Bookmarks selections: staff favorites from among the most highly rated books in this issue

Bookmarks, July-August, 2009

LITERARY

Page 29

****

The Family Man

By Elinor Lipman

Lipman returns with another comedic novel populated by deep, charming characters.

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Washington Post "Lipman mesmerized me. she hypnotized me."

LITERARY

Page 31

****

The Cradle

By Patrick Somerville

The Cradle is a moving debut about the meaning of family and its power to heal.

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New York Times "It would be better to recommend The Cradle, a deeply gratifying modern fable, than to reveal too much about its plot."

LITERARY

Page 34

****

The Little Stranger

By Sarah Waters

Set in post--World War II Britain, Waters's new novel is an ominous and spooky tale of ghosts and family secrets.

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Seattle Times "If you want a ghost story that creeps up your spine, The Little Stranger delivers."

LITERARY

Page 37

****

The Missing

By Tim Gautreaux

After World War I, Sam works as a security guard in New Orleans. But when a little girl is kidnapped under his watch, he sets out to find her.

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NY Times Book Review "Gautreaux is an old-fashioned story teller, a spinner of yarns with a moral."

LITERARY

Page 39

****

Sag Harbor

By Colson Whitehead

Benji is one of the few African Americans at his Manhattan prep school, but he spends his summers in a mostly black neighborhood on Long Island.

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Boston Globe "It is Whitehead's most enjoyable book--warm and funny, carefully observed, and beautifully written, studded with small moments of pain and epiphany."

CRIME

Page 45

****

The Scarecrow

By Michael Connelly

Journalist Jack McEvoy reports on one more high-profile case in an attempt to save his job.

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Houston Chronicle "His fans--of which I am one--will count this as among his best books, as was The Poet."

CRIME

Page 46

****

The Manual of Detection

By Jedediah Berry

This PI novel is also an absurdist work of art.

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Wall Street Journal "The Manual of Detection might not follow the detective-fiction manual, but there is nothing mysterious about the appeal of this inventive, outrageous and often amusing dream-within-a-dream."

SF

Page 52

****

Cyberabad Days

Return to the India of 2047

By Ian Mcdonald

This future India is steeped in technological and cultural transformation.

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Sci Fi Wire "Ambitiously extrapolated and beautifully written, Cyberabad Days doesn't just demonstrate the unique virtues of SF, it makes them a pure pleasure for readers."

GENERAL NF

Page 54

****

Columbine

By Dave Cullen

Cullen spent the last ten years working to record an accurate record of the tragedy at Columbine High School in 1999.

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Salon.com "I was blown away by the pacing and story-telling he mastered in Columbine, a disturbing, inspiring work of art."

HISTORY

Page 60

*****

The Third Reich at War

By Richard J. Evans

In the third book in his trilogy, Evans brings nuance and clarity to the all-too-familiar details of the final years of Germany under Nazi power.

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Washington Post "This is history in the grand style, the kind of large-scale narrative that few historians dare to write."