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IN HANUMAN’S HANDS by Cheeni Rao

September 20, 2009

STREET STORIES AND HINDU MYTHOLOGY blend in this startling memoir of a life recaptured from addiction and crime. A MINUS

IN HANUMAN’S HANDS
HarperCollins Publishers
2009

Grade: A MINUS

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GET REAL by Donald E. Westlake

September 19, 2009

A FABULOUS FINALE for Donald Westlake’s tales of Dortmunder and gang, who take on reality TV in this last caper. A MINUS

GET REAL
Grand Central Publishing
2009

Grade: A MINUS

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SHOOTERS AND CHASERS by Lenny Kleinfeld

September 17, 2009

CRISPLY PLOTTED WHODUNNIT features a murdered architect, a genius hitman, and a world-weary, witty detective duo. B PLUS

SHOOTERS AND CHASERS
Cengage Gale
2009

Grade: B PLUS

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GYPSY by Rachel Shteir

September 16, 2009

BIO OF GYPSY ROSE LEE, the first celebrity stripper, puts her in 20th-century cultural context. A bit dry, alas. SOLID B

GYPSY: THE ART OF THE TEASE
Yale University Press
2009

Grade: SOLID B

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SQUINT by Jr., Jose P. Ramirez Jose P.

September 15, 2009

ASTONISHING, INSPIRING MEMOIR by a man who spent his twenties in a colony for Hansen’s Disease (leprosy) patients. B PLUS

SQUINT: MY JOURNEY WITH LEPROSY
University Press of Mississippi
2009

Grade: B PLUS

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HYLOZOIC by Rudy Rucker

ZANY, FRENETIC SF about a post-Singularity world where humans and aliens talk to trees, stones, hop dimensions. SOLID B

HYLOZOIC
Tor Books
2009

Grade: SOLID B

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IT LOOKED GOOD ON PAPER by Bill Fawcett

September 14, 2009

COLLECTION OF SHORT ESSAYS on high-profile blunders in technology, policy, and the arts hits some, misses some. SOLID C

IT LOOKED GOOD ON PAPER: BIZARRE INVENTIONS, DESIGN DISASTERS, AND ENGINEERING FOLLIES
Harper Paperbacks
2009

Grade: SOLID C

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LOVE WILL TEAR US APART by Sarah Rainone

September 12, 2009

ROCK, POP, AND HIP-HOP ANTHEMS form the backbone of this novel about 20-somethings’ relationships and angst. SOLID B

LOVE WILL TEAR US APART: A NOVEL
Three Rivers Press
2009

Grade: SOLID B

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THE BALLAD OF BLIND TOM, SLAVE PIANIST by Deirdre O’Connell

September 11, 2009

WELL-RESEARCHED BIOGRAPHY of “Blind Tom”, the formerly enslaved pianist/composer who was a 19th-century celebrity. SOLID B

THE BALLAD OF BLIND TOM, SLAVE PIANIST
Overlook Hardcover
2009

Grade: SOLID B

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SOMETHING LIKE BEAUTIFUL by Asha Bandele

A POET’S GRACEFUL, TOUCHING MEMOIR of love, despair, separation, and the challenges and joys of single motherhood. A MINUS

SOMETHING LIKE BEAUTIFUL: ONE SINGLE MOTHER’S STORY
Harper
2009

Grade: A MINUS

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