IndyStar.com: Books
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What Hoosiers are reading
Mary C. Schmucker, administrative assistant Age: 57. Town: Advance. Title: “Mrs. Kennedy: The Missing History of the Kennedy Years,” by Barbara Leaming. Comment: The story, told moment by moment, is gathered from eyewitnesses’...
'When Everything Changed: The Amazing Journey of American Women from 1960 to the Present'
By Gail Collins (Little, Brown and Co., $27.99) In 1960, a secretary named Lois Rabinowitz was reprimanded by a New York City judge for appearing in court wearing slacks. Less than 50 years later in the same city, bus driver Tahita Jenkins was fired...
'Dracula: The Un-Dead'
By Dacre Stoker and Ian Holt (Dutton, $26.95) Long before Edward Cullen of the “Twilight” series and Bill Compton of HBO’s “True Blood,” there was the original vampire, Bram Stoker’s Prince Dracula, in the gothic...
'Manhood for Amateurs'
By Michael Chabon (Harper, $25.99) The singular experience of becoming a father can change everything. This seems to include — for literary papas — what you want to write about. How else to explain the cavalcade of Daddy literature? With...
Q&A: Romance/mystery writer Susan Crandall
It’s been a busy fall season for author Susan Crandall. In October alone, one of her romantic suspense novels, “Pitch Black,” won the 2009 Beacon Award for published authors, the Aspen Gold Reader’s Choice award and the Maggie...
LOUISA MAY ALCOTT: THE WOMAN BEHIND LITTLE WOMEN
By Harriett Reisen (Henry Holt and Co., $26) In her new biography of the fiercely independent author of “Little Women,” screenwriter Harriet Reisen draws a lively, engrossing portrait of Louisa May Alcott’s life that will appeal to...
A MIGHTY LONG WAY: MY JOURNEY TO JUSTICE AT LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL
By Carlotta Walls LaNier, with Lisa Frazier (Ballantine Books, $26) On Sept. 3, 1957, in what has to be considered one of the lowest points in America’s history, the Arkansas National Guard, under orders from Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus, refused...
BOWIE: A BIOGRAPHY
By Marc Spitz (Crown, $26.99) David Bowie knows what he’s singing about when he performs “Changes.” After making a big splash in the early 1970s as Ziggy Stardust, he went on to become the Thin White Duke, an artsy Berlin angst...
THE LAST SONG
By Nicholas Sparks (Grand Central, $24.99) Although just recently released, Sparks’ latest offering has already rocketed to the top of the bestseller lists. If you’re looking for easy, enjoyable escapism, this one’s for you....
9 DRAGONS
By Michael Connelly (Little, Brown, $27.99) The epigram on the matchbook says, “Happy is the man who finds refuge in himself.” Harry Bosch has been carrying it for 12 years, since he picked it up during a robbery investigation at John...
HER FEARFUL SYMMETRY
By Audrey Niffenegger (Scribner, $26.99) If Audrey Niffenegger’s debut novel, “The Time Traveler’s Wife,” was based on love, her follow-up calls on much darker fare: jealousy, possessiveness, immaturity and dishonesty....
THE SILENT SPIRIT
By Margaret Coel (Berkley, $24.95) In 1923, Tim McCoy, a real-life cowboy-turned-Hollywood actor, recruited 300 Shoshone and Arapaho Indians to appear as extras in an epic silent movie, “The Covered Wagon.” In “The Silent...
CIVIL WAR WIVES
By Carol Berkin (Alfred A. Knopf $27.95) Carol Berkin has found rich ground in the wives of famous men during the Civil War and mines it for wonderfully readable stories. Her new book, “Civil War Wives: The Life and Times of Angelina Grimke...
TOKYO VICE: AN AMERICAN REPORTER ON THE POLICE BEAT IN JAPAN
By Jake Adelstein (Pantheon Books, $26) A journalist is supposed to observe and report his story, not become part of it. But by the time Jake Adelstein found himself face to face with an enforcer for one of Japan’s most vicious mafia gangs, it...
THE MEANING OF MATTHEW: MY SON'S MURDER IN LARAMIE, AND A WORLD TRANSFORMED
By Judy Shepard, with Jon Barrett (Hudson Street Press, $25.95) Before Matthew Shepard became the public face of the gay-rights movement, he was Judy Shepard’s son. Before he was tied to a fence on the outskirts of Laramie, Wyo., on a cold...
