Archive for June, 2009

A DAY IN THE LIFE OF ANCIENT ROME by Alberto Angela

This extraordinary voyage of exploration, guided by Alberto Angela with the charm of a born storyteller, lasts twenty-four hours, beginning at dawn on an ordinary day in the year 115 A.D., with Imperial Rome at the height of its power.

June 21, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags: , ,  В· Posted in: Facing History, Non-fiction

THE TEMPORAL VOID by Peter F. Hamilton

Rich world-building is hard enough, but in THE TEMPORAL VOID, Peter F. Hamilton has created not one, but two universes that intersect each other. The lives of the people in the Void are dreamt about by people in the Commonwealth Universe through the gaiafield. The journey of Edeard, an egg shaper from Ashwell to the crystal city of Makkathran and the headway he makes as an outsider to clean up the city’s gangs is the subject of the dreams in the first volume, THE DREAMING VOID.

June 19, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags: ,  В· Posted in: Scifi

CENSORING AN IRANIAN LOVE STORY by Shahriar Mandanipour

When I picked up this book, written by a popular Iranian author, my only expectation was that it would be an interesting view of life in Iran today, and, in particular, the life of a writer trying to avoid the “thought police.” What I never expected is that the book is so funny! Witty, cleverly constructed, satiric, and full of the absurdities that always underlie great satire, CENSORING AN IRANIAN LOVE STORY is a unique metafiction that draws in the reader, sits him down in the company of an immensely talented and very charming author, and completely enthralls him.

June 18, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags: , , ,  В· Posted in: 2009 Favorites, Humorous, Iran, Literary, Reading Guide, Translated, Unique Narrative, World Lit

In Paperback: DAWN PATROL by Don Winslow

Books we reviewed in the past that our now in paperback.

June 16, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags:  В· Posted in: Xtra

THE ANGEL’S GAME by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

It must be extremely difficult for an author to write a brilliant, literary bestseller and then have to deal with the expectations of a worldwide audience waiting for him/her to do as well, or even better, with the next novel. I congratulate Carlos Ruiz Zafon on his latest offering, THE ANGEL’S GAME, a superb work of fiction where magical realism meets gothic horror and romance.

June 15, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags: , , ,  В· Posted in: Literary, Mystery/Suspense, Spain, Speculative (Beyond Reality), World Lit, y Award Winning Author

BEIJING COMA by Ma Jian

The novel BEIJING COMA follows the fictional Dai Wei, a PhD candidate at Beijing University who became a student leader of the protesters in Tiananmen Square during the momentous and tragic month of June, 1989. As the Chinese army was ordered to storm the Square to take back control and subdue the ring leaders by any means necessary, many of Wei’s friends and associates were gunned down or simply run over. That famous actual video of the tank column stopped dead before a single brave man was an aberration. As Wei saw…

June 13, 2009 В· Judi Clark В· No Comments
Tags: ,  В· Posted in: China, Facing History, Literary, Translated, World Lit