narrative is a straightforward account of a colonial expedition, but several surprises await the survey party not limited simply to encounters with the unknown. Novik does an admirable job of depicting the hubris of colonization along with the doubts that many explorers may have experienced. Temeraire’s arguments in particular are amusing for their objective simplicity. The story is readily accessible to both long time fans and those new to the series, but it may be harder for new readers to become invested in the characters. Series fans and those interested in alternate history or exploration stories will enjoy Tongues of Serpents. Those who enjoy books more focused on character development may want to skip this title. Reviewed by Rachel Wallace Red Hot Fury By Kasey Mackenzie Ace, $7.99, 290 pages As a Fury, Marissa Holloway belongs to a race of arcane beings whose purpose is to serve justice in all crimes involving supernatural means. As Boston’s Chief Magical Investigator, she makes sure justice is served for both mortal and immortal alike. When the body of a sister Fury washes up in the harbor, Riss finds herself the target of both mortal and immortal assassins, with no idea why. With the support of her Warhound ex-lover and all other manor of beings both arcane and mortal, Riss must solve this murder if she hopes to stop a war. Mackenzie does the literary world a gigantic favor by remembering that there are supernatural beings out there that aren’t vampires (gasp!), and she makes good use of that knowledge by working harpies, oracles,
Recovering Apollo 8: And Other Stories By Kristine Kathryn Rusch Golden Gryphon Press, $24.95, 316 pages
Recovering Apollo 8 and Other Stories collects nine tales by award winning author Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Perhaps best known for her novella of space-faring treasure archaeologists and treasure hunters, “Diving into the Wreck” (which appears in this collection), this compilation shows the unique versatility and consummate skill of this former editor of The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction. This collection highlights its focus on human relationship, whether in the character-driven alternate history tales of “Recovering Apollo 8” and “GMen”; the clever urban fantasy filled with wizards and magic of “The Strangeness of the Day” and “Substitutions”; the hauntingly sad “June Sixteenth at Anna’s”; the short but poignant Christmas story of “Taste of Miracles”; the racially-charged tale of lost aliens in “The End of the World”; or the warning tale of “Craters”. Enhanced with an afterword that elucidates the sources and histories of each story, this is a must-have volume for fans of Poul Anderson, Charles de Lint, or any reader interested in exploring that ethereal and elusive creature we call human. Reviewed by John Ottinger warhounds, and others into her fresh new Fury series. There are some components of Red Hot Fury that left me pretty bewildered, such as the lack of explanation around a lot of Fury aspects and the mangled insertion of a major component of the storyline into the very end of the story. However, if you’re tired of treading the vampire-choked landscape of supernatural storylines, this is a great book to start with. Reviewed by Heather Ortiz Migration By James P. Hogan Baen Books, $23.00, 304 pages Armageddon has happened on Earth; humanity is reduced to a less advanced technological state. It’s roughly the late Middle Ages in Europe, though some places are discovering, or rediscovering, old technologies. One group of people decides to leave Earth and start over. They build the Aurora a ship to take them across the cosmos to the planet called Hera. It is a varied group of people from scientists and biologists to magicians. The plan is to recreate society as a whole. It is an overall story that has promise, but fails to deliver. Science fiction has been used to espouse ideas on the environment, economy, social orders, and relations between countries from such authors as Clarke, Asimov, Herbert, Heinlein, and Dick. What makes these stand out is that they go around it subtly, a good story mixed with the message. Mr. Hogan instead beats the reader over the head with his message
on the environment and capitalism with little story. It is just a chance for Mr. Hogan to vent about the current state of affairs, not to write a good book. Reviewed by Kevin Winter Tales of the Otherworld By Kelley Armstrong Bantam, $25.00, 400 pages Author Kelley Armstrong believes in giving back to those who made her famous. For years as a gift for her readers she’s been posting short stories (e-serials) on her website. Fans have been asking for the stories to be available in book form, and they have finally gotten their wish with Tales from the Otherworld. With seven pre-released plus one original tale, long-time readers will appreciate a sneak peak into the lives of some of Ms. Armstrong’s most beloved characters, sometimes flashing backward or forward in their lives. Those new to the series will still find the tales complete and enjoyable. Short stories include the prequel to Bitten, the romance between Elena, the only female werewolf and Clayton, the consummate werewolf hero, barely restrained in his human form. The wedding of spell casters Lucas Cortez and Paige Winterbourne (Dime Store Magic). The romance between bad-girl Eve Levine and straight-laced Kristof Nast. All the proceeds will be donated to World Literacy Canada, a nonprofit organization dedicated to promoting international development and social justice. Reviewed by Lanine Bradley
t hou s a nd s of re v ie w s at w w w. s a n f r a nc i s cob o ok re v ie w.com
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Livermore Valley Wine Visit s By Heidi Komlofske
History by Thomas C. Wilmer, Author of The Wine Seeker’s Guide to Livermore Valley
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ivermore valley vintners have been quietly producing world-class wines for more than 125 years, contributing industry-wide innovations and firsts in both wine growing and production. There are many savvy wine-seekers who religiously trek to the valley for a weekend getaway, day-trip tasting adventures, and numerous festivals and concerts that the Livermore valley has to offer. It is our hope that this peek into the wonders of Livermore will provide that AH-HA! moment when you realize the gem that is right under your nose.
A Valley Rich in History Livermore Valley’s first vintner, Jose Maria Amador (namesake of Amador County), planted 1,500 vines on his rancho in 1832. Robert Livermore was reported to have grape arbors fronting his ranch house in 1840. Amador, Livermore, Alfonso Ladd, and John Knottinger all grew Mission varietal grapes. Among the newcomers who sailed across the Atlantic and worked their way out West were Carl Heinrich Wente from Northern Germany and James Concannon, a native of Ireland’s Aran Islands. Wente went to work for Charles Krug in Napa Valley, while Concannon planted grapes and opened a winery to supply the Catholic Church with sacramental wine. In 1883, Wente and Concannon both commenced their Livermore Valley vineyard operations and grew to become two of the most legendary names in California’s wine industry.
Livermore is now home to many wineries -- from the more commercial ones to the “mom & pop” wineries nestled way up on the back road hills. The sleepy town that used to be only filled with antique stores now has a bevvy of urban wineries and wine bars. The tiny two-screen theater that nobody wanted to go to after the fancy-pants cinema was built in Dublin in the early 80’s is now beautifully renovated with a restaurant and wine bar inside. Downtown bustles with activities, from families watching their children play in the historical fountain on First Street and North Livermore to those meandering downtown, taking in the many boutiques and restaurants. A few of the old icons remain, like Donut Wheel, Boughman’s, Doms Surplus. Little gems hidden amongst the new. We meandered into El Sol Winery last weekend, and out came winemaker, Hal, who bellied up to the table where we were happily sipping his wine . He extended an eager hand to welcome us. Although the tasting room quickly filled with large and small groups, Hal made it a point to come back to chat with us about our publication and how we envisioned showcasing the Livermore Valley. “I like what you two are doing,” he said as he went off to set tables for a group of 24 who called to say they were on their way. This is typical of what we found throughout the Valley. A term new to me--”urban wineries”--have found their way into Livermore, too. While at Occasio Winery, which is nestled in what looks like an office complex, we were eagerly greeted by winemaker John Kinney. “I am such a book nut...show me what you have there!” he said as he ushered us into the back where he showed us the machines that process the grapes. Many times, it’s the winery owners who are pouring in the tasting room-inviting you to hear the tale of how they started growing grapes and sometimes inviting you to the inner-sanctum of “how it’s done.” I had the pleasure of reconnecting with the Rodrique Molyneaux winery general manager, who I used to know when we were teenagers. Two people who’d gone separate ways twenty-five years ago, found each other again in the town where they grew up. That’s what Livermore represents. It remains smalltown, but with a twist of swank. Even with the fancy spirit bars, night clubs, and wonderful wineries, the heart of this town remains with the people who stayed through all of the frustrating non-development, which lead to everything you see today. To say that I was impressed would be a gross understatement. Livermore has come into its own.
“Livermore...the unsung historical incubator of California’s wine industry.”
The Terrior of Livermore Valley The early roots of “terroir” originate from the Latin word, terra, literally meaning “earth” or “land.” Here, “terroir” is used by most people to express a sense of place, considering the human influence on terroir from the cultivation of land to selection of plant materials to the many choices made by the winemaker--from barrel selection to the aging time of the wine, and even to the marketing of wine.
Revisiting the Past...Embracing the Present I didn’t have to go far to research Livermore, I must admit, for I was born and raised right here, but decided to leave in 1993. Although I didn’t spread my wings too far, there wasn’t much occassion to come back to visit, with no family left here. In my efforts to talk to winery and local business owners, I found myself driving around in absolute amazement at how this once sleepy little town had changed. Where there once was only Wente and Concannon,
...and it’s right in your backyard.
