Book Reviews—Themes by Month

Dec '10 — Time's (Crooked) Arrow
Time appears to us as a steady forward movement. This month's books disrupt its normal flow—and two of the books do curioius things with aging.

Nov '10 — Rock-Paper-Scissors
ROCK for the fossils at Lyme Regis, PAPER for an international newspaper, and SCISSORS for the medical profession satirized in Sinclair Lewis's Pulitzer-Prize-winning novel.

Oct '10 — Work, If You Can Get It
A tribute to everyday heroes who labor in the underbelly—the infernos of restaurant kitchens, coal mines, and assembly lines—to make life habitable for the rest of us.

Sept'10 — Tudor History - Herstory
The momentous events surrounding Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn: three books follow the same figures...yet a hero in one is a villain in another. Who says history is dull?

May '10 — The Good, Bad & the Ugly
A nod to the iconic Clint Eastwood Western—with it's stark mix of heroes and villains. This month's books remind us it's not always so easy to tell who's good...and who's not.

April '10 — Urban Mysterioso
Cities lend themselves to the mysterious—their immensity, anonymity, and teeming diversity make them ideal settings for the fantastic.

Mar '10 — M is for Magic
Despite our knowledge of science—from the big bang to the human cell—we continue to strain to the possibilibies of magic.

Feb '10 — True Grit
Three real-life Americans who helped shaped their country—courageous, persevering, inventive, they found ways to do what needed to be done.

Jan '10 — Coming of Age
Young people, crossing over the threshold into the adult world, often find that passage bittersweet, even searing, as they leave their innocent childhoods behind.