Category: books
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Book review: Setting the Table by Danny Meyer
Setting the Table: The Transforming Power of Hospitality in Business by Danny Meyer My rating: 4 of 5 stars Danny Meyer has created an extremely successful restaurant empire that includes restaurants as varied as The Modern (in MOMA), Union Square Cafe, Blue Smoke, and Shake Shack. In his book, he relates how he built his…
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Book review: A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet
A Promise of Fire by Amanda Bouchet My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is an unusual cross-genre book–part fantasy and part romance. There is deeper character development and more sparkling dialogue than you find in most fantasy novels. The author also takes care in developing her world, although much of it is by inference…
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Book review: Blythe by John Kramer
Blythe by John Kramer My rating: 4 of 5 stars I have no idea how to classify this book–it’s as if the author of The Hunger Games trilogy went drinking with Friedrich Hayek (“The Road to Serfdom”) and C.S. Lewis, and they all decided to write a novel together (while drinking). 🙂 The book is…
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Book review: The Partner Track by Helen Wan
The Partner Track by Helen Wan My rating: 3 of 5 stars This is a loosely autobiographical story of a Chinese-American woman trying to make partner in a prestigious New York law firm and how the deck is stacked against those who aren’t white, male, and privileged. (At least, that’s the book’s premise.) There are…
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Book review: Heresy by Sharan Newman
Heresy by Sharan Newman My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the eighth in the Catherine LeVendeur mystery series. Overall, the series is fabulous. It is fabulous not only because of the depth and accuracy of the historical research but also because the series depicts the lives and conditions of Jews during the Middle…
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Book review: A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh
A Presumption of Death by Jill Paton Walsh My rating: 4 of 5 stars I am a huge fan of the Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries by Dorothy Sayers, and I was cautiously optimistic when I discovered that there were additional mysteries written by Jill Paton Walsh based loosely on notes written by Dorothy Sayers. There…
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Book review: Satan’s Lullaby by Priscilla Royal
Satan’s Lullaby by Priscilla Royal My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is one of my favorite mystery series, and I hoard the author’s books until her next one comes out (I know–it’s a really bad habit). The actual mysteries in the series are somewhat secondary to the quality of the author’s research in the…
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Book review: Mary Russell’s War by Laurie King
Mary Russell’s War: And Other Stories of Suspense by Laurie R. King My rating: 4 of 5 stars I love this series. I love everything about this series. I love the fact that it’s Sherlock Holmes. I love the fact that Sherlock Holmes found an apprentice worthy of him. I love the fact that the…
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Book review: Everything Under the Heavens by Dana Stabenow
Everything Under the Heavens by Dana Stabenow My rating: 3 of 5 stars I bought this book because it is uncommon to find English language historical fiction books about China. This book takes place in 14th century China, at the end of the reign of Kublai Khan (the grandson of Genghis Khan). The main character…
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Book review: The Trouble with Dukes by Grace Burrowes
The Trouble with Dukes by Grace Burrowes My rating: 4 of 5 stars This is the first book I’ve ever read by Grace Burrowes, and I was very pleasantly surprised. (I know–I’m on a romance kick.) The characters are deftly drawn, especially the secondary characters, which made the book particularly enjoyable. I expect the hero…