Book Review: A Life's Work: Fathers and Sons by Ben and Quinn Bradlee
Although the memoir, A Life's Work: Fathers and Sons, is attributed to famed editor of the Washington Post Ben Bradlee and his son Quinn with observations by Sally Quinn, suggesting a lesser contribution on her part, the little book is clearly a collaborative effort of the whole family. Of course, the ...Book Review: This is Where I Leave You by Jonathan Tropper
There are no two ways about it: Jonathan Tropper’s This is Where I Leave You is a damn funny book. Tropper's comedic éclat is undeniable: searing one-liners and scorching metaphors, particularly about slumping middle-age, are alone enough to recommend the book as a glancing and diverting ...Book Review: Betrayers by Bill Pronzini
In Nameless’s latest outing, the book isn’t really a novel.  It’s more four novellas shuffled into one long presentation.  His partner, a young black woman named Tamara Corbin, is still smarting over been jilted by an ex-lover.  Feeling betrayed, which is the theme of ...Book Review: Me, the Mob, and the Music: One Helluva Ride with Tommy James & The Shondells by Tommy James with Martin Fitzpatrick
Just as the first automobile was followed closely by the first insurance agent, so did the fledgling rock and roll industry quickly attract the opportunistic. And so, many rock stars’ stories are littered with their exploitation by unscrupulous managers, promoters, and record company executives ...Book Review: The Longevity Diet by Brian M. Delaney and Lisa Walford
Everyone wants to live longer. The Longevity Diet: Discover Calorie Restriction-the Only Proven Way to Slow the Aging Process and Maintain Peak Vitality by Brian M. Delaney and Lisa Walford teaches you how.Book Review: Gradspot.com’s Guide to Life After College by Chris Schonberger with Stuart Schultz and Tory Hoen
Wouldn’t it be nice if college prepared us for life? At least in high school we can learn how to cook. What does college do? Well, yeah, there’s the social aspect. After four years you should pretty much know what is and is not acceptable at toga parties. But how many of your fellow students ...Interview with Steven Adler about His Appetite For Destruction: Sex & Drugs & Guns N' Roses
After my recent review of the book My Appetite For Destruction: Sex & Drugs & Guns N' Roses, I had the opportunity to talk with the author, Guns N' Roses' original drummer, and founding member, Steven Adler.Book Review: Seven Dirty Words — The Life and Crimes of George Carlin by James Sullivan
“We’re going to snatch that pussy and put him in a box,” can be heard even in a Walt Disney movie opines George Carlin. “There are no bad words. Bad thoughts. Bad intentions. And words.” He explains that it’s the context in which a word is used that some find offensive ...Book Review: Dreamers of a New Day: Women Who Invented the Twentieth Century by Sheila Rowbotham
Sheila Rowbotham's Dreamers of the New Day: Women Who Invented the Twentieth Century covers from the 1880s to the start of World War I, and is entirely successful in proving that there's nothing really new under the son. The women she's writing about lived in a very different world, but between them ...Book Review: The Scouting Party: The Making of the Boy Scouts of America by David C. Scott and Brendan Murphy
Any organization or institution is bound to change over the course of a century. As Boy Scouts of America celebrates its 100th anniversary, it seems like it has always been viewed as a somewhat conservative organization with a military bent. More recently, its stances on atheists and gays have prompted ...Book Review: The Elephant Keeper by Cristopher Nicholoson
Christopher Nicholson's new historical novel, The Elephant Keeper, is set in England in the second half of the eighteenth century. It begins in 1773 when, Tom Page, the keeper of the title, is asked by the current owner of the elephant and his employer to write a history of his association with the ...Book Review: The Profiler: My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths by Pat Brown with Bob Andelman
Pat Brown is not the only criminal profiler, but she is certainly one of the best known. Her book, The Profiler:  My Life Hunting Serial Killers and Psychopaths, is fascinating on several levels. It is a memoir, a collection of true crime stories, and a plea for better training of police ...Graphic Novel Review: Graphic Classics: Edgar Allan Poe edited by Tom Pomplun
Recently re-released in a new edition with 40 pages of new material, Graphic Classics: Edgar Allan Poe (Eureka Productions) remains one of the top entries in editor Tom Pomplun’s modernized series of Classics Illustrated. That's not too surprising since Poe has long been a steady source of inspiration ...Book Review: Gaylias: Operation Thunderspell by Kage Alan
Kage Alan's latest book, Gaylias: Operation Thunderspell is a nonstop action story filled with fun, witty dialogue and humorous, sometimes hilarious situations.Book Reviews: The More I Owe You by Michael Sledge
Any time a novelist borrows a protagonist – from history or from the fiction of others – he balances the uncertain task of creating a new path while matching his footsteps to those previously trod. He risks putting off readers through over-exuberant bursts of creative license or boring them ...Book Review: Hollywood Stories: Short, Entertaining Anecdotes About the Stars and Legends of the Movies! by Stephen Schochet
What he said:Book Review: Foreign Influence by Brad Thor
In Foreign Influence, New York Times bestselling novelist Brad Thor once again takes us on the political thriller ride of our lives. His hero, Scot Harvath, now 40 and a veteran of the SEALs, the Secret Service and a black ops government agency called The Apex Project, is now working for The Carlton ...Book Review: Ice Cold by Tess Gerritsen
Tess Gerritsen’s newest Rizzoli and Isles book is a fantastic little suspense tale, but not exactly the Rizzoli and Isles I’d been expecting. Ice Cold is more Maura Isles-centric, more revealing of her life and current problems (dating a priest is a BIG problem) and of the decisions she’s ...Book Review: The Season of Risks by Susan Hubbard
What is the difference between seeing the world at 15 and seeing it at 22? As a teenager, you may wish to be perceived as an adult, but once you are an adult you no longer have the innocence of your teenage years. So how does that work when you have the composure of an older soul in the body of a younger ...Book Review: The Prince of Mist by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
A lot of young adult books focus on a canny thirteen year old – someone wise, sensitive, and naive coming to terms with the illogical and intense world of adults. As parent to a 13 year old, I understand exactly what the appeal is. It’s a powerful age, with one foot in the world of childhood ...Book Review: Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell
Sixteen year old Ree Dolly has got one of the hardest lives I’ve ever heard of. She lives in the Ozarks, a backward part of Missouri that’s more like a Third World country. I grew up in a small Oklahoma town, so a lot of what author Daniel Woodrell writes about is stuff I’m familiar ...Book Review: Liam the Leprechaun by Charles A. Wilkinson
Ever feel like you just don’t measure up? Wouldn’t it be wonderful to be young and beautiful, tall and slim, and talented in all possible endeavors?  (Wait a minute, did I just describe Angelina Jolie?) It would be wonderful, although it’s entirely impossible — even if you ...Book Review: Murder City: Ciudad Juarez and the Global Economy's New Killing Fields by Charles Bowden
You can infer much about most books from the very first sentence. For it’s the first sentence that sets the tone of the book. The first sentence of Murder City goes like this: “Here’s the deal.” It’s a good first sentence. A sentence that establishes a tone of simplicity ...