From Publishers Weekly
The author of the Wideacre trilogy offers another intense, absorbing tale, a grisly drama of passion and witchcraft in 16th-century England. Growing up as an ill-used apprentice to Morach, the much-feared wise woman of the moors, Alys finds respite by joining an order of Catholic nuns. When young Lord Hugo and his men burn the abbey to the ground during a drunken rampage, Alys is the only one to escape; she flees back to Morach, consumed with guilt at having abandoned her dying sisters. Summoned to minister to Lord Hugh, Hugo's father, Alys soon finds herself deeply involved in the treachery and intrigue surrounding the old man's attempts to have his son's marriage to the barren Lady Catherine annulled. Alys soon finds herself so sunk in evil, so removed from God's love, that only a truly shocking gesture can bring about her salvation. Gregory adeptly manipulates hair-raising horror and mounting suspense, brilliantly evoking the period's turbulent atmosphere.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius / Dave Eggers
From Publishers Weekly
Literary self-consciousness and technical invention mix unexpectedly in this engaging memoir by Eggers, who subverts the conventions of the memoir by questioning his memory, motivations and interpretations so thoroughly that the form itself becomes comic. Despite the layers of ironic hesitation, the reader soon discerns that the emotions informing the book are raw and, more importantly, authentic. After presenting a self-effacing set of "Rules and Suggestions for the Enjoyment of this Book" and an extended, hilarious set of acknowledgments, Eggers describes his parents' horrific deaths from cancer within a few weeks of each other during his senior year of college, and his decision to move with his eight year-old brother, Toph, from the suburbs of Chicago to Berkeley. In California, he manages to care for Toph, work at various jobs, found Might, and even take a star turn on MTV's The Real World. While his is an amazing story, Eggers mainly focuses on the ethics of the memoir and of his behavior--his desire to be loved because he is an orphan and admired for caring for his brother versus his fear that he is attempting to profit from his terrible experiences and that he is only sharing his pain in an attempt to dilute it. Though the book is marred by its ending, it will still delight admirers of structural experimentation and Gen-Xers alike.
Literary self-consciousness and technical invention mix unexpectedly in this engaging memoir by Eggers, who subverts the conventions of the memoir by questioning his memory, motivations and interpretations so thoroughly that the form itself becomes comic. Despite the layers of ironic hesitation, the reader soon discerns that the emotions informing the book are raw and, more importantly, authentic. After presenting a self-effacing set of "Rules and Suggestions for the Enjoyment of this Book" and an extended, hilarious set of acknowledgments, Eggers describes his parents' horrific deaths from cancer within a few weeks of each other during his senior year of college, and his decision to move with his eight year-old brother, Toph, from the suburbs of Chicago to Berkeley. In California, he manages to care for Toph, work at various jobs, found Might, and even take a star turn on MTV's The Real World. While his is an amazing story, Eggers mainly focuses on the ethics of the memoir and of his behavior--his desire to be loved because he is an orphan and admired for caring for his brother versus his fear that he is attempting to profit from his terrible experiences and that he is only sharing his pain in an attempt to dilute it. Though the book is marred by its ending, it will still delight admirers of structural experimentation and Gen-Xers alike.
O Careless Love / Susan Dodd
From Library Journal
Dodd (The Mourner's Bench, LJ 6/1/98) uses her amazing command of language to present the eternal search for love in unsuspected venues. Her characters fail to fulfill their desperate longings, leaving the reader hungry for more. In "The Lost Art of Sleep," having left Haiti in search of respite and finding none, Lisabet is caring for her eight grandchildren while their parents search for work. She must leave the children in a cave outside the city limits while she begs for food and searches for the parents. Returning to the children at the end of the day, "Her arm tightens around the dark bundle slung against her hip: two worm-scarred apples, a cellophane bag with a sprinkling of coarse salts from pretzels, a loaf of moldy bread... Provisions." With such eloquence, Dodd exposes all of our unrequited, pedestrian yearnings. Highly recommended.
