Archive for December 2006

Best books of 2006: “The Year of Magical Thinking,” by Joan Didion

Editor’s note: Join us in celebrating the end of 2006 by revisiting some of our favorite books of the year—like The Year of Magical Thinking, which we originally reviewed in April.
Joan Didion is at her best in The Year of Magical Thinking, an unusual memoir in which she applies her uniquely acute observation skills to […]

Best books of 2006: Is “The Accidental” the next “Beloved”?

Editor’s note: Join us in celebrating the end of 2006 by revisiting some of our favorite books of the year—like The Accidental, which we originally reviewed in November.
I’ve had The Accidental sitting on my desk for the past couple months. I put it there after finishing it, with the intention of reviewing Ali Smith’s remarkable […]

Best books of 2006: “The Night Watch,” by Sarah Waters

Editor’s note: Join us in celebrating the end of 2006 by revisiting some of our favorite books of the year—like The Night Watch, which we originally reviewed in June.
Set in 1940s wartime London, The Night Watch is the quietly engaging story of four survivors of the Blitz, whose paths cross at key junctures in their […]

Best books of 2006: Sy Montgomery makes “The Good Good Pig” fly

Editor’s note: Join us in celebrating the end of 2006 by revisiting some of our favorite books of the year—like The Good Good Pig, which we originally reviewed in August.
Sy Montgomery is crazy about animals. She’s stalked man-eating tigers in India, cavorted with legendary pink dolphins in the Amazon, and been emotionally restored by the […]

Best books of 2006: “Anansi Boys” and “Rocket Boys” are books that mirror art and life

Editor’s note: Join us in celebrating the end of 2006 by revisiting some of our favorite books of the year—like Anansi Boys and Rocket Boys, which we originally reviewed together in August.
It’s said that fiction mirrors life. Here are two stories—Anansi Boys, a fiction by Neil Gaiman, and Rocket Boys, a nonfiction by Homer H. […]

Best books of 2006: Terri Jentz hunts her attempted murderer in “Strange Piece of Paradise”

Editor’s note: Join us in celebrating the end of 2006 by revisiting some of our favorite books of the year—like Strange Piece of Paradise, which we originally reviewed in August.
Imagine that you’re a 20-year-old Yale student, celebrating the summer of 1977 by attempting to cycle across the United States with a friend. You’re one of […]

Best books of 2006: “Manhunt” stalks and surveys Lincoln’s assassin

Editor’s note: Join us in celebrating the end of 2006 by revisiting some of our favorite books of the year—like Manhunt, which we originally reviewed in September.
The assassination of Abraham Lincoln is one of the most revered and remembered events in United States history. It is murder made hallowed and ubiquitous. From your local grade […]

“Eloise at Christmastime” celebrates the season

There are some books that appeal to children of all ages, and this slender volume with well-chosen words and whimsical illustrations has withstood the test of time. Eloise at Christmastime is a classic, with a known, irrepressible, and slightly tarnished heroine—a six-year-old child who lives on the top floor of a very tony hotel, The […]

“Leaving the Saints” takes readers in search of one woman’s truth

“But is it true?” That’s the question that kept repeating in my mind as I eagerly read Leaving the Saints: How I Lost the Mormons and Found My Faith. Part memoir, part spiritual guidebook, and part religious exposé, this compelling book by Martha Beck centers on the author’s assertion that her father sexually abused her […]

“Watching the World Change” continues to remember September 11

Weeks ago, I finished The Looming Tower, the acclaimed book by Lawrence Wright about the modern history of people and events leading to the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. It is an expert account of the escalating fanaticism of the religious zealots that perpetrated the mass murders and destruction on that now-hallowed day. Over […]