“Fly by Night” soars among 2006’s best books

Fly by Night is the book I’m happiest to have stumbled upon this year. I discovered the novel by chance, and it scares me that I might have missed the opportunity to revel in such an enveloping story and to marvel at such engrossing writing. Fly by Night is Oliver Twist meets The Golden Compass […]

Al Gore wants to save your kids (and their planet) with “An Inconvenient Truth”

Editor’s note: The DVD release of An Inconvenient Truth has received plenty of recent press, but this review (originally posted here on September 25) reminds us that this fascinating movie is also a riveting book—a hot gift for anyone concerned about our warming planet.
Al Gore is the de facto president of the planet, at […]

“The Lost Colony” finds Artemis Fowl in perhaps his best adventure to date

Artemis Fowl is not your typical hero. The Irish lad happens to be filthy rich, stinking brilliant, and perhaps the muddiest purveyor of dirty deeds. Yes, Fowl is foul. Peel away the diminutive Saville Row suits and you’ll find a criminal mastermind and undisputed genius. That’s the conceit of Eoin Colfer’s immensely entertaining and […]

Is “The Accidental” the next “Beloved”?

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 novel. But this tale of a family on holiday in the English countryside is so distinct, enigmatic, and powerful that it has kept me guessing and wondering […]

IMPAC Dublin Award: A literary prize that spans the world

The International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award has a really long name, apparently because it’s got some sort of Texas complex. Maybe everything is bigger in Dublin too. After all, this award (which stems from that Irish capital’s city council) presents the world’s biggest book-oriented cash prize, welcomes author submissions written in any language, embraces literature […]

Why I like “I Like You” and Amy Sedaris

“She’s so weird.” That’s the apt appraisal of Amy Sedaris that my boss uttered recently. I agree: Sedaris is a strange one, and her off-kilter personality is not necessarily for everyone. But, to me, this sister of best-selling humorist David Sedaris is consistently entertaining, often hilarious, and sometimes bizarre—a loveable, loopy-aunt kind of bizarre. Yes, […]

Consider “The Tipping Point” on election day

Editor’s note: It’s election day in the United States—a perfect time to be reminded about little things (like voting) that can make a big difference. That’s why we’re revisiting this book review, which originally published in July.
As I write this, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference is sitting in the […]

Stephen King lists his favorite audiobooks

In his “The Pop of King” column in the November 3 issue of Entertainment Weekly, author Stephen King has a lot to say about books that talk—audiobooks, I mean. The entire column can be boiled down to “audiobooks, while imperfect, are a good thing” (my words, not his). I agree. For book lovers, audiobooks allow […]

Rare books are now easier to find at Alibris

Interested in an $8,000 edition of To Kill a Mockingbird (inscribed by Harper Lee)? Or how about a hard-to-find $38,000 copy of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone (U.K. edition)? You can find them via the new rare books gallery at Alibris. Of course, books at these prices are likely to interest only serious book […]

“Lisey’s Story” is a Stephen King story to skip

Lisey’s Story will be published tomorrow, which makes October 24 a holiday for Stephen King fans—an early Halloween for those who revere the prolific author of horror tales ranging from Carrie to Cujo to Cell. Lisey’s Story is being positioned as an eerie account of the romance between a woman and her two-years-dead husband. The […]