Special Advertising Supplement
August 10 11
Explore Livermore - The Original Napa Valley The Wine Seeker’s Guide to Livermore Valley By Thomas C. Wilmer RiverWood Books, $18.95, 236 pages
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or being one of the oldest wine growing regions in California, the Livermore Valley has been long overshadowed by the marque Napa and Sonoma regions, even though it has been producing awardwinning wines since 1889. Wine writer Thomas Wilmer has collected not only a guidebook for the Livermore region, with information about the wineries, restaurants, and places of interest, but has gone deeper, to provide information about the history of the area, the multi-generational family wineries, and the connection many of the current wine makers have with the area and history of Livermore Valley. The wineries range from Wente and Concannon (together producing almost a half a million cases annually), to the Wood Family Vineyards that produce just 1,500. In addition to the winery profiles, The Wine Seeker’s Guide to Livermore Valley has local attractions, like the Niles Canyon Wine Train, local restaurants, and for those
interested in outside activities, golf and local hiking trails. So when you are looking for a new local wine experience, consider Livermore Valley and the many family wineries that call it home—and take along this guide. You’ll be glad you did to help discover the many “hidden” gems of Livermore Valley. Reviewed by Ross Rojek
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ván Tamás Fuezy and Steve Mirassou founded Tamás Estates in 1984. Steve Mirassou’s son, Steven Kent Mirassou, explains, “My dad and Iván came here at the invitation of Eric Wente, as he offered invaluable winemaking and administrative support and the benefits of Wente’s built-in infrastructure.” Carolyn Wente remembers that during their stewardship, Fuezy and Mirassou were crafting “these beautiful, fresh California-style, fruit-forward wines that were so clean and crisp—exceptional everyday table wines.” The Wente family became actively involved when Carolyn and her two brothers Eric and Philip were asked to blend and bottle some of the wines. “We said sure, because custom winemaking for other people is one of our specialties.” The Wente family eventually broadened their relationship with Tamás Estates to include marketing the wines, as well. When Mirassou and Fuezy retired, they sold the winery to the Wentes, and the family has operated
The tasting room of Tamás Estates
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Wine Seeker’s Guide to LivermoreValley
Rodrigue Molyneaux Winery R
odrigue Molyneaux Winery is a hidden gem tucked away in the Southern corner of beautiful Livermore Valley amongst vineyards that have been grown on the same land for centuries. Mostly known to locals and those who
charm with small-town friendliness.
Sangiovese, Cabernet Sauvignon, Barbera, Primitivo, and Pinot Bianco. Like any great wine, Rodrigue Molyneaux wines are complex, balanced, and structured and pair well with many dishes.
Photos by Annie Tao Photography
As with most great bottles of wine, the process always starts with the vineyard. The estate vineyards on Rodrigue Molyneaux are meticulously farmed, and the grapes are tended to with the utmost care to ensure that each grape yields its unique flavor. Careful, sustainable farming and growing varietals that are sustainable to the terrior of the Livermore Valley have helped create award-winning wines.
09.05 & 09.06 2010
Rodrigue Molyneaux welcomes you to visit and stay awhile. While sipping on a glass of Rodrigue Molyneaux Wine, guests can lounge in comfortable garden chairs, enjoy picnics under the swaying eucalyptus and elm streets, stroll the gardens, and relax to the sound of the fountain. Rodrigue Molyneaux is a full-service winery with many events, private tastings, classes, and wine club.
Rodrique Molyneaux Winery 3053 Marina Ave, Livermore, CA info@rmwinery.com, www.rmwinery.com 925-443-1998 Hours: Saturday & Sunday 12:30- 5:00. Closed most major holidays.
29th Annual Harvest Wine Celebration Labor Day Weekend . Visit us at Concannon & the winery.
12 August 10
10. 16 2010
Break for Grapes Charity Event & winemaker’s lunch. Proceeds go towards Oakland Children’s Hospital Oncology Department.
11.2 01130
Rodrigue Molyneaux Harvest CelebrationBarrel tasting, tour of the vineyards, winery & equipment with the sommelier & winemaker.
Special Advertising Supplement
Special Advertising Supplement
August 10 13
Director y 10017 Tesla Road, Livermore 925.443.3375 www.eagleridgevineyard.com
Rodrigue Molyneaux Winery
3053 Marina Ave., Livermore 925.443.1998 info@rmwinery.com www.rmwinery.com
5565 Tesla Road, Livermore 925.456.2305 5050 Arroyo Road, Livermore 925.456.2405 www.wentevinyards.com
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Events
ounded in 1883, Wente Vineyards is the country's oldest, continuously operated family-owned winery. Today, the winery maintains its leadership role in California winegrowing under the ownership and management by the Fourth and Fifth generations of the Wente family. Blending traditional and innovative winemaking practices, the winery draws from 3,000 acres of sustainably farmed estate vineyards to create an outstanding portfolio of wines. Located just east of San Francisco in the historic Livermore Valley, Wente Vineyards is recognized as one of California’s premier wine country destinations, featuring wine tasting, fine dining, concerts and championship golf. Wente Vineyards Estate Winery & Tasting Room and Vineyard Tasting Room offer visitors two unique opportunities. Daily complimentary tours of the winery facility allow visitors to see the Estate Winery’s state-of-the-art equipment in operation, including the new Small Lot Winery. At the Vineyard Tasting room enjoy a special tasting and tour in our historic sandstone caves.
Estate Winery Tasting Room 5565 Tesla Road, Livermore 925.456.2305 Open daily 11am - 4:30pm Daily tours 11am, 1pm, 2pm & 3pm
Vineyard Tasting Room 5050 Arroyo Road, Livermore 925.456.2405 Open daily 11am - 6:30pm Wine Tasting in the Caves Sat & Sun 2 pm
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14 August 10
August 14th 12pm–4pm Summer Jubilee to the Nth Degree
You are invited to a day of music, wine and fun! Come taste our newest releases including the Nth Degree wines from our Small Lot Winery. $10.00 Club Wente Wine members, $5.00 for nonmembers. Includes a commemorative glass. Estate Winery Tasting Room.
Uncle Yu’s at the Vineyard 39 South Livermore Avenue #125 Livermore (925) 449-7000 http://www.uncleyu.com
September 18th 10am-4pm September 25th 10am-4pm Harvest Tour & Tasting
Wente Vineyards invites you to experience the winery as never before with this rare behind the scenes tour and tasting during the upcoming 2010 harvest. Learn how Wente Vineyards produces world class wines, see the processing first hand and sample current vintages from our Small Lot Winery. Reservations Required $20 Public/$15 Wine Club Members Estate Winery Tasting Room
Two for one wine tasting
Murrieta’s Well Winery & Tasting Room 3005 Mines Road, Livermore 925.456.2390 www.murrietaswell.com
Coupon must be presented at time of tasting. $10 Tasting Value. Cannot be combined with any other offer or discount. Not valid during special events. Must be at least 21 yrs of age. Other restrictions may apply. Valid through 9/30/10. Not redeemable for cash.
