Feb 08, 2010
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Web Pick of the Week |
 Queen Victoria, Demon HunterA. E. Moorat. Eos, $14.99 (384p) ISBN 9780061976018  Add Queen Victoria to the rapidly growing coterie of literary and historical characters forced to battle supernatural evil (see Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and Zombie Jim, etc.), as pseudonymous author Moorat combines Victorian manners, gallows humor and grindhouse gore into a satisfying historical adventure. After ascending to the throne, 18-year-old Victoria has her hands full with matters of state and the heart; when she learns of a clandestine war between humans and demons, however, Victoria’s responsibility to protect the Empire takes on violent, visceral dimensions. With help from a Scooby Gang of rough-and-tumble warriors known as the Protektorate, the self-possessed young monarch must battle demons (a catch-all category including werewolves, zombies and many others), quell a brewing insurrection and protect her beloved Prince Albert, all while maintaining her royal decorum and a stiff upper lip. Moorat infuses his tale with enough bravura and over-the-top action to lift it above a horde of similar projects; readers able to stomach the deliriously bloody goings-on will find plenty to enjoy. (Jan.) |
NONFICTION Killer Twins Passings: Death, Dying, and Unexplained Phenomena The Power of Many: Values for Success in Business and in Life
The End of Influence: What Happens When Other Countries Have the Money
Stephen S. Cohen and Brad DeLong. Basic, $22 (176p) ISBN 9780465018765
In this reasoned chronicle of worldwide fiscal and cultural influence from pre-WWI to the present, Berkeley academics Cohen and DeLong (Macroeconomics) measure the rise and decline of U.S. prestige, concluding that the era of U.S. dominance is over: “The United States will continue to be a world leader… But it will no longer be the boss.” Presenting an in-depth examination of deficits, export policies, sovereign wealth funds, the U.S. Department of Defense, and foreign expansion (as well as caveats galore), Cohen and DeLong craft a chilling portrait of the country’s accelerating fiscal woes: “In every year since 1976, the United States has run international trade deficits that collectively add up to 7 trillion. More than 70 percent of that 7 trillion has been added since 2000.” Pursuing the causes underlying the current worldwide economic crisis—the financial rules and lack thereof—Cohen and DeLong depict the effort to restore the global economy as a massive task, fraught with peril and the specter of unintended consequences; growing economic inequity between the U.S. and China, for instance, represents “a financial balance of terror.” Though most appropriate for fiscal wonks, Cohen and DeLong’s analysis is clear and concise enough for the concerned layperson. (Jan.)
If You Leave Us Here, We Will Die: How Genocide Was Stopped in East Timor
Geoffrey Robinson. Princeton, $35 (340p) ISBN 9780691135366
In this intimate, informed account, historian Robinson (The Dark Side of Paradise: Political Violence in Bali), examines the tumultuous events surrounding East Timor’s 1999 attempt to gain independence from Indonesia. With expertise and an insider’s perspective—a principal researcher for Amnesty International in the 1990s, Robinson joined the UN mission overseeing East Timor’s independence referendum—the author offers rare insight into the country’s internal turmoil. Particularly riveting are Robinson’s descriptions of the days preceding the historic vote to separate from Indonesia: “dressed in their Sunday best, some [East Timorese] left home in the middle of the night to reach the polling station by dawn.” The importance of that vote, in which “98.6 percent of those who had registered cast ballots,” is hard to overstate; just hours after voting ended, however, pro-Indonesian militia groups erupted in a violent backlash that would kill approximately 1,500 civilians and send 400,000 fleeing the country. Despite the overwhelming brutality of the story, and a bleak assessment of actions from the UN and international community (as much a part of the problem as the solution), Robinson manages to cap his detailed report with a hopeful note. (Jan.)
