bookpagedev, Author at BookPage | Discover your next great book!

by Robin Taylor

You might expect Dominican-American Loida Maritza Perez’s remarkable first novel to brim with warm, hazy memories of the homeland (and be cut with the immigrant’s shock of immersion in a new culture). That’s why the intimate scale of Geographies of Home comes as such a surprise: The action happens within the family. Home is not in our native countries; it is in our hearts and memories. Aurelia, Papito, and their 14 children left Trujillo’s Dominican Republic for New York years before. Aurelia’s only law is love for her children and grandchildren. Adventist deacon Papito fears for his daughters’ safety and tries to beat that fear into them. Prodigal daughter Iliana is torn between independence and family loyalty. Troubled Marina sees visions of spiders and God. Rebecca cannot leave the husband who beats and degrades her. Perez weaves the story by smoothly shifting the point of view among the characters and their memories. The conflicts and tension are not unique to the immigrant experience; they’ll be achingly familiar to almost every reader. Should Iliana fulfill herself at college, or return home to help her family? Is seeking psychological help for Marina the same as betraying her and shaming the family? How long will Aurelia try to salvage Rebecca’s life for her, and how far will she go when the grandchildren are at stake? The pleasures of Geographies of Home are like those of a memoir: The characters are complex and real, and their memories are vivid and full of emotional detail. Perez deftly handles each character’s blend of passionate and conflicting emotions.

Though her book threatens to burst with color and life, Perez has woven it tightly. She writes boldly and precisely of love, bitterness, desire, sin, madness, fear, and forgiveness. She describes the tiny geography of the human heart.

Robin Taylor is a reviewer in Washington, D.

You might expect Dominican-American Loida Maritza Perez's remarkable first novel to brim with warm, hazy memories of the homeland (and be cut with the immigrant's shock of immersion in a new culture). That's why the intimate scale of Geographies of Home comes as such a…

Animals

Animals

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Michael Sims

It all began with an off-hand remark, Silvio Bedini writes about the genesis of his new book, The Pope’s Elephant. He was researching in the Vatican archives when someone suggested he find out whatever happened to the rhinoceros at the Vatican. Not surprisingly, Bedini was intrigued. He found no rhino, but gradually he unearthed the story of a different papal pachyderm an elephant. Only later did he find the elusive rhinoceros that had inspired the whole search. In the early 1500s, the King of Portugal sent a young white Indian elephant as a gift to Leo X, the decadent, pleasure-addicted Pope who said, God has given us the papacy. Let us enjoy it. The Vatican menagerie was already impressive, but Hanno the elephant quickly became its star. Now it and its adventurous life have been resurrected with wit and style. In time Bedini actually found the creature’s remains. This story is under 250 pages long, but it unveils a whole era. Garnished with dozens of handsome illustrations, from contemporary woodcuts to photos of sculptures, the story conveys the texture of life in the most powerful organization in the world during the time of Michelangelo and Leonardo. Bedini is Historian Emeritus at the Smithsonian and also served as that institution’s Keeper of Rare Books. Readers may be familiar with his own volumes, most of which explore quirky byroads of the history of science. His wonderful biographies of Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Banneker are both vivid narratives and constantly surprising studies of the beginnings of science in the New World. Bedini is fascinated by the personalities that have shaped history in curious and little-known ways. Like Daniel Boorstin’s book Cleopatra’s Nose, The Pope’s Elephant explores the ways in which seemingly inconsequential events nudge the course of empires. Bedini marshals an astonishing amount of in-depth scholarship, including research in several countries, and makes it look easy. His book is not dry and dusty history. It’s a wild story of eccentric personalities in a pivotal era and of how a single animal tangled together those men and their nations.

And the rhino? It has its own interwoven story, one that ends tragically. You have already seen pictures of this animal Albrecht Durer’s famous drawing of an armored-looking rhino, nowadays reproduced on everything from book covers to mouse pads. This is not the only satisfying surprise awaiting you in The Pope’s Elephant. Michael Sims writes about the Pope’s elephant and rhino in his book Darwin’s Orchestra (Henry Holt).

