Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Sally Wisdom Random House Jan. 28, 2014 $26 252 pp. For nearly 40 years, Anna Quindlen has written columns, essays and novels that examine the complexity of human interaction and have special appeal to women of the baby boomer generation. Her newest novel, “Still
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Shirley Shiffler Scribner Book Company 4/2/13 $16 352 pp. If you are like me, you get a little thrill when a book you’ve read stands out as something extraordinary. The “Light Between Oceans” is one such book, captivating me with its strongly developed characters,
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Harriet Leitch Walden Pond Press Sept. 24, 2013 Hardcover $16.99 341 pp. Anne Ursu’s “The Real Boy” is a work of magic and fantasy that revolves around numerous themes of friendship, self-esteem, self-reliance and societal over-dependence on life-saving magic. Oscar is the “hand” for
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Shirley Shiffler Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill 5/21/13 $14.95 355 pp. Though an over-used description, “The Art Forger,” by B.A. Shapiro, is a genuine page-turner of a book. I read it in a four-hour sitting — and much too late into the night. In
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Julie Goodrich 9/24/13 $17.99 240 pp. Holy unanticipated occurrences! Ulysses the squirrel lives a pretty basic squirrel existence until a near-death experience with a vacuum cleaner changes his life in “Flora and Ulysses,” by Kate DiCamillo and K.G. Campbell. Flora, a self-proclaimed cynic, saves
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Fay Jones Random House 9/10/13 $26 256 pp. Paul Harding’s moving second novel takes place in the same fictional Massachusetts town, Enon, as his debut novel, the Pulitzer Prize-winning “Tinkers.” He also writes of the same family: Charlie Crosby, the first-person narrator of “Enon,”
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Sally Wisdom Penguin Books Nov. 6, 2013 $16 448 pp. The somewhat fictionalized story of Philomena Lee, a young Irish woman who was forced by circumstance to relinquish her 3-year-old son, is masterfully told in the movie “Philomena,” starring Dame Judi Dench in the
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Shirley Shiffler Back Bay Books 1/7/14 $18 525 pp. “What if we had a chance to do it again and again,” Teddy said, “until we finally did get it right? Wouldn’t that be wonderful?” “I think it would be exhausting…” replied Ursula. This exchange
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Cathryn Lang Harper Oct. 15, 2013 $29.99 463 pp. Acclaimed author Simon Winchester examines the development and consolidation of the United States based on the five classical elements of Wood, Earth, Water, Fire and Metal in this book, “The Men Who United the States:
Read More →Courtesy of Beaverdale Books Review by Cathryn Lang Doubleday 10/1/13 $28.95 509 pp. Does the idea of reading history turn you cold? Learning dates and dry facts killed the subject for many beyond what was required. Luckily, we have Bill Bryson to serve up history with his own humorous insight.
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