How Math Can Save Your Life: (And Make You Rich, Help You Find the One, and Avert Catastrophes)
James D. Stein. Wiley, $24.95 (256p) ISBN 9780470437759
Taking his lead from Freakonomics, mathematics professor Stein examines everyday, occasional, and inevitable life problems—what’s the financial benefit of a college degree over a lifetime? Is gambling more cost-efficient entertainment than a first-run movie? How much money does a hybrid car actually save?—through the lens of arithmetic, with enlightening, and sometimes surprising, results. Addressing topics like genetics, statistics, and economics with practical knowledge sure to heighten math literacy—and the appreciation for it—Stein illustrates concepts like game theory by analyzing the benefit-to-risk ratio of his father’s surgery, buying flowers for a significant other, and football plays. Stein offers numerous suggestions for improving mathematics education and for making mental math easier, as well as for handling more immediate concerns like refinancing the house (will it actually save you money?), studying for tests (how effective is guessing on a multiple-choice quiz?) and finding love (“The original title for this book, suggested by my editor, was How Math Can Get You Laid”). With a sure grasp of the material and a game sense of humor, Stein’s text should interest a broad audience of intellectually curious readers, including any fan of practical cultural analysis ala Malcolm Gladwell. (Mar.)
Rochester, New York experienced a plague of serial killers during the late 1980s and early 1990s, with at least three killers operating in the Edgerton section of the city. True crime writer Benson’s latest hones in on one of them: Robert Bruce Spahalski. After his arrest, police found themselves with an unusual serial killer, in that his victims varied so much in terms of race, gender, and even method of death. Even more unique was the fact that Spahalski had an identical twin brother, Stephen, who was also a murderer. Given this wealth of macabre oddness and accounts of violence, one might expect a livelier book, but Benson’s text reads like a police report with a few of the numbers filed off. The overall story of the twins is difficult to pick out of the mass of details, and the book frequently supplies extraneous information. (Feb.)
In the space of just three years, chef Travis-Henikoff (Dinner With a Cannibal) lost five family members: her husband to leukemia; her 80-year-old father to kidney failure; her grieving mother to suicide; her daughter, Kim, to blood clots; and her daughter-in-law to blood disease. Travis-Henikoff’s struggle to accept these painful deaths was helped by a number of paranormal experiences, including Kim’s premonitory dream (dying in a pool of ice water) and, three nights after her death, the appearance of Kim’s spirit in “a thin crackling rod of shimmering white light.” After Kim’s death, Travis-Henikoff sought out others with stories of loss and the paranormal, finding people who “know, trust and love the sciences, yet fly gracefully through the cosmos of the metaphysical.” Travis-Henikoff mines the family lore surrounding her great-grandmother, who held séances, and her own history (including a near-fatal childhood asthma attack), for evidence that she (and her daughter) may have inherited psychic powers; she also considers what she witnessed in the moment of her father and her husband’s deaths. Whatever readers believe regarding death and the supernatural, Travis-Henikoff’s tender, wise memoir of love, grief and truth-seeking will help them accept death as an affirmation of life’s value. (Feb.)
Having helped shepherd Ebay, one of the few online commercial success stories, from a $4 million business to an $8 billion behemoth, former president and CEO Whitman reveals her methods in her debut, as much a memoir of her tenure at Ebay as a guidebook for struggling MBAs. Though timed to coincide with her California gubernatorial run (the out-of-place last chapter includes her reasons for running, and a defense of friend and former presidential candidate Mitt Romney), Whitman crafts an engaging and not altogether opportunistic narrative that spells out solid business values, a no-nonsense approach to work, and thoughts on corporate integrity centered around practical advice for employees, managers and business leaders (“Be authentic. You can’t buy integrity”; “Enfranchise and validate”; “Prune distractions”). In an era of bloated corporate profits and downsized prospects for average workers, Whitman’s sincere commitment to and insights regarding community-building are refreshing, and should prove helpful for entrepreneurs and voters seeking information about the probable candidate. (Jan.) The Professor: And Other Writings
Terry Castle. Harper, $25.99 (352p) ISBN 9780061670909
Cultural scholar and essayist Castle (The Literature of Lesbianism) puts her keen analytical powers and droll wit to fine use in her latest collection of autobiographical essays. Written between 2002 and 2009, Castle’s seven pieces are wildly diverse in subject matter, including a rumination on controversial jazz virtuoso Art Pepper and an obituary of late leftist icon Susan Sontag. Castle’s voice shines as she repeatedly peels back layers of assumptions to reveal thought-provoking, often funny and sometimes moving observations: an essay about Castle’s obsessive interest in WWI becomes a thoughtful meditation on feminine courage, both horrifying and amusing (often in a single paragraph); a seemingly-banal piece about home interior magazines becomes an astute examination of the personal struggle for security in the post-9/11 world. Obscure references and a predictably academic approach never let readers forget they’re dealing with a professional scholar, but Castle’s fierce wit and self-deprecating style keep her text from becoming stilted, proving that “entertaining” and “high-minded” needn’t be mutually exclusive. (Jan.)
