Category: Book Reviews

April 29, 2010

The March by E.L. Doctorow **** (of 4)

The march is General William Tecumsah Sherman’s subjugation of the confederacy as seen through the eyes of carefully crafted, wholly believable, fictitious characters: freed-slaves, plantation...

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April 29, 2010

Maps for Lost Lovers by Nadeem Aslam **** of 4

Islamic Pakistani immigrants struggle with isolation from their homeland and one another. Aslam’s writing is so replete with metaphor and cultural insight that every page...

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April 29, 2010

Lying Awake by Mark Salzman ** (of 4)

A short novel, or long exercise, about a Carmelite nun in an LA cloister. Nun meets God, nun loses God, nun finds medicine, nun finds...

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April 29, 2010

Life of Pi, by Yann Martel **** (of 4)

I loved it. A great piece of storytelling. Sure, there were plenty of bits worth analyzing-science vs. religion, first world vs. third world, true vs....

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April 29, 2010

The Last King of Scotland by Giles Foden *** (of 4)

I didn’t see the movie, but listened to a recorded book expertly narrated by Mirron Willis. The reason to read this is for Foden’s probing...

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April 29, 2010

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseni * (of 4)

There must be a reason it’s on so many reading club lists. I tried this book and after fifty pages thought this is too depressing...

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April 29, 2010

Joy Comes in the Morning by Jonathan Rosen *** (of 4)

An assistant Reform Rabbi slowly loses touch with God while she falls in love with the son of a Holocaust survivor who slowly finds God...

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April 29, 2010

Into the Beautiful North by Luis Alberto Urrea *** (of 4)

Three spritely teenage girls and an ebullient gay restaurant keeper from the fictitious town of Tres Camarones (Three Shrimps), Mexico make their way to Tijuana....

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April 29, 2010

Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri **** (of 4)

Remarkable short stories. Each one feels like a complete novel of Indian immigrants making their way in the new world.

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April 29, 2010

n Other Rooms, Other Wonders by Daniyal Mueenuddin ** (of 4)

Eight short stories of contemporary life in Pakistan. Most of the short stories cover decades or lifetimes: way too much material to summarize in just...

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