An unflinching account of war in Afghanistan

If the trend holds, there soon will be a shelf of books explaining why the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan was a misadventure or worse.Into that crowded field comes Graeme Smith’s “The Dogs Are Eating Them Now: Our War in Afghanistan.” But even among tomes of pessimism and clear-eyed hindsight, Smith’s book seems destined to be a standout: a compelling, self-revealing account of a reporter coming to grips with a big story and his own feelings of shock and disappointment.Smith, a Canadian, is an anom

Jan. 8, 2015

James Abel delivers a winner with ‘White Plague’

White PlagueBy James Abel (Berkley)James Abel’s new thriller, “White Plague,” combines elements from “The Hunt for Red October” and the cutting-edge science from the best of Michael Crichton to send chills down the reader’s spine. Marine doctor Joe Rush is sent into action when times are desperate. Besides being a top-ranked physician, he can also lead a team into potentially hostile and lethal situations involving bioweapons. He’s earned the nickname “Killer Joe,” thanks to an earlier, still cl

Jan. 8, 2015

New novel explores Van Gogh’s silent period

The Season of MigrationBy Nellie Hermann (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)When Vincent van Gogh steps off the train in the coal-mining region of Belgium known as the Borinage, his artist’s eye is immediately captivated by his surroundings.Van Gogh has not come to paint the region but to save souls. Before he was an artist, he was a minister, sent to bring comfort to the poor, hungry and desperate families who slaved in mines to warm the rest of Europe. His experiences destroyed his faith and led to th

Jan. 8, 2015

Phil Hogan delivers clever psychological thriller

A Pleasure and a CallingBy Phil Hogan (Picador)William Heming is the proverbial quiet man, nondescript, keeping to himself, mastering “the skill of being likable, but not memorable.” Yet Heming seethes with self-righteous contempt for others and a propensity for vengeance and violence that erupts when he feels threatened, or just irritated.His employees and clients believe the seemingly unobtrusive Heming leads a boring life, but nothing could be further from the truth in Phil Hogan’s fascinatin

Jan. 8, 2015

Bookbinding businesses keep the pages turning, for now

The symptoms were grim: advanced age, crumbling physical condition, broken spine. The operation would last several hours and require meticulous care. But recovery was likely, and the procedure would cost only $100.The patient was a 90-year-old family Bible in need of major restoration.“I always tell people that I compare book restoration with face-lifts,” said Bruce Kavin, one of three siblings who run Kater-Crafts Bookbinders. “Generally speaking, the less you do, the better.”The Pico Rivera co

Jan. 8, 2015

Fishing guide plunges into evildoings in thriller

River of No ReturnBy David Riley Bertsch (Scribner)Vivid scenery and a likable protagonist mark the second book in a series by David Riley Bertsch. In “River of No Return,” Wyoming fishing guide Jake Trent, a former Department of Justice operative with a violent past that has left him emotionally scarred, must deal with a vixen who tries to lure him back to Washington, with the kidnapping of his friend’s girlfriend and with a nefarious population-control plot.The cast of characters also includes

Jan. 8, 2015

Kate DiCamillo, rock star of children’s literature

On a hectic Saturday before Christmas, writer Kate DiCamillo stands in front of a buzzing crowd of toddlers and children at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, Minnesota. She is dressed in her usual black top and jeans, and her white-blond hair curls around her watchful face. Some of the kids sit cross-legged on the floor; some perch demurely on chairs or on a parent’s lap; some peer around the edges of bookshelves; some bat absently at furry puppets that hang from a display.DiCamillo is used

Jan. 1, 2015

‘How to Be Both’ offers two stories with playful cleverness

Ali Smith is a playful writer, but her sense of fun thrives in unlikely places. It’s evident in the language of the terrible death of the young chambermaid in a dumbwaiter in Hotel World (“Woooooooo-hooooooo what a fall what a soar what a plummet what a dash into dark into light what a plunge what a glide thud crash what a drop what a rush what a swoop what a fright what a mad hushed skirl what a smash mush mash-up broke and gashed what a heart in my mouth what an end.”)It’s there in the title a

Jan. 1, 2015

Gerritsen’s ‘Die Again’ is rock solid thriller

Die AgainBy Tess Gerritsen (Ballantine)Tess Gerritsen delivers another outstanding thriller in her continuing series featuring Boston police Detective Jane Rizzoli and medical examiner Dr. Maura Isles. The murder of a big game hunter spurs the duo into action. The victim was bound and hung upside down like a hunter stringing up his prey after a successful kill. His body was also cut open in a style reminiscent of being trimmed for meat consumption. The autopsy reveals the cause of death was like

Jan. 1, 2015

Tale of Kansas pastor who fought fascism

Democracy’s Defender: The Life of L.M. BirkheadBy Jim Grebe (Lulu Publishing Services)The U.S. Senate censured Joseph McCarthy on Dec. 2, 1954, for behavior “contrary to senatorial traditions.”The previous day, Leon Birkhead, former Kansas City Unitarian pastor, had been found dead in his New York City hotel room.Birkhead, who had been receiving treatment for cancer, long had battled those he considered enemies of tolerance and free thought.McCarthy, the red-baiting Wisconsin senator, had been B