5565 Tesla Road, Livermore 415.701.9463 www.tamasestates.com
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Tweens How to Train Your Dragon Book 5: How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale By Cressida Cowell Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, $5.99, 246 pages Cressida Cowell does it yet again! Book five of the enormously popular How to Train Your Dragon series holds its own in the next saga of Hiccup Horrendous Haddock the Third. How to Train Your Dragon – How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale Book 5 is the exciting tale of Hiccup’s subsequent adventure to save the Vikings from certain death. Cowell introduces a new character in this installment, called Humungously Hotshot, a true hero if ever there was one. He ultimately becomes Hiccup’s “bardiguard” by Hiccup’s own father; Stoick the Vast. Humungous was enslaved by the evil Alvin the Treacherous for fifteen years, and when he finally escapes, he comes to rescue Hiccup and his friends from the black dragons. Cowell is brilliant in her delivery of each of the How to Train Your Dragon books, relying on previous characters yet creating new ones for each new tale. This particular story includes Hiccup’s family past, giving deeper insight into his heritage and his parents’ beginning. Witty, engaging and remarkably imaginative How to Twist a Dragon’s Tale is a must-read in the series. Reviewed by M. Chris Johnson
Legends: Battles and Quests By Anthony Horowitz Kingfisher, $9.99, 134 pages Myth is ingrained in the human psyche, and certain stories are told over and over through the years, reaching new audiences and re-teaching old lessons through new media. Anthony Horowitz joins this long line of classic storytellers in the reissue of his Legends series. Action abounds in Legends: Battles and Quests. Ranging from well-known myths from ancient Greece and Rome to China, the Celts, and even less well-known stories from the Bororo Indians, in these retellings heroes match weapons and wit against their enemies. King Arthur and Theseus battle with brains over steel, showing that brawn isn’t always the best option, as some evils and dangers a sword is unable to rout. “I won’t be around forever. But on the other hand, these stories probably will.” Illustrations by Thomas Yeates animate the tales, engaging and entertaining readers. Both children and adults will enjoy these fast-paced stories, and the tales of swords, battles, and clever escapes will keep even the most book-phobic kid interested
through the end. It’s one of those books with the kind of passion that reminds us of why we loved reading in the first place. Includes a quiz on the “Ten Awesome Weapons of Myth and Legend.” This book is wellpaired with its twin release Legends: Beasts and Monsters. Reviewed by Axie Barclay Vampireology: The True History of the Fallen By Archer Brookes, Edited by Nick Holt Candlewick Press, $19.99, 32 pages A good man is dead, and a book containing his life’s work is delivered to his friend, a private detective. Within the book, the detective finds a carefully plotted history of vampires, punctuated with his friend’s observations, thoughts, and instructions. As the detective reads this half-textbook, halfscrapbook, he is contacted by an old acquaintance of his friend. Can she be trusted? Can anyone? Vampireology: The True History of the Fallen Ones is a vividly realized mix of mystery, alternate history, and paranormal thriller. The thoroughly detailed textbook is replete with personal letters, small trinkets, and all manner of colorful
and intriguing paraphernalia, adding to the “realism” of the detective’s journey of discovery. The history of the vampire-sieged world delightfully parallels the mystery of the strange woman’s correspondence, and as each plotline progresses, the reader grows more and more invested, right alongside the detective. The execution is slick, the presentation impressive, and the story clichéd in all the right ways. (The trinkets are a bit of a letdown, but hey, silver is expensive, so I’ll give them a pass on that one.) In short, Vampireology has style for days, and it is a welcome new addition to a very tired genre. Reviewed by Glenn Dallas
Biographies & Memoirs Back to Cuba: The Return of the Butterflies By Elio Beltran Xlibris, $22.99, 374 pages In Back to Cuba, the author employs the pseudonym Michael E. Beltran in a thirdperson memoir. Over the narrative, Beltran’s life actually seems quite interesting, he leads a happy childhood in a peaceful Cuba, he’s a momentary student activist interacting with Fidel Castro at the height of the student political strength, he works for Shell Oil before the ousting of Batista, he flees to the U.S. with his wife and two daughters (he vaguely gets divorced and his children stop talking to him), he becomes an artist, he has a spiritual awakening in a dream, he returns to a significantly changed
Cuba late in life, and he finishes with a chapter discussing the impotent facade of our global leaders sympathizing with the Cuban diaspora while reinforcing the structural issues that make it continue. There’s no doubt that Beltran, as a person, has lived through some intense situations that the world might find insightful, but the overall structure of the narrative obscures the story in a distracting way. Though the narrative is primarily chronological, there are many places where chapters, or even paragraphs, leap the span of a lifetime to comment on details that lack significance. The text—with frequent emboldened words, paragraphs, or entire chapters—obscures the reading experience, and this technique doesn’t seem to have any underlying logic, to the point that it disrupts what John Gardner called “the vivid and continuous dream.” With some diligent editing and revision, this story might appeal to a wide audience
of people concerned about Cuban-American relations. Ultimately, it’s an interesting story, painfully written. Sponsored Review All Over the Map By Laura Fraser Harmony, $24.00, 271 pages Forty-something woman longs for marriage and children. Check. Woman decides to hunt down Mr. Right. Check. Things don’t turn out quite as she expected. Definitely check. Laura Fraser, a freelance writer and author travels the world to write articles about the slave trade in Italy, cross dressers in Samoa, and the plight of widows in Darfur. But darn it, she just can’t seem to find Mr. Right. The love of her life, The Professor, for whom she wrote a previous memoir, has decided to focus his energies on his wife and family, relegating her to friend status. Laura is determined to be married by age 45. In an effort to find meaning in her life, and hopefully meet men, she becomes a survivalist at
Outward Bound, experiments with a week of silent meditation, and takes tango lessons. The first part of the memoir, which focuses on man hunting, becomes whiny and tiresome. Luckily, the story picks up whenever she is traveling. She provides vivid commentary on the locals, the customs, the scenery, the food, and best of all, her adventures. The high point of the book is the last 70 pages when she becomes reenchanted with San Miguel de Allende, Mexico, where she had spent a childhood summer. “But now on the other side is forty, the most foreign place I’ve ever visited, and suddenly I’m all by myself.” Reviewed by Leslie Wolfson
t hou s a nd s of re v ie w s at w w w. s a n f r a nc i s cob o ok re v ie w.com
August 10 15
Local Calendar 5
Author Appearance – Evan Goldstein, “Daring Pairings: A Master Sommelier Matches Distinctive Wines with Recipes from His Favorite Chefs” 6:00–7:00pm Book Passage – Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Plaza, San Francisco Author Appearance - Lisa Lutz, “The Spellman Files” 6:30–7:30pm Main Library, Lower Level, Latino/ Hispanic Community Meeting Room 100 Larkin Street (at Grove), SF
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Author Appearance – Tanya Egan Gibson, “How to Buy a Love of Reading” 7:00–8:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Author Appearance – Suzanne Carriero, “The Dog Who Ate the Truffle: A Memoir of Stories and Recipes from Umbria” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
10 Author Appearance – Taylor
19 Author Appearance – Angela S.
Plimpton, “Notes from the Night: A Life After Dark” 6:00–8:00pm Book Passage – Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Plaza, San Francisco
Choi, “Hello Kitty Must Die” 6:00–8:00pm Book Passage – Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Plaza, San Francisco
Author Appearance – John Gray, “Venus on Fire, Mars on Ice” 7:00– 8:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Author Appearance – Andrew Bacevich, “Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
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11 Author Appearance – Daniel
20 Author Appearance – Martin
Depp, “Babylon Nights” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Cruz Smith, “Three Stations” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
14 Author Appearance - Louise
21 Author Appearance – Destiny
Author Appearance – Paul Greenberg, “Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food” 6:00–7:00pm Book Passage – Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Plaza, San Francisco Author Appearance – Gary Shteyngart, “Super Sad True Love Story” 7:00–8:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
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Author Appearance – Peter Heller, “Kook: What Surfing Taught Me about Love, Life, and Catching the Perfect Wave” 4:00–5:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera Author Appearance – Christopher Gortner, The Confessions of Catherine de Medici” 7:00–8:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
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Author Appearance – Dora Calott Wang, “The Kitchen Shrink: A Psychiatrist’s Reflections on Healing in a Changing World” 4:00–5:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera Author Appearance – Doug Dorst, “The Surf Guru” 7:00–8:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
16 August 10
Nayer, “Burned: A Memoir” 4:00–5:00pm Glen Park Branch Library - 2825 Diamond Street (near Bosworth), SF
15 Author Appearance – Carl
Hiaasen, “Star Island” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
16 Author Appearance – Howard
Norman, “What Is Left the Daughter” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera Author Appearance - Alison Gopnik, “The Philosophical Baby: What Children’s Minds Tell Us About Truth, Love, and the Meaning of Life” 7:30–8:30pm Pegasus Books Downtown - 2349 Shattuck Avenue, Berkeley
17 Author Appearance – Alexa
Stevenson, “Half Baked: The Story of My Nerves, My Newborn, and How We Both Learned to Breathe” 6:00–8:00pm Book Passage – Ferry Building, 1 Ferry Plaza, San Francisco
Author Appearance – Peg Kingman, “Original Sins: A Novel of Slavery and Freedom” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Kinal, “Burning Silk” 1:00–3:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera Children’s Author Appearance – Jeanne Walker Harvey, “Astro the Steller Sea Lion” 2:00–4:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Author Appearance - Angela S. Choi, “Hello Kitty Must Die” 2:30–4:00pm Chinatown Branch Library - 1135 Powell Street (near Jackson), SF Author Appearance – Sondra Barrett, “Wine’s Hidden Beauty” 4:00–6:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
22 Author Appearance – Aubrey
Wade, “My Pregnancy Pocket Guide” 11:00–1:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera Author Appearance – Bernard von Bothmer, “Framing the Sixties: The Use and Abuse of a Decade from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush” 1:00–2:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
Author Appearance – Tamam Kahn, “Untold: A History of the Wives of Prophet Muhammad” 4:00–6:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
23 Author Appearance – Robert Wittman, “Priceless: How I Went Undercover to Rescue the World’s Stolen Treasures” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
26 Author Appearance – Loretta
Stinson, “Little Green” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Madera
27 Author Appearance – Mary
