PositiveShelf AwarenessThrough a wealth of interviews with members and ex-members of Colonia LeBaron and its sister community, La Mora, Denton respectfully portrays the experiences of its women, seeking to understand why they \'remain within a novel American religion based on male supremacy and female servitude.\' The Colony is a riveting work of reportage, exploring the violent interplay of religion, colonization and power.
Helen Rappaport
PositiveShelf AwarenessRappaport\'s engaging prose and prodigious research makes After the Romanovs a touching and enlightening experience.
Kelly Lytle Hernández
RaveShelf Awareness... impressively researched ... history that promises to enlighten as much as it entertains. An attempted kidnapping of Magón, for instance, reads like a bar brawl from a western. It is eminently satisfying. Just like Hernández\'s book.
Markiyan Kamysh
PositiveShelf Awareness... haunting prose ... n bold strokes, Kamysh relates both the sublime and horrific moments when he and fellow stalkers take a walk in the Zone ... The exhilaration of the intrepid trespasser sings throughout this crass, funky ode to an addiction to living in the realm of desolation.
Gideon Rachman
PositiveShelf AwarenessThis cogent study provides a timely (and chilling) examination of the strongman leader and how freedom-loving societies should respond.
Katharine Gregorio
RaveShelf AwarenessKatharine Gregorio tells the thrilling story of her great-aunt, the first American woman to work as a wire reporter behind the Iron Curtain. Gregorio recounts Clark\'s heroic efforts to spread the truth about Communism to the world ... Clark\'s story, finally told, reads like an espionage thriller in Gregorio\'s capable hands—with the added wallop of its being true.
Thomas Olde Heuvelt
RaveShelf AwarenessMasterfully, Heuvelt creates horror that is both fantastical and naturalistic in scope. The catty and clever Gen Z dialogue is often quite funny, but make no mistake: the creep factor is high in Echo, with an opening chapter best saved for daylight hours.
Neal Thompson
RaveShelf AwarenessThe rags-to-riches story of the first Kennedys to set foot in the U.S. is depicted in sweeping style ... Thompson powerfully re-creates the experiences of Irish immigrants in the mid-to-late 19th century ... This study of the earliest Kennedys, both thoroughly researched and vividly imagined, is an inspired addition to a mostly talked-out topic.
Peter Neumann, tr. by Shelley Frisch
PositiveShelf Awareness... captures the epic year in which a group of free thinkers set up house in the history of ideas ... Neumann brings to life an industrious and clever clique, who questioned society in a post-revolutionary Europe still leery about \'freedom fever\' in academia. One doesn\'t need a philosophy degree to enjoy this enchanting account of the power of ideas to change the world.
Harley Rustad
PositiveShelf Awareness... compelling and personal ... While the mystery of Shetler\'s disappearance remains just that, his spirit of adventure may attract new followers to far unknowns of the world, while also confirming for many more the comforts of the known and the near.
Catherine Ryan Howard
RaveLibrary Journal... stunning ... Howard crafts likable characters, witty banter, and clever POV shifts throughout, but readers may need a strong neck to withstand the whiplash of frequent time jumps. This quibble aside, Howard has written an eerie, twisty story ripped from current headlines, in which a global pandemic becomes the foreboding hypotenuse of a dangerous love triangle.
Rachel Howzell Hall
PositiveLibrary JournalHall’s latest is a tech-savvy juggernaut of fear and paranoia, rendered quirky and original by the colloquial voice of its millennial protagonist. Some good advice before reading: Make sure the doors are locked.
John Sedgwick
PositiveShelf AwarenessA little-known tale of an Old West railroad rivalry comes to life in From the River to the Sea ... As he analyzes the impact of railroad funding, federal land grants and price wars resulting in cheap tickets, Sedgwick persuasively argues that this epic rivalry between the Rio Grande and Santa Fe railroads was essential to \'making\' the West ... Sedgwick skillfully stage-manages a lively cast of characters, all touched by this epochal railroad war and its long-lasting implications for the American West.
Craig Whitlock
RaveShelf AwarenessThis bombshell report...reveals the mendacity of U.S. civilian and military leaders spanning the past three presidential administrations ... the book is a damning account ... readers will be astonished by the starkly contrasting nature of these revelations, set against the glib dishonesty of senior U.S. officials predicting \'victory on the horizon.\'
Jean Hanff Korelitz
RaveBookBrose... [an] inimitable and imaginative story-within-a-story that sinks its claws in early and doesn\'t let go until its unforgettable finish ... Korelitz\'s tight pacing leaves no room to breathe as Bonner grabs at the still-untold story and achieves in a few short years the fame, wealth and literary renown he always desired ... A truly unique plot in its own right, the book is getting a lot of attention from the publishing industry, and indeed, it\'s a joy in part for its insider look at the writer\'s solitary craft juxtaposed against the hype and marketing of the publishing world ... It\'s a cerebral thriller sure to excite fans of Korelitz\'s other novels but also new readers curious about how writers get their ideas ... The Plot explores this quaint notion on a visceral and hyper-literal level to devastating effect.