Jan. 1, 2015

Gaia Vince asks if it’s possible to fix the Earth

Adventures in the AnthropoceneBy Gaia Vince (Milkweed Editions)In her new book, “Adventures in the Anthropocene,” science writer Gaia Vince lays out for inspection the damage that human beings have wrought on the Earth: polluted oceans, depleted stocks of wildlife, burned-out forests. The list goes on. And with global warming comes a host of new problems, some we’ve been reluctant to admit, even as climatologists announced last month that 2014 was the warmest year on record.It’s enough to ask: I

Jan. 1, 2015

‘Haunted’ lacks action in visceral Florida visit

HauntedBy Randy Wayne White (Putnam)Randy Wayne White has built a legacy exploring Florida’s history and ecology. But an evocative look at Florida and its often ignored role in the Civil War can’t make up for a lack of action in “Haunted,” his third novel about Hannah Smith, a Gulf Coast fishing guide and private detective.“Haunted” is more like a visit with an old friend who’s having a really unusual adventure ― and working on an entry into ancestry.com ― than the action White has brought to hi

Jan. 1, 2015

Novelist Gong Ji-young accuses netizens of libel

Best-selling novelist Gong Ji-young sued seven netizens for libel, claiming they circulated a false rumor about her private life and posted malicious comments online. Gong filed a complaint with the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office against the netizens, who are accused of posting sexually insulting comments on major newspaper websites, Facebook and Twitter between December 2012 and November 2014, according to Yonhap. The nature of the rumor was not specified.“Gong is well aware that as

Dec. 31, 2014

Author explains our postapocalyptic fears

AUSTIN ― Not long ago, Emily St. John Mandel was known as the author of three well-regarded literary noir novels that not a lot of people read. Call them “critically acclaimed, but terrible-selling,” she says.Then came “Station Eleven.”Publishers fought over the manuscript. The book debuted in September to enthusiastic reviews and cracked The New York Times best-sellers list. It’s being translated into 13 languages. And Wednesday, it’s up for a National Book Award.Her book is set in a world turn

Dec. 25, 2014

David L. Ulin looks at the year in books

What was the upshot of my year in reading ― the ideas, the through lines that most stirred or provoked me in 2014? The dominant thread was what we might call that of common experience, work that finds significance in incidental things.Karl Ove Knausgaard has become the poster child for this sort of work; his six-volume autobiographical opus “My Struggle” is all about a deep dive into the mundane. “Over recent years,” he writes toward the end of the second volume, “I had increasingly lost faith i

Dec. 25, 2014

Cory Doctorow lays down ‘Laws for the Internet Age’

Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free: Laws for the Internet AgeBy Cory Doctorow (McSweeney’s)Cory Doctorow, who has given away his creative and intellectual work on the Internet for many years, has now published a book with his rationale for doing so.It seems like a sweet incongruity: Doctorow’s manifesto, “Information Doesn’t Want to Be Free: Laws for the Internet Age,” comes from McSweeney’s, the throwback hipster publisher of beautiful printed books. But the hardworking Doctorow takes advantag

Dec. 25, 2014

Psycho killer: ‘Night Terrors’ by Dennis Palumbo

Night Terrors: A Daniel Rinaldi MysteryBy Dennis Palumbo (Poisoned Pen Press)It’s no surprise that Dennis Palumbo’s hero in “Night Terrors: A Daniel Rinaldi Mystery,” the third installment of his four-book mystery series, is a psychologist working in an office located among the University of Pittsburgh’s many buildings in Oakland. Though he lives in Southern California, Palumbo is a Pittsburgh native who graduated from Pitt in 1973. He gave up a career as a screenwriter to become a psychotherapi

Dec. 25, 2014

‘Guide to Slave Management’: complete picture of cruelty

The Roman Guide to Slave Management: A Treatise by Nobleman Marcus Sidonius FalxBy Jerry Toner (Overlook Press)Want to buy a pet boy? Go to the slave dealer and ask if they have any Egyptians in the back. Don’t want to dirty your hands punishing your slaves? Hire a contractor, who will provide floggings, hot pitch for torture sessions and a crucifixion service, even providing his own cross and nails, all for modest fees. Need to know what to feed your slaves that will cost the least and provide

Dec. 25, 2014

Beautifully illustrated history of Italy’s Basilica of St. Francis

The Basilica of St. Francis in AssisiBy Gianfranco Malafarina (Thames and Hudson)Assisi’s famous Basilica of St. Francis consists of two churches stacked on top of each other. Both are pilgrimage sites for followers of the saint, who died in 1226, and art enthusiasts entranced by the frescoes that tell his story. The Lower Church, a kind of Romanesque basement, was built to house Francis’ crypt. The Gothic-style Upper Church is a lighter, taller space designed as a meeting and worship hall for p

Dec. 25, 2014

[Herald Interview] Curative powers of the novel

Can the perplexed teenager Holden Caulfield in “The Catcher in the Rye” or the Finch siblings in “To Kill a Mocking Bird” or the scandalous Anna Karenina of the eponymous novel help people cope with mental or emotional problems?The answer is yes for the bibliotherapists Ella Berthoud and Susan Elderkin, who believe that suitable fiction can heal, inspire and transform readers and provide new life perspectives. Bibliotherapists prescribe novels instead of medicine or counseling to cure life’s ail

Dec. 22, 2014