Books and Breads Blog

May 22, 2011

Bottom of the 33rd by Dan Barry

The story of the longest baseball game on record: A 33-inning minor league game. Apparently full of philosophy, “Because we are bound by duty. Because...

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May 1, 2011

Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff **** (of 4)

Stacy Schiff doesn’t just bring the most powerful woman in history to life, she brings her readers on location. We face every decision Cleopatra contends...

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May 1, 2011

When the Emperor was Divine by Julie Otsuka *** (of 4)

A short introduction to the dehumanizing, racist relocation of Japanese Americans to internment camps at the outset of World War II. We follow a single,...

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May 1, 2011

Insectopedia by Hugh Raffles ** (of 4)

It had great promise. An A to Z series of essays on the most numerous, weighty, and least talked about organisms on earth chronicled by...

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April 8, 2011

The Seer of Shadows by Avi ** (of 4)

The time is 1870s, the first widespread use of photography for regular people. It is Manhattan and the wealthy are beginning to pay for the...

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April 3, 2011

Create Dangerously by Edwidge Danticat *** (of 4)

Twelve essays by Danticat as she wrestles with the meaning of being an immigrant — neither from here, nor there — and the devastating history...

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March 29, 2011

The Case of the Missing Servant by Tarquin Hall *** (of 4)

Mr. Vish Puri, chief detective of the Most Private Investigating Company, solves Delhi crimes. Well, he solves crimes when he isn’t investigating philandering spouses. The...

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March 22, 2011

India Calling by Anand Giridharadas *** (of 4)

A young NY Times journalist, Anand Giridharadas was born and raised in the U.S. to parents who immigrated from India to escape that country’s stultifying...

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February 25, 2011

Why the Dreyfus Affair Matters by Louis Begley ** (of 4)

After briefly summarizing the anti-Semitic atmosphere under which Alfred Dreyfus was falsely accused, convicted, and imprisoned for treason by France military and political authorities, Begley...

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February 25, 2011

The Girl Who Played with Fire by Steig Larson **** (of 4)

The by now famous protagonist, Lisbeth Salander, is once again assaulted, chased, and utterly alone. The plot contains full doses of sex and violence, the...

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