It all began with an off-hand remark, Silvio Bedini writes about the genesis of his new book, The Pope's Elephant. He was researching in the Vatican archives when someone suggested he find out whatever happened to the rhinoceros at the Vatican. Not surprisingly, Bedini was…

Fiction

Fiction

Property as subtext

Review by bookpagedev

by James Brown

The longing to own a house by the side of the road is one of the oldest of humanity’s stories. Perhaps for this reason it also functions as subtext in much of our literature, and now provides the momentum for Andre Dubus III’s outstanding new novel, House of Sand and Fog.

"In my country, there is an old belief that if a bird flies into your home, it is an angel who has come to guide you . . ."

The speaker here is Colonel Behrani, formerly of the Iranian Air Force, now owner of a bungalow on a California hillside. But that’s no angel in his house — she’s Kathy Nicolo, a recovering addict, who believes that the Colonel’s bungalow rightfully belongs to her. Actually, through an error at the county tax office, she’s right. But the Colonel, who bought the house legally at auction, is also right. Each side of the ensuing property dispute sees the other through the lens of its own culture.

Americans, the Colonel thinks, spend far too much time in the "pale blue glow" of television, and thus ". . . have eyes of very small children who are forever looking for their next source of distraction, entertainment, or a sweet taste in the mouth." To Kathy and her deputy sheriff boyfriend, the Colonel’s proud and graceful Iranian family, though U.S. citizens, are "Arabs" too far from home, "sitting on stolen property."

One of the many strengths of this story is that most of its characters come to understand the point of view of the others at least briefly. But each, through circumstance, personality, and culture, is locked into a pattern of behavior which he or she is helpless to change. Dubus’s ability to inhabit characters across culture and gender is stunning.

What’s at stake here, Dubus suggests, is far more than property. As this collision of cultures and good intentions gone wrong spirals into tragedy, there’s a sense of inevitability like that at the end of an ancient Greek play. In our grieving for the fates of these people, we recognize ourselves, our dreams and flaws, as well as those of our own culture.

James William Brown is the author of Blood Dance (Harcourt Brace).

The longing to own a house by the side of the road is one of the oldest of humanity's stories. Perhaps for this reason it also functions as subtext in much of our literature, and now provides the momentum for Andre Dubus III's outstanding new…

Fiction

Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Fans of Gail Godwin have cause for celebration with the publication of her new novel, Evensong, the sequel to her bestseller, Father Melancholy’s Daughter (1990).

When readers left Margaret Gower, she had applied to seminary and was planning a career in the clergy, like her beloved father. In Godwin’s sequel, Margaret has realized her dream and is serving as rector of All Saints High Balsam Episcopal Church located in the Highlands area of western North Carolina. Her husband and fellow priest Adrian Bonner is the acting headmaster at a private school for disaffected teenagers.

Evensong chronicles the events of Advent, 1999 that season of spiritual expectation in the Church calendar beginning on the last Sunday in November and lasting until Christmas. At the close of the millennium, High Balsam, a town that claims to be four thousand feet above the cares of the world, has more than its share of problems. Residents are worried about a recent shooting which has heightened tensions between the year-round locals and the wealthy people of property who spend their summers in the mountain resort town.

Unemployment has further heightened the extremes of have and have-not, and the young pastor finds her formerly peaceful parish in turmoil. Add to this upheaval the arrival of three newcomers to High Balsam, and Pastor Margaret’s life becomes more complicated than she can handle.

In Evensong, Gail Godwin chronicles the collision course of conflicting economic, social, and spiritual interests which confront High Balsam (and America) at the dawn of the third millennium. She writes with characteristic compassion and insight about the complexities of family ( an inextricable knot of messes and blessings ) and the mysteries of faith (how redemptive people can come to us in the unlikeliest of shapes ). And, she brings to maturity one of her most enduring characters: Margaret Gower Bonner, a woman who, like her father, lived by the grace of daily obligation. Linda Shull writes a column for The Leader in Charlotte, North Carolina.