Roach, “Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void” 7:00–9:00pm Book Passage - 51 Tamal Vista Blvd., Corte Mader
28 Author Appearance - Kelli
Stanley, “City of Dragons” 2:30– 3:30pm Chinatown Branch Library - 1135 Powell Street (near Jackson), SF
31 Author Appearance - Bernard
von Bothmer, “Framing the Sixties: The Use and Abuse of a Decade from Ronald Reagan to George W. Bush” 6:30–7:30pm Main Library, Lower Level, Latino/ Hispanic Community Meeting Room 100 Larkin Street (at Grove), SF SCARLET, con’t from page 4 willingness to draw her own conclusions regarding events that remain ambiguous even today and how smoothly her perspective fits within Marshall’s history. Also, her deep enjoyment of Marshall’s life is obvious, which helps to humanize this larger than life character. The Scarlet Lion will be a satisfying read for fans of historical fiction that focuses heavily on period details. Others will probably find the book to be a slow read. Reviewed by Rachel Wallace
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Art, Architecture & Photography The Contact Sheet By Steve Crist AMMO Books, $39.95, 224 pages The Contact Sheet would make a nice addition to the professional or college student’s library. The author has included the marked up contact sheets from many well-known photographers and their photo shoots which garnered historical recognition. The book provides some background on both the photographers and the images which helped bring them fame, all provided in four different languages to be enjoyed world-wide. Even if you do not recognize the names of some of these photographers, you will certainly be familiar with their work. The author has provided a wide range of photographic styles as well as eras during which these images became imprinted on the minds of thousands. The book covers decades of famous photo shoots, featuring forty-four photographers, such as Elliott
Erwitt, who photographed Marilyn Monroe many times, including on the set of her last movie, just prior to her death. Dorothea Lange is a household name due to her most famous photograph; “Migrant Mother,” taken during the Great Depression. The Contact Sheet would make a beautiful gift for the photo journalist or photo history buff. Reviewed by Doreen Erhardt Yvon’s Paris By Robert Stevens Norton, $40.00, 144 pages Paris in between the World Wars was a place of light, sound, and food. It was a place for Americans to escape and settle on the Left Bank amongst art galleries and book stores. It was a place that was turning into “The City of Light,” it was recovering from one World War, only to hurtle head long into another. This period was captured by Yvon Pierre Petit, photographer and postcard maker. With the rise of tourism and travelers, Yvon became known for
his pictures of Paris. He captured the soul of Paris, the Paris that people would send a message back home. He captured Paris and the River Seine, early in the morning, late in the afternoon, or after a rainstorm. He refused to take pictures during the middle of the day when the sun washed the shadows away. He went to the top of the Notre Dame and took pictures of the gargoyles, and the surrounding city. Capturing book sellers along the Seine he gives us a look at a time that was disappearing. Paris was changing and Yvon was capturing the change. Reviewed by Kevin Winter Addiction and Art By Patricia B. Santora, Margaret L. Dowell, and Jack E. Henningfield, Editors Johns Hopkins University Press, $29.95, 184 pages Addiction and Art displays 61 pieces of original art used to represent the struggle, pain, joy, and recovery of those who are addicted to legal and illegal drugs. With powerful written statements to accompany the art, readers will be shown how addictions affect not only the addicted individuals, but whole families and communities as well. One piece of art that really stands out is Toy
Business & Investing Profiting from the World’s Economic Crisis: Finding Investment Opportunities by Tracking Global Market Trends By Bud Conrad Wiley, $27.95, 446 pages The world’s economic crisis has been difficult for the world’s financial systems. Bud Conrad, Chief economist for Casey Research, in 262 charts explains how we got to where we are and provides a basis for predicting where investments should be directed. Right now, one may be asking oneself what is going to happen to the economy, why is it happening, and what can we do to profit from it. Among other things, this book will become the reference book that economists and investors along with general readers consult for years to come. A prediction is made of a gloomy and rough road ahead for investors if they ignore the economic imbalances that have built up over the past decade. Analysis is made of the numerous obstacles Americans face, such as
ever-increasing U.S. government and trade deficit, impending rise in healthcare costs, rising oil prices and the weakening of the dollar. The author also examines why some of the government acts, such as bailing out banks and curbing interest rates, made the situation touchier because too much government debt would keep the economy weak. Reviewed by Claude Ury The M-Factor: How the Millennial Generation is Rocking the Workplace By Lynne C. Lancaster, David Stillman HarperBusiness, $26.99, 305 pages This book is a helpful guide to assimilating the Millennial generation into the workplace. The two authors are a Baby Boomer, Lynne Lancaster, and Generation X’er David Stillman. Together they present a compelling case for multigenerational acceptance and provide information for allowing understanding all around. Each of the seven main topic areas is devoted to a trend that differs for Traditionals (born 1945 or before), Baby Boomers (born 19461964), Generation Xers (born 1965-1981), and lastly, Millennials (born 1982-2000).
The seven areas are: parental involvement, entitlement, meaning, expectations, need for speed, social networking, and collaboration. Within each area there are Millennials on Record statements from real-life employees whose take on the topic is on point for most of their generation. There are also tips for managers for coping with the challenges of millennial employees who consider work a team sport, require a stimulating environment, don’t feel it’s necessary to pay their dues to get ahead, and crave meaning in what they do. The message to all, regardless of generation, is that not one is wrong or better, just different. Lastly, Millennials may be wellequipped technologically; however, they are not savvy about work etiquette. Reviewed by Ruta Arellano The Green Guide for Business By Chris Goodall Profile Books, $14.95, 208 pages The economy is changing and business leaders must adhere to climate change. One must allow employees, as an example, to control light in their offices and thereby save
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Soldier, which illustrates the effects of alcoholism on a child. “This volume provides opportunities to raise consciousness and change behavior. By engaging people’s feeling and perceptions, art can help change awareness.” Before the artwork is introduced, drug abuse and art experts from around the country share their reasoning behind the project, and their commitment to expanding dialogue and knowledge about drug abuse recovery. Their commentary on the current addiction recovery programs and hospital statistics relating to drug abuse are eye opening. Truly, it makes readers both excited and nervous to see the images. Addiction and Art is an excellent beginning to creating better awareness and understanding of those struggling to recover from addiction. The book should become required reading for drug abuse awareness programs throughout the country. Reviewed by Robyn Oxborrow
money and reduce carbon emissions which will create a more efficient environment. Energy efficiency, whether in the UK or America, must provide for lower electricity bills enabling one to replace machines every five years. It is my belief that businesses becoming green must be done on a long term basis if they want to move forward in a difficult economy. This book can serve as an ideal adviser since many case studies are provided to help businesses learn from other successes and mistakes. The initiatives presented in this book will enable one to measure certain elements of a product to reduce emissions and energy use of one’s buildings and vehicles along with winning the support of one’s management and staff. Climate change is a great challenge of our generation. Thus, this book is an excellent guide to the most effective business decisions. Reviewed by Claude Ury
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Cooking, Food & Wine Wedding Cake Art and Design: A Professional Approach By Toba M. Garrett Wiley, $50.00, 279 pages With the arrival of summertime comes the influx of church bells and satin trains. But with any romantic event there is the necessity of planning out the particulars. So you have the dress, the flowers and the locale. But what about the cake? For a more modern, economical approach to wedding planning A Professional Approach Wedding Cake Art and Design is a coffee-table sized do-it-yourself guide to creating that sweet unifying treat. Excited to see what beautiful designs I or anyone could manage, I scoured the book like a little girl with bridal fantasies, only to find my adult self very disappointed by the unappealing variety. Thick, uneasy on the eyes, and everything but Martha Stewart worthy, these fondant towards of strange shapes and themes are best suited for mastering cake making where the finished product is not seen in public, least of all on the most wonderful day of your life. Reviewed by Natalie Fladager
The Sommelier Prep Course: An Introduction to the Wines, Beers, and Spirits of the World By Michael Gibson Wiley, $35.00, 453 pages You will not find a more comprehensive introduction to spirits than The Sommeliers Prep Course. In fact, the sheer volume of information makes for a somewhat overwhelming e x p e r ie nce, at first, but the book is organized in such a way that aficionados can pick and choose their favorite regions and varieties. And if wine is not your thing, beers and other spirits are also covered just as extensively. Developed by the author originally for his course at Le Cordon Bleu chef school, the strengths of this book lie mostly within the graphics, which accurately depict growing regions and their associated highlights. In addition, a massive section focuses on the history of spirits. Extras include pronunciation guides, label examples and study aids. Although developed for those seeking to study for and pass their Sommelier certification, this is an excellent choice for any level of wine lover. Reviewed by Allena Tapia
LOCAL AUTHOR! The Spirit Within, Cooking With Fermented and Distilled Beverages By Karen Burrell CreateSpace, $ 14.95, 206 pages Former Livemore resident Karen Burrell has assembled more than 200 recipes that involve the use of alcohol. While a few of them are for drinks (Hot Buttered Rum, for example), most involve foods with alcohol as one ingredient among many. Burrell covers Appetizers (Grand Marnier Fruit Salad), Breads (Maple Merlot Bread), Soups (AppleBeer Cheese Soup), Desserts (Amaretto Brownies), Sauces, Toppings and Frostings (Orange-Plum Barbecue Sauce), Vegetables (Bourbon Pecan Smashed Sweet Potatoes), Entrees (Virginia Bay Scallops in Wine Sauce), and some Breakfast Specials (French Irish Toast). Most of the recipes are easy to follow and don’t involve either a lot of preparation or maintenance. Those that do seem to reward the patient cook with a tasty end result. The Spirit Within is a usable cookbook, both for the recipes and the design. There are no pictures of the final recipes, but that shouldn’t dissuade a potential buyer. For the price, one gets plenty of value here for $15, whereas many coffee-
serious self-esteem issues. There’s Bucky, a unique cat with delusions of grandeur, egomania, and world domination. In this collection we get to meet some other great characters, like Shakespug, a pug that can only quote the bard; and Mac Manc McManx, Bucky’s cousin from Manchester England. An intriguing cast. This is a collection you won’t soon forget.
