Monthly Archives: July 2009
July Books of the Month
Time for the roundup of this month’s great books. I liked and I recommend: Experimental Man, with its captivating description of futuristic medical tests Your call is not that Important to us, since it talks (entertainingly) about my tribe, the … Continue reading
Filed under New fiction
We Two by Gillian Gill
We Two tells the story of the marriage of Queen Victoria of England and her husband, Prince (never King!) Albert, starting with the childhoods and complicated family trees of both and ending with the death of the prince, who apparently … Continue reading
Filed under Non fiction
The End of Overeating by David Kessler
The End of Overeating makes exactly to points: one, that we human beings are preconditioned to love sugar, fat, and salt (and even more a combination of the three, preferably packaged as something that needs little to no chewing) and … Continue reading
Filed under Non fiction
Death of a River Guide by Richard Flanagan
Death of a River Guide tells the story of, well, a dying river guide. Aljaz Cosini is drowning in a Tasmanian river, trying to save a tourist from the swollen water, and as he dies he tells the complicated story … Continue reading
Filed under New fiction
Face to Face by Maria Siemionow
I picked up Face to Face because I thought it would be interesting to hear about what it takes to do face transplants and how patients recover from such an ordeal — and I did not quite get what I … Continue reading
Filed under True story
Wedlock by Wendy Moore
Wedlock is the story of fabulously rich Eleanor Bowes, who, after finding herself widowed at age 24 (with five children!), has a good time with several overlapping boyfriends and haplessly marries one, thinking he’s dying for her when in fact … Continue reading
Filed under Non fiction
The Life you can Save by Peter Singer
What could be better than a book that provides a rational explanation of why it’s good to contribute to charity? Infortunately, The Life You Can Save doesn’t quite reach its goal and alternates between a shaming exercise of various well-known … Continue reading
Filed under Non fiction
Heroic Measures by Jill Ciment
Heroic Measures tells the story of an elderly New York couple who is trying to sell their current apartment and buy a new one with an elevator while coping with their dachshund’s medical problems and a potential terrorist attack. There’s … Continue reading
Filed under New fiction
Our Lot by Alyssa Katz
Our Lot tells the same story as Busted, reviewed here yesterday, with more details, without the personal angle (except for a glimpse), and with a combative, how-could-the-government-and-big-business-stick-it-to-the-little-people tone that I found annoying, even making me wonder whether, a few years … Continue reading
Filed under Non fiction
Busted by Edmund Andrews
Written by a New York Times economics editor, Busted is the twin story of the editor’s descent into foreclosure after a very foolish house purchase and the housing market’s descent into meltdown. On the personal side, a newly-divorced, wanting to … Continue reading
Filed under Non fiction
