Previews, Reviews, and Collection Development
Davis, Wes. The Ariadne Objective: The Underground War To Rescue Crete from the Nazis. Crown. Nov. 2013. 304p. ISBN 9780307460134. $26; ebk. ISBN 9780307460158. HISTORY History both crucial and swashbuckling: an odd bunch of British intelligence officers (involved because they made “the obsolete choice of Greek at school”) joined with Cretan resistance fighters and an [...]
Established in 1935 by Cleveland poet and philanthropist Edith Anisfield Wolf to reflect her family’s commitment to social justice, the Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards are the only American awards honoring works that confront racism and celebrate diversity. Its winners include Nobel Laureates Nadine Gordimer, Toni Morrison, Wole Soyinka, and Derek Walcott, with all but Lifetime Achievement [...]
Never have we had such a strong lineup for Day of Dialog, and you can be part of it. We’re almost out of space; register today!
Tan, Amy. The Valley of Amazement. Ecco: HarperCollins. Nov. 2013. 608p. ISBN 9780062107312. $29.99; ebk. ISBN 9780062107336. LITERARY/HISTORICAL FICTION Since the 1989 publication of Amy Tan’s The Joy Luck Club, an international best seller that has been translated into 35 languages, her works have strolled between the Chinese and American cultures, gracefully inhabiting them both. [...]
While the Day of Dialog panel “Getting (Re)Acquainted with the Best Voices in Fiction Today” includes several top writers back in business after a few years’ absence, the reclusive Thomas Pynchon won’t be among them. Too bad. As you’ve likely heard, his new novel, Bleeding Edge (Penguin Pr: Penguin Group (USA). Sept. 2013. 496p. ISBN [...]
Chen Guangcheng. Untitled Memoir. Times: Holt. Oct. 2013. 304p. ISBN 9780805098051. $28. MEMOIR Chen has been named a 2012 Brave Thinker, 2012 Rebel of the Year, and 2012 Global Thinker by the Atlantic, GQ, and Foreign Policy, respectively. And no wonder. Blinded by illness in infancy and illiterate until his teens, Chen taught himself law [...]
Abrams, JJ & Doug Dorst. The Secret JJ Abrams Project. Mulholland: Little, Brown. Oct. 2013. 352p. ISBN 9780316201643. $35. CD/downloadable: Hachette Audio. THRILLER Abrams has created, produced, written, and directed multiple Emmy– and Golden Globe Award–winning television series and films (yes, he’s helming the next Star Wars film), so it’s no surprise that he can [...]
Bonert, Kenneth. The Lion Seeker. Houghton Harcourt. Oct. 2013. 576p. ISBN 9780547898049. $28; ebk. ISBN 9780547898414. LITERARY The grandson of Lithuanian immigrants, South African Bonert was inspired to write this work by the photo of an uncle with Nadine Gordimer. This portrait of South Africa’s small Jewish community doubles as the portrait of a mother-son [...]
Buffett, Howard. 40 Chances: Finding Hope in a Hungry World. S. & S. Oct. 2013. 352p. ISBN 9781451687866. $26. MEMOIR Farmers can anticipate 40 growing seasons—that is, 40 chances to improve their land’s yield. Son of mega-investor Warren Buffett, who once challenged him to consider what he really wanted to accomplish in life, Howard Buffett [...]
Bushkin, Henry. Untitled on Johnny Carson. Houghton Harcourt. Oct. 2013. 304p. ISBN 9780544217621. $28; ebk. ISBN 9780544217737. MEMOIR/TELEVISION Johnny Carson’s attorney for nearly two decades, at a time when the Tonight Show was at its height and Carson went through two divorces, Bushkin ultimately served as his “counselor, partner, employee, business advisor, earpiece, mouthpiece, enforcer, [...]
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