Upcoming Books Roundup

Library Journal's Non-fiction Prepub Alert (April 2012, Part 1)

Possible standouts:

The Autism Revolution: Whole-Body Strategies for Making Live All It Can Be by Martha Herbert and Karen Weintraub.  (ISBN 9780345527196) - April 2012

These days it seems like it's a rare family that isn't affected by autism in some way.  Here's a new look at the disorder from a Harvard neurologist.  She believes that instead of simply being a genetic disorder, autism is a reaction to a variety of external factors, and by getting rid of those factors, the disorder will lessen.


Hopper: A Wild Ride to the Heart of the American Dream by Tom Folson.  (ISBN 9780525952299) - April 2012

The crazy life of Dennis Hopper, written by the author of the New York Times best-selling The Mad Ones.



Amazon: Upcoming Literature and Fiction

Possible standout:

Charles Dickens: A Life by Claire Tomalin.  (ISBN 9781594203091) - October 27, 2011

The award-winning biographer of subjects such as Thomas Hardy, Jane Austin, and Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley takes on Charles Dickens.  She describes his rise from humiliated factory worker, trying to get his father out of debtors' prison, to beloved author and champion of the English poor.

Book Review: Blockade Billy/Morality by Stephen King (audiobook)

Blockade Billy/Morality

Stephen King

Simon and Schuster Audio (2010), Edition: Unabridged, Audio CD

4/5 stars

This audiobook includes the novella "Blockade Billy" and the short story "Morality."

In "Blockade Billy," the narrator is an elderly gentleman, living in a nursing home, being interviewed by a "Mr. King" about his time as third base coach with the New Jersey Titans, a major league baseball team in the 1950s. Specifically, Mr. King wants to know about gifted young catcher "Blockade Billy," who played with the team for half of one season and whose horrifying secret turned out to be lethal.

King's love of baseball, as also evidenced in "The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, shines through this novella. It's a succinct work, but with enough description to let the reader visualize everything that happens. It's a wonderful story with a very creepy, but worthwhile, payoff.

"Morality" is the story of a married couple, stressed over money problems. The husband has gotten positive, if cautious feedback about a book he's writing during his downtime from substitute teaching. The wife is a personal care nurse to a wealthy retired minister. When the minister makes an offer the couple can't refuse, they're well aware that the fallout could destroy their lives, but they do it anyway.

While not as rewarding as "Blockade Billy," "Morality" is still a worthwhile story. King does an especially good job of fleshing out the character of Rev. Winston. My skin crawls just thinking about him. And Mare Winningham's gentle, tempered voice makes the story all the creepier.

Book Review: Happy Accidents by Jane Lynch

Happy Accidents Jane Lynch Voice (2011), Hardcover, 320 pages 4/5 stars Current television and movie darling Jane Lynch details how she got to be the successful actress she is now, starting with her youth in Chicago suburbia. While she maintains a positive voice throughout the book, she pulls no punches. Ms. Lynch is brutally honest about the feelings of inadequacy that led to diva-like behavior both on and off the set in some of her early work. She credits Gary Zukav's "The Seat of the Soul" and therapy with helping her come to terms with her fear, and letting her move forward in a positive way

Book Review: Love Wins by Pastor Rob Bell (audiobook)

Love Wins Rob Bell HarperAudio (2011), Edition: Unabridged, Audio CD

4/5 stars

Pastor Rob Bell, founder of the Mars Hill Bible Church, has a message. It's not the fire and brimstone message of many religious leaders, or the judgmental message of many "Christians," but rather the simple message that we've got to trust in God enough to know that in the end, love will always win. It's true that Bell asks a lot of questions, and doesn't have answers to many of them. He quotes a lot of contradictory scripture, and admits that not even he can always determine what the intended message is. It's this humility which makes Bell easy to listen to. We're on the journey together.

Warning: there are a LOT of run-on sentences in this book. As an audiobook, it didn't matter much because Bell's delivery made the run-on sentences make sense. However, I have a feeling that if I'd read a paper copy of this book, I would have had a tough time making it through. Also, there are times when he speaks much faster than necessary. Sometimes he's bringing about a sense of urgency, which is fine, but there are also some times when he's difficult to understand because he's speaking so fast.

In all, I'm glad I listened to this book. The passion in Pastor Bell's voice and his little asides to the audience made it seem more like a lecture than a book.

