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| "I am part of everything that I have read." John Kieran | ||
| NOV 20, 2007 | ||
 THE GOOD HUSBAND OF ZEBRA DRIVE by Alexander McCall Smith Publisher: Pantheon (April 2007) Reviewer: Eleanor Bukowsky Amazon readers rating:  from 100 reviews
In the latest installment in the universally beloved No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency series there is much happening on Zebra Drive and Tlokweng Road. In the life of Precious Ramotswe there is rarely a dull moment. In the end, whatever happens, Mma Precious Ramotswe knows she can count on Mr. J.L.B. Matekoni, who stands for all that is solid and true in a shifting world. And there is always her love for Botswana, a country of which she is justifiably proud. (read review) |
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| NOV 18, 2007 | ||
Hailed as one of the most surprising British novels in recent years, Gautam Malkani’s electrifying debut reveals young South Asians struggling to distinguish themselves from their parents’ generation in the vast urban sprawl that is contemporary London and written in the exuberant language of its protagonists. (read review)
Eric Sanderson wakes up one day with no idea who or where he is. A note instructs him to call a Dr. Randle, who informs him that he is undergoing yet another episode of memory loss and that for the last two years—since the tragic death of his great love, Clio, while vacationing in Greece—he’s been suffering from an acute disassociative disorder. But there may be more to the story, or it may be a different story altogether. (read review) |
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| NOV 17, 2007 | ||
Kaspar Krone, a world-renowned circus clown with a deep love for the music, and an even deeper gambling debt is wanted for tax evasion and is on the verge of extradition. Krone is drafted into the service of a mysterious order of nuns who promise him reprieve from the international authorities in return for his help safeguarding a group of children with mystical abilities—abilities that Krone also shares. When one of the children goes missing, Krone sets off to find the young girl and bring her back, making a shocking series of discoveries along the way about her identity and the true intentions of his young wards. (read review)
Robert is an American soldier in occupied Rome during the final months of World War II. Lisa is a young woman obliged to work in Mamma Adele's on the Via Flaminia. The passion they feel for one another is fueled by their separate and equally desperate needs. But can love between victor and vanquished ever blossom? This classic story of a poignant love affair informed by the aftermath of war is as relevant and moving today as when it was first published in 1949. (read review) |
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| NOV 15, 2007 | ||
The British crime-solving team of Detective Chief Inspector David Brock and Detective Sergeant Kathy Kolla return. During a murder investigation, human bones are uncovered that date back 20 years and appear to be connected with the infamous 1985 riots that swept the south London area of Brixton. While trying to find out to whom the bones belong, Brock and Kolla run up against an old nemesis, Spider Roach, and their investigation gets a whole lot more complicated—and dangerous. (read review)  BLOOD AND IRON by Elizabeth Bear Publisher: Roc Trade (April 2007) Reviewer: Shanna Shadowfax Amazon readers rating:  from 12 reviews
Spellbound by the Faerie Queen, the woman known as Seeker has abducted human children for her mistress's pleasure for nearly an eternity, unable to free herself from her servitude and reclaim her own humanity. Seeker's latest prey is a Merlin. Named after the legendary wizard of Camelot, Merlins are not simply those who wield magic, they are magic. Now, with rival mages also vying for the favor of this being of limitless magic to tip the balance of power, Seeker must persuade the Merlin to join her cause-or else risk losing something even more precious to her than the fate of humankind. (read review) |
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| NOV 12, 2007 | ||
 WORK SHIRTS FOR MADMEN by George Singleton Publisher: Harcourt (September 2007) Reviewer: Mary Whipple Amazon readers rating: from 3 reviews
Renegade artist Harp Spillman is lower than a bow-legged fire ant. Because of an unhealthy relationship with the bottle, he’s ruined his reputation as one of the South’s preeminent commissioned metal sculptors. And his desperate turn to ice sculpting might’ve led to a posse of angry politicians on his trail. With the help of his sane and practical potter wife, Raylou, Harp understands that it’s time for rehab, especially since he just won a large commission for the city of Birmingham, Alabama. (read review) |
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| NOV 11, 2007 | ||
 BAD MONKEYS by Matt Ruff Publisher: HarperCollins (July 2007) Reviewer: Guy Savage Amazon readers rating: from 19 reviews
Jane Charlotte has been arrested for murder. She tells police that she is a member of a secret organization devoted to fighting evil; her division is called the Department for the Final Disposition of Irredeemable Persons—"Bad Monkeys" for short. This confession earns Jane a trip to the jail's psychiatric wing, where a doctor attempts to determine whether she is lying, crazy—or playing a different game altogether. (read review and INTERVIEW) |
