About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
James Traub
Positive The Star Tribune Broad ... Readers who want to dive deep into Humphrey\'s world will appreciate Traub\'s thorough reporting, although True Believer can at times read like a political science textbook with its detailed analysis.
Mitchell Zuckoff
Rave The Star Tribune Gripping ... Zuckoff\'s books often focus on intense moments of heroism and conflict ... The Secret Gate takes a similar approach in this fast-paced read that builds to the climactic and risky rescue.
Lynne Olson
Positive The Minneapolis Star-Tribune While we know she succeeds (it\'s in the title), Olson writes what at times reads like a suspenseful political thriller, with feuds and setbacks and promises of money rescinded ... Desroches-Noblecourt is such a compelling figure that the book\'s side tangents... occasionally take away from her narrative.
Michael Smith, Jonathan Franklin
Rave The Star Tribune The best nonfiction, in my mind, reads like a novel. It\'s filled with compelling characters and takes you to a place you\'d never otherwise experience. It tells a story that grabs you by the throat and won\'t let you stop reading. Cabin Fever falls into that category, with frightening similarities to other narrative nonfiction I couldn\'t put down ... While the people at the core of the story talk about their terror and coping strategies during the worst of their confinement in small cabins (some without windows), I would have liked more reflection from them on how they survived the claustrophobic experience ... But the book does what it sets out to do as a true-life page-turner. Smith, who covered the Zaandam\'s journey for Bloomberg Businessweek, and South American journalist Franklin have done a masterful job of detailed reporting on what happened, what went wrong and how it all ended.
Farah Stockman
Positive The Star Tribune Stockman not only tells [her subjects\'] stories, from childhood to how they ended up at Rexnord to the years after the closure, but she becomes close enough to all three to get them to open up about their dreams, fears, disappointments and secrets. Their candor in the midst of upheaval and pain allows Stockman, and the reader, to see the world \'through the steelworkers\' eyes ... its themes are far broader than one plant\'s closing, ranging from the union movement to the manufacturing economy to trade deals and globalization ... Stockman\'s insights into race, class and education include acknowledging her own privilege ... I won\'t reveal what happened to John, Wally and Shannon — you need to read this book to follow their journey. Suffice it to say you will find yourself anxiously hoping they land in a better place.
Rebecca Donner
Rave The Star Tribune Photos and snippets of letters and papers are sprinkled throughout this compelling book, which reads like a tragic novel where we wish we didn\'t know the ending ... knowing her terrible fate from the onset shouldn\'t dissuade you from reading this page-turner about Harnack\'s perilous journey, no matter how much you know about the Holocaust and the brave resistance movement ... Donner\'s descriptive style takes us inside Nazi Germany and makes the book hard to put down ... Mildred Harnack didn\'t survive to see the end of the war or Hitler\'s downfall. But her heroic actions may now get the attention they deserve through this heartbreaking work written by her descendant.