LIFESTYLE
A Better Way of Dying: How to Make the Best Choices at the End of Life
Jean Fitzpatrick and Eileen M. Fitzpatrick. Penguin, $15 paper (240p) ISBN 9780143116752
Bringing together their respective expertise, sisters and debut authors Jean, an emergency room doctor, and Eileen, a practicing lawyer, explain the care pitfalls of death and dying that persist even for those who believe they’re covered by a Living Will. Despite “clearly expressed wishes” to the contrary, many patients close to death are kept alive—using ventilators, antibiotics, intravenous feeding and other methods—by medical personnel (“most doctors still graduate… with basically no training in end-of-life situations”), family members unwilling to accept the inevitable, and nursing homes that benefit financially from keeping Medicaid recipients alive. To clear up ambiguities over end-of-life care, the authors advise putting together a one-page “Contract for Compassionate Care” that “gives you the option to choose a natural death” by delineating what care should be withheld—including hospitalization, antibiotics, usual medications, and hydration/nutrition. The authors outline a practical Compassion Protocol for creating the contract, which prioritizes communication with loved ones and health care professionals. The Fitzpatricks also provide detailed, authoritative and compassionate information on subjects most don’t confront until it’s too late, including hospice care (“an excellent source of… pain control, symptom management, and emotional and spiritual support”), nursing homes, and typical end-of-life scenarios (permanent unconsciousness, Alzheimer’s dementia). (Feb.)
Legless: Desserts to Get You in the Spirit
Kylie Banning. Sterling/New Holland, $19.95 (162p) ISBN 9781741108545
Bridging the gap between after-dinner drinks and dessert, Banning’s collection of hooch-related meal-cappers is hit or miss. Grouped by theme (“cakes, tarts, puddings,” “dessert shots,” “coffee treats”), offerings incorporate many of the usual suspects (Bailey’s Irish Cream, Kahlua, Cointreau, Frangelico) for dishes like Honeycomb Cheesecake, Piña Colada sorbet, Scottish Mousse Shots, and other pleasing treats. Though nothing here should surprise veteran bakers, novices will appreciate the ease of recipes for fancy-looking trifles and marinated fruit (though they may run into trouble locating a medical syringe to infuse strawberries with Baileys or Cointreau). All skill levels are covered, from simple infused fruits to a multilayered Chocolate Gateau laced with Tia Maria, though an entire chapter on “jelly” (read Jell-o) shots seems unnecessary. Casual cooks with a sweet tooth and a strong liver should find some new favorites here, but those serious about their desserts will be better served elsewhere. (Jan.)
