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The Lazarus Project
Aleksandar Hemon
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
Quirky, inventive, and rich
It must be both thrilling and anxiety-provoking for a young writer to find himself compared to Nabokov, Conrad and Rushdie with only one novel and a short story collection to his credit. Aleksandar Hemon, descendant of Ukrainian emigrants to Yugoslavia and a native of ...
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The Kite Runner Illustrated Edition
Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead Hardcover, 2007
One of the most beautiful tales you will ever read
I rarely re-read any books, I've only re-read maybe three or four in my entire life; Khaled Hosseini's first novel, The Kite Runner, is one of those books. Set in the country of Afghanistan, The Kite Runner tells the tale of the heartache of a nation at war and the ...
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Foreskin's Lament: A Memoir
Shalom Auslander
Riverhead Hardcover, 2007
Laughing out loud on the subway
I loved this book, and found myself laughing out loud several times on crowded subway cars. Auslander manages to create humor and warmth out of painful childhood memories and an obsession with a vengeful God, and is clearly a talented writer. I had a hard time putting ...
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The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
Junot Díaz
Riverhead Hardcover, 2007
Yes, it's that good!
I read this novel because I was under the impression that it was a well written story about a geeky and socially awkward comic book loving guy and, well, that premise really appealed to me. And yes, that is--in a very broad sense--what this book is about. But it's ...
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Me of Little Faith
Lewis Black
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
From the hilariously mad-as-hell Daily Show regular and New York Times –bestselling author comes a ferociously funny exploration of religion and faith. What do we believe? And in God’s name why ? Lewis Black has the answers. Or at least his answers. He survived Hebrew school and a bar mitzvah (barely), was a sixties college student who ...
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Song Yet Sung
James McBride
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
A Beautiful Melody
James McBride's Song Yet Sung is a great addition to the genre of African American literature. McBride weaves a complex story that begins with runaway slave, Liz Spocott. Liz is near death when she is captured by a slave trader. She finds herself imprisoned with a ...
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The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears
Dinaw Mengestu
Riverhead Hardcover, 2007
Solid fiction...
There is much to appreciate about "The Beautiful Things That Heaven Bears." First time author Dinaw Mengestu vividly sets his scene (near Dupont Circle in DC) and creates characters whose inner workings you will debate after you finish reading. This is a story about ...
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The Ten-Year Nap
Meg Wolitzer
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
For my daughter
I purchased this book for my daughter based on an NPR interview with the author. It is a good read--especially for women who are stay-at-home-moms.
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American Eve
Paula Uruburu
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
The definitive book on one of the most sensational crimes of the 20th Century
In the first years of the 20th century, one of the most famous women in America was a teenager, Evelyn Nesbit, a model for artists and photographers and New York showgirl. She was ubiquitous in advertisements and magazines, and had a kind of innocent beauty that also ...
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The Art of Happiness: A Handbook for Living
Dalai Lama, Howard C. Cutler
Riverhead Hardcover, 1998
Very enlightening!!
I am not a big one for inspirational books but this one struck a chord! Not only is there insight from the Dali Lahma but the Dr. who interviews him asks all the questions I would ask and plays an excellent Devils' Advocate. Anyone who reads this will surely come out ...
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It's Only Temporary: The Good News and the Bad News of Being Alive
Evan Handler
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
Honest. Refreshing. Heartening.
IT'S ONLY TEMPORARY is a most engaging work. I was impressed by Evan Handler's candor - and charmed by his sense of humor. And I was especially captivated by the story of how he met and then fell passionately in love with his wife. It's a romantic tale - complete ...
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The Road to Wealth, Revised Edition
Suze Orman
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
Excellent revised & updated reference guide covering different aspects of personal finance
I am a fan of most of Suze Orman's financial guides and also a fan of her television show. What I like about her is that she dispenses financial advice in a very uncondescending, easy-to-understand manner. Also, as a woman, I appreciate that she is able to understand ...
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Turtle Feet
Nikolai Grozni
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
Nikolai Grozni was a music prodigy, a jazz pianist training at the prestigious Berklee College of Music in Boston, when suddenly he decided to transform his life. He moved to India to become a Buddhist monk—shaving his head, learning Tibetan, and donning long traditional robes. In the Himalayas—living in a hut a stone’s throw from the Dalai Lama’s ...
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The Mayor's Tongue
Nathaniel Rich
Riverhead Hardcover, 2008
Wow is this a weird book
I picked up this book along with Keith Gessen's book (about with the less said the better) based on an LA Times story about young New York literary editors and their brand new novels. From the story I was expecting a book in the sort of early Roth or Bellow vein of ...
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The Last Summer (of You and Me)
Ann Brashares
Riverhead Hardcover, 2007
A summer to forget
If you're looking for another "Traveling Pants" sort of story, I'm sorry to say that this isn't it. Instead, the author of the famous and highly acclaimed series "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" aims for the heart, with a rather drawn out tale of two sisters, a ...
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