Dodd (The Mourner's Bench, LJ 6/1/98) uses her amazing command of language to present the eternal search for love in unsuspected venues. Her characters fail to fulfill their desperate longings, leaving the reader hungry for more. In "The Lost Art of Sleep," having left Haiti in search of respite and finding none, Lisabet is caring for her eight grandchildren while their parents search for work. She must leave the children in a cave outside the city limits while she begs for food and searches for the parents. Returning to the children at the end of the day, "Her arm tightens around the dark bundle slung against her hip: two worm-scarred apples, a cellophane bag with a sprinkling of coarse salts from pretzels, a loaf of moldy bread... Provisions." With such eloquence, Dodd exposes all of our unrequited, pedestrian yearnings. Highly recommended.
A Passion for Excellence / Tom Peters and Nancy Austin
Product Description
A Passion For Excellence is the single most existing, inspiring, career-transforming book ever published for people who want to get ahead. It takes you behind, the scenes in some of the most successful organizations and analyzes what makes them distinctive.Here are real people, real companies, real numbers. Here is what you need to know about the crucial elements of success: constant innovation, staying in touch with customers, encouraging the contributions of everyone in the company, and maintaining the integrity that is basic to leadership. Here are the secrets of building excellence.
A Passion For Excellence is the single most existing, inspiring, career-transforming book ever published for people who want to get ahead. It takes you behind, the scenes in some of the most successful organizations and analyzes what makes them distinctive.Here are real people, real companies, real numbers. Here is what you need to know about the crucial elements of success: constant innovation, staying in touch with customers, encouraging the contributions of everyone in the company, and maintaining the integrity that is basic to leadership. Here are the secrets of building excellence.
Neuronal Man / Jean-Pierre Changeux
From Scientific American
An outstanding attempt to convey to the general public an interdisciplinary understanding of the human nervous system.
An outstanding attempt to convey to the general public an interdisciplinary understanding of the human nervous system.
Amsterdam / Ian McEwan
Amazon.com Review
When good-time, fortysomething Molly Lane dies of an unspecified degenerative illness, her many friends and numerous lovers are led to think about their own mortality. Vernon Halliday, editor of the upmarket newspaper the Judge, persuades his old friend Clive Linley, a self-indulgent composer of some reputation, to enter into a euthanasia pact with him. Should either of them be stricken with such an illness, the other will bring about his death. From this point onward we are in little doubt as to Amsterdam's outcome--it's only a matter of who will kill whom. In the meantime, compromising photographs of Molly's most distinguished lover, foreign secretary Julian Garmony, have found their way into the hands of the press, and as rumors circulate he teeters on the edge of disgrace. Ian McEwan is master of the writer's craft, and while this is the sort of novel that wins prizes, his characters remain curiously soulless amidst the twists and turns of plot.
When good-time, fortysomething Molly Lane dies of an unspecified degenerative illness, her many friends and numerous lovers are led to think about their own mortality. Vernon Halliday, editor of the upmarket newspaper the Judge, persuades his old friend Clive Linley, a self-indulgent composer of some reputation, to enter into a euthanasia pact with him. Should either of them be stricken with such an illness, the other will bring about his death. From this point onward we are in little doubt as to Amsterdam's outcome--it's only a matter of who will kill whom. In the meantime, compromising photographs of Molly's most distinguished lover, foreign secretary Julian Garmony, have found their way into the hands of the press, and as rumors circulate he teeters on the edge of disgrace. Ian McEwan is master of the writer's craft, and while this is the sort of novel that wins prizes, his characters remain curiously soulless amidst the twists and turns of plot.