Persian royalty to be a prince. By adapting it into two sister plots expanding within 400 years of each other, Mr. Mechner was able to portray the details of the tale that both movie and
table cookbooks with full-color photos, give fewer or less useful recipes. There is margin room for your own notes and variations on Burrell’s recipes, substitution recommendations for the alcohol, and a breakdown on the evaporation percentages of the alcohol, depending on their use in the recipes. The Index is mostly useful, broken down into types of recipes or ingredients, but could have had better separation between sections. Overall, a good working cookbook for chefs interested in expanding their use of alcohol in their dishes.
SEASONS, con’t from page 1 melon and Watercress Salad with Ricotta Salata, Sweet White Corn Soup with Crab and Chive Oil, and my favorite Fish Tacos with Citrus-Cucumber Relish and Pico de Gallo. Conniff truly captures the essence of the Seasons in Wine Country and because of her longtime alliances with local winemakers oenophiles will appreciate the wine pairing and tasting notes included with each recipe. Saluté! Reviewed by Kaye Cloutman
Sequential Art Treasury of the Lost Litter Box: A Get Fuzzy Treasury By Darby Conley Andrews McMeel Publishing, $16.99, 253 pages It’s been a couple of years since the last Get Fuzzy treasury collection, bringing together a complete roundup of this great comic strip, and now fans can rejoice with Treasury of the Lost Litter Box. Whether you’re a Get Fuzzy veteran and looking to increase your collection (like me), or discovering this entertaining comic strip for the first time, Treasury of the Lost Litter Box is a worthy book, sucking you in right from the start and letting you delve into the lives of these unusual characters. There’s Rob, owner and master of his humble abode, who is a nerd enjoying his bachelor life and believing himself to be in control of his pets. He is not. There is Satchel, an overweight dog with
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game, in the confines of their individual artistry, could not capture. Dense with rich color, poignancy and action that both child and man (not to mention woman) would find awesome, the graphic novel version of Prince of Persia is more than just a companion or afterthought to the video game, it is an epic, artistic journey of its own. Reviewed by Natalie Fladager
“And then there’s Bucky, a unique cat with delusions of grandeur, egomania, and world domination.” Reviewed by Alex Telander 206 pages Prince of Persia By Jordan Mechner First Second, $7.99, 179 pages At once awe-inspiring and metamorphic, even as remote as a faceless roof-jumping guy on an old Apple computer screen, the original concept of Prince of Persia has been translated into both film and graphic novel. Reworking the simple plot, creator Jordan Mechner has decided to elongate and elaborate the Moses-like storyline of a young boy chosen by
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Science & Nature Deadly Kingdom: The Book of Dangerous Animals By Gordon Grice The Dial Press, $27.00, 324 pages In an age of 24/7 animal-themed channels on television, often regurgitating a mantra of “Protection!”, one tends to forget that animals are in fact wild, and many of them extremely dangerous. In Deadly Kingdom author Gordon Grice carefully illustrates just how dangerous, with facts, statistics, and a few stories of his own encounters; in doing so he manages to slowly lift away much of the preconceived notions of what civilized folks view as “dangerous” and “safe” classifications within the animal realm. “It’s a brutal world for all of us, really, and some aspects of it are not comfortable for the sentimental and the squeamish.” Beginning with the most beloved of domesticated animals — the dog — Grice hikes methodically along relaying his rather ominous observances of lions and tigers
and bears ... also of cats, jellyfish, hyenas, sharks, spiders, snakes, deer and hippos. The stories contained in these well-penned pages consist of clear warnings and should be required reading for humans who wish to come in close contact with animals of any type. The report of a man being eaten by his seven exotic pet lizards proved especially disturbing. Due to human fascination with the topic, almost anyone can talk of deadly fauna and generate a bit of intrigue, but to weave the facts so artistically together as Mr. Grice has done takes considerable talent and a keenly felt interest. Reviewed by Meredith Greene Brains: How They Seem to Work By Dale Purves FT Press, $39.99, 304 pages The author revisits many familiar vehicles to understand how we think. He discusses nerve cells versus brain systems. In his discussions, he takes a deep look at the roots of how we perceive reality with 13 chapters covering everything from neurobiology to perceiving geometry and motion, providing us a clue of how brains seem to work.
Dale Purves challenges the reader by providing the most remarkable insight into rather puzzling questions. The book is flavored with tempting, thought-provoking color illustrations. The work accommodates the reader’s academic limitations in a respectful way by providing an extensive glossary of suggested readings and a comprehensive index. Although the work appears a little convoluted, it yields tremendous insight, if the reader is patient enough to re-read certain passages and refer back to other portions of the text to connect the author’s points. I can assure that the reader will not be disappointed if he or she is persistent in seeking important background to a better understanding of how we think. Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky The Animal Review: The Genius, Mediocrity, and Breathtaking Stupidity That is Nature By Jacob Lentz, Steve Nash Bloomsbury, $12.00, 133 pages I’m afraid The Animal Review, in my opinion, was a complete waste of time. The purpose of writing a book to give animals in nature a purely arbitrary grade on a report card has me mystified. Though there are some facts included, the authors do not seem to evoke any real logic into their
grading system. Perhaps if the authors had aimed this book to the tween population, it would find more readers. Though there are some scientific facts included, the general writing style is not that of a book normally found in the science and nature section of your local book store. The younger generation may very well learn some interesting animal facts while enjoying the learning experience. The rest of us will be hard-pressed to understand why the authors give a grade of ‘F’ to the Alpaca for being generally creepy in appearance, having suspect breeding and alleged pyramid schemes, while they give the King Cobra a grade of ‘A+’ for currently working on time travel and invisibility. For the person who enjoys good books about the animal kingdom, this book is most likely not for you. Reviewed by Doreen Erhardt
Relationships & Sex Pornland By Gail Dines Beacon Press, $26.95, 256 pages Several years ago, when Paris Hilton was on the brink of turning her party girl celeb status into television star status, her ex-boyfriend released a sex tape featuring himself and a younger Paris. We can’t know if Hilton would have become the celebrity she is now without the release of 1 Night in Paris, but it’s undeniable that getting naked and having sex on film catapulted Hilton into the mainstream spotlight in a way that simply showing up at nightclubs had not. She’s parlayed pornography into a successful career as an actress, musician, author and brand. And we’ve let her. Though we joke about Paris Hilton — sometimes cruelly — and few people would openly admit to seeking out the products
she promotes, the fact is somebody is paying attention. The reasons for this are complex and hard to nail down, but in Pornland: How Porn Has Hijacked Our Sexuality, Gail Dines asks important questions and makes pointed observations about the ways in which porn culture has become pop culture. From changing our standards of beauty to normalizing sexual violence against women to lending credence to pseudo-scientific “facts” about “average” men and women, porn — particularly the nowmainstream genre known as “gonzo porn”— isn’t changing the social landscape, it’s already so deeply rooted in our collective cultural conscience that we hardly notice it anymore. Most disturbing to Dines is the widely accepted notion that modern porn culture is a triumph of the feminist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It’s a mantra many of us have heard before, and it seems to make sense at first glance. But Dines barely scratches the surface of this claim before she reveals the ugly truth: Pornography and the mainstream culture fed by it still offer few choices to women who seek to be desired
by men. Sexuality, as painted by porn culture, is still very much dictated by men. But here’s the rub: Men suffer from this culture, too. For in Pornland, all men are aggressive, misogynistic, often violent predators. As if previous notions of masculinity weren’t harmful and limiting enough to our boys. Dines has written a treatise that is equally powerful and disturbing. She asks tough questions and makes uncomfortable observations, but the results ought to be gamechanging: a world in which we have healthy attitudes about the feminine, the masculine, about sex and about ourselves. A world far-removed from Pornland. Reviewed by Amanda Mitchell Beware the Red Flag Man By Jana Cole Bertrand Brown Books, $24.95, 304 pages In Beware the Red Flag Man, educator Jana Cole Bertrand shares her own knowledge of warning signs in men in relationships. Bertrand urges young women to listen to their mothers and be on the look out of the different types of red flags their potential mate may posses. While Bertrand discusses the red flags that women (and men) should be
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on the look out for in any relationship, the lack of in-depth scenarios may leave readers with more questions than answers. The book offers scenarios to help readers understand what to look out for; however, too many of these mini-tales leave a lot of information out of grasp. Some scenarios will cause readers to feel that they are only getting hearsay rather than the details they desire. At times, Bertrand is about to make an example only to cut it short and pick it up again later with a slightly different example. This can catch the reader off guard and feel awkward. Beware the Red Flag Man won’t help readers looking for in-depth “how to” advice, but for those wondering which questions to ask about their partners, the book does offer a handy list of questions in the back. Reviewed by Robyn Oxborrow
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Spirituality & Inspiration Heart Yoga: The Sacred Marriage of Yoga and Mysticism By Andrew Harvey, Karuna Erickson North Atlantic Books, $17.95, 260 pages Heart Yoga challenges long-time yoga practitioners to “think outside the box,” look further within to tap our own unique spirits, and invite a more intimate level of faith and belief. There are numerous books on yoga and teaching the basic poses and breathing techniques. What one does with it is an entirely personal choice. According to Heart Yoga, practice is a prayer, a personal expression of honoring your own life and also honoring life itself.