Alexander Larman
RaveOpen Letters ReviewThanks to Alexander Larman’s well researched new book...the veil is lifted on several aspects of the abdication crisis—as well as the relationship between Edward and Wallis—previously hidden in the pages of numerous diaries and letters of the dramatis personae. Larman, a journalist and historian of three previous books, mined this rich trove of archival material to capture a comprehensive and deeply personal account of this pivotal turning point of the monarchy and the nation ... Larman introduces a variety of opinions about Edward, Wallis, and the survivability of the monarchy during such an unprecedented event. The book is far broader in scope than just an expose on Edward and Wallis, however. Larman explains the “crisis” part in thorough detail as sides begin to form in both the political and public forum over the scandal ... There is much to learn in this book, to be sure. Larman introduces new information on several key events ... But it is the personal ruminations upon a visibly shaken and damaged monarchy that most strike the mark ... With The Crown in Crisis, we have the most up to date telling of this oft-told tale—and it delivers the crown jewels.
Ian McGuire
PositiveHistorical Novel Society... a page-turning tale ... a gritty and moody story ... The Abstainer succeeds in keeping the reader tense and uneasy, much like the polluted, portentous air hanging over Manchester. The brooding and lyrically written cat-and-mouse narrative of Doyle and O’Connor is excellent; however, one feels a lost opportunity for a more complex historical novel populated with deeper back stories. But if the reader is looking for a taut tale exploring the brutal vagaries of men’s hearts, The Abstainer is a provocative novel that invites further discovery of a troubled time.
Sudhir Hazareesingh
RaveThe Open Letters Review... expertly crafted ... brings a fresh interpretation to the man himself, while dancing skillfully around the more controversial—and unsavory—aspects of his rule during the years spanning the Haitian Revolution of 1791 and the Haitian War of Independence in 1802 ... While there are gaps in Louverture’s early historical record, Hazareesingh creatively addresses this research obstacle by expanding on the social and cultural history of Saint-Domingue, giving us a glimpse into the world that shaped young Toussaint ... Perhaps the most effective way to deal with the messier aspects of Louverture—his owning of slaves, his later authoritarian acts, and even his white mistresses—is to approach the intellectual interiority of the man, which is exactly what Hazareesingh does in fascinating detail. Using recently uncovered documents in British, French, and Spanish archives, he dives into the deep pool of Louverture’s mind ... a well-written, if slightly hagiographic, addition to Louverture historiography. With a wealth of previously undiscovered documents shedding new light on his beliefs and intellectual passions, we get a bit closer to this intriguing man who helped free a nation.
Jill Watts
RaveThe Open Letters ReviewEvery once in a long while, a book comes along that pulls back the curtain on an unheralded time in America’s civil rights past and leaves one inspired and eager to learn more. The Black Cabinet is an invaluable historical contribution to an overlooked era of American history that had far-reaching impacts for African American civil rights movements still to be born ... Watts brings to life these fascinating and inspiring lives ... Watts’s elegant and understated writing never leads the reader by the nose, but rather lets these vanguard civil rights leaders speak for themselves. The Black Cabinet is essential reading, now more than ever, to remind Americans of how long and hard the road to achieving civil rights was and still often is for African Americans. The courage, dignity, and fortitude of the men and women of the Black Cabinet serve as a continuing inspiration for all of us.
Tom Clavin
PositiveThe Open Letters ReviewReplete with a rich repertoire of colorful characters, Clavin skillfully weaves multiple storylines into a taut thread that reaches its breaking point in late October 1881 ... Clavin is his most entertaining when exploring the Earp family history and discussing the brothers’ interesting habit of not marrying their lady companions ... A refreshing aspect of Tombstone is the experience of the women who were impacted by the events just as much as the men ... a rousing tale of American Wild West mythology recounted by a raconteur par excellence. For those who enjoyed Dodge City and Wild Bill, Tom Clavin’s latest is a must for your bookshelf.
Nino Haratischvili, Trans. by Charlotte Collins and Ruth Martin
RaveHistorical Novel SocietyIt is not idle hyperbole to say The Eighth Life by Nino Haratischvili is the War and Peace of the 20th century, as well as the best piece of international fiction in the 21st ... Haratischvili’s massively sprawling tale of one Georgian family’s harrowing experiences in the Red Century joins the ranks of the best historical sagas in literature ... Replete with rich and deeply drawn characters navigating the maelstrom of revolutionary Russia and the horrors of Stalin’s Soviet Union, the novel begins with women and ends with them, as well. Haratischvili does a great service in portraying the experiences of women in war, as well as the price many paid for the men they chose. There are gut-churning episodes, to be sure, but most of Haratischvili’s female protagonists find a way to push forward through unimaginably bleak scenarios. One quibble is that many of her male characters often lack the mental fortitude and emotional intelligence of their female counterparts, coming off as extremely fragile and weak willed in too many instances ... Overall, The Eighth Life is a 944-page opus that grabs you by the head and heart from the first page and refuses to let go. Readers will enjoy this delicious blend of family and 20th century history-in-the-making as seen through the eyes of several generations. After the last page, you will wish there were more… just like that last piece of chocolate. Highly recommended.
