Winner of ‘Waiting for Columbus’

February 22, 2010 News and Notes
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Thank you to everyone for entering my contest to give away a signed copy of Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk. After counting the entries and turning to the random number generator, the winner is…

Jeanne from Necromancy Never Pays!

Congrats Jeanne, and the book is on the way :)

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The Sunday Salon: Esquire’s Profile of Roger Ebert

February 21, 2010 News and Notes
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After a bit of a morbid week on the blog (I reviewed The Great Starvation Experiment and The Poisoner’s Handbook), I wanted to post something a little more cheerful today.

If you haven’t read it yet, Esquire’s recent feature of film critic Roger Ebert written by journalist Chris Johnson is just beautiful. I guess it’s a little sad, but it’s also well written, funny, and shows just how powerful a well-done journalistic profile can be. I can only wish to write something this lovely someday.

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Review: The Poisoner’s Handbook

February 19, 2010 Book Review
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One Sentence Summary: In 1920s New York, two forensic scientists started a cat and mouse game with criminals to detect and prove the use of poison for murder.


One Sentence Review: Blum’s book combines murder, mystery, and easy-to-understand chemistry into an easy to read package.

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5 Easy Tips for Taking Notes While You Read

February 17, 2010 Musings
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One of my goals in the last two years has been to take good notes while I read. I’ve found having notes helps when I start to write reviews because I have ideas, quotes, and impressions jotted down already.

A few people have mentioned they can’t seem to take notes while they read, so I wanted to write a post with five easy tips on how to get in the habit.

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Review: The Great Starvation Experiment

February 15, 2010 Book Review
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One Sentence Summary: Near the end of WWII, 36 young men volunteered to starve themselves as part of an experiment to understand the basics of human nutrition needs.


One Sentence Review: The book is at it’s strongest when focusing on the experiment and the experiences of the subjects, but loses some momentum when it tries to step out and address too many large issues.

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Fear and Loathing and Admiration of Hunter S. Thompson

February 12, 2010 News and Notes
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Hunter S. Thompson is one of those writers a reader seems to either love or hate. I’ve never read Thompson for a number of reasons, but I always felt like I should if I planned to blog about literary journalism extensively.

A few months ago Care (Care’s Online Book Club) said she was starting her own John Cusack Reading Challenge, I was a little surprised to see Thompson’s giant book Fear and Loathing on the Campaign Trail ‘72 on that list. I mentioned I wanted to read the book too, and lo-and-behold a mini-read-a-long was born.

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Review: The Blind Assassin

February 9, 2010 Book Review
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Two Sentence Summary: Ten days after the end of WWII, Laura Chase drove her car off a bridge. Fifty years later, her older sister, Iris, tries to explain their lives and how the tragedy unfolded.

Two Sentence Review: I cannot think of a reason not to read this book. The Blind Assassin was awesome.

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The Sunday Salon: “Socialism is Great!”

February 7, 2010 Sunday Salon
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This has to be a pretty quick TSS post because I have people coming over to watch the Superbowl in a couple hours and I have cookies to bake and soup to make.

One of the best things about only taking two classes this semester is the extra time I’ve found to read. Yesterday I was able to finish “Socialism is Great!” A Worker’s Memoir of New China by Lijia Zhang. This was the first book I decided to read off my Women Unbound reading list, and it was a good one.

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5 Questions About ‘Dracula is Dead’

February 4, 2010 Book Review
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Summary: As ambassador to Romania shortly after the end of Communist rule, Jim Rosapepe worked hard to help the country shed the image of an old, dark, haunted place and bring Romania into the 20th century and all that implies. His wife, Sheila, used her skills as a journalist to work with the Romanian people to make the transition possible. In this book, Sheila and Jim chronicle their time in Romania by taking the reader through each of Romania’s eight regions and the changes that have helped shape the country.

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Giveaway: Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk

February 2, 2010 News and Notes
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Last year and I read and loved Waiting For Columbus by Thomas Trofimuk. About a month ago, the author contacted me and offered to send a signed copy that I could give away here on the blog.

That’s right, I get to have a contest for a hardcover, signed copy of Waiting For Columbus! How exciting is that?

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