very different aura of personal well-being, health, wealth and love. From My Mama’s Kitchen is flavored with words of wisdom and recipes from the kitchen. In addition, this memoir pays tribute to moms all over the world by honoring them. The book features food for the soul and 30 recipes for living, “Coming to a Full Circle, My Moms and Their Wisdom,” and concludes with nine sumptuous food recipes. Tan describes his work as, “A keepsake,” which enjoys the endorsement of the National Association of Mothers’ Centers. The book is a refreshing distraction from our busy lives, and reminds us what is truly important in life. It is easy reading and a fun book, actually part of a larger project that encompasses the same topic. Read it and feel enriched. Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky
“A body at peace with itself radiates the peace of compassion to others.”
Faces of the Universe: Sacred Images By Tom Lumbrazo, Carol Lumbrazo BAEB Publishing, $29.95, 271 pages Did you ever lie in the yard and stare up at the clouds to see what they looked like? Didn’t we all do this as kids? Like clouds themselves, I looked at this book repeatedly and from a variety of angles before trying to describe it to you. Each of the images in this picture book is described with interpretations – most of them mystical, alien, religion or nature-inspired. There are photos of clouds that look like many things, ranging from someone’s Grandma to strange aliens, to Native American-inspired themes as well as angels. It’s quite likely you will see some of the same things the authors did in these pictures, and in some of them you might shrug your shoulders in wonder, unable to see what Tom and Carol Lumbrazo saw. Faces of the Universe is a bit of a Rorschach test for us adults, but as a conversation piece, a tool to relax oneself into a meditative state, or to remind us of the imagination we had as kids, this book has a certain innocence and charm to it. Maybe it’s time I lay out in the back yard again myself. Sponsored Review
As in other yoga how-to books, Heart Yoga shows basic poses in black and white photos, along with well-written instructions for the poses and breathing exercises. Included throughout the book are well-timed, appropriate quotes and passages from many well-known authors and writers, many with a divine connection to the base energies of nature. What I appreciated most about the directions for the poses and breathing was the imaginative correlation to connecting with our inner spirit and the energies of the earth, sky, and vast world around us. Each pose is explained, the intent, the goal clarified, the purpose personified. This book reads as much like prose and poem as it does invitation and instruction. It’s most definitely a book one must experience to best appreciate it. Reviewed by Laura Friedkin From My Mama’s Kitchen: Food for the Soul, Recipes for Living By Johnny Tan THC Investments, $22.95, 135 Pages In this rather touching sojourn into the realm of motherly love, Johnny Tan, a Malaysian-born writer, adopted at birth, brings the warmth of love into print. During his adaptation to western life, he encounters eight other women who altered his life with their words of wisdom. He describes his “Nine moms.” From his spiritual moms to his regional moms, he embraces a
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Sports & Outdoors More Than Just a Game By Chuck Korr with Marvin Close St. Martin’s Press, $25.99, 336 pages Five decades ago, apartheid was at its height in South Africa. The South African government shamelessly thought that it could turn its entire population into an allwhite nation of people, free of indigenous blacks they so blatantly and obtusely considered to be second class. Because of their legacy of social brutality towards its own people, the South African government came under close scrutiny from the international community. Among other things, this scrutiny brought with it a ban on all South African sports teams in the 1964 Summer Olympic Games in Tokyo. Political, economic, and sports sanctions continued for years in an effort to pressure the South African government to end apartheid. It wasn’t until 1994 that Nelson Mandela would bring an end to apartheid. Now a mere 16 years later, the fact that the World Cup is being hosted by South Africa is a nothing short of a miracle. To many people around the world, soccer is more than just a game. It’s a way of
life; it’s the reason for getting out of bed in the morning; a catalyst for bringing people together. The game of soccer became all of these and more for the men held prisoner on Robben Island off the coast of Cape Town in the 1960’s and 70’s. Often defined as “hell on earth”, Robben Island was South Africa’s Alcatraz for the most hardened criminals, and was especially known for housing political prisoners. Those who sought to end the atrocities of apartheid or who openly sought social equality were seen as enemies of the state and sent to Robben Island to serve “hard time” sentences. On the island, political prisoners were forced to work breaking rocks in a quarry; the goal of their oppressors was to break them and make them conform. Through this adversity, five prisoners on the island, Anthony Suze, Sedrick Isaacas, Lizo Sitoto, Marcus Solomons, and Mark Shinners, among others, banded together to win the right from prison authorities to play recreational soccer. More Than Just a Game: Soccer vs. Apartheid chronicles the struggles of these five men on the island and their quest to gain the privilege of playing a game they loved and held dearly. More Than Just a Game is an important testimony to just how powerful a game such as soccer can be in unifying people. Reviewed by Joseph Kopaczynski
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Religion Marriage of the Lamb By Gordon Powell Xlibris, $19.99, 278 pages J. Gordon Powell is inspired to convey an urgent message about life with Christ and companionship with God. His book is a detailed and researched description of the current errors in thinking that drive much of Christian worship. He is passionately concerned that believers understand that, though they may think they are on a path to everlasting life, they are, in fact, practicing a religion based on more than a thousand years of deliberate deception. “Repent: prepare for rapture!” Powell’s teaching confirms that God created heaven, earth, and man, and that, according to God’s plan, Jesus was born of a virgin, taught people about the Kingdom of God, was crucified, died, rose again, and His disciples kept His work alive for about 300 years. The problem that Powell describes in great detail, is the way that the Roman Emperor Constantine merged Christianity with paganism. Powell teaches that this merging was a deception inspired by Satan, and the deception thrives in Christian communities today. Powell offers concrete examples of
the original, true, and proper Christian relationship with God as contrasted with the deceptive, false, alien, improper one. One of the most concrete (and improper) changes made in the time of Constantine was the transition of the central place of worship from the home to the basilicas, which were, at that time, pagan temples. There was an imposition of religious leaders as God’s necessary representatives and mediators. Also, the festivals celebrated by the community of Christians were replaced by pagan festivals. Powell teaches that the proper Christian festivals for celebration are Spring Festival of Unleavened Bread, Firstfruits, and Pentecost. Fall celebrations should include Feast of Trumpets, Wedding of the Church, and the Festival in Tabernacles. Improper (or alien) religious festivals established by Constantine’s merger of Christianity with paganism, include the transfer of holiday celebrations to seasons of fertility: The pagans celebrated the conception of their fertility goddess, at the spring equinox, and this became the celebration of Easter. Similarly, the pagans used the winter equinox, around December 25, to celebrate the birth, death, and resurrection of their god, Baal. This became the Christmas celebration of Jesus’ birth. Powell teaches that these traditional holiday celebrations are not part of proper Christian practices and should be discontinued by those who understand the full nature of Satan’s deception.