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A Valetine's Day Digest, Part 2 |
This week: literary liasons, jungle fever, self-hypnosis, magic spells, and everything nuptial. Between the Sheets: The Famous Literary Liaisons of Nine 20th-Century Women Writers Lesley McDowell. Overlook, $28.95 (312p) ISBN 9781590202388 Critic, novelist and literary journalist McDowell (The Picnic) takes a scholarly but fascinating look at the love lives of women writers, revealing how writers like Anais Nin, Simone de Beauvoir and Sylvia Plath were affected by their romantic liaisons. Using their letters, journals and diaries, McDowell explores the ambitions and desires of nine writers, often uncovering tell-tale signs of dependence on their male counterparts. McDowell reviews some famous, oft-covered romances—including Martha Gellhorn and Ernest Hemingway (the celebrity couple of their day), Nin and Henry Miller, Plath and Ted Hughes—but also finds the relationships between figures like Elizabeth Smart and George Barker, or Rebecca West and H.G. Wells, also rich in power struggles regarding art and sex. Almost every union explored had devastating consequences for the women involved, but fueled some of their best work, begging some big questions: Would they have become writers without their entanglements with these men? And was success in their art ultimately worth the heartbreak? This stirring account lets their devotees decide. (Mar.) Don’t Bring Home a White Boy: And Other Notions That Keep Black Women From Dating Out Karyn Langhorne Folan. S&S/Gallery, $24.99 (256p) ISBN 9781439154755 A black lawyer with a white husband, Folan encourages other African-American women to consider dating or marrying outside their immediate circles with a sincere but matter-of-fact discussion of interracial relationships. Challenging readers to stop letting notions of difference keep them from happiness, the Harvard-educated attorney addresses the conscious, unconscious and often-unstated issues that contribute to the ongoing taboo: is a black woman who dates or marries interracially a traitor? Is a white husband an emblem of self-hatred? What factor does the U.S. history of sexual oppression play? Though she can sound flip (“I figured since I was doing so badly with the chocolate, I’d give the vanilla a try”), Folan addresses her touchy subject matter deliberately and thoroughly, including lengthy interviews with committed interracial couples who discuss how they met, the reactions of friends and family, and how they’ve managed over the years, letting their success stories illustrate her points. Though Folan’s well-meaning text may not eliminate her readers’ hesitation regarding this very loaded subject, it makes an excellent starting point. (Feb.) Let Love In: Open Your Heart and Mind to Attract Your Ideal Partner Debra Berndt. Wiley, $15.95 paper (288p) ISBN 9780470497494 Berndt, a clinical hypnotherapist with an online radio show (the Love Hypnotist Show), believes that hypnotherapy techniques used for smoking cessation and weight loss can also be used to secure a happy relationship. As our fears, insecurities and relationship baggage is often deeply ingrained in the unconscious, Berndt offers a three-pronged plan to revealing and overcoming those unconscious obstacles: uncovering the issues, taking action to eliminate “roadblocks,” and maintaining a healthy mindset. Each chapter is full of checklists, journal suggestions and step-by-step self-hypnosis exercises, as well as warm and friendly guidance that’s blissfully low-pressure (and low-risk): “you need to be in only a light trance to experience the benefits of hypnosis,” not much different from being engrossed in a book or movie—except that the goal isn’t to check out of reality but to confront it on its most hard-to-read levels. A useful, relaxed approach to cognitive therapy, Berndt’s guide gives readers an intuitive, healthy way to confront romance-defeating thoughts and behavior. (Mar.) A Love Alchemist’s Notebook: Magical Secrets for Drawing Your True Love into Your LifeJessica Shepherd. Llewellyn, $17.95 paper (312p) ISBN 9780738719641 Astrologist-blogger Shepherd (of Astrology.com’s Venus and Beyond: Love on the Outer Planets) offers a welcome oasis for those who feel stranded by lower-your-expectations dating guides (see He’s Just Not That Into You). Rather than focus on pitfalls, Shepherd prescribes a “cosmic love adventure” utilizing the Secret-esque principle of “magnetic desire,” along with a bit of magic and meditation, to conjure up one’s sought-after mate. Channeling the goddess of love, Shepherd provides a range of analysis and advice, including the ways that Venus influences your astrological sign, how to develop a magical tool kit, and what’s important about moon-watching. Each chapter is rich with less-than-common exercises, meditations, affirmations, love spells and rituals, along with the requisite quick tips. Her “Cookbook of Soul Mate Spells” appendix is delightfully down-to-earth, insightful, and provides hours of playtime. Despite its New Age trappings, Shepherd’s approach is rooted in fundamentals—self-confidence, wisdom, and patience—and effectively makes working toward personal growth and enlightenment fun. (Jan.) Planet Wedding: A NuptialpediaSandra Choron and Harry Choron. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt/Mariner, $14.95 paper (368p) ISBN 9780618746583 With characteristic good humor, the authors of Planet Dog, Planet Cat and College in a Can provide a fun and comprehensive guide to marriage, covering the practical, the historical, the cultural and the legal—including, but not limited to, wedding cakes around the world, Charles and Diana’s “wedding of the century,” the rituals of a Wiccan wedding, and “69 rules of Wedding Crashing.” There’s also plentiful, practical tips for making the occasion memorable without breaking the bank, from hiring a limo to choosing a DJ to deciding on flowers to designing the wedding program. The happily married Chorons (she’s a writer and literary agent, he’s a graphic designer) keep things simple with easy-to-follow bullet points and to-do lists that offer useful insight into the big day, and what to expect afterward (the groom’s 117-item pre-wedding to-do list includes everything from “start a joint checking account” to “play all the video games you own again” to “see at least one more naked woman”). For all the lists of rules (“14 Rules for Fighting Fair,” “Who Pays for What?”), the Chorons also provide the hows of breaking them, making this an incredibly thorough, friendly and encouraging guide. 150 b&w illus. (Mar.) |
Down Deep The Halfling’s Court Through Stone and Sea: A Novel of the Noble Dead
RELIGION
The Handbook for Catholic Moms: Nurturing Your Heart, Mind, Body, and Soul
Lisa M. Hendey. Ave Maria, $15.95 paper (256p) ISBN 9781594712289
As a Catholic mother, Hendey, the creator of CatholicMom.com, has had to find a new parish, learn how to navigate the Internet, and make new friends in a strange place, all while holding herself and her family together mentally, physically, and spiritually. In this practical, easy-to-read guide to all things maternal and Catholic, she shares her advice and that of some of her online colleagues. Knowing busy moms have fleeting attention spans, Hendey wisely has broken each chapter into short takes that include a story from her life, personal reflections of other moms, pithy quotes from church figures and texts, “Mom’s Homework” to-dos and Web resources. She covers matters of heart, mind, body and soul in chapters on relationships, creativity, fitness and prayer, all infused with a uniquely Catholic outlook that emphasizes the importance of such things as frequent reception of the sacraments, befriending the saints, and getting the most out of worship during Mass. Catholic moms will welcome this informative, upbeat guide as a resource that nicely blends the sacred with the secular. (Feb.)
The Long Dark Winter’s Night: Reflections of a Priest in a Time of Pain and Privilege
Patrick Bergquist. Liturgical (www.litpress.org), $16.95 paper (144p) ISBN 9780814633014
Rarely has there been such an honest and personal portrayal of the life of a Catholic priest. Bergquist, pastor at St. Raphael Church in Fairbanks, Alaska, offers the perspective of a priest who has been sorely disappointed by his church’s problems and sees no easy way to address them. The author writes that when the sexual abuse scandal exploded in public in 2002, the Catholic Church went into defense mode rather than talking about God or asking for forgiveness. He uses the long, bitter Alaskan winter as a symbol for the pain the church is going through. The cold of winter and the numbing ache that accompanies it cannot be cast off just by hoping for spring—it has to be lived through. Bergquist rejects a vision of Catholic priesthood as set apart and paternalistic, and embraces one where the priest is with people in their suffering in order to offer a shoulder for their burdens and an ear for their sorrows. (Jan.)
FICTION
Croft (White Man Falling under the name Mike Stocks) makes an earnest if ultimately ineffectual attempt at a Crichton-esque, high-concept scientific thriller. The story is of Dr. Roderick Ormond, director of London’s Marine Mammal Institute, as he attempts to decipher a string of wildly unnatural—and eventually hostile—whale behavior surrounding the U.K. One whale in particular, a mature male sperm whale christened Blackfin, desperately tries to communicate with the human world by any means necessary. As Roderick faces ghosts from his past, he obsesses over two questions: What are the whales trying to warn us about and how are they even cognitively capable of doing so? Unfortunately, vague characterization and a deluge of unnatural dialogue, combined with a lethargic plot, keep this “thriller” from ever becoming more than mildly interesting. Infused with wry British charm, the chapters would pass by amiably enough were they not full of irrelevant scientific details that seem to exist only to prove the author’s thorough research. The result is a gilded shell of narrative, and a story almost as shallow as the English Channel it inhabits. (Feb.)
