This month’s roundup of the best-reviewed BookLife titles highlights a caffeine-fueled essay collection, a YA time-travel adventure, a biography of theoretical physicist Paul Dirac, and more.
★ Blowback ’07
Brian Meehl
Synopsis: In this first installment in a planned trilogy, when high school quarterback Matt Grinnell is accidently sent back to 1907 by an antique English horn, his friends must work to retrieve him.
PW’s Takeaway: Meehl’s SF adventure hits all the right notes. Believable characters infuse energy into each scene—readers will eagerly await future installments.
Comparable Titles: The Girl from Everywhere
Sample Line: “Iris never assembled the ancient cor anglais when anyone was home. It was her secret and the greatest mystery surrounding the disappearance of Octavia Jongler.”
One More Cup of Coffee
Tom Pappalardo
Synopsis: Pappalardo visits coffee shops to sample brews and jot down his impressions of baristas and customers.
PW’s Takeaway: These hilarious shorts are a perfect snarkfest.
Comparable Titles: Me Talk Pretty One Day
Sample Line: “Over by the trees, a man takes a photo of his latte. Is it on Twitter now, that moment in time, the brief existence of that pretty floating foam leaf? Did people favorite it and retweet it? That latte photo’s probably trending right now. Trending across the goddamned planet.”
The Absent Superpower
Peter Zeihan
Synopsis: In this look at the flow of the world’s energy resources, Zeihan forecasts the 21st century.
PW’s Takeaway: Zeihan’s knowledge of current global affairs, regional conflicts, and the energy sector is impressive.
Comparable Titles: The Next Decade; A World in Disarray
Simply Dirac
Helge Kragh
Synopsis: Kragh synthesizes the biographical and intellectual in this volume on theoretical physicist Paul Dirac.
PW’s Takeaway: Kragh goes some way to giving Dirac and his legacy the attention they deserve.
Comparable Titles: The Strangest Man: The Hidden Life of Paul Dirac, Mystic of the Atom
Fort Enterprize
Kevin Emmet Foley
Synopsis: A writer interviews his great-uncle, who recalls sailing amid warships battling Barbary pirates.
PW’s Takeaway: Fine writing and gripping naval action sequences ignite the pages of Foley’s tale.
Comparable Titles: The Pirate Coast