Alongside the corruption of the true church by Constantine, there is a simultaneous continuation of the pure Christian line through the Order of Melchizedek. This Order is untainted from the time of Noah and carries the true faith and covenant with God, and it is available to us through repentance, or turning away from false worship. Powell joins many other Christian historians with his teachings on the blending of early Christian and pagan traditions. He is not alone in his observations and concerns that organized church-based religions often alter Christ’s message of service, humility, and loving sacrifice. Mr. Powell’s book would benefit from further editing so that the central ideas emerge with more clarity and order. Additionally, the subtext about capture by aliens may lead some readers to avoid the work as more science fiction than theology. But Powell has some interesting and thoughtful points to make for those interested in Christianity, its history, and its relevance to daily, as well as to everlasting, life. Particularly suitable for Christians who are focused on the end times, the rapture, and how best to prepare, Powell offers a passionate and thoroughly researched treatise. Sponsored Review
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ By Philip Pullman Canongate U.S., $24.00, 245 pages Philip Pullman, the celebrated author (and famously atheistic thinker) of the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, retells the story of Jesus in the newest addition to Canongate’s acclaimed Myth series written by noted authors. The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ takes us back two millennia to a time and place where prophets and miracles abound. It’s both righteous and holy to slay your oppressor, the end of the world is proclaimed daily, sacrifice to appease the gods is a common ritual, superstition and fear a large part of life, and sickness, poverty and misery the reward to most good people, while the wicked are often happy. Like Dostoevsky’s Grand Inquisitor, those in control need a Christ, a messiah, to maintain their ruling power through a church. This little book tells us how a local tribal story can become the only story for a whole world’s people. It’s the dual nature of the brothers Jesus and Christ – one passionate and pure, the other calculating and political, that gives the power to Pullman’s retelling. No, we’re not perfect – so how could any of us possibly follow the “pure” Jesus’ teachings? A “stranger” tells Christ, at least we can have an “image” of perfection to follow by creating the myth of Jesus. Reviewed by Phil Semler
location. The photographs are excellent, though the most compelling tend to be the panoramic shots of outside views in resorts beyond the urban areas. The range of resorts and hotels is wide, from jungle resorts on the beaches of Bali to downtown luxury high-rise hotels in Tokyo, giving prospective travelers plenty of options and suggestions for vacation planning. There are no prices listed, and the only information beyond name and location is in the index—a simple listing of each hotel’s website and phone number, organized by country. As such, this is not a traditional guidebook but good for exciting the senses, while one plans a trip overseas. Or imagines it from one’s armchair.
Discover Japan By Edited by Lonely Planet Lonely Planet, $24.99, 400 pages I was about thirteen or fourteen the first time I read an article about Japan in National Geographic, but I’ve spent the years since reading everything I can get my hands on that even touches on Japan and its culture. And in recent years, the desire to actually visit this country has been nearly overwhelming. Lonely Planet isn’t helping. Their latest Japan travel guide lives up to the high Lonely Planet standard. And though it clocks in at just under 400 dense-
ly-packed pages, I read it cover to cover. It has all the usual things: handy phrases (with pronunciation guides) and write-ups on popular tourist destinations, like onsen (hot springs) and the trendy Tokyo shopping districts Akihabara and Shibuya. But Discover Japan adds many, many pages for families traveling to Japan, the best places for skiers and snowboarders, and destinations for history buffs who’d rather skip the neon jungle of metropolitan Tokyo. It’s separated into categories by region and includes enough information on hotels, restaurants, and attractions both popular and off the beaten path to keep the average tourist going for a year. When I finally do make it to Japan, this guide will definitely be tucked inside my bag. Reviewed by Amanda Mitchell
Travel Overnight Sensations: Asia Pacific By Philippe Kjellgren Chronicle Books, $100.00, 312 pages Overnight Sensations is a coffee table book for frequent and armchair travelers. This volume in the series focuses on Asia Pacific hotels and resorts, drawn from some of the hotels that make up the Kiwi Collection, a travel guide and booking service for some of the most exclusive destinations around the world. Interestingly organized into five categories (Islands, Countryside, City, Jungle and Beach), Overnight Sensations provides gorgeous pictures and some evocative descriptions that create a sense of the atmosphere one could expect at the
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Humor-NonFiction Street Boners: 1,764 Hipster Fashion Jokes By Gavin McInnes Grand Central Publishing, $18.99, 352 pages Street Boners: 1,764 Hipster Fashion Jokes is the magnum opus of Gavin McInne, creator of Vice magazine. Gavin’s traveled the globe from New York to LA, back to London, and through Montreal, in search of the bestand worst-dressed. He posts the pictures to his latest project, StreetCarnage.com, which poses the question, “Did you get dressed in the dark?” Each picture is assigned a rating from 0 to 10 kittens, based on criteria truly understood only by the author. The photos have captions; these range from cruel, to screamingly funny, to just crass. If nothing else, Street Boners serves as a how-notto-dress manual for the average person. Though 300-plus pages of badly dressed hipsters inevitably becomes tiresome, McInne throws in a few common sense
fashion tips – for instance, no fedora unless you are willing to commit to the suit and tie as well; no wacky T-shirt if you’re over 30. It’s refreshing to see so many men on the worst-dressed list. Women have been picked on long enough. Reviewed by Lanine Bradley Stupid on the Road: Idiots on Planes, Trains, Buses, and Cars By Leland Gregory Andrews McMeel Publishing, $9.99, 252 pages Oftentimes, people love to revel in the mistakes made by others. It’s funny to laugh at other people’s blunders. However, in Stupid on the Road the mistakes and errors in judgment these people make simply is not funny. The book provides a variety of short stories meant to capture stupidity in all forms of transportation, from trains to buses and, of course, cars. It’s
Reference Creative Black and White: Digital Photography Tips and Techniques By Harold Davis Wiley, $29.99, 239 pages What we have here is an incredible compendium of black and white photography, presentation and writing. Author Harold Davis is a talented photographer and writer. In Creative Black and White Digital Photography Tips & Techniques Davis presents both of these talents very well. He has the rare ability to tell a story through a still shot. Many shots are landscapes, but presented in a thought-provoking mystery way, while others are human in nature and provoke a wide range of emotions. What Davis presents here is the magic and beauty of black and white photography, perhaps the most stunning photography for its lack of color, but stunning honesty when it’s done right. Most of the photos are from the bay area. Davis has the ability to shoot iconic things like the Golden Gate Bridge and present them in a way you’ve never seen before. Davis does a masterful job guiding the reader through shot selection and image manipulation using Adobe Lightroom. In
Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang By Chelsea Handler Grand Central Publishing, $25.99, 247 pages Chelsea Handler’s third book is a charm. Packed with hilarious tales stemming from her childhood till present, this foulmouthed babe with her unfiltered humor will make you pee in your pants with laughter from page one to end. Her deprecation of
others, especially her family, is anything but serious because you have to remember that her favorite brunt of the joke is herself. She prides on stories about her early discovery of a soulmate named coslospus, no-brainer arguments with live in boyfriends, her father’s man boobs, and so much more. Handler’s narration of her unique family setup presumably played a big factor in why she is who she is now and though there may be quite a number of instances where she slams family members and friends, it’s all done in good comedy. This side-splitting read definitely had the Rich-Jewish-JerseyGirl-formula, but Handler takes it to a whole new level with her distinctive antics. This was a very entertaining read that does not take a lot of intellect to understand. Reviewed by Kaye Cloutman
Music & Movies Lightroom, Davis walks the reader through each step with accompanying screen shots. If your only interest is looking at black and white photography or becoming a better black and white photographer, this is the book for you. Reviewed by Marc Filippelli Stylish Weddings for Less By Sabino, Catherine Filipacchi, $19.95, 144 pages Weddings have always been emotional as well as celebratory events and in the charged atmosphere of joy, excitement, tension, and—let’s face it—a healthy dose of drama, it’s not surprising that a lot of couples experience Budget Runaway. And it doesn’t help that as soon as you use the word ‘wedding’ as an adjective, your average vendor is more than willing to adjust their prices upwards! Enter Stylish Weddings for Less, a comprehensive guide to getting the most wedding bang for your budget. As a soon-to-be bride myself, I couldn’t wait to get my hands on this book and I wasn’t disappointed. Sabino walks through everything from location to invites to rings, covering pretty much every aspect of a See WEDDINGS, page 23