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| NOV 10, 2007 | ||
 ORIGIN by Diana Abu-Jaber Publisher: W.W. Norton (June 2007) Reviewer: Eleanor Bukowsy Amazon readers rating: from 19 reviews
A fingerprint expert's investigation of a series of crib deaths leads her back to the mystery of her own childhood. The beauty and originality of Diana Abu-Jaber's writing are here accompanied by deft, page-turning narrative tension and atmosphere, tugging the reader to an unforgettable conclusion. (read review) |
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| NOV 9, 2007 | ||
 SPOOK COUNTRY by William Gibson Publisher: Putnam (August 2007) Reviewer: Ann Wilkes Amazon readers rating:  from 86 reviews
Now that the present has caught up with William Gibson's vision of the future, which made him the most influential science fiction writer of the past quarter century, he has started writing about a time--our time--in which everyday life feels like science fiction. (read review) |
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| NOV 8, 2007 | ||
 CHINA ROAD: A JOURNEY INTO THE FUTURE OF A RISING POWER by Rob Gifford Publisher: Random House (May 2007) Reviewer: Poornima Apte Amazon readers rating: from 29 reviews
Route 312 is the Chinese Route 66. It flows three thousand miles from east to west, passing through the factory towns of the coastal areas, through the rural heart of China, then up into the Gobi Desert, where it merges with the Old Silk Road. The highway witnesses every part of the social and economic revolution that is turning China upside down. Acclaimed National Public Radio reporter Rob Gifford, a fluent Mandarin speaker, takes the dramatic journey along Route 312 from its start in the boomtown of Shanghai to its end on the border with Kazakhstan. (read review)  AND I HAVEN'T HAD A BAD DAY SINCE: FROM THE STREETS OF HARLEM TO THE HALLS OF CONGRESS by Charles B. Rangel Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books (April 2007) Reviewer: Hagen Baye Amazon readers rating: from 9 reviews
A charming, natural storyteller, Rangel recalls growing up in Harlem, where from the age of nine he always had at least one job, including selling the legendary Adam Clayton Powell’s newspaper; his group of streetwise sophisticates who called themselves Les Garçons; and his time in law school—a decision made as much to win his grandfather’s approval as to establish a career. He recounts as well his life in New York politics during the 1960s and the grueling civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery. (read review) |
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| NOV 7, 2007 | ||
 ENGLEBY by Sebastian Faulks Publisher: Doubleday (September 2007) Reviewer: Mary Whipple Amazon readers rating: from 7 reviews
Bestselling British author Sebastian Faulks reinvents the unreliable narrator with his singular, haunting creation—Mike Engleby. In Engleby, we meet one of the most mesmerizing, singular voices in a long tradition of disturbing narrators. Despite his obvious intelligence and compelling voice, it is clear that something about solitary, odd Mike is not quite right. When he becomes fixated on a classmate named Jennifer Arkland and she goes missing, we are left with the looming question: Is Mike Engleby involved? (read review) |
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| NOV 6, 2007 | ||
 SMONK by Tom Franklin Publisher: Harper (November 6, 2007 in PB) Reviewer: Tony Ross Amazon readers rating: from 16 reviews
It's 1911 and the townsfolk of Old Texas, Alabama, have had enough. Every Saturday night for a year, E. O. Smonk has been destroying property, killing livestock, seducing women, cheating and beating men, all from behind the twin barrels of his Winchester 45-70 caliber over-and-under rifle. It's high time he was stopped. But capturing old Smonk won't be easy—and putting him on trial could have shocking and disastrous consequences, considering the terrible secret the citizens of Old Texas are hiding. (read review and excerpt)  CRIPPEN by John Boyne Publisher: St. Martin's Griffen (January 2007 in PB) Reviewer: Eleanor Bukowsy Amazon readers rating: from 9 reviews
July 1910: A gruesome discovery has been made at 39 Hilldrop Crescent, Camden. Chief Inspector Walter Dew of Scotland Yard did not expect the house to be empty. Nor did he expect to find a body in the cellar. Buried under the flagstones are the remains of Cora Crippen, former music-hall singer and wife of Dr. Hawley Crippen. No one would have thought the quiet, unassuming Dr. Crippen capable of murder, yet the doctor and his mistress have disappeared from London, and now a full-scale hunt for them has begun. (read review) |
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| NOV 5, 2007 | ||
 THE UNCOMFORTABLE DEAD (What's Missing is Missing) by Paco Ignacio Taibo & Subcomandante Marcos Publisher: Akashic Books (September 2006) Reviewer: Guy Savage Amazon readers rating:  from 2 reviews
Mexican crime writer Taibo and a real-life spokesperson for the Zapatista movement, Subcomandante Marcos, provide alternating chapters for this postmodern comedic mystery about good, evil and modern revolutionary politics. (read review) |
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LONDONSTANI 
from 17 reviews
THE RAW SHARK TEXTS 
THE QUIET GIRL 
THE GIRL ON VIA FLAMINIA 
SPIDER TRAP 
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