| 1. | The Wind Through the Keyhole
The Wind Through the Keyhole" – a "Dark Tower"-related novel set in the fictional Mid-World – is unlikely to be ranked among Stephen King’s top works, but it's still plenty entertaining. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Wednesday, 16th May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 2. | 'The Chemistry Of Tears' And The Art Of Healing
After a museum conservator's lover dies, she becomes consumed with reanimating a 19th-century silver swan automaton. Critic Heller McAlpin says that Peter Carey's new novel is part historical, part fanciful and completely wonderful. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Wednesday, 16th May, 2012 | |
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| 3. | 'Home': Toni Morrison's Taut, Triumphant New Novel
Toni Morrison's latest novel revisits the story of the prodigal son, as a Korean War veteran returns to his hometown in the pre-civil rights era South. Critic Heller McAlpin says Home is as accessible and visceral as anything Morrison has written. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Tuesday, 15th May, 2012 | |
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| 4. | The Aleppo Codex
The most accurate Biblical codex in Jewish tradition – a book revered both for its linguistic precision and its beauty – has been a victim of intentional deceit and government cover-ups. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Tuesday, 15th May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 5. | Mamma Mia! A Mother Tougher Than The Godfather
Mario Puzo isn't known for his strong female characters — but if you've read his pre-Godfather work, The Fortunate Pilgrim, you might think otherwise. Author Zoe Ferraris recommends this book, which is based on Puzo's own mother. Do you have a favorite literary matriarch? Tell us in the comments. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Monday, 14th May, 2012 | |
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| 6. | A Sense of Direction
This first-rate travel book is – like all the best travel books – most fascinating when it has the author at its center. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Thursday, 10th May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 7. | China Mieville's 'Railsea': 'Moby-Dick' Remixed
The new novel reimagines Moby-Dick in a future where the oceans have become barren wastelands teeming with fantastical carnivores, and crisscrossed by a network of railroads. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Thursday, 10th May, 2012 | |
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| 8. | 'Tai Lake': Murder Most Ecological In China
A Chinese poet-turned-detective investigates a slaying seemingly linked to industrial dumping. Don't Cry, Tai Lake is the politically charged seventh novel in Chinese expatriate Qiu Xiaolong's Inspector Chen series. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Wednesday, 9th May, 2012 | |
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| 9. | Vladimir Putin 101: A quiz about Russia's president
Vladimir Putin is back in charge of Russia, taking up the office of president for the third time in 12 years. How well do you know Russia's top political figure Take our quiz and find out! |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Tuesday, 8th May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 10. | 'Newlyweds': A Big, Fat Cross-Cultural Marriage
A Bangladeshi woman marries an American man and faces conflicting cultural expectations. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Tuesday, 8th May, 2012 | |
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| 11. | Haunted By 'Hunger' In The Soviet Gulag
In Nobel laureate Herta Muller's take on one of the great tragedies of the 20th century, a starving man in a Soviet labor camp hallucinates that hunger is an otherworldly being out to destroy him. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Tuesday, 8th May, 2012 | |
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| 12. | A Disposition to Be Rich
The author's great-grandfather was the Bernie Madoff of his age – a Ponzi schemer and con man who cheated a US president and kidnapped his own son. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Monday, 7th May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 13. | Three Cheers (And Three Books) For Mummy Dearest
Mother's Day may arrive earlier in England than in the U.S., but British writer Rosamund Lupton is always happy to celebrate. She recommends three books that distill motherhood to its essential elements. Do you have a favorite book about moms? Tell us in the comments. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Monday, 7th May, 2012 | |
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| 14. | All Woman and Springtime
Although somewhat comparable to "Memoirs of a Geisha," this tale of North Korean women forced into the sex trade is a darker, crueler story. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Thursday, 3rd May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 15. | 'Almost Invisible': New Poems From Mark Strand
The new collection offers small treasures of wry amusement, elegance and effortlessness. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Thursday, 3rd May, 2012 | |
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| 16. | A Difficult Woman
Historian Alice Kessler-Harris attempts an artistic, political, and moral portrait of a challenging subject: Lillian Hellman. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Wednesday, 2nd May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 17. | 'Power': Robert Caro's Life Of Johnson Hits The '60s
Robert A. Caro's multipart study of President Lyndon B. Johnson is hailed as one of the greatest biographies of the 20th century. Reviewing his latest, critic Michael Schaub writes, "Even at more than 700 pages, there's not a wasted word, not a needless anecdote." |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Wednesday, 2nd May, 2012 | |
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| 18. | Private Empire
Pulitzer Prize-winner Steve Coll takes a close look at secretive behemoth that is Exxon Mobil. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Tuesday, 1st May, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 19. | 'The Newlyweds': A Match Made Online
As accusations of sexism ricochet through the book industry, Nell Freudenberger continues to craft wonderful literary fiction, writes Maureen Corrigan. Freudenberger's latest novel, The Newlyweds, tells the story of an Internet-arranged, cross-continental marriage. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Tuesday, 1st May, 2012 | |
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| 20. | 'Mother' Dearest: Alison Bechdel's Graphic Memoir
Alison Bechdel follows up her smash success Fun Home, a graphic memoir about her closeted gay father, with Are You My Mother? another beautifully crafted "comic drama," this time focusing on her emotionally distant mother. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Tuesday, 1st May, 2012 | |
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| 21. | The Great Divergence
Economic equality has slipped to an alarming low in the United States. In "The Great Divergence" Timothy Noah does an excellent job of telling us how this happened – and why it matters. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Monday, 30th April, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 22. | 'The Magus': A Thrilling, Chilling Guilty Pleasure
The Magus is the story of a man who wished for adventure — only to be disappointed when that wish comes true. Author Nick Dybek says that he identified with the book when he read it at age 20. Was there ever a time you longed for a more interesting life? Tell us about it in the comments. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Monday, 30th April, 2012 | |
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| 23. | Honor in the Dust
The historical lessons of Gregg Jones's exhaustively researched book about the US's campaign in the Philippines deserve to be remembered. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Friday, 27th April, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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| 24. | Bradbury's Tale: A 'Wicked' Read, A Haunted Book
It wasn't just the creepy carnival that drew Seth Grahame-Smith to Something Wicked This Way Comes. It was also the book's frank portrayal of parents who don't behave like grown-ups. Do you remember when you realized your parents weren't perfect? Tell us about it in the comments. |
| | NPR (National Public Radio) ~ Thursday, 26th April, 2012 | |
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| 25. | A Wedding in Haiti
Author Julia Alvarez and her husband Bill travel to Haiti for a wedding – and then find themselves tied to a country and a culture. |
| | Christian Science Monitor ~ Thursday, 26th April, 2012 | Subscribe to Christian Science Monitor • |
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