Javier Cercas, Trans. by Anne McLean
PositiveHistorical Novel Society... a curious book ... a hypnotic reverie of ifs and what ifs, as Cercas combines the known with the unknown ... Recommended.
David D. Hall
PositiveOpen Letters Review... magisterial and thought-provoking ... exhaustively researched and elegantly told ... Hall has \'taken the Cross\' and acquitted himself admirably in presenting a definitively researched explanation for a phenomena many of us still don’t understand ... goes a long way toward explicating the inexplicable and should stand as the definitive history for some time to come.
Buddy Levy
RaveOpen Letters Review... rivetingly recounted ... [Levy] digs deep not only into the archival sources but also the psyche of men exposed to the worst privations imaginable ... Amply illustrated with maps and photos showing the routes of the initial expedition, the retreat, and the various rescue ships sent (unsuccessfully) to rescue and/or provide provisions, Levy takes us on a long journey ... Levy’s narrative of the arduous trials that follow vividly transports the reader to the farthest reaches of the inhabitable earth, as we observe the horrors the Greely Expedition in detail: the inconceivable cold, starvation, near mutiny, and the dimming hopes of rescue as the ice packs groan and explode around them. Amid the steady mental and physical deterioration of the group, Levy paints with pathos a picture of the expedition’s members, from commander to the lowliest private. In these portraits-in-miniature, their character and personalities reveal both the best and worst of humans in crisis: heroism, grit, selflessness, but also dishonesty, disobedience, and callous self-regard ... It is a tale as old as time, but never gets old in the telling—and Levy does it superbly. Labyrinth of Ice takes the reader to the forbidding Farthest North in the best way possible as we avidly turn the pages, sipping hot tea from a cozy, warm chair.
Mike Giglio
RaveOpen Letters ReviewGiglio takes the reader uncomfortably close to the realities of a war almost chameleon-like in its character, where foes become allies and allegiances shift as quickly as the desert sands ... Giglio’s trenchant reporting along the Turkish border reveals the people who had to play fast and loose with the truth to secure their own existence just as much as a profit, showing us the ugly gray areas between activities most label simplistically ... In this hair-raising account, Giglio’s writing thrums with the blood pulse of battle, speeding up only to jerk into slow motion as thoughts and visions race through a mind contemplating death ... What powers this book more than the chilling accounts of bullets zipping through the air and bombs roaring near and far, however, are the people Giglio encounters and the stories they share. They are the beating heart of this story, and they are truly unforgettable ... All the people Giglio portrays in this book have some type of lesson to share or a warning to impart. It behooves us to listen and take note.
T.H. Breen
RaveOpen Letters ReviewThe Will of the People tells a new story about the American Revolution, one mostly left in the deep shade of the Founding Fathers’ towering shadows. Eschewing the standard histories of the Revolution that place primary importance upon its political theories and legal reasoning, Breen revises this overdone focus to highlight...the small communities across the fledgling nation who daily sustained the fight for independence via a new vehicle of political activism, the committee. In the early days of revolt and continuing through the long conflict, Committees of Safety (or other similarly named associations) sprang up across the colonies ... The organization and policing of resistance is a big theme in Breen’s work, woven seamlessly into chapters examining a different element of the people’s \'emotional environment,\' such as rejection, assurance, fear, justice, betrayal, and revenge. In each case, Breen steps back to allow the people’s voice to supply the narrative through a rich surfeit of primary sources ... Breen has written an extremely well-paced and engaging account of those who never enjoyed the attentions of history. Until now.
Michael Patrick Lynch
PositiveOpen Letters ReviewLynch describes in readably academic prose how the information pollution we subject ourselves to everyday has increased the incivility of our discourse ... Lynch threads other great thinkers throughout the fabric of his argument: Hume, Locke, Hobbes, Sartre, Wittgenstein, Arendt, and of course, Socrates, dance onto Lynch’s pages with their insights and warnings ... Lynch’s audience would be those open to questioning their assumptions, or at least wondering why so many people today posture as experts on everything. If you pick up this book looking for reinforcement of your political position, just know the author employs powerful and contemporary examples of the ways intellectual arrogance has dirtied the political climate on both the Right and the Left. No one gets out of this book unscathed.