Book Review: The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith

The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party: The New No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency Novel

Alexander McCall Smith

Pantheon Books (2011), Hardcover

4/5 stars

We are back in Gaborone, in the office of Mma Ramotswe, private detective. This time she is investigating the mutilation of cattle of a strange, distrustful rancher. Mma Makutsi finally has a date set for her wedding to Phuti Radiphuti, and is trying to remain calm while finalizing all of the details. Charlie has disappeared after being confronted about his lack of responsibility regarding the twins he has fathered. On top of it all, there have been ghostly sightings of Mma Ramotswe's little white van, which had been declared dead by Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni. Never have a doubt, however, the Mma Ramotswe will use her good common sense and Clovis Andersen's "The Principles of Detection" to wrap up all of the loose ends.

Although not as exciting as some of the past books in the series, this is still a very nice installment to Alexander McCall Smith's love letter to Botswana. It's as comforting as a cup of red bush tea.

Book Review: My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me: And Other Stories I Shouldn't Share with Acquaintances, Coworkers, Taxi drivers, Assistants, Job Interviewers, ... and Ex/Current/Future Boyfriends but Have by Hilary Winston

My Boyfriend Wrote a Book About Me: And Other Stories I Shouldn't Share with Acquaintances, Coworkers, Taxi drivers, Assistants, Job Interviewers, ... and Ex/Current/Future Boyfriends but Have Hilary Winston Sterling (2011), Hardcover, 240 pages 5/5 stars

Hilary Winston, writer for the TV hit "Community" and the defunct (but hysterical) "My Name is Earl" found herself in a bookstore one day, faced with the newly published book of the ex-boyfriend (Note: She refers to him as "Kyle", but it's misogynistic author Chad Kultgen) she'd loved and lived with for years. She opened it up to see that he'd taken their relationship, given them fake names, and slapped a fiction label on it. Not on that, but he'd referred to her as his "fat ass girlfriend," and gone on to pontificate on how much he disliked her. It turns out that this was the slap in the face that finally helped her put the last nail in the coffin of that relationship and move on. Part of the process of moving on was the writing of this book, in which she takes her ex-boyfriend to task and tells more funny (if sometimes disturbing) vignettes about her life.

How often does a book make you laugh, cry, cringe, and make you want to run out in the street and press it into the hands of every woman you see? Not often. You should read this book if: you've ever been betrayed by a man who you loved...you've had multiple boyfriends turn out to be gay...your longest relationship you've had with a man is with your tomcat...you enjoyed the movie "Bridemaids" and would like to read about a woman who would fit right into that wedding party.

I'll admit, part of the reason I adored this book so much was that I could identify with the author. I've had some pretty rotten relationships, and I've behaved in a similar fashion. But I think that most women would be able to find some part of Ms. Winston's experience which sounds familiar. All in all, it's a heartfelt journey of a women looking for love who starts to find love within herself. And it's shelved in non-fiction.

Book Review: Flash and Bones by Kathy Reichs (audiobook)

Flash and Bones Kathy Reichs Recorded Books (2011), Edition: Unabridged, Unabridged mp3 CD, Audio CD 4/5 stars

Temperance Brennan is back in full effect. When a body is found in a barrel, filled with concrete at a dump near the Charlotte Motor Speedway, our favorite forensic anthropologist is brought in to consult. Soon after the media gets wind of the story, Wayne Gamble, an employee of one of the NASCAR racing teams, visits Tempe to ask if the body found might be that of his sister, who vanished along with her white supremacist boyfriend twelve years earlier. Just as Tempe and her boss start to find answers, things start to get weird. The FBI shows up and the body disappears.

Flash and Bones features the return of Officer "Skinny" Slydell and Tempe's soon-to-be-ex-husband Pete, and we finally get to meet Pete's intellectually-challenged fiancée, Summer. We're also introduced to the story behind Kathy Reichs's YA series, Virals. (I have reviewed the first book of the Virals series on my LibraryThing page as well as on my blog.)

This installment of the Bones series has not been given stellar reviews. While not the best book she's ever written, I felt that it was a worthy addition to the series, and I was just as engulfed in it as I have been all of her other books. I truly enjoyed it.

While the narrator did a great job, her gravelly voice, while lovely, made Tempe sound much older than I imagine her to be. I wish they would have stuck with Linda Emond, whose voice has much more of a chronological range