books that you must not miss

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 06/12/07

Amazon.com David Sedaris became a star autobiographer on public radio, onstage in New York, and on bestseller lists, mostly on the strength of "SantaLand Diaries," a scathing, hilarious account of his stint as a Christmas elf at Macy's. (It's in two... See more

Amazon.com David Sedaris became a star autobiographer on public radio, onstage in New York, and on bestseller lists, mostly on the strength of "SantaLand Diaries," a scathing, hilarious account of his stint as a Christmas elf at Macy's. (It's in two separate collections, both worth owning, Barrel Fever and the Christmas-themed Holidays on Ice.) Sedaris's caustic gift has not deserted him in his fourth book, which mines poignant comedy from his peculiar childhood in North Carolina, his bizarre career path, and his move with his lover to France. Though his anarchic inclination to digress is his glory, Sedaris does have a theme in these reminiscences: the inability of humans to communicate. The title is his rendition in transliterated English of how he and his fellow students of French in Paris mangle the Gallic language. In the essay "Jesus Shaves," he and his classmates from many nations try to convey the concept of Easter to a Moroccan Muslim. "It is a party for the little boy of God,"... See less

Highlights: List Price: $14.99

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 06/12/07

From Publishers Weekly This collection of columns, originally written for the Arizona Republic, details Notaro's daring exploits and comical mishaps as she matures from wild teenager to disheveled adult. Her vignettes are humorous if unoriginal. "The... See more

From Publishers Weekly This collection of columns, originally written for the Arizona Republic, details Notaro's daring exploits and comical mishaps as she matures from wild teenager to disheveled adult. Her vignettes are humorous if unoriginal. "The Useless Black Bra and the Stinkin'-drunk Twelve-step Program" is a classic drinking story, complete with the lost friend who is eventually found in a neighbor's front yard wearing only a bra. This hard-drinking, chain-smoking approach to partying inevitably leads to some punishing hangovers; in one extreme case, Notaro is mistaken for a homeless person while en route to jury duty in "Going Courtin'." Not surprisingly, disregard for her appearance diminishes her chances of fulfilling her mother's dream and bringing home from the trial a "balding, sexually repressed twenty-seven-year-old attorney strangled in a Perry Ellis necktie." Notaro's QVC-addicted mother is predictably in opposition to and embarrassed by her daughter's bad-girl... See less

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 06/12/07

Amazon.com Lia Lee was born in 1981 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, overmedication, and culture clash: "What... See more

Amazon.com Lia Lee was born in 1981 to a family of recent Hmong immigrants, and soon developed symptoms of epilepsy. By 1988 she was living at home but was brain dead after a tragic cycle of misunderstanding, overmedication, and culture clash: "What the doctors viewed as clinical efficiency the Hmong viewed as frosty arrogance." The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down is a tragedy of Shakespearean dimensions, written with the deepest of human feeling. Sherwin Nuland said of the account, "There are no villains in Fadiman's tale, just as there are no heroes. People are presented as she saw them, in their humility and their frailty--and their nobility." --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title. From School Library Journal YA?A compelling anthropological study. The Hmong people in America are mainly refugee families who supported the CIA militaristic efforts in Laos. They are a clannish group with a firmly established culture that combines issues of... See less

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 06/12/07

From Publishers Weekly "Uproariously funny" doesn't seem a likely description for a book on cadavers. However, Roach, a Salon and Reader's Digest columnist, has done the nearly impossible and written a book as informative and respectful as it is... See more

From Publishers Weekly "Uproariously funny" doesn't seem a likely description for a book on cadavers. However, Roach, a Salon and Reader's Digest columnist, has done the nearly impossible and written a book as informative and respectful as it is irreverent and witty. From her opening lines ("The way I see it, being dead is not terribly far off from being on a cruise ship. Most of your time is spent lying on your back"), it is clear that she's taking a unique approach to issues surrounding death. Roach delves into the many productive uses to which cadavers have been put, from medical experimentation to applications in transportation safety research (in a chapter archly called "Dead Man Driving") to work by forensic scientists quantifying rates of decay under a wide array of bizarre circumstances. There are also chapters on cannibalism, including an aside on dumplings allegedly filled with human remains from a Chinese crematorium, methods of disposal (burial, cremation, composting) and... See less

Highlights: List Price: $13.95

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 12/17/07

Amazon.com Occasionally a book comes along that you want to take outside, shove into the hand of every passerby, and say, "Read this and be enlightened." The Dalai Lama's latest collection of lectures is like that. As you read, you begin to think... See more

