We came, we read, we gushed. Here’s a recap of the titles that left us especially warm and swoony this past month.
Returning by Yael Shahar (Kasva Press). Reviewed by Philip K. Jason. “Returning is an extraordinary and challenging book on many levels. It attempts to make the intangible as close to tangible as possible. It engages readers in a kind of time travel that has nothing to do with science fiction. It might remind some of paranormal romance, but the stakes are much higher.”
The Dogs of Detroit: Stories by Brad Felver (University of Pittsburgh Press). Reviewed by Ellen Prentiss Campbell. “These can be read as true horror stories, as cautionary tales, or as imagined front-line reporting (sometimes almost surreal and hallucinatory). Brutally honest, Felver explores the effects of emotional and financial scarcity on families. Many of the parents and children on these pages subsist in economic and social circumstances ripe for breeding violence and hatred; many are perpetrators or victims of abuse — and sometimes both at once.”
Road to Disaster: A New History of America’s Descent into Vietnam by Brian VanDeMark (Custom House). Reviewed by Tom Glenn. “Brian VanDeMark’s Road to Disaster is a landmark in the Vietnam war literature. Running 543 pages of text and more than 40 pages of reference notes, it relates decision-making about the April 1961 Bay of Pigs and the October 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis to judgments made during the years of the Vietnam war.”
Leadership in Turbulent Times by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster). Reviewed by Talmage Boston. “With jaw-dropping thoughts like this, Leadership in Turbulent Times is a bravura performance by Doris Kearns Goodwin, an artist who writes today with the same level of excellence that she’s demonstrated for more than 40 years.”
Every Day Is Extra by John F. Kerry (Simon & Schuster). Reviewed by Janet A. Martin. “For 50 years, John F. Kerry has been on the front line of events known to most Americans only through newspaper headlines and TV reports. For this reason, and for many others, Every Day Is Extra is worthwhile reading. Not only is it the convincing telling of one life, it is also the faithful memoir of an era.”
We Fed an Island: The True Story of Rebuilding Puerto Rico, One Meal at a Time by José Andrés with Richard Wolffe (Anthony Bourdain/Ecco). Reviewed by Delia Cabe. “These quibbles asides, We Fed an Island is an important and informative read about the weak links in disaster relief. Andrés acknowledges naysayers who accuse him of running his nonprofit to raise awareness of his ‘brand.’ But readers will see that the service he provides is physically and mentally demanding, as well as costly. There are other, far less grueling ways a celebrity chef could market himself.”
Transcription: A Novel by Kate Atkinson (Little, Brown and Company). Reviewed by Robert Allen Papinchak. “Kate Atkinson is a masterful manipulator of lies. Transcription is a spectacular game of deception, her own perfect plot. It is as twisty and efficient — everything falls into place like the tumblers of a combination lock — as the best of Le Carré.”
