With the official launch of idreambooks.com last week, book lovers will now have a new favorite website to find a good read and browse critic reviews. Following a model simliar to Rotten Tomatoes, idreambooks.com aggregates numerous book reviews from around the web and gives books a percentage rating. According to their website, a critic review is rated “either ‘Must Read!’ or ‘Don’t Read’ before calculating its score.” Only books with a 70% rating or better are recommended, and awarded with a smiley-faced icon. Books that receive lower ratings are badged with a sad-faced icon. The website draws reviews from the online versions of reputable newspapers and magazines, as well as individual blogs and critics that have an established history of credible book reviews. Read more…
By Abigail Pogrebin
Doubleday ©2009 | Hardcover 288pgs
Journalist and identical twin Abigail Pogrebin offers a fascinating glimpse into the relationship between twins and how it impacts the need for individuality in One and the Same: My Life as an Identical Twin and What I’ve Learned About Everyone’s Struggle to Be Singular. Twins, especially identical twins, are often seen as special, at times almost a novelty, in our society. The duo is bestowed with a unique “star power” that draws levels of attention few singletons experience. Such was especially true for Abigail and sister Robin who grew up loving to sing and perform, excelling academically (both graduating from Yale), and achieving successful careers in journalism.
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By Reif Larsen
The Penguin Press HC ©2009 | Hardcover 400pgs
T. S. Spivet, a 12 year old map making virtuoso, embarks on a strange, yet exciting, cross-country trek in The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet. After receiving the surprising news that he has won the Smithsonian’s coveted Baird Award, he leaves the quiet Coppertop Ranch under cover of darkness; a short farewell note stuffed in the cookie jar. His plan is to ride the rails hobo-style, from his home in Montana all the way to the gleaming streets of Washington D.C., and attend the Baird Award ceremony. Equipped with his essential cartographic tools, a few good luck charms and a mysterious notebook filched from his mother’s study, T.S. leaves behind his disjointed family. “I did not belong here,” he thought. “I was not a creature of the high country.”
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By Edith Belle Gelles
William Morrow ©2009 | Hardcover 352pgs
Volumes have been written about the vital role that John Adams has played in the history of the United States of America, and Abigail Adams herself has been the subject of several in-depth biographies. But, Abigail & John: Portrait of a Marriage portrays the life of one of America’s first couples, framed by their loving and enduring marriage. Much has been made of the Adamses’ public life, yet Abigail & John draws a more intimate portrait, illustrated by passages of their private correspondence. Though this book may not cover any fresh ground historically, it gives a wonderful sense of the Adamses as partners, lovers and patriots.
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By James Dalessandro
Morgan James Publishing ©2009 | 212pgs
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Scott D. Imamura
Citizen Jane is a sort of misleading title for this book. When I first picked up the book, I thought it was a story of the first successful newspaper company owned by a woman (female version of Citizen Kane). As I perused the pages, I noticed it was a true crime story. Apparently, the title was a play on words. Non-fiction reading is my forte, plus it was a true crime book. So, this book got me interested there afterward.
After reading the back cover, you get a clue from the author on “whodunit.” Yes, this a who-done-it book; but, not in the style of your usual Sherlock Holmes murder mystery novel.
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By Capt. Chesley “Sully” Sullenberger with Jeffrey Zaslow
HarperCollins ©2009 | Hardcover 340pgs
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Russ Imamura
Rarely do I read autobiographies of contemporary people. I find many of these writings are usually shallow stories of egotistical movie stars, sports figures, politicians or tele-evangelists. These books hardly ever leave me with any lasting worthwhile impressions.
However, after seeing Captain “Sully” Sullenberger on television earlier this year being interviewed by many people about his courageous handling of the Airbus plane on the icy Hudson River, I was immediately impressed by this human being. The qualities exuded by this person as he spoke were very genuine, upright, and commanding. When his book was published I had to get it right away to find out more about him.
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By Daniel Asa Rose
William Morrow ©2009 | Hardcover 320pgs
What do a knock-off Cartier watch, a mail order bride and a black market kidney have in common? They are just three of the things that Daniel Asa Rose works to help his cousin, Larry, procure during their trip to China. Larry’s Kidney: Being the True Story of How I Found Myself in China with My Black Sheep Cousin and His Mail-Order Bride, Skirting the Law to Get Him a Transplant – and Save His Life (what a mouthful!) is the journalist’s real-life account of the lengths the pair go to in order save Larry from kidney failure.
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By Sam Tanenhaus
Random House ©2009 | Hardback 144pgs
Editor’s Note: This is a guest post by Russ Imamura
Sam Tanenhaus’ book whose title is written in a combination of cursive red letters and black bold letters on the cover – The Death of Conservatism tells us that the obituary of Conservatism may have already been written. Throughout his excellent book which covers the evolution of conservatism and even liberalism – from the New Deal, LBJ’s Great Society, the Nixon years Reaganism, Clinton, both Bushes and the present Obama era – the conclusion is that conservatism, i.e., real conservatism today is on life support. And there is a possibility, if it gets back to its real roots, it may start breathing on its own and even flourish again.
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By Jane Kamensky and Jill Lepore
Spiegel & Grau ©2008 | Hardback 500pgs
Blindspot opens in Boston on the eve of the American Revolution, during the spring of 1764. When portrait painter Stewart Jameson sets foot on the docs of Boston Harbor, he arrives not hoping for a new life, but running from an old one. Wanted in his homeland of Scotland for outstanding debts, he has come to the Colonies to escape jail time and find his only true friend. Accompanied by his mastiff, Gulliver, he quickly sets up a small artist studio on Queen Street and advertises for a young man to apprentice him in his art.
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By John Jeter
Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press ©2009 | Hardback 295pgs
Central to The Plunder Room are four generations of men in the Duncan family. The patriarch, Colonel Edward Duncan has just passed on, and his grandson Randol is now tasked with upholding the family honor. “Like virginity…Once you lose…your honor, it’s gone…forever.” With this responsibility, comes a skeleton key to an upstairs bedroom. Among the rumored ghosts, The Plunder Room holds the Colonel’s entire history, stuffed into U.S. Army footlockers. But succeeding generations have done much to tarnish the family honor, and Randol is unsure if he is up to the task.
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