 |
Book
Reviews,
Book Lover Resources, Advice for Writers and Publishers |
| Home / The Bookwatch |
The Bookwatch
Table of Contents
Reviewer's Choice
Among the Giants
Carolyn Fry and Christina Harrison
Gaia
c/o Octopus Publishing
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9781856755872, $29.99 HC, $15.99 Kindle, 320pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Among-Giants-Life-Trees-Kew/dp/1856755673
Among the Giants: A Year at Kew's Arboretum departs from the usual focus on the plants at Kew to provide an outstanding survey of the Tree Gang - Kew's team of eight people who maintain these vast gardens - and how they work to preserve tree health at Kew. Stories about these experiences bring readers into the daily challenges of maintaining Kew, while insights into variables that influence a plant's health or decline will delight those interested in how environmental and climate changes affect work at Kew and other arboretums around the world. Librarians will want to add Among the Giants to any collection strong in environmental considerations, gardening, or Kew's history and operations.
The Science Shelf
The LNT Report
Mike Conley
https://mikeconleyauthor.com
Open Universe
www.carusbooks.com
9781637700655, $24.95 PB, $9.99 Kindle, 208pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/LNT-Report-Science-Afraid-Nuclear-ebook/dp/B0F4X9CH6D
The LNT Report: How Bad Science Made the World Afraid of Nuclear Power is an important survey that reviews the LNT (Linear No Threshold) hypothesis and it came to be widely accepted as fact, quashing nuclear power development around the world. No matter what side of the issue a reader is on, it's important to consider this book's contentions, which are endorsed by scientific experts, not just for its alternative reflection on nuclear power's promotion or negative image, but for better understanding how theories are developed, disseminated, and promoted or quashed on all sides. Readers can anticipate a healthy mix of psychology, science, and philosophy as Mike Conley tackles the weighty subjects of good and bad scientific theories, how cancer risks and other assessments are made, and how the LNT model was developed. Debates over how flaws in logic and science The LNT Report particularly enlightening for group and classroom discussions.
The Cookbook Shelf
Spinning Plates
Anna Stanford
Hamlyn
c/o Octopus Publishing
https://www.octopusbooks.co.uk
9780600639541, $26.99 HC, $13.99 Kindle, 192pp
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Spinning-Plates-Dinners-Substitutions-Families-ebook/dp/B0DNQ5441B
Spinning Plates: Easy Dinners with Simple Substitutions for Busy Families comes from a cook who has developed a technique for producing not multiple meals nightly, but a basic template for dishes that can then be adapted for different tastes to produce diverse results. Quiches, curries, pastas, and even a steak dinner enlivened by the twist of an Aju Verde Peruvian-style sauce illustrates how flavors can be fine-tuned for variety and surprising ease of preparation, making Spinning Plates attractive for busy families and varied palates. The addition of full-page color photos to nearly every recipe makes for a cookbook that offers a satisfying spin on fast and healthy food preparations that excel in a diversity of flavors.
The Historical Fiction Shelf
The Man in the Stone Cottage
Stephanie Cowell
Regal House Publishing, LLC
https://regalhousepublishing.com
9781646036240, $19.95 Paperback/$9.95 eBook
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Stone-Cottage-Stephanie-Cowell/dp/1646036247
The Man in the Stone Cottage is a novel about Bronte sisters Charlotte, Anne, and Emily who, in 1800s Yorkshire, find their lives replete with emotional turmoil and literary failure. Romance is in the air for Emily, but her sudden death quashes many possibilities while raising others that involve her sisters in a search for truth.
The story opens with twelve-year-old Emily's wanderings on the moors, revealing her discovery of a stone cottage and the allure it represents. As she grows older she stops visiting the cottage, and it eventually vanishes from her life and memories.
Fast forward to Charlotte's adult life, where she is a teacher. She is perceived by her students as being distant and emotionless, but this couldn't be further from the truth: "She knew what they thought of her when she stood before them to teach them English: a dry young woman who never revealed her feelings. Did they know? She dared not reveal them."