Fans of Gail Godwin have cause for celebration with the publication of her new novel, Evensong, the sequel to her bestseller, Father Melancholy's Daughter (1990).

When readers left Margaret Gower, she had applied to seminary and was planning a career in the…

Arts & Culture, Literature

Literature Arts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Roger Bishop

Our foremost literary critic, Harold Bloom, is known for his influential and often controversial views, whether the subject is his theory of poetic influence or which authors and their works should comprise the Western canon. To distinguish his approach from the writings of other critics, several years ago Bloom wrote, I increasingly feel that criticism must be personal, must be experiential, must take the whole concern of men and women, including all its torments, very much into account, must offer a kind of testimony . . . [the great critics] remember always that high literature is written by suffering human beings and not by language, and is read by suffering human beings. Where do we get our present day understanding of what it is to be human? In his exhilarating new book, Shakespeare: The Invention of the Human, Bloom illuminates our understanding of the human, or human nature, or personality as we understand those terms in a secular sense. What Shakespeare invents is ways of representing human changes, alterations not only caused by flaws and by decay, but effected by the will as well, and by the will’s temporal vulnerabilities. Bloom notes that the representation of human character and personality remain always the supreme literary value. And Shakespeare did it better than anyone else. The work of Chaucer and others influenced him, but if we compare Shakespeare’s work with writers both before or contemporary with him, his understanding of the human experience far exceeds that of everyone else. He demonstrates this through many characters but, in particular, Falstaff and Hamlet are the invention of the human, the inauguration of personality as we have come to recognize it. For Bloom, Shakespeare went beyond psychologizing us. He extensively informs the language we speak, his principle characters have become our mythology, and he, rather than his involuntary follower Freud, is our psychologist. Bloom describes his book as a personal statement, the result of a lifetime of involvement with Shakespeare’s work. He guides us through each of the 39 plays, 24 of which he regards as masterpieces, in approximate chronological order as they were written and performed. The result is a dazzling performance by a major teacher. Passionate about his subject, immensely learned, strongly opinionated, he conveys a lot of information and provides provocative commentary in a most engaging way. There are generous passages from the plays, some quite well known, others not.

This extraordinary volume will be a treasured companion for anyone who enjoys the plays of Shakespeare.

Roger Bishop is a monthly contributor to BookPage.

Fiction, Historical Fiction

Fiction Historical Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

If you have read O’Brian’s work, then you are probably addicted to him. To this group of readers, I offer reassurance: the master has turned another great performance. To the not yet addicted, I owe an explanation. This is the 18th novel in a series which has been called the best historical novels ever written. The two central characters, Jack Aubrey, a Royal Navy officer, and his particular friend, Stephen Maturin, an Irish/Catalan physician, natural philosopher, and intelligence agent, roam the seas in search of the King’s enemies. Aubrey’s officers and men more often than not defeat these enemies in thrilling actions whose accounts, we are assured by the author, are perfectly accurate renditions of real battles in the Napoleonic wars. But there is far more than that. O’Brian places the reader in his world in much the same way one comes to know a foreign country by traveling there. You overhear a bit of conversation which conveys where the plot is going, rather than having it explained. The nautical vocabulary is used rather than defined, and soon enough, as with a foreign language, you begin to understand the difference between a cathead, catting the anchor, and a cat o’ nine tails. And there is wit. Aubrey remarks of a Dalmation headland, Cape San Giorgio . . . Have you noticed how foreigners can never get English names quite right? With the dialogue doing most of the work, O’Brian’s exposition can be jewel-like. Here he describes the arrival of a one-handed midshipman before an action: William Reade came up the side, his hook gleaming and with something of the look of a keen, intelligent dog that believes it may have heard someone taking down a fowling-piece. One of O’Brian’s most intriguing talents is that of ellipse, of letting a fact of immense importance be dropped, almost casually, in the dialog of a minor character, or en passant in the past tense. He is capable of building the tension before a naval battle for a third of a book and then calling off the battle and he can do this without irritating the reader. Sadly, two of our veteran characters, members of the literary family, are killed off in this volume, and O’Brian spends no more than a dozen words on either death. It is told without a hint of sentiment but with a resonance that pervades the book. In the end, of course, it is the richness of O’Brian’s characters which explain his abiding appeal. After 18 volumes, Jack and Stephen, their wives, their shipmates and enemies, become like members of our family. The constant repetition of their foibles and mannerisms, the total consistency of the great strains of their character, all seem to underline the essential truth of these works of fiction. If his work is the product of a formula, then it is a formula which works just like life. The constants are the people. It is the scene outside them that changes as the ship bowls along.

