And the winner of John McWhorter’s What Language Is… The Word Jar! Congratulations! My next giveaway will be Ned Zeman’s fantastic memoir of madness and memory loss, The Rules of the Tunnel. Leave a comment on that review by midnight on September 30 to win! Note: I originally posted that the winner was Gwendolyn B. at A Sea of Books, but she informed me that she had already won this book and graciously offered it to the next random winner.
What is madness? How does one distinguish between a behavioral disorder and a really bad day?
Ned Zeman, a journalist who has written for Vanity Fair, Newsweek, Spy, GQ, Outside, and Sports Illustrated, turns his eye to the one subject that has constantly eluded him: himself. His zany memoir of madness and memory loss reads like one long feature piece—a profile of himself.
“It wasn’t that she didn’t believe in love; but she no longer believed in it for herself.” This simple proclamation, uttered by Drew Brooks, a character in Daphne Kalotay’s first novel, reveals an ingrained belief that haunts all three protagonists of Russian Winter. Kalotay, whose short fiction is gathered in Calamity and Other Stories, illustrates how the lives of three seemingly disconnected people become intertwined amidst a jewelry collection that the central protagonist, Nina Revskaya, has put up for auction.
A guest review (and recipe!) from Ruth! Title: Cakes from Scratch in Half the Time: Recipes That Will Change the Way You Bake Cakes Forever Author: Linda West Eckhardt ISBN: 9780811842402 Pages: 196 Release date: July 2005 Publisher: Chronicle Books Genre: Cookbook Format: Paperback Source: Ruth’s collection Rating: 3.5 out of 5 Linda West began her journey into baking more than a decade ago. As time went by, she came to the conclusion that there had to be a better way to […]
Henry House is the practice baby everyone falls in love with. There have been and will be other babies, orphans who stay in the Wilton College Home Economics course for two years each to teach young women how to care for children. The practice house is “a testament to the belief that women could replace the mysteries of child rearing with mastery.”
It’s Jackson’s birthday! At the risk of seeming a little too sentimental/obsessed, I’ve gathered together some of my favorite pictures of us.
When I first began this site, my reviews were limited to DC books, authors, bookstores, and events. Though I’ve since expanded my reviews to cover all of my interests, you never forget your first love. And so, I give you my top ten list of DC authors!
“Comic Sans walks into a bar and the bartender says, ‘We don’t serve your type.'”
This joke–printed in, of course, Comic Sans–encapsulates the tone and content of Simon Garfield’s Just My Type. Garfield sprinkles his history of typefaces with humor and pop culture references, creating a fresh and insightful reference book for type novice and design geek alike.
Title: Hot: Living Through the Next Fifty Years on Earth Author: Mark Hertsgaard ISBN: 9780618826124 Pages: 352 Release date: January 2011 Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Genre: Nonfiction; environmental science Format: eBook Source: Personal collection & Netgalley Rating: 2.5 out of 5 In Hot, Mark Hertsgaard approaches global warming through the prism of a parent concerned about the world his little girl will inhabit by 2050. A disappointed Melody Wilson hoped to read more solid advice. In 2005, American author and journalist Mark […]
Noelle Hancock was on vacation in Aruba when she received the phone call that changed her life. Her coworker at the website where Hancock pulled nearly six figures as an entertainment blogger was on the other line, and bursting with bad news: The website was being shut down and Hancock was laid off.
Title: What Language Is: And What It Isn’t and What It Could Be Author: John McWhorter ISBN: 9781592406258 Pages: 240 Release date: […]
Short and sweet: Northwest Corner picks up twelve years after Reservation Road ended.
Theme song: “How to Save a Life” by the Fray (See “random pop culture references” below.)
Recommended for: Baseball fans who appreciate the lasting effects of latent violence.
Dwight Arno served his time in prison for not reporting his fatal accident with Josh Learner, and he is now living quietly in California. But in waiting to turn himself in, did he miss his shot at redemption? Will the mistakes he’s made continue to haunt him?