As Emily and Charlotte confront the ravages of growing up, dangerous love, and letters between them which both enlighten and connect while reflecting on deeper concerns, readers become steeped in the Yorkshire backdrop and the events that draw sisters together, then part them in unexpected ways.
Stephanie Cowell neatly intersects biography with fiction through quiet drama, passionate moments of revelation, and choices and consequences which send each sister in a different direction. Equally compelling is the suspense and mystery which evolves both between them and from outside forces that separates, divides, and severs connections.
Also revealing is how Charlotte and Anne receive recognition from the literary world at last as their efforts see print, and how they continue to forge new connections with each other and with the missing Emily that changes their lives and perspectives.
Librarians seeking biographical fiction that thoroughly captures the times, personalities, and family interactions of the Brontes will find that The Man in the Stone Cottage is a powerful draw. It will also attract book club readers interested in sibling relationship developments and insights about how broken family ties can be mended.
Readers with a literary penchant who already appreciate the Brontes will find this novel attractive on many different levels, while those who may harbor little prior knowledge of them will appreciate how Cowell's haunting depiction of the English countryside and the world that shapes a literary family creates thoroughly compelling, thought-provoking reading.
The Fantasy/SciFi Shelf
Baen Books
www.baen.com
New arrivals from Baen pair intriguing plots with strong characters that will engross fans of fantasy and military drama alike.
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Fate-Soldier-Arcanum-Haskins/dp/1668072807
A.C. Haskins presents Blood and Fate (9781668072806, $18.00) for urban fantasy fans, depicting how Thomas Quinn seeks a quiet life after saving the world for a second time, but falls into a magical dilemma when he investigates the Otherworld, becomes involved with a lovely Faerie woman, and faces the Norns and other challenges. The pairing of lively urban settings and clashes between different forces makes for a thoroughly engrossing new adventure.
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Flag-Exile-Honor-Harrington-5/dp/0671319809
David Weber's Honor Harrington adventure Flag in Exile (9781668072813, $18.00) tells of a disgraced, broken military leader whose retreat to the planet Grayson doesn't offer her solace because an uprising sparks a new Navy that requires her leadership. Too many people want Honor dead. Honor herself tries to evade a new duty, but the forces that would invade her world and life force her to re-enter the world of battle and murder. As turmoil erupts around her, Honor is forced into some very uncomfortable personal and professional positions that will once again change and challenge her life. Prior fans of Honor Harrington will be delighted by her new adventure, which is thoroughly engaging, immersive, and will prove especially rich for those who are already followers of Honor's many exploits.
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Swords-Larceny-David-Afsharirad/dp/1668072874
David Afsharirad and Mark Finn edit Swords & Larceny (9781668072875, $18.00), which enjoys fantasy contributions of short stories by Wen Spencer, Tim Akers, and others who are interested in the presence of thieves in fantasy adventures. From stealing crown jewels or a dragon's hoard to heists and capers driven by creative thinking and unpredictable encounters, this fantasy collections harbors elves, dungeons, goblins, dragons and more in a satisfyingly diverse collection of tales that delight.
Amazon
https://www.amazon.com/Plague-Magic-Arcane-Hoard/dp/1668072858
Marisa Wolf's A Plague of Magic (9781668072851, $18.00) is set in an era where magic has been outlawed for centuries, with the world's haunted corners forbidden territory for such as Cima and her crew. The scavengers aren't above entering such corners when they are forced into them, however, and when they recover a hoard that will restore the balance of magic to the world, they find they are playing with unfamiliar fire instead of reaping riches. Will Cima and her gang reinvent the world? A powerful story of what happens when everything explodes around them will delight and intrigue fantasy readers with a different kind of adventure.
James A. Cox, Editor-in-Chief
Diane C. Donovan, Editor
Midwest Book Review
278 Orchard Drive
Oregon, WI 53575-1129
phone: 1-608-835-7937
e-mail: mbr@execpc.com
e-mail: mwbookrevw@aol.com
www.midwestbookreview.com
Copyright ©2001
Site design by Williams Writing, Editing &
Design