W. Foster is a sailor and attorney in Columbia, South Carolina.

If you have read O'Brian's work, then you are probably addicted to him. To this group of readers, I offer reassurance: the master has turned another great performance. To the not yet addicted, I owe an explanation. This is the 18th novel in a series…

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Miriam Drennan

Our Oregon-based reviewer and outdoors expert Wes Breazeale suggests To the Summit for the outdoorsperson in your life. He writes the following: To the Summit is both a magnificent look at 50 of the world’s most intriguing mountains and a fascinating exploration of the history of each mountain and the sport of climbing. With six sections representing each continent (Australia and Antarctica are combined), each chapter looks at an individual mountain and often includes profiles of famous climbers. Scattered throughout the book are anecdotal tales from people who have climbed the mountains, brief examinations of climbing gear and techniques, and bits of history from the world of mountain climbing. To the Summit would be an obvious favorite for anyone interested in climbing, but would also make a beautiful gift for any outdoor enthusiast, photography lover, or travel buff.

You've shopped and shopped for the perfect birthday present for Aunt Agnes, but to no avail. You need help, my friend, and you've come to the right place. What birthday gift is always in season, never spoils, and is just the right size? Books, of…

History

History

Review

Review by bookpagedev

When Col. Theodore Roosevelt led his Rough Riders up Cuba’s San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War of 1898, it transformed the little-known New York politician into a national hero. Just three years later, he was the 26th President of the United States. On the centennial of Roosevelt’s defining moment, Edward J. Renehan’s insightful The Lion’s Pride examines a small but poignant slice of the Roosevelt story: how his exaltation of military valor played out in the lives of his four sons Ted, Kermit, Archie and Quentin in World War I and beyond.

Why did heroism mean so much to Roosevelt? The Roosevelts, well-to-do New York investors and civic leaders, had almost no tradition of military service, according to Renehan, and Roosevelt’s father, Theodore Sr., avoided the Civil War draft by hiring an immigrant to take his place. Indeed, Renehan points out, the only war heroes among Roosevelt’s close relatives were his mother’s brothers from Georgia and they were Confederates. Perhaps, he suggests, Roosevelt’s attitude grew out of embarrassment over his father’s lack of a military record. Roosevelt not only became a war hero himself, he wanted each of his sons to be.

When World War I erupted in Europe in the summer of 1914, Roosevelt had been gone from the White House for five years. He was bored, and the war gave him a cause to champion. Roosevelt became the most outspoken advocate of U.S. intervention. President Woodrow Wilson, meanwhile, was just as intent on keeping America out of the war. In speech after speech, Roosevelt condemned Wilson, a non-veteran, saying he was blinded by his naivete. Then, in 1917, after the Germans repeatedly sunk American ships, Wilson had to declare war. Roosevelt was jubilant. He even went to the White House hoping Wilson would allow him to lead a company of soldiers overseas. Wilson refused. Roosevelt’s four sons, however, did get to serve.

Roosevelt was on hand when Ted and Archie set sail for France in June 1917. Writes Renehan: He made some of the party uncomfortable when he was heard to anticipate, with apparent elation, that at least one of his sons might be wounded, or possibly even killed, on the glorious field of battle. If glory was what the father wanted, surely the sons obliged. Ted, a major, was wounded. Kermit, a captain, was decorated for gallantry in the Middle East. Archie, also a captain, was so severely wounded he was declared disabled (he received France’s Croix de Guerre), and 21-year-old Quentin, an aviator, was shot down over Germany. Theodore Roosevelt never got over Quentin’s death. Within six months, Roosevelt, the Lion, was dead. The Lion’s Pride will have strong appeal to anyone who enjoys reading about Roosevelt, a fascinating character with remarkable staying power as a subject for biographers, or World War I. And it should resonate with any parent who has seen a son or a daughter off to war.