Although the latest from Ackley-McPhail (Tomorrow’s Memories) features an intriguing mix of bikers and elves, the book itself falls flat, victim of clichéd storytelling and poor writing. The half-human, half-fae Lance Cosain avoids politics and leads a mixed motorcycle gang of fae and human alike, until an attack by a fellow halfing draws him out. He must rescue assorted damsels in distress—first Suzanne, his lover, is kidnapped and tortured by the halfling, and later his brain-damaged cousin Tilly is taken by the High King himself. In the process, Lance learns the secrets of his own history, and sure enough finds himself imbued with enough power to become a threat to the throne. Ackley-McPhail fails to add depth to the characters, especially the females. Urban fantasy diehards might tolerate this short novel as a way to pass an hour or two, but even they’ll chafe at the clumsy use of tropes and phrases like, “the travesty held tightly by his arms and by his will.” (Feb.)
Smolder
Melina Morel. Signet Eclipse, $6.99 (336p) ISBN 9780451228802
Skilled werewolf hunters, vicious werewolves, friendly vampires, stealthy werecats, and morally ambiguous clones fill the world of this lackluster paranormal romance. For French Countess Catherine Marais, hunting werewolves isn’t just a job—it’s her inherited duty. But the family vocation doesn’t arouse as much passion in her as vampire Ian Morgan. When Catherine is identified by werewolves across France, Ian arrives to help her on the hunt, determined to keep her from harm and hoping that she will join him in vampiric eternity. Catherine isn’t sure she’s ready for eternal night—and is also reconsidering whether the family profession is actually what she wants from life. While the plot seems to revolve around the werewolves’ hunt for Catherine, she never seems challenged by them; Catherine and her team are so efficient that they rarely seem in danger. Despite the European setting, these hunters and vampires are utterly forgettable. (Jan.)
Ruby and the Stone Age Diet
Martin Millar. Counterpoint/Soft Skull, $13.95 (160p) ISBN 9781593762322
In this charming but aimless tale, the everyday harshness of drugs, heartbreak, and poverty in London’s gritty south side mingles casually with a series of hallucinatory vignettes that may or may not be the result of unknowingly-ingested LSD. Appearances from gods and goddesses, space aliens, and hostage-taking Post Office robbers spin out alongside the unnamed narrator’s humdrum day-to-day: lovesickness, finding a place to crash, and plans for self-improvement devised by his roommate and best friend, Ruby. Unfortunately, none of the goings-on have much effect on the protagonist, who takes personal obstacles and sci-fi plot developments equally for granted. What shines through are the personalities of and relationships among the main characters, whose friendships bloom amidst the disorienting blight of the real and unreal world, spiking Millar’s gritty period fantasy with unexpected shots of sweetness. Though winning, the relationship between our bumbling narrator and the assertive but fragile Ruby serves a static plot that follows one unexplained upheaval after another. (Jan.)
The second Noble Dead dark fantasy series continues with this slow, methodical sequel to 2009’s In Shade and Shadow. Despite the ruling of her mentors at the Guild of Sagecraft, feisty young scholar Wynn Hygeorht is still determined to regain and translate the mysterious ancient texts she fought so hard to recover in 2008’s Child of a Dead God. Following up a clue, Wynn and her companions, undead Chane Andraso and memory-reading magical canine Shade, journey to the dwarven city of Dhredze Seatt to seek out the grim Stonewalkers, who guard the dwarven dead. Sau’ilahk, a murderous wraith, follows in hopes of recovering those same texts. The plot here is more mystery than quest, focusing on dwarven culture and secrets. Readers seeking epic action and revelations will have trouble hanging on until the breathless rush at the end. (Jan.)
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