Thunderstruck
Publisher Weekly Review: Starred Review. [Signature]Reviewed by James L. SwansonIn this splendid, beautifully written followup to his blockbuster thriller, Devil in the White City, Erik Larson again unites the dual stories of two disparate men, one a genius and the other a killer. The genius is Guglielmo Marconi, inventor of wireless communication. The murderer is […]
Cheating Destiny : Living With Diabetes, America's Biggest Epidemic
Publisher Weekly Review: Hirsch, a type 1 diabetic, agonized when his three-year-old son began exhibiting the symptoms of diabetes. More, he was prompted to take a look at diabetes and how it is treated in this country and the possibility of finding a cure for this ravaging disease. What he finds isn't always encouraging. Skillfully […]
E-plan Your Wedding : How to Save Time and Money With Today's Best Online Resources
Library Journal Review: Technology has even changed traditional rituals, so this solid guide introducing couples to wedding web sites and online planning tools comes as no surprise. The authors, both technology professionals, began researching ways that technology could improve wedding planning for their own nuptials. Then they cofounded wedshare.com and became active in the wedding […]
Firstlight : Early Inspirational Writings
Publisher Weekly Review: Starred Review. Most readers know Kidd for her blockbuster novels, The Secret Life of Bees and The Mermaid Chair. Yet this nurse-turned-writer was known in traditional Christian circles for years for her inspirational essays and nonfiction spiritual memoirs (When the Heart Waits) until she turned to a more nontraditional feminine spirituality (The […]
The Innocent Man : Murder and Injustice In a Small Town
John Grisham's first work of nonfiction, an exploration of small town justice gone terribly awry, is his most extraordinary legal thriller yet. Those who believe in "innocent until proven guilty" or that the criminal justice system is fair will be shocked and infuriated.
The Essence of Chocolate
Publishers Weekly: In their first cookbook, the founders of Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker are clear from the start: chocolate is their passion. Every section of their book reflects that, from the recipes drawn from the Scharffen Berger Company and various pastry chefs to the detailed sections on how chocolate is made and where its future […]
Insecure At Last : Losing It In Our Security-obsessed World
Publisher Weekly Review: Starred Review. I am worried about this word, this notion?security," writes the renowned author of The Vagina Monologues at the beginning of this extraordinarily compelling, if somewhat scattered, memoir; "Why has all of this focus on security made me feel so much more insecure?" Ensler recounts her attempts to make sense of […]
Saving Graces : Finding Solace and Strength From Friends and Strangers
"She charmed America with her smart, likable, down-to-earth personality as she campaigned for her husband, then vice presidential candidate John Edwards. Elizabeth Edwards shares her experiences in Saving Graces, a memoir of Edwards's trials, tragedies, and triumphs, and of how various communities celebrated her joys and lent her stready strength and quiet hope in darker […]
Truck : a Love Story
Publisher Weekly Review: A part-time emergency medical technician, Perry delivers the latest account of his somewhat idiosyncratic life and times in a small Wisconsin town ("I am happy to live in a place where I can chuck a washing machine out my back door and no one judges my behavior unusual"). Here, he focuses on […]
The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid : a Memoir
Library Journal Review: I can't imagine there has ever been a more gratifying time or place to be alive than America in the 1950s, writes Bryson (A Walk in the Woods), and his wryly amusing stories of his childhood in Des Moines almost convince the reader this is true. Bryson recounts the world of his […]