Harry Merritt is a writer in Lexington, Kentucky.

When Col. Theodore Roosevelt led his Rough Riders up Cuba's San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War of 1898, it transformed the little-known New York politician into a national hero. Just three years later, he was the 26th President of the United States. On the…

Religion & Spirituality

Religion & Spirituality

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Miriam Drennan

You’ve shopped and shopped for the perfect birthday present for Aunt Agnes, but to no avail. You need help, my friend, and you’ve come to the right place. What birthday gift is always in season, never spoils, and is just the right size? Books, of course! If you are in need of a birthday gift for Aunt Agnes, or anyone else, read on. Living in an age where information is readily available at your fingertips, old habits like letter-writing have been elevated to art form status. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken letters written to America’s most political pets and compiled them in Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets (all ages). In addition to the wonderful letters (many reproduced in the original handwriting), Mrs. Clinton provides background information on her two pets and parenting advice. Funny photographs, mostly of Socks and Buddy making themselves at home in the White House, make this book enjoyable to read and just look at the pictures. Is Aunt Agnes (or someone else) turning 50? Then Fifty on Fifty: Wisdom, Inspiration, and Reflections on Women’s Lives Well Lived (Warner, $30, 0446523690) is just the ticket. Journalist Bonnie Miller Rubin interviews 50 women who are either approaching or have passed their half-century birthday. The interviewees are varied (Gloria Allred, Nell Carter, Erica Jong, and Diane Von Furstenberg, to name a few), and Rubin provides a biographical sketch for each. Some found success at an early age, others much later, and others aren’t convinced they are there yet. A good choice for anyone who is taking a life inventory.

Your birthday-er is a golfer, and you don’t know a nine iron from a fire iron? Don’t despair any golf lover would enjoy The Greatest Biggest Golf Book (Andrews McMeel, $9.95, 0836269373). Measuring in at only 1.82 x 5.97 x 4.02 inches, it’s packed with facts, statistics, tips, and even famous lies about this time-honored game. How far did Alan Shepard’s golf balls travel when he played on the moon? Who wore a suit of armor when he played? A must-have for any golf addict.

What if you don’t know Aunt Agnes very well, but well enough to send her a birthday gift? The solution: a book about birthdays. The Power of Birthdays, Stars, and Numbers: The Complete Personology Reference Guide isn’t a big book of horoscopes; it offers all sorts of information about astrology, fixed stars, numerology, and specific profiles for every birthday of the year. Be sure to peek at Aunt Agnes’s birthdate for insight into next year’s gift; it’s never too early, you know.

Our Oregon-based reviewer and outdoors expert Wes Breazeale suggests To the Summit (Black Dog ∧ Leventhal, $39.98, 1579120415) for the outdoorsperson in your life. He writes the following: To the Summit is both a magnificent look at 50 of the world’s most intriguing mountains and a fascinating exploration of the history of each mountain and the sport of climbing. With six sections representing each continent (Australia and Antarctica are combined), each chapter looks at an individual mountain and often includes profiles of famous climbers. Scattered throughout the book are anecdotal tales from people who have climbed the mountains, brief examinations of climbing gear and techniques, and bits of history from the world of mountain climbing. To the Summit would be an obvious favorite for anyone interested in climbing, but would also make a beautiful gift for any outdoor enthusiast, photography lover, or travel buff.

Fiction

Fiction

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Tom Corcoran

Those who know Jim Harrison’s fiction, poetry, and essays discuss the work with awe; those unfamiliar with his name light up when informed that he wrote the novella basis for the film Legends of the Fall. In his seventh novel, The Road Home, Harrison provides a spirited study of human nature, an epic bound by insight and love. Speaking in the distinct voices of four individuals, all related by blood, marriage, and deep loyalties, Harrison delivers a textured questioning of life’s headlong direction, its what-might-have-been sidetracks, its motives and mysteries and, finally, its finality.

