Posted July 27, 2016in Book Review
In the year 1951-1952, Judy Blume was a teenager living in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when three separate plane crashes in the city killed a total of 118 people. Her latest book, while strictly a work of fiction, centers around those events and their effect on Elizabeth’s residents. Many characters fill
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Posted July 20, 2016in Book Review
By Steve Rowley Simon & Schuster June 2016 $25.99 305 pages Every pet owner has a story to tell, and “Lily and the Octopus” is the dog book to read this summer. This humorous, compassionate and quirky story is about Ted (the owner) and Lily (the dachshund) and
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Posted July 13, 2016in Book Review
Brad Watson, author of the 2002 National Book Award finalist “The Heaven of Mercury,” delivers a long-awaited novel for eager fans and newcomers alike. Miss Jane is a unique, beautifully written story based on Watson’s great-aunt, Mary Ellis “Jane” Clay, who was born with a urogenital defect in the late
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Posted July 06, 2016in Book Review
By Anna Quindlen Random House April 5, 2016 $28 272 pages Mary Margaret (Mimi) Miller is a baby boomer growing up in a community where her family has lived and farmed for generations. Her father is also a “fix-it man,” and her mother is a nurse. The valley
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Posted June 29, 2016in Book Review
Garth Risk Hallberg’s first novel, “City on Fire,” is a behemoth, weighing in at more than 900 pages. Readers who might be intimidated by the size of this novel should know that it’s worth it. After reading this book, I was left wanting more. It takes place in New
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Posted June 22, 2016in Book Review
By Nathaniel Philbrick Viking May 10, 2016 Hardcover $30 448 Pages Nathaniel Philbrick presents a detailed examination of George Washington and Benedict Arnold during the Revolutionary War. While Washington is generally known as the Father of the Country, Philbrick is very clear that Washington was a rather incompetent general
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Posted June 15, 2016in Book Review
I love books as art — thick, heavy books with deckled pages, tons of glossy pictures and a cover that just screams, “Read Me.” The cultural phenomenon that is the Broadway hit play, “Hamilton: The Revolution,” seems tailor-made for just such a book. Lin-Manuel Miranda is brash, insightful, hilarious
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Posted June 08, 2016in Book Review
Months after a tentative recovery from a mental breakdown, Clara decides to dive back into life with gusto. She has a stable office job, her own small apartment, and she meets Jeff on a popular online dating site. She was sensitive and reclusive, fragile and afraid to venture out. Jeff
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Posted June 01, 2016in Book Review
Laura Barnett’s first novel is an entertaining, thoughtful story about destiny and chance, possibilities and consequences, and roads not taken. With a cohesive style, it spans decades, offering three possible narratives that seamlessly flow into one another. Her story begins with Eva and Jim, two students at Cambridge. Eva
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Posted May 25, 2016in Book Review
Pulitzer-Prize winning journalist Joby Warrick’s newest book, “Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS,” recently garnered him the Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction, and it’s easy to see why. The book is divided into three sections: The Rise of Zarqawi, Iraq and ISIS. The Rise of Zarqawi follows Abu Musab al-Zarqawi
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