Books
‘Doll’ author: Research into human trafficking ‘heartbreaking’
By Rege BeheIt happens almost every time writer Taylor Stevens appears at a bookstore or does a reading: Readers start talking to her as if she’s the …
Hardship, hope vie in Jean Thompson’s ‘Humanity Project’
By Connie OgleJean Thompson’s latest novel weighs heavy on the heart. The haunting question she raises — is there any way to save, or at least improve the fate of humanity? — is evocative, and her answers, often colored by a smart, …
Walter Mosley’s thoughtful detective gets second chance in ‘Little Green’
By Dan DelucaAt the conclusion of his 2007 novel “Blonde Faith,” Walter Mosley did away with Ezekiel “Easy” Rawlins. After 11 volumes featuring the African-American World War II veteran and thinking-man’s detective, through whose eyes the social history of postwar Los Angeles …
Surveillance reports spark sales of Orwell’s ‘1984’
By The Associated PressNEW YORK — The country’s book-buyers are reading up on being watched. Sales for dystopian classics such as George Orwell’s “1984” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World” have been strong since news broke last week that the U.S. government had …
New bio captures Orbison behind the shades
By Jim HigginsWhen biographer John Kruth writes that Roy Orbison’s “life seemed to mirror that of Job’s from the Old Testament,” he is not stretching too far to make a point. The singer’s first wife died in a motorcycle accident with Orbison …
Life is dangerous in Freeman’s novel
By Connie OgleThe families of Sal Mal Lane are not terribly different from neighbors anywhere. They share food on holidays. They exchange cuttings from their lush gardens. They engage in petty feuds and grumble about each other’s children. What is different for …
In kid books, what should ‘C’ be for: carrots or cupcakes?
By Leanne ItalieLeslie Patricelli didn’t keep junk food in the house when her three kids were toddlers, but the goofy, bald baby in her board book “Yummy Yucky” grins from ear to ear over chocolate sauce and cookies. The picture-book writer also …
‘The Woman’ is spellbinding tale
By Mike FischerMidway through “The Woman Upstairs,” Claire Messud’s spellbinding, psychologically acute and deliberately claustrophobic new novel, a character explains to the first-person protagonist how our view of a story is framed by the way it begins. There’s no forgetting how 42-year-old …
Coonts’ ‘Lucky’ remains sure bet
By Oline H. CogdillMysteries that feature large swaths of humor must balance the line between the comic and the thoughtful nature of crime fiction. Deborah Coonts has no trouble brewing a fine mix of wit and seriousness in her highly entertaining “Lucky Bastard,” …
‘Girls of Atomic City’ looks behind Manhattan Project
By Gina WebbNow in their 80s and 90s, the girls of Atomic City are no longer in the dark about the jobs they took during the summer of 1943. But back then, as young employees of the Clinton Engineering Works, they knew …
‘Parenthood’ star Lauren Graham tries her hand at writing fiction
By Bob MinzesheimerThe dining room at Sardi’s, the legendary Broadway restaurant, is “beautiful, with burgundy walls and little yellow shaded lamps on all the tables,” just like actress Lauren Graham describes it in her debut novel. In a scene in “Someday, Someday, …
‘Find Me’ tackles dark topic of child abduction
By Gina WebbThree years after his disappearance from his hometown of Atlanta at age 11, Caleb Vincent is found very much alive, attending school and living with a doctor who claims to have rescued the boy from a pedophile ring. Caleb, renamed …
‘Alteration’ powered by alt-history, satire
By Jim HigginsIn some other parallel world, Kingsley Amis’ alternate-history novel “The Alteration” (1976) may already have the wide readership it deserves. Amis (1922-95) is best known today for his campus novel “Lucky Jim” and for being the father of novelist Martin …
Port Vue author is finalist in Amazon contest
By Rex RutkoskiKristin Ross says she has been writing seriously since she could pick up a crayon. Today, the 34-year-old Glassport native, who resides in Port Vue, …
Hot days, cool books: Plenty of good choices for summer reads
By Rege BeheThis year, it’s not just going to be the new hardback bestsellers and dog-eared paperbacks at the beach. With Kindles, Nooks, e-readers and tablets becoming …
Newly found Pearl S. Buck book to be published
By The Associated PressPHILADELPHIA — A newly discovered novel by the late Nobel Prize-winning author Pearl S. Buck is to be released this fall. New York-based Open Road Integrated Media says Buck wrote the novel, “The Eternal Wonder,” shortly before she died in …
Annotated ‘Harry Potter’ 1st edition on auction
By The Associated PressLONDON — A first edition copy of “Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone” that contains author J.K. Rowling’s notes and original illustrations is going on …
Brown’s ‘Inferno’ puts Langdon through his paces
By Brian TruittDan Brown’s globetrotting symbologist, known for his tweed jacket, Mickey Mouse watch and penchant for getting into international incidents, is back for a matter of …
New literary history broadens definition of American novel
By Mike FischerTalk about an old boys’ club: 50 years ago, Floyd Stovall justified his choices for “Eight American Authors” — a study of Poe, Emerson, Hawthorne, Thoreau, Whitman, Melville, Twain and Henry James — by stating that “doubtless most readers will …
Allende’s latest novel still satisfying for fans of magical realism
By Amy DriscollFrom the start, Isabel Allende’s new novel feels like a break from the past, a deliberate distancing from the deep historical context and magical realism that have marked her work and charmed her readers across generations and national borders. “Maya’s …
