Review of “Hatchet” by Gary Paulsen

This short Newbery Honor book, meant for middle graders, is an amazing adventure story that I think is entertaining for all ages. Brian Robeson is a thirteen year old who is the sole passenger of a Cessna, flying from New York on his way to the oil fields of Canada to spend the summer with [...]

Review of “The Water Wars” by Cameron Stracher

Dystopias and post-apocalyptic books naturally appeal to me, being one of those glass-half-empty kinds of people. And speaking of glass-half empty! There’s hardly a drop to be had in any glass in this not-too-far-fetched-seeming story about a future in which drinkable water is the only form of wealth that matters. Fifteen-year-old Vera and her brother, [...]

Review of “Dog Tags” by David Rosenfelt

What a fun book this is! You can tell from the very first paragraph: It felt so much like being a cop. The fact that the two occupations were so similar was an irony that was never lost on Billy Zimmerman, who was certainly in a unique position to know. Until three years ago, he [...]

Sunday Salon – Upcoming Tucson Festival of Books

The Tucson Festival of Books is next weekend, March 12 and 13, 2011. This year will feature more than 400 authors, 150 exhibitors, and 24 venues. It begins at 10 a.m. each day with the day’s final events beginning at 4 p.m. It is very hard to choose from among all the good presentations! Below, [...]

Review of “Shakespeare’s Trollop” by Charlaine Harris

In the fourth book of the Lily Bard series, another murder has taken place in Shakespeare, Arkansas. Lily moved to the sleepy town of Shakespeare to escape the spotlight after her brutal rape in Memphis four years earlier. But Shakespeare turns out not to be so sleepy, after all. Lily finds the body of Deedra, [...]

Brownstone Buddies Make Friends Around the World

Remember Brownstone Buddies, those adorable dolls that defy stereotypes in both looks and interests? (They are a multicultural group of eight neighborhood friends, created to counter stereotypes, with interests from sports to math to music.) It has been almost a year since I posted an interview with the founders of the business, Janai Nelson and [...]

Review of “The Devil’s Star” by Jo Nesbo

I went through three phases with this Norwegian police procedural. The beginning seemed slow, and overly detailed. I was considering giving up on it, but several bloggers whose taste is like mine (such as Ti and Stacy) loved it, so I kept going. Then I noticed – a bit wearily – the usual detective story [...]

Review of “Baltimore Blues” by Laura Lippman

In this introduction to the Tess Monaghan detective series, we first meet twenty-nine-year-old Tess Monaghan, a laid-off newspaper reporter who hasn’t figured out what she wants to do next. She rows every morning on the Baltimore’s Patapsco River and works part-time in her Aunt Kitty’s bookstore. When her rowing friend Rock hires Tess to see [...]

Review of “Cleopatra: A Life” by Stacy Schiff

Cleopatra was born in 69 B.C., an era woefully bereft of paparazzi and such celebrity magazines as “People,” “US,” and “Star.” Thus, when we want information on this celebrated Egyptian queen, we must rely on sources that are (1) all male (2) mostly Roman (3) from a time during which women were suspect and vilified [...]