http://www.seattlepi.com/books/ Read the latest book reviews and book-related news from seattlepi.com Copyright 2010 Seattle Post-Intelligencer en-us http://www.seattlepi.com/art2/logo/logo.gif http://www.seattlepi.com 88 31 newmedia@seattlepi.com newmedia@seattlepi.com Tue, 07 Sep 2010 13:05 GMT 10 http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426264_143257-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By FITZ / BLOGCRITICS.ORG In the mid-80s, I started reading quite a few spy novels set during the Cold War. The detente between Russia and the United States echoed in much of the literature of the time, from the stories of Ian Fleming's James Bond to the novels of Robert Ludlum, Ira Levin, Frederick Forsyth, and Ken Follett ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426264_143257-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:04 GMT Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426263_143243-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By APRIL POHREN / BLOGCRITICS.ORG http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426263_143243-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Mon, 06 Sep 2010 18:08 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426262_143245-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By APRIL POHREN / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Growing up in the military, visiting castles in England, pig fests in Germany, and visiting the historic sites of America’s east coast definitely left a lasting impression upon Laura Vosika, as evidence in her newest book, Blue Bells of Scotland, the first in a trilogy.  In addition ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426262_143245-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Mon, 06 Sep 2010 19:28 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426261_143269-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By JACK GOODSTEIN / BLOGCRITICS.ORG It is difficult to determine exactly what audience the new critical anthology The Art of the Sonnet is intended for. The book is a collection of 100 sonnets written in English and presented chronologically beginning with the earliest appearances of the genre in the Renaissance and ending with a plethora ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426261_143269-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:16 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426260_143275-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By NANCY FONTAINE / BLOGCRITICS.ORG A serial killer who abducts teenage girls and rapes them chooses not to murder one of his victims. Why not? What is like for her to be the one who survived? These are the questions that sparked Laura Lippman's writing in latest novel. Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426260_143275-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Mon, 06 Sep 2010 21:43 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426259_143287-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By RICHARD MARCUS / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Fate is as capricious a whore as any who plied her trade in the bordellos and inns of the seaports and fortress towns frequented by the soldiers and sailors fighting for God, King, and country during the reign of his good Catholic Majesty Philip IV of Spain in the mid 1600s. How else could you explain ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426259_143287-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:20 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426258_143279-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By TIM GEBHART / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Scan almost any American bestseller list and you're probably going to find a crime novel. Although some see that as simply a reflection of reader interest in mysteries or thrillers, others have suggested it reflects an American fascination with violence. If that is true, at least we can be thankful ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426258_143279-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Mon, 06 Sep 2010 22:40 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426182_143053-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By LISA DAMIAN / BLOGCRITICS.ORG The Fall is the second installment in the vampire trilogy by Academy Award winning director Guillermo del Toro and bestselling thriller novelist Chuck Hogan. The two authors had readers on the edge of their seats with the first book in the series, The Strain, and this second book reads with the same ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426182_143053-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Fri, 03 Sep 2010 11:43 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426185_143003-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By KATHARINE M. SPARROW / BLOGCRITICS.ORG The first printing of The Notebook was in 1996, and it was one of Nicholas Spark’s first novels. Since then, the romantic genius has written A Walk to Remember, Dear John, and The Last Song, and you’ve no doubt heard of these as they, too, were made into movies this decade. The Notebook ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426185_143003-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:25 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426184_143013-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By APRIL POHREN / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Growing up, Joshua Graham spent the majority of 35 in Brooklyn, New York.  Mr. Graham went on to earn a Bachelor and Master’s Degree and later, his doctorate from Johns Hopkins University. While in Maryland, Joshua Graham taught as a professor at Shepherd College (WV), Western Maryland College ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426184_143013-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:41 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426183_143023-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By GRAY HUNTER / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Being a parent is far more exhilarating and distressing than I'd ever imagined. While I want my kids to become useful adults and find their place in the world I'm in no hurry to see them get out in it; the world is a harsh place, for the most part, and I worry a great deal about how their life will ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426183_143023-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Fri, 03 Sep 2010 01:47 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426133_143005-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By BARBARA BARNETT / BLOGCRITICS.ORG As Chasing Zebras: The Unofficial Guide to House, M.D. hits the shelves this week, I thought I'd offer my reflections on how it feels to be a first-time author. Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426133_143005-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Thu, 02 Sep 2010 17:03 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426132_142955-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By TIM QUINE / BLOGCRITICS.ORG I recently reached another crisis in confidence with my music blog, Rubber City Review. Just what is this thing all about? Why keep blathering on about music that most humans simply don’t care about? Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426132_142955-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:36 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426131_142997-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By RANDALL RADIC / BLOGCRITICS.ORG In his Decline of the West, Oswald Spengler wrote, Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426131_142997-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Thu, 02 Sep 2010 18:44 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426130_143001-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By JENIFFLES / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is just that — it gets in your face, makes you think about it, and, most importantly, burrows its way close to your heart. Of all the books to come out in recent years, this is the only one that has brought me to my literary ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426130_143001-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Thu, 02 Sep 2010 19:04 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426077_142899-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By NANCY FONTAINE / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Johannes Cabal is a necromancer, which means he knows how to raise the dead. He tends to show some lack of respect for the living, but then, he just got his soul back not long ago. As Johannes Cabal the Detective opens, Cabal is in jail in Mirkarvia. He manages to get away, but not before ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426077_142899-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Wed, 01 Sep 2010 10:23 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426076_142915-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By JACK GOODSTEIN / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Tom Rachman's debut novel, The Imperfectionists, has been one of the most hyped books of the year. That it is an engrossing read is unquestionable, but whether it should be considered a novel, on the other hand, is open to some debate. The book is a collection of short stories all connected by the characters' ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426076_142915-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Wed, 01 Sep 2010 14:04 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426075_142933-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By LINDSAYWHELCHEL / BLOGCRITICS.ORG If you want a simple, predictable love story, do not read David Nicholls' novel One Day. Yes, this is a story about best friends who not only love one another, but complement each other perfectly, but that is where the predictable ends and life begins. Told entirely in the context of one day each year ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426075_142933-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Wed, 01 Sep 2010 19:28 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426074_142935-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By RANDALL RADIC / BLOGCRITICS.ORG When much younger (a long, long time ago), the reviewer – yours truly – and his brothers lived vicarious lives through so-called pulp fiction. The authors of pulp fiction were referred to – by the hoity-toity, high literary types (a phrase that has to be spoken with minimal enunciation ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426074_142935-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Thu, 02 Sep 2010 01:00 GMT http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426073_142973-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss By BILL SHERMAN / BLOGCRITICS.ORG Having no prior exposure to the world of Yuna Kagesaki’s shojo comedy horror manga, Chibi Vampire, I initially wasn’t sure how newbie friendly Tokyopop’s new short story collection, Chibi Vampire: Airmail, would be. Turns out, though, that the package is slightly mislabeled: of the four ... Arts and Entertainment http://www.seattlepi.com/books/426073_142973-blogcritics.org.html?source=rss Thu, 02 Sep 2010 02:39 GMT