Archive for the ‘ Book Reviews ’ Category
The Weird Wild Woods
“Dogtown: Death and Enchantment IN A New England Ghost Town” is by Elyssa East Known as a ghost town, Dogtown comprises a brooding 3,000-acre area of abandoned woodland in Gloucester. Its thrilling eeriness casts a mesh of myth over the place for centuries. For painter Marsden Hartley who characterized the place as “Druidic”, mulching his [...]
Mystery, Sex, and Shakespeare
“Book of Souls” by Glenn Cooper The fate of a mysterious volume lost for six centuries. Will Piper, ex-FBI Agent, of the earlier “Secret of the Seventh Son”, is a curious guy, in both senses of the word. A cad and a drinker, and bad ex-husband, he’s supposedly chastened in his new marriage and fatherhood. [...]
Food, Sometimes Inglorious Food
“Empires Of Food: Feast, Famine, and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations” is by Boston’s Andrew Rimas and Evan D.G. Fraser, Strolling through vast historical landscapes, often in a mood of colorful inquiry, Fraser and Rimas explore the ways food has been produced over centuries. Nature’s whims –droughts and flooding and famine-and a sometimes-fatal blindness [...]
Fake Coins, Real Murder
“The Counterfeit Murder In The Museum Of Man” is the latest Norman De Ratour Mystery by Alfred Alcorn, formerly of Harvard’s Museum of Natural History Norman De Ratour, Director of the Museum of Man is in a sticky spot as the pompously named Heinrich von Grumh , an honorary curator, has been found dead near [...]
Bark, Struggle, Love
“Love Is The Best Medicine” is by Angell Memorial vet Dr. Nick Trout Veterinarian Nick Trout wears his heart on his sleeve . He even, defying biology, seems to wear about four. Though he works with the highest- tech equipment at Angell, where animals receive treatments fit for a human king, it’s Trout’s deep engagement [...]
The Long Half Life Of Murder
The Murderers’ Daughters by Randy Susan Meyers The shocker here swirls quickly, taking you by surprise: a man murders his wife and wounds one of his daughters. Those little sisters, responsible, serious Lulu and needy, loving Merry, become the surviving family duo, and provide the alternating voices of the book. With their father in jail, [...]
Be Right Here, Right Now
“The Mindfulness Solution” by Ronald D. Siegel, PsyD. Assistant Clinical Professor of Psychology at Harvard Medical School offers lessons in being present in the moment. This irreplaceable moment – and all moments are fleeting-may in fact be a painful one. So maybe you’d rather zoom past it, wolfing it down like a bad-tasting meal, but [...]
Almond Joy And Torment of Music
Review: Steve Almond’s “Rock and Roll Will Save Your Life” A Steve Almond body scan would probably reveal millions of little dots, sparkling and pounding with rock music. A self-described “Drooling Fanatic” endlessly listening, writing rock criticism, DJ’ing, worshipping-(and then wistfully wondering about)- famous musicians, Somerville resident Almond takes us on a many-flavored tour. Sometimes [...]