The Magic Room: A Story About the Love We Wish for Our Daughters by Jeffrey Zaslow

On January 2, 2012, in Book Reviews, Nonfiction, Social Studies, by Editor

The New York Times bestselling journalist and author of The Girls from Ames, Jeffrey Zaslow, takes us to a multi- generational family owned small-town bridal shop to explore the emotional lives of women in the 21st century.

Loose Diamonds – And Other Things I’ve Lost (And Found) Along The Way by Amy Ephron

On December 30, 2011, in Book Reviews, Essays, Fiction, by Editor

With her wonderful sense of humor, marvelously candid voice, and astonishing perception, Amy Ephron weaves together the most insightful, profound, and just plain funny stories of her life to form a tapestry of a woman’s experiences from childhood through young adulthood, marriage, divorce (and remarriage), and everything in between.

Ghost Lights: A Funny And Haunting Novel by Lydia Millet

On November 27, 2011, in Fiction, by Editor

Hal is a mild-mannered IRS bureaucrat who suspects that his wife is cheating with her younger, more virile coworker. At a drunken dinner party, Hal volunteers to fly to Belize in search of Susan’s employer, T.—the protagonist of Lydia Millet’s much-lauded novel How the Dead Dream—who has vanished in a tropical jungle, initiating a darkly humorous descent into strange and unpredictable terrain.

I Married You for Happiness – A Novel Of Death And Memories by Lily Tuck

On September 6, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

Slender, potent, and utterly engaging, I Married You For Happiness combines marriage, mathematics, and the probability of an afterlife to create Tuck’s most affecting and riveting book yet.

This Is Not the Ivy League: A Memoir by Mary Clearman Blew

On September 3, 2011, in Biographies & Memoirs, Book Reviews, Nonfiction, by Editor

Mary Clearman Blew’s education began at home, on a remote cattle ranch in Montana. She graduated to a one-room rural school, then escaped, via scholarship, to the University of Montana, where, still in her teens, she met and married her first husband. This Is Not the Ivy League is her account of what it was to be that girl.

The Art of Fielding: A Novel About Life And Baseball by Chad Harbach

On September 1, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, Sports, by Editor

Though The Art of Fielding is his fiction debut, Chad Harbach writes with the self-assurance of a seasoned novelist. He exercises a masterful precision over the language and pacing of his narrative, and in some 500 pages, there’s rarely a word that feels out of place.

New World Monkeys: A Novel by Nancy Mauro

On August 20, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

A savagely smart, darkly comic literary debut, New World Monkeys exposes the false idols of marital tranquillity, small-town idyll, and corporate Darwinism in the dazzling voice of a major new talent.

The Most Dangerous Thing – A Novel by Laura Lippman

On August 19, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

Years ago, they were all the best of friends. But as time passed and circumstances changed, they grew apart, became adults with families of their own, and began to forget about the past—and the terrible lie they all shared.

A Small Hotel: A Novel by Robert Olen Butler

On August 18, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

Set in contemporary New Orleans but working its way back in time, A Small Hotel chronicles the relationship between Michael and Kelly Hays, who have decided to separate after twenty-four years of marriage. The book begins on the day that the Hays are to finalize their divorce.

Under the Volcano: A Novel by Malcolm Lowry

On August 17, 2011, in Book Reviews, Fiction, by Editor

Under the Volcano remains one of literature’s most powerful and lyrical statements on the human condition, and a brilliant portrayal of one man’s constant struggle against the elemental forces that threaten to destroy him.