Amazon.com Occasionally a book comes along that you want to take outside, shove into the hand of every passerby, and say, "Read this and be enlightened." The Dalai Lama's latest collection of lectures is like that. As you read, you begin to think what a wonderful world it would be if everybody thought like the Dalai Lama. Though the highest ranked leader of a world religion, the Dalai Lama insists that some of the most important aspects of Buddhist practice are nonreligious, particularly the training of the mind. This he sees as essential to cultivating basic decency in the day-to-day life of all people. To understand the motivations of others, to rein in negative emotions, to examine one's own motivations--these are the steps to living peacefully and responsibly in the world. On a deeper theoretical level, the Dalai Lama also introduces the importance of seeing through reality to the two levels of truth as well as exploring karma and the nature of existence. Impromptu... See less

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See this at: amazon.com| Added on 04/29/07

Isabel Allende has made her name as a writer in the genre of magic realism, where fantastical events occur, often without warning. When her daughter Paula collapsed into an irreversibly coma due to a rare disease, Allende found herself desperate for... See more

Isabel Allende has made her name as a writer in the genre of magic realism, where fantastical events occur, often without warning. When her daughter Paula collapsed into an irreversibly coma due to a rare disease, Allende found herself desperate for a story to tell her dying daughter. This is the book that arose out of a mother's need to understand the past, the future, and the mysterious connection between the two. Allende tells of events before her birth, of Chilean politics and how it affected her famously political family, of falling in love, of becoming a writer, of motherhood, of her journey through Paula's illness - while embracing the spirituality that pervades her fiction. Surprisingly, the story of Allende's life bears remarkable resemblance, both in fact and in imagery, to her bestselling novel THE HOUSE OF SPIRITS. While sadness frames this memoir, the core of it pulses with life and faith. Beautifully written, with moments that will make you pause with admiration, this... See less

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 01/06/08

From Booklist To the Spanish conquistadores on the Cortes expedition, she was the honored "Dona Marina," who served as both interpreter for and mistress of Cortes. To the Aztecs and other Amerindians who viewed the Spanish as ravenous plunderers, she... See more

From Booklist To the Spanish conquistadores on the Cortes expedition, she was the honored "Dona Marina," who served as both interpreter for and mistress of Cortes. To the Aztecs and other Amerindians who viewed the Spanish as ravenous plunderers, she was "Malinche," a pejorative slur roughly translated as "betrayer." Although it is known that she bore a son by Cortes, little else is known of her life before or after the conquest. Lanyon is an Australian who teaches Spanish. Her interest in Malinche was stoked during her visits to Mexico. The result is a highly speculative but enjoyable "biography" of one of the more intriguing subjects of the Age of Exploration. Of course, Lanyon cannot reveal the "true" Malinche, but her suggestions and ruminations upon the history and culture of Mexico are both provocative and engrossing. For Lanyon, Malinche is a symbol for a somewhat schizophrenic culture that has yet to fully synthesize its dual European and Amerindian heritages. Readers will gain... See less

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See this at: amazon.com| Added on 04/29/07

Anonymous, then a 34-year-old journalist, started this eight-week diary in April 1945, when the Russians were invading Berlin and the city's mostly female population was heading to its cellars to wait out the bombing. Anyone who was able looted... See more

Anonymous, then a 34-year-old journalist, started this eight-week diary in April 1945, when the Russians were invading Berlin and the city's mostly female population was heading to its cellars to wait out the bombing. Anyone who was able looted abandoned buildings for food of any kind. Soon the Russians were everywhere; liquored-up Russian soldiers raped women indiscriminately. After being raped herself, Anonymous decided to "find a single wolf to keep away the pack." Thanks to a small series of Russian officers, she was better fed and better protected at night. Her story illustrates the horror war brings to the lives of women when the battles are waged near a home front (rather than a traditional battlefield). In retrospect, she advises women victimized by mass rape to talk to each other about it. Once the war was officially over, the real starvation began; by the time the author's soldier boyfriend returned to Berlin, she was too hungry and hurt to deal with him. When the radio... See less

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 01/09/08

First Sentence: FOR MANY DAYS I've hidden in the bush by the town, coming out when I hear the call, watching carefully for him. Read the first page

First Sentence: FOR MANY DAYS I've hidden in the bush by the town, coming out when I hear the call, watching carefully for him. Read the first page See less

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 06/12/07

Amazon.com "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." It is typical of Gabriel García Márquez that it will be many pages before his... See more