Dalva / Jim Harrison
From Publishers Weekly
A cast of fascinating characters populates the Nebraska farmland where Harrison's fine novel is set. First among these is Dalva Northridge, a passionate and unconventional woman who, at 45, begins searching for the illegitimate son she bore 30 years earlier. While flashbacks explore Dalva's teenage romance with her son's father, a half-Sioux youth, the story is carried forward through Dalva's current relationships with her wealthy family and with Michael, a history professor. The middle portion of the book, narrated by the alcoholic and debauched Michael, brings a shift in mood. Woven through Michael's narrative are excerpts from the journals, which have a great relevance to the history of Nebraska's Native Americans. Harrison (Sundog) offers almost an embarrassment of riches here. Digressing stories of a large number of characters while they add to the rich texture of the novel sometimes deflect attention from Dalva herself. That is a small caveat, however, about this lyrical and atmospheric book, which is entertaining, moving and memorable.
A cast of fascinating characters populates the Nebraska farmland where Harrison's fine novel is set. First among these is Dalva Northridge, a passionate and unconventional woman who, at 45, begins searching for the illegitimate son she bore 30 years earlier. While flashbacks explore Dalva's teenage romance with her son's father, a half-Sioux youth, the story is carried forward through Dalva's current relationships with her wealthy family and with Michael, a history professor. The middle portion of the book, narrated by the alcoholic and debauched Michael, brings a shift in mood. Woven through Michael's narrative are excerpts from the journals, which have a great relevance to the history of Nebraska's Native Americans. Harrison (Sundog) offers almost an embarrassment of riches here. Digressing stories of a large number of characters while they add to the rich texture of the novel sometimes deflect attention from Dalva herself. That is a small caveat, however, about this lyrical and atmospheric book, which is entertaining, moving and memorable.
The Silmarillion / J.R.R. Tolkien
Amazon.com Review
The Silmarillion is J.R.R. Tolkien's tragic, operatic history of the First Age of Middle-Earth, essential background material for serious readers of the classic Lord of the Rings saga. Tolkien's work sets the standard for fantasy, conveying all the powerful events and emotions that shaped elven and human history long before Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf and all the rest embarked on their quests. Beginning with the Music of the Ainur, The Silmarillion tells a tale of the Elder Days, when Elves and Men became estranged by the Dark Lord Morgoth's lust for the Silmarils, pure and powerful magic jewels. Even the love between a human warrior and the daughter of the Elven king cannot defeat Morgoth, but the War of Wrath finally brings down the Dark Lord. Peace reigns until the evil Sauron recovers the Rings of Power and sets the stage for the events told in the Lord of the Rings. This is epic fantasy at its finest.
The Silmarillion is J.R.R. Tolkien's tragic, operatic history of the First Age of Middle-Earth, essential background material for serious readers of the classic Lord of the Rings saga. Tolkien's work sets the standard for fantasy, conveying all the powerful events and emotions that shaped elven and human history long before Bilbo, Frodo, Gandalf and all the rest embarked on their quests. Beginning with the Music of the Ainur, The Silmarillion tells a tale of the Elder Days, when Elves and Men became estranged by the Dark Lord Morgoth's lust for the Silmarils, pure and powerful magic jewels. Even the love between a human warrior and the daughter of the Elven king cannot defeat Morgoth, but the War of Wrath finally brings down the Dark Lord. Peace reigns until the evil Sauron recovers the Rings of Power and sets the stage for the events told in the Lord of the Rings. This is epic fantasy at its finest.
The Time Traveler's Wife / Audrey Niffenegger
From Booklist
On the surface, Henry and Clare Detamble are a normal couple living in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Henry works at the Newberry Library and Clare creates abstract paper art, but the cruel reality is that Henry is a prisoner of time. It sweeps him back and forth at its leisure, from the present to the past, with no regard for where he is or what he is doing. It's no wonder that the film rights to this hip and urban love story have been acquired.
On the surface, Henry and Clare Detamble are a normal couple living in Chicago's Lincoln Park neighborhood. Henry works at the Newberry Library and Clare creates abstract paper art, but the cruel reality is that Henry is a prisoner of time. It sweeps him back and forth at its leisure, from the present to the past, with no regard for where he is or what he is doing. It's no wonder that the film rights to this hip and urban love story have been acquired.
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