Previews, Reviews, and Collection Development
Aldrich, Alexandra. The Astor Orphan: A Memoir. Ecco: HarperCollins. Apr. 2013. 256p. ISBN 9780062207937. $24.99; eISBN 9780062207968. lrg prnt. MEMOIR The name Astor conjures up the glorious Gilded Age, but by the time Aldrich came along, the Astors were a pretty tarnished bunch. Aldrich lived with her family in the servants’ quarters of Rokeby, the [...]
Bradford, Barbara Taylor. Secrets from the Past. St. Martin’s. Apr. 2013. 384p. ISBN 9780312631666. $27.99. ROMANCE After her famed photographer father’s death, American photojournalist Serena Stone leaves the business of dodging bullets and land mines in the Middle East and returns to New York to write her father’s biography. Alas, she must soon head to [...]
Alter, Jonathan. Untitled on Obama. S. & S. Mar. 213. 448p. ISBN 9781451646078. $30; eISBN 9781451646108. CURRENT EVENTS No one knows how Alter’s book will end, as it will be essentially the story of how President Obama won or lost his bid for a second term. Author of the best-selling The Promise: President Obama, Year [...]
Alexandrov, Vladimir. The Black Russian. Atlantic Monthly. Mar. 2013. 304p. ISBN 9780802120694. $25. BIOGRAPHY Several years ago, while preparing a course on Russian émigré culture between the wars, Yale professor Alexandrov ran across a reference to “the famous Russian Negro Fyodor Fyodorovich Tomas,” said to have owned an entertainment establishment in Moscow called Maxim’s. A [...]
Arnot, Bob. The Aztec Diet. Morrow. Feb. 2013. 304p. ISBN 9780062124050. $25.99. HEALTH/DIET What has eight times the omega-3s of salmon, six times more calcium than milk, three times more iron than spinach, 15 times more magnesium than broccoli, four times more selenium than flax, and five grams of fiber in just 70 calories? The [...]
Back in History Winner of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Crime Writers Association of Australia, Kerry Greenwood crafts a story billed as mystery but seemingly more suspenseful historical in Out of the Black Land (Poisoned Pen. Feb. 2013. 250p. ISBN 9781464200380. $24.95; pap. ISBN 9781464200403. $14.95), about a reluctant new Great Royal Scribe in [...]
Amin, Manisha Jolie. Dancing to the Flute. Atria: S. & S. Feb. 2013. NAp. ISBN 9781451672046. pap. $15. CD/downloadable: S. & S. Audio. POP FICTION Born in Kenya to Indian parents, Amin grew up in Australia listening to her mother spin out Indian folktales as her father played the flute. So you can tell what [...]
Fiction Previews, Feb. 2013, Pt. 1: 18 Thrillers from Berenson, Block, Kellerman, Talty, & More
Nonfiction Previews, Jan. 2013, Pt. 4: Tracy Kidder, Michelle Rhee, Ali Smith, and More
Barbara’s Picks: Jan. 2013, Pt. 2: Memoirs by Amanda Knox & Sonia Sotomayer; a Debut Thriller from Law & Order’s Dick Wolf
LJ Reviews Social Club