Blogcritics Section: Books

Comic Review: Spike: After The Fall #1

Blake Matthews — Sun, 7 Sep 2008 02:14:03 EDT

Spike: After The Fall tells what the blonde vampire did before the events of Angel: After The Fall #2
On May 19, 2004, the final episode of the popular Buffy The Vampire Slayer spinoff Angel aired. The show was prematurely cancelled because creator Joss Whedon wanted a commitment to Season Six more than three seconds before filming would start. He was trying to do several things in the show’s progression and wanted to know for sure they...

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Sun, 7 Sep 2008 02:14:03 EDT

Book Review: Shawls Two On The Go and Grannies On The Go, Edited by Trisha Malcolm

Alyse Wax — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 17:29:46 EDT

Shawls Two is lovely. Grannies is a no-go.
The On The Go knitting book series is quite popular, with over a dozen different volumes published. They are small, inexpensive, and, as the name would suggest, easily portable. The projects within are just the right size to knit on the go. The two most recent of these books are Shawls Two and Grannies.Shawls Two picks up where the first Shawls...

Book Review: Matrimony by Joshua Henkin

Lisa Solod Warren — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 17:19:36 EDT

Wonderful autumn reading, the perfect antidote to all that beach reading that filled up your summer months.
Matrimony, the second novel by writer Joshua Henkin, opens with Julian Wainwright, a rich kid who wants to be a writer, as he enter his his freshman year at Graymont College in Northington, Massachusetts (a thinly disguised Amherst, as far as I can tell) to study under the charismatic Professor Chesterfield, a man who will turn out to be a better...

Book Review: Wild Goose Chase - Reclaim the Adventure of Pursuing God by Mark Batterson

Jennifer Bogart — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 15:22:55 EDT

What is preventing you, and I, from chasing after the Holy Spirit with reckless abandon?
Mark Batterson has a heart for God, a fact apparent to anyone willing to delve into his written work, whether his books or his blog. Wild Goose Chase is his second non-fiction title, which Batterson describes as a sequel to his first book, In the Pit With a Lion on a Snowy Day. Not having read his first title, I can assure that Wild Goose Chase...

Book Review: The Heart Of The Country by Fay Weldon

Philip Spires — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 14:50:38 EDT

Fay Weldon scrapes through the surface of a rural idyll to reveal people doing what people do, to find a caricature of modern British society.
For two thirds of its length, The Heart Of The Country by Fay Weldon is a brilliant, surprising, humorous, bitchy study of adopted and original rural life. Rural industries, agriculture, and yokel identity rub shoulders with antique dealers, long-distance commuters, owners of computer stores and benefit claimants. Pretty normal stuff, I hear you...

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Sat, 6 Sep 2008 14:50:38 EDT

Book Review: Chic Knits - Stylish Designs from Knitport by Phuong My Ly

Alyse Wax — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 13:58:04 EDT

Chic Knits is a solid collection of wearable knits.
With fall upon us, it is time for a full range of new knitting books. After much delay, Chic Knits: Stylish Designs from Knitport by Phuong My Ly finally makes its debut. Chic Knits offers 16 patterns that, according to Ly, are “simple, wearable and chic.” This is the same philosophy that has made her Southern California knit shop so...

Book Review: Every Secret Crime - A Reno McCarthy Novel by Doug M. Cummings

Janica Unruh — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 13:54:27 EDT

The second book following Reno McCarthy as he investigates a murder in politically controlled Falcon Ridge
A basement. A gun. And sordid politics. The ingredients to a perfect crime until Reno McCarthy, sexy, intelligent, sometimes bull-headed reporter, gets on the case. For him, a secret crime is not an unsolvable challenge. You just have to know the right questions to ask. Doug M. Cummings, experienced cop and reporter as well as author of Deader By...

Book Review: Duck Duck Wally: A Novel by Gabe Rotter

Georganna Hancock — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 13:46:11 EDT

As a humorist, debut author Gabe Rotter has made a comedic grand entrance on the pop culture sha-zeeny!
Everyone wants to know what's up with this book's title. Two sources come readily to mind: the children's game, "Duck, Duck, Goose" and the rude gesture of goosing another person. But you must read clear through the last chapter of Duck Duck Wally to get it. No cheating, either, because you won't understand if you skip the...

Book Review: The Triumph of Deborah by Eva Etzioni-Halevy

Barbara Barnett — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 13:13:51 EDT

A lovely telling of one of the Bible's most compelling tales, the story of Deborah.
The Biblical story of Deborah tells of a strong woman; a leader within her tribe. Found in the book of Prophets (Judges, chapters four and five), it is unique in several ways. Deborah was a rarity in the Bible (again, in several ways): she was one of only a very select few female prophets, and, unlike so many other women in the Bible, she had a...

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Sat, 6 Sep 2008 13:13:51 EDT

Book Review: Skein for Skein by Cheryl Potter

Alyse Wax — Sat, 6 Sep 2008 13:09:22 EDT

A good guide to yarn substitution, but lacking in exciting patterns.
Skein for Skein by Cheryl Potter is not just another knitting book. Sure, it's got patterns - 16 of them - great pictures, and easy instructions. But the real focus on Skein for Skein is yarn substitution.Not all yarn is created equal. You may knit a lace scarf that you love, and knit the same scarf in a different fiber - even if it is the same...