Monday, August 20, 2007

once sentence book reviews

Absurdistan, by Gary Schteyngart - This book is all surface, but what a surface it is: funny, deeply ironic, smart, topical, nimble. Still, I can't love a book without a beating heart.

West With the Night, Beryl Markham - A truly wonderful memoir by a female pilot and horse trainer in Africa, in the early and middle parts of the 20th century. Hemingway praised the book highly, and there is a similarity of style, although I think that Markham runs laps around Hemingway where content is concerned. A new heroine to add to my pantheon!

The Language Police, by Diane Ravitch - A book about censorship in public schools, especially of textbooks. Substantive, well-researched, both shocking and thought-provoking.

Book By Book, by Michael Dirda - Books about books and reading can only rise to a certain height, but this one is light and fun and will probably give you some good ideas.

The Surrender, by Toni Bentley - Toni Bentley thinks she's a badass because she likes anal sex, and she wants you to know about it.

The Land Was Everything, by Victor Davis Hansen - A eulogy for the family farmer; a book as noble and yet also as narrow-minded as its subject.

A Field of Darkness, by Cornelia Read - A very witty, character-driven mystery. The whodunit wasn't hard to spot, but the book is great.

The Mona Lisa Stratagem, by Harriet Rubin - A beautifully written, oracular "guide" to power and authority for older women. Unfortunately, it's most useful for women who think Colette's greatest accomplishment was seducing a 16 year old boy at 60, and want to follow in her footsteps.

Harry Potter 7, by J.K. Rowling - Bliss.

Thief, Queen of Attolia, King of Attolia, by Megan Whalen Turner - Satisfying young adult series, reminded me a bit of Lian Hern's Tales of the Otori or Poison Study.

Wednesday, August 15, 2007

Woo-hoo!

We're going to try to sign the authors of two books I pulled out of the slush pile! I have found a wee diamond in the rough, a thumbtack in a haystack! Twice! In one week!

Now, this is a victory for me but we have yet to discover if:

(1) the author in question will want to sign with us
(2) we can sell the book
(3) if the book will sell

But yay! Baby agent on the loose!