Set primarily in remote Nebraska farm and range land over the past hundred years, The Road Home chronicles the spectrum of emotions, the events of lifetimes. We observe friendships built upon moments of insight, alliances of coincidence and happenstance. Expanding on characters from his intriguing 1988 novel, Dalva (we hesitate to call The Road Home a sequel; its action both precedes and follows that in Dalva), Harrison also explores the attitudes of the region and the several eras that frame the narrative. His independent people tend close to the land, understand survival in the face of weather and isolation indeed, the family patriarch is half-Lakota and yet are drawn to the world at large by world war, legal dealings, and quests of the heart. In vignettes tough and poignant, humorous and mystic, impulsive then melancholy, the tale becomes mythology for the millennium, solid food for modern thought, as encouragement to claim soulful value from our days in this world.

This is not to imply that The Road Home is difficult reading. This mansion is built of small bricks. Yet Harrison’s sense of language, of idiom, makes the printed page three-, and often four-, dimensional. His sentences are blends of fact and philosophy; many paragraphs voyage across a lifetime. The simplicity of the tale offers majesty. These people worry about war profiteering and, in the same breath, discuss bird sightings. As the narrators provide plaintive momentum, their surroundings set an almost-bare stage for perceptions and memories. The reader is gathered along by their acceptance of both wealth and poverty, their inclination to roll with life’s ups and downs, struggles with common sense, and with what cannot be changed.

In the end we see how men and women build personal value systems, cope with heartache and joy, survive bewildering day-to-day fortune, interact both with humans and their natural surroundings. At one point in The Road Home, Harrison wonders if humans are, in pure geologic terms, as inconsequential as rocks on the beach. On that level, this novel is plain beauty; in real time our lives at this moment The Road Home is a rush of sensitivity and depth.

Over 35 years Jim Harrison has created six other novels, a half-dozen volumes of poetry, three novella trilogies, and an anthology of essays. This novel will satisfy Harrison’s deserved audience; it will, without question, expand his audience.

Tom Corcoran lives in Florida. His debut mystery, The Mango Opera was published this year by St. Martin’s Press/Thomas Dunne Books.

Those who know Jim Harrison's fiction, poetry, and essays discuss the work with awe; those unfamiliar with his name light up when informed that he wrote the novella basis for the film Legends of the Fall. In his seventh novel, The Road Home, Harrison provides…

Sports

Sports

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Miriam Drennan

Living in an age where information is readily available at your fingertips, old habits like letter-writing have been elevated to art form status. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken letters written to America’s most political pets and compiled them in Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets (all ages). In addition to the wonderful letters (many reproduced in the original handwriting), Mrs. Clinton provides background information on her two pets and parenting advice. Funny photographs, mostly of Socks and Buddy making themselves at home in the White House, make this book enjoyable to read and just look at the pictures. Is Aunt Agnes (or someone else) turning 50? Then Fifty on Fifty: Wisdom, Inspiration, and Reflections on Women’s Lives Well Lived (Warner, $30, 0446523690) is just the ticket. Journalist Bonnie Miller Rubin interviews 50 women who are either approaching or have passed their half-century birthday. The interviewees are varied (Gloria Allred, Nell Carter, Erica Jong, and Diane Von Furstenberg, to name a few), and Rubin provides a biographical sketch for each. Some found success at an early age, others much later, and others aren’t convinced they are there yet. A good choice for anyone who is taking a life inventory.

Your birthday-er is a golfer, and you don’t know a nine iron from a fire iron? Don’t despair any golf lover would enjoy The Greatest Biggest Golf Book. Measuring in at only 1.82 x 5.97 x 4.02 inches, it’s packed with facts, statistics, tips, and even famous lies about this time-honored game. How far did Alan Shepard’s golf balls travel when he played on the moon? Who wore a suit of armor when he played? A must-have for any golf addict.