Amazon.com "Many years later, as he faced the firing squad, Colonel Aureliano Buendía was to remember that distant afternoon when his father took him to discover ice." It is typical of Gabriel García Márquez that it will be many pages before his narrative circles back to the ice, and many chapters before the hero of One Hundred Years of Solitude, Buendía, stands before the firing squad. In between, he recounts such wonders as an entire town struck with insomnia, a woman who ascends to heaven while hanging laundry, and a suicide that defies the laws of physics: A trickle of blood came out under the door, crossed the living room, went out into the street, continued on in a straight line across the uneven terraces, went down steps and climbed over curbs, passed along the Street of the Turks, turned a corner to the right and another to the left, made a right angle at the Buendía house, went in under the closed door, crossed through the parlor, hugging the walls so as not to stain the rugs,... See less

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 06/12/07

From Publishers Weekly In a phantasmagorical, politically charged tale you wish would never end, Robbins holds forth--through a variety of ingenious, off-beat mouthpieces--on art (with and without caps), the Middle East, religious fanaticism of many... See more

From Publishers Weekly In a phantasmagorical, politically charged tale you wish would never end, Robbins holds forth--through a variety of ingenious, off-beat mouthpieces--on art (with and without caps), the Middle East, religious fanaticism of many stripes, and the seven veils of self-deception. Salome, skinny legs and all, belly-dances rapturously at Isaac & Ishmael's, a much-molested restaurant located across the street from the U.N., founded by an Arab and a Jew as an example of happy, peaceful and mutually beneficial coexistence. Ellen Cherry Charles, artist and waitress, heir to the most positive legacy of Jezebel, works at the same joint, nursing a broken heart inflicted by Boomer Petway, redneck welder/bemused darling of the New York art scene. Meanwhile, Can o' Beans, Dirty Sock, Spoon, Painted Stick and Conch Shell traverse half the world on a hejira to Jerusalem--where Conch and Painted Stick will resume religious duties in the Third Temple, dedicated (of course) to Astarte.... See less

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 06/12/07

This book was terrific! She's Come Undone is a powerful epic, an emotional journey in the life of Dolores Price. Wally Lamb's Dolores is a perfectly flawed character and easy to get attached to. Brilliant writing, a fabulous point-of-view of a female... See more

This book was terrific! She's Come Undone is a powerful epic, an emotional journey in the life of Dolores Price. Wally Lamb's Dolores is a perfectly flawed character and easy to get attached to. Brilliant writing, a fabulous point-of-view of a female told through the hand of a male. How did he do it with such spot-on honesty? She's Come Undone begins in the year 1956 when Dolores is 4 and her family gets a brand new television. Soon, this seemingly normal life begins to unravel, leaving Dolores the product of a marriage gone wrong. While reading this book, I feel this moment of her parents' divorce became the crucial building block of Dolores's downward spiral. And while I do not want to spoil the plot for you, I will say that Dolores lives through some of the most terrible events, and desperately struggles (though at times seems indifferent) to regain the normalcy she once had. Vivid and emotional, this wild ride pulls your heartstrings and strikes your nerves, sometimes within the... See less

Highlights: List Price: $7.99

See this at: amazon.com| Added on 04/29/07

When Isabel Archer, a bright and independent young American, makes her first trip to Europe in the company of her aunt, Mrs. Touchett, who lives outside of London in a 400-year-old estate, she discovers a totally different world, one which does not... See more

When Isabel Archer, a bright and independent young American, makes her first trip to Europe in the company of her aunt, Mrs. Touchett, who lives outside of London in a 400-year-old estate, she discovers a totally different world, one which does not encourage her independent thinking or behavior and which is governed by rigid social codes. This contrast between American and European values, vividly dramatized here, is a consistent theme in James's novels, one based on his own experiences living in the US and England. In prose that is filled with rich observations about places, customs, and attitudes, James portrays Isabel's European coming-of-age, as she discovers that she must curb her intellect and independence if she is to fit into the social scheme in which she now finds herself. Isabel Archer, one of James's most fully drawn characters, has postponed a marriage in America for a year of travel abroad, only to discover upon her precipitate and ill-considered marriage to an American... See less

See this at: search.barnesandnobl...| Added on 02/10/08

One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week by Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good, Leeds, Regina Leeds, Paperback, Book, ISBN: 1600940560, Family - Assorted Topics, Self-Improvement, House & Home,... See more

One Year to an Organized Life: From Your Closets to Your Finances, the Week by Week Guide to Getting Completely Organized for Good, Leeds, Regina Leeds, Paperback, Book, ISBN: 1600940560, Family - Assorted Topics, Self-Improvement, House & Home, Barnes & Noble.com See less

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See this at: amazon.com| Added on 02/10/08

From Publishers Weekly Spero, a practicing nurse who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis over a decade ago, presents an accessible, practical and encouraging self-care manual for the chronically ill. Spero's five-step plan for assisting with... See more