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Reviews

Reviews

by Donald McCaig - Fiction, Historical Fiction

On the Caribbean island of Saint Domingue, an island consumed by the flames of revolution, a senseless attack leaves only one survivor --- an infant girl. What follows is the sweeping tale of Ruth’s life as shaped by her strong-willed mistress and other larger-than-life personalities she encounters in the South. Here is a remarkable story of fortitude, heartbreak and indomitable will --- and a tale that will forever illuminate your reading of GONE WITH THE WIND.

by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz - Biography, History, Medicine, Nonfiction

Cristin O’Keefe Aptowicz chronicles the life of Dr. Thomas Dent Mütter, a Philadelphia plastic surgeon who revolutionized the face of American surgery and founded a museum of medical oddities. An eccentric innovator, Mütter pioneered the use of ether as anesthesia, the sterilization of surgical tools, and a compassion-based vision for helping the severely deformed. DR. MUTTER'S MARVELS offers both a biography of this unconventional doctor and a revealing portrait of 19th-century medicine.

by Jeff Hobbs - Biography, Nonfiction

When author Jeff Hobbs arrived at Yale University, he became fast friends with the man who would be his college roommate for four years, Robert Peace. Robert’s life was rough from the beginning in the crime-ridden streets of Newark in the 1980s. But Robert was a brilliant student, and it was supposed to get easier when he was accepted to Yale. But it didn’t get easier. Robert carried with him the difficult dual nature of his existence, “fronting” in Yale and at home.

by Daniel J. Levitin - Nonfiction, Psychology

The information age is drowning us with an unprecedented deluge of data. At the same time, we’re expected to make more --- and faster --- decisions about our lives than ever before. But somehow some people become quite accomplished at managing information flow. In THE ORGANIZED MIND, Daniel J. Levitin, PhD, uses the latest brain science to demonstrate how those people excel --- and how readers can use their methods to regain a sense of mastery over the way they organize their homes, workplaces and time.

by Edward Dolnick - History, Nonfiction

In the spring of 1848, rumors began to spread that gold had been discovered in a remote spot in the Sacramento Valley. A year later, newspaper headlines declared "Gold Fever!" as hundreds of thousands of men and women borrowed money, quit their jobs, and allowed themselves to imagine a future of ease and splendor. In THE RUSH, Edward Dolnick recounts their treacherous westward journeys by wagon and on foot, and takes us to the frenzied gold fields and the rowdy cities that sprang from nothing to jam-packed chaos.

by Tom Clavin - History, Nonfiction

From the racetracks of Seoul to the battlegrounds of the Korean War, Reckless was a horse whose strength, tenacity and relentless spirit made her a hero amongst a regiment of U.S. Marines fighting for their lives on the front lines. Tom Clavin, the bestselling co-author of THE HEART OF EVERYTHING THAT IS, tells the unlikely story of this racehorse who was beloved by the Marine Corps and decorated for bravery.

by Robert Timberg - Memoir, Nonfiction

In January 1967, Robert Timberg was a short-timer, counting down the days until his combat tour ended. He had 13 days to go when his vehicle struck a Viet Cong land mine, resulting in third-degree burns of his face and much of his body. He survived, barely, then began the arduous battle back, determined to build a new life and make it matter.

by Peter Duffy - History, Military, Nonfiction

Before the United States joined World War II, the FBI uncovered a ring of Nazi spies in New York City, and President Franklin Roosevelt declared J. Edgar Hoover as America’s spymaster. As war began, a naturalized German-American was recruited by Nazis to convey messages to Germany. This man, William G. Sebold, approached the FBI and became the first double agent in the Bureau’s history, and the investigation led to the arrest of 33 enemy agents.

by Piers Dudgeon - Biography, Nonfiction

Maeve Binchy's heartwarming tales of love, life and loss made her one of America’s best-loved storytellers. Her novels, which sold more than 40 million copies worldwide, captured imaginations on both sides of the Atlantic in a way that most authors only dream of. In this extraordinary biography, Piers Dudgeon reveals that the inspiration for many of her stories came from Maeve’s own hard-won experience growing up in Ireland.

by Marja Mills - Memoir, Nonfiction

TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD is one of the best loved novels of the 20th century. But for the last 50 years, the book’s celebrated author, Harper Lee, has said almost nothing on the record. Journalists have trekked to her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, where she has lived with her sister, Alice, for decades, trying and failing to get an interview with the author. But in 2001, the Lee sisters opened their door to journalist Marja Mills. It was the beginning of a long conversation --- and a great friendship.