What if you don’t know Aunt Agnes very well, but well enough to send her a birthday gift? The solution: a book about birthdays. The Power of Birthdays, Stars, and Numbers: The Complete Personology Reference Guide (Ballantine, $24.95, 0345418190) isn’t a big book of horoscopes; it offers all sorts of information about astrology, fixed stars, numerology, and specific profiles for every birthday of the year. Be sure to peek at Aunt Agnes’s birthdate for insight into next year’s gift; it’s never too early, you know.

History

History

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Miriam Drennan

You’ve shopped and shopped for the perfect birthday present for Aunt Agnes, but to no avail. You need help, my friend, and you’ve come to the right place. What birthday gift is always in season, never spoils, and is just the right size? Books, of course! If you are in need of a birthday gift for Aunt Agnes, or anyone else, read on. Living in an age where information is readily available at your fingertips, old habits like letter-writing have been elevated to art form status. First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton has taken letters written to America’s most political pets and compiled them in Dear Socks, Dear Buddy: Kids’ Letters to the First Pets (all ages). In addition to the wonderful letters (many reproduced in the original handwriting), Mrs. Clinton provides background information on her two pets and parenting advice. Funny photographs, mostly of Socks and Buddy making themselves at home in the White House, make this book enjoyable to read and just look at the pictures. Is Aunt Agnes (or someone else) turning 50? Then Fifty on Fifty: Wisdom, Inspiration, and Reflections on Women’s Lives Well Lived is just the ticket. Journalist Bonnie Miller Rubin interviews 50 women who are either approaching or have passed their half-century birthday. The interviewees are varied (Gloria Allred, Nell Carter, Erica Jong, and Diane Von Furstenberg, to name a few), and Rubin provides a biographical sketch for each. Some found success at an early age, others much later, and others aren’t convinced they are there yet. A good choice for anyone who is taking a life inventory.

What if you don’t know Aunt Agnes very well, but well enough to send her a birthday gift? The solution: a book about birthdays. The Power of Birthdays, Stars, and Numbers: The Complete Personology Reference Guide (Ballantine, $24.95, 0345418190) isn’t a big book of horoscopes; it offers all sorts of information about astrology, fixed stars, numerology, and specific profiles for every birthday of the year. Be sure to peek at Aunt Agnes’s birthdate for insight into next year’s gift; it’s never too early, you know.

Our Oregon-based reviewer and outdoors expert Wes Breazeale suggests To the Summit (Black Dog &and Leventhal, $39.98, 1579120415) for the outdoorsperson in your life. He writes the following: To the Summit is both a magnificent look at 50 of the world’s most intriguing mountains and a fascinating exploration of the history of each mountain and the sport of climbing. With six sections representing each continent (Australia and Antarctica are combined), each chapter looks at an individual mountain and often includes profiles of famous climbers. Scattered throughout the book are anecdotal tales from people who have climbed the mountains, brief examinations of climbing gear and techniques, and bits of history from the world of mountain climbing. To the Summit would be an obvious favorite for anyone interested in climbing, but would also make a beautiful gift for any outdoor enthusiast, photography lover, or travel buff.

Children's & YA

Children's & YA

Review

Review by bookpagedev

by Miriam Drennan

What if you don’t know Aunt Agnes very well, but well enough to send her a birthday gift? The solution: a book about birthdays. The Power of Birthdays, Stars, and Numbers: The Complete Personology Reference Guide (Ballantine, $24.95, 0345418190) isn’t a big book of horoscopes; it offers all sorts of information about astrology, fixed stars, numerology, and specific profiles for every birthday of the year. Be sure to peek at Aunt Agnes’s birthdate for insight into next year’s gift; it’s never too early, you know.

bookpagedev

Review

Review

Property as subtext

Review

Review

Review

Review

Review

Review

Review

Review

Review

Review

Sign Up

Trending Features

Memoir March 2025

Many voices, one story

4 self-help books to tackle the timeless topic of romance with your book club

Company

Subscriptions