A CHANGE IN ALTITUDE
By Anita Shreve (Little, Brown and Co., $26.99) No one is better than Anita Shreve at gently but thoroughly probing the interior life of her characters. In her latest book, “A Change in Altitude,” she traces the effects of distrust and...
FINDING IT: AND SATISFYING MY HUNGER WITHOUT OPENING THE FRIDGE
By Valerie Bertinelli (Free Press, $26) The latest from actress Valerie Bertinelli on her journey from fat to fit, is a breezy, entertaining account of her effort to keep off the 40-plus pounds she famously lost as a Jenny Craig diet spokeswoman....
Indiana's Mystery Men and Women
Jim Huang, co-chair of Bouchercon 2009 and owner of The Mystery Company bookstore in Carmel, identifies four writers with Indiana ties to watch at this year’s Bouchercon convention. Terence Faherty Hoosier connection: Lives in Indianapolis....
'Right Time, Right Place: Coming of Age with William F. Buckley and the Conservative Movement'
By Richard Brookhiser (Basic Books, $20) Few could argue that William F. Buckley was not the heart and soul of America’s conservative movement in the 20th century. Buckley commandeered his troops through the use of two media outlets: his...
What Hoosiers are reading
Dorothy Lyman-Ressneck, retired teacher Age: 92. Town: Indianapolis. Book: “Grant and Sherman: The Friendship that Won the Civil War,” by Charles Bracelen Flood. Comment: I recommend “Grant and Sherman.” It has many details of...
New book puts novelist in the spirit of things
For the millions of readers who loved “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and have waited patiently for Audrey Niffenegger’s follow-up novel, the wait is over. “Her Fearful Symmetry” hit bookshelves Sept. 29. It’s...
Bouchercon puts focus on mystery genre
Indianapolis will be under the magnifying glass when roughly 1,500 writers, agents, editors, booksellers and fans of mystery and detective genres converge on the city for Bouchercon 2009. The roving convention — named for Anthony Boucher, a...
14 books into series, he still loves 'Harry'
Fans of best-selling mystery writer Michael Connelly are familiar with his literary creation Hieronymus “Harry” Bosch, a hard-luck detective who shares a name with the 15th-century Dutch painter whose panoramic religious works often...
AGE IS JUST A NUMBER
By Dara Torres (Broadway, $24.95) Olympic swimmer Dara Torres’ new book, “Age is Just a Number,” is an inspiration to anyone over 30 who’s struggling to lose weight, stay in shape or wants to continue being a weekend...
NO TIME TO WAVE GOODBYE
By Jacquelyn Mitchard (Random House, $25) If you loved Jacquelyn Mitchard’s wonderful book “The Deep End of the Ocean,” you might wonder why she would want to tack on a sequel. In “Deep End,” Mitchard tells of Beth...
SWEET SISTER MOON
By Norbert Krapf (WorldTech Editions, $20) In his latest striking collection, Indiana poet laureate and Indianapolis resident Norbert Krapf focuses his critical eye and passionate voice on the female form. His range is as broad as his language is...
THE LOST SYMBOL
By Dan Brown (Doubleday, $29.95) Robert Langdon is back. The hero of Dan Brown’s super-mega-selling novels “Angels&Demons” and “The Da Vinci Code” has once again been called from his Harvard University classroom to...
TRUE COMPASS: A MEMOIR
By Edward M. Kennedy (Twelve, $35) Even before Sen. Edward M. Kennedy’s death, his memoir, “True Compass,” was one of the most eagerly awaited books. Word went forth that this American political memoir — perhaps the...
KURT VONNEGUT'S AMERICA
By Jerome Klinkowitz (University of South Carolina Press, $34.95) It is unlikely that anyone is better positioned to write a book attempting to look at the symbiotic relationship Kurt Vonnegut had with America than Jerome Klinkowitz. He is, after...
EVIDENCE OF MURDER
By Lisa Black (William Morrow, $24.99) When Jillian Perry, wife of a wealthy video game creator and mother of a little girl, is found dead in the bitterly cold woods near Cleveland, the police dismiss the death as a suicide. Medical examiner Theresa...