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human nature to laugh at someone else’s mistake but these stories are hard to laugh at. A lot of them resulted in death and suffering and personally, I don’t think that’s funny. Don’t get me wrong, some of the actions that people took throughout the stories were hilarious, but I was more focused on the outcomes and the whole picture. The book was not organized in any special way, and this makes it difficult to read. It should have been broken down into different sections, with similar stories clumped together. My suggestion for future versions of this novel is to bring all related stories into their own categories. This will give the book more order and focus, and may ultimately make it a bit funnier. Reviewed by Nicole Will
The American Stage: Writing on Theater from Washington Irving to Tony Kushner (Library of America, No. 203) By Laurence Senelick Library of America, $40.00, 867 pages Thirty people were killed in New York in what history recalls as the Astor Place riots of 1849. The riots were actually rabble rousing by Edwin Forrest, the premier actor of his day, who was jealous of vesting English actor/manager Charles McReady. The personal account of what happened, by Philip Hone, is one of a treasure trove of 75 essays and newspaper articles analyzing the history of theater in the United States, from Washington Irving to Tony Kushner today. In The American Stage, Laurence Senelick has created not only a reference work that pinpoints the profession’s shortcomings, trials, and successes, but serves as an absorbing read as well. Arthur Miller takes a wry look at the personalities and institutions. Max Gordon yells red-faced at the annual writers’ gathering, “The producers are starving, you hear me? Starving!” Tennessee Williams muses on the clash of ideals and practicalities between writer and director -- not
always pleasant. Poignancy, hilarity, and heartbreak are combined in Channing Pollock’s anecdotes of the everlasting stream of hopefuls who descend on Broadway, convinced they’re the next success. Last word goes to Ezra Pound, describing George Bernard Shaw as an “intellectual cheese-mite.” Tremendous stuff. Reviewed by Martin Rushmere Disney: Alice in Wonderland (Based on the motion picture directed by Tim Burton) By Tim Burton Disney Press, $16.99, 256 pages Don’t be fooled, this Alice in Wonderland is not like that Alice in Wonderland. Though it is Disney, don’t expect any cartooned heroine to pop up in the pages. This tale is based on the latest movie by morbid yet hilarious Tim Burton where Alice is a grown girl on the verge of marriage who escapes to Wonderland and discovers her power as a woman and as an individual in a sea of monotone sameness. More odd than magical, this extended story of Lewis Carol’s beloved classic would befit anyone See DISNEY, page 23
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Contemporary romance novel for mat ure readers
Romance A Spiral of Echoes By Barbara M. Hodges, Maggie Pucillo Chalet Publishers, $16.95, 306 pages After Isabelle discovers her husband’s death and his latest lover, she withdraws, and goes on a quest to find herself on her own terms. Despite badgering from her friends, she treks back to her beloved Baja, Mexico, to escape the hectic life of her past, to rejoin and reconnect with her original love — weaving and nature. As the story advances, the reader is in for a treat. A ghost and a handsome volcanologist distract Isabelle. The two authors have coordinated an introspection seldom seen. Theirs is a study of a woman’s escape from the tradition of roles to find her inner self. She gradually learns the importance of time passage, allowing her feelings to connect with the ocean and animals around her. The authors share a brilliant glimpse of the inner thoughts of a woman discouraged by those close to her, while inspired by a rediscovery of her connection with nature. Although Maggie Pucillo appears to be new on the scene, Barbara M. Hodges has penned five other novels, each focusing on a different literary approach. With a flowing vocabulary, the authors enjoy a style that pulls the reader into the prose and doesn’t let go. Reviewed by D. Wayne Dworsky The Night She Got Lucky By Susan Donovan St. Martin’s Press, $7.99, 337 pages Ginger Garrison is having a rough year. Her career is in the tank, the ink just dried on her divorce decree, and her twin teenage boys are getting ready to leave the nest. If it wasn’t for her dog, she wouldn’t have much of a reason to get out of bed in the morning … that is, until she meets photographer/ local playboy Lucio “Lucky” Montevez. Author Susan Donovan attempts to mate a screwball comedy to a sexy romance, but unfortunately has only a minimal amount of success. Ginger is almost overdevoted to her dog and remarkably naïve for a divorced mother of two, while Lucky is a stereotypical love interest. Secondary characters range from mildly funny (twin brothers Jason and Josh) to condescending and irritating (many of the members in Ginger’s dog-walking group.)
Worse, the dialogue is stilted, as if the characters were living in a world where no one could use contractions in daily conversation. Fans looking for a realistic but funny contemporary romance may be better off reading Jennifer Crusie or Christie Ridgeway. Reviewed by Jennifer King A Kiss at Midnight By Eloisa James Avon, $7.99, 384 pages Eloisa James has long been trusted to produce fun, witty, and sexy historical romances full of unforgettable and incredibly likable characters. The charm of her books lies in her unconventional plotting and the warmth she imbues in her fiction. Unfortunately, A Kiss at Midnight fails to live up to James’s past novels. This is a very straightforward re-telling of Cinderella, which, in proper hands, can be given more life than the Disney version. James does not move beyond the fairy tale aspects, which is the book’s major flaw. Kate Daltry is our Cinderella, and while her plight is sympathetic, she lacks any uniqueness. Our Prince Charming is an actual Prince -- Gabriel of Warl-Marburg-Baalsfield, to be exact, and he is no more than a caricature of a rakish, ne’er-do-well hero of historical romance. They are thrown together when ludicrous events force Kate to impersonate her step-sister Victoria, who is engaged to Gabriel’s cousin and must obtain his approval to be married. The standard Jamesian touches are here -- multiple characters, witty but inane dialogue, capers, and slapstick -- but it is dull and lifeless. The conflict is nil, which make the goings-on pointless, and the author’s note at the end actually hurts the story more than it helps to explain the completely wallpaper aspects of the setting. A Kiss at Midnight is disappointing and not one of James’ better efforts. Reviewed by Angela Tate Stormwalker By Allyson James Berkley, $7.99, 340 pages Stormwalker offers a fascinating spin on the quickly growing traditional “urban fantasy” setting. Author Allyson James sets her story not in a noir-ish big city that never sleeps, but in the deserts and caverns of the American Southwest. Heroine Janet Begay is a Stormwalker, capable of absorbing and redirecting
the power of lightning during a storm. Great power doesn’t always pay the bills, though– so together with her slightly seedy but sexy ex, Mick, she’s come to the small town of Magellan to assist in a missing persons case. Unfortunately, the local chief of police doesn’t appreciate Janet’s interference–or the unusual amounts of property damage that occur in her presence (after all, most cops aren’t going to buy “the other god did it” argument for long.) The beauty of James’s book is how believably Janet straddles both worlds–you can thrill to her battles with otherworldly creatures and demons, and then sympathize over Janet’s troubles with her love life and day to day affairs. With its vivid imagery and extremely erotic sex scenes, Stormwalker offers an engrossing read for both fantasy fans and romance readers alike. Reviewed by Jennifer King Broken By Shiloh Walker Berkley Trade, $15.00, 327 pages Quinn Rafferty is a broody, soulwounded bounty hunter, wracked by guilt and determined not to get close to anyone. Sara Davis is a deliberate fugitive, running and hiding to keep a secret that could mean life or death. Drawn together by a twist of fate (and a saintly landlady), both Quinn and Sara struggle to hold their emotional distance, even though they can’t deny their fierce attraction to each other. Soon they’ll have to face the toughest choice of their lives—trust each other or lose everything. Broken boasts a great cast of damaged characters skillfully balanced with enough spirit to keep their emotional scarring from becoming annoying or whiney. A word of warning though: sex, sex and more sex. Walker’s sex scenes are lengthy and extremely detailed – so much so that it actually distracts a bit from the story itself. Nothing wrong with the Hot and Steamy, but when it gets to the point where it’s actually standing alone without really enhancing the story, then it might be time to write a different kind of book! However, the choreography of the ending was fantastic, with a nice twist that was wonderfully unique without losing any believability. Reviewed by Heather Ortiz
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west North Pacific ocals! L
Available at: Amazon.com Books and Print Ingram Baker & Taylor ISBN 9781934666562 w w w. k i l e e n p r a t h e r. c o m
WEDDINGS, cont’d from page 22 wedding and reception. (Although, oddly enough, there is no mention at all on securing a minister or other officiate.) The glossy pages are chock-full of tips from the experts, exhaustive listings of reference websites and terrific questions to ask whether you’re shopping for your dress or trying to find a DJ for the reception. (My only complaint is on the lack of photos to go with the great suggestions in the decoration section.) Before you walk down the aisle, read this book! Reviewed by Heather Ortiz
DISNEY, cont’d from page 22 who enjoys all those “afterward” books (a newfound craving of people who are not satisfied with Mr. Darcy simply wedding Elizabeth Bennett and so on); or for anyone who would rather sink their teeth into a modern twist than on a memorable bite into the real deal. Reviewed by Natalie Fladager
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