Books: Literary Review Of Canada – October 2022
Tag Archives: Previews
Reviews: ‘The Book Report’ Best Reading For Fall 2022
When Abdulrazak Gurnah won the Nobel Prize in literature last year, most Americans had never read anything by this fascinating author.
Born in 1948 in Tanzania, Gurnah fled to England after the 1964 uprising in Zanzibar. Over the years, he’s written 10 critically-acclaimed novels.
The latest, “Afterlives” (Riverhead), offers an intimate look at village life in East Africa during the period of German colonialism at the start of the 20th century. This is a book that reclaims forgotten history and honors lost people in a way that’s heartbreaking and revelatory.
“Afterlives” by Abdulrazak Gurnah (Riverhead), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
Maggie O’Farrell’s novel “Hamnet,” about the death of William Shakespeare’s only son, was one of the best books of 2020.
Now O’Farrell is back with “The Marriage Portrait” (Knopf), a terrific historical thriller that drops us into the panicked mind of a teenage girl who knows her husband is plotting to kill her.
The girl is Lucrezia de’ Medici, immortalized by Robert Browning’s poem, “My Last Duchess.” History tells us she died in 1561 before she could celebrate her first anniversary, but O’Farrell will have you guessing ’til the very last page.
“The Marriage Portrait” by Maggie O’Farrell (Knopf), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available September 27 via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
What if Americans elected a narcissistic psychopath to the White House?
Some people might say we’ve already seen what that would be like. But James Patterson’s breathless new thriller, “Blowback” (Little, Brown), takes that scenario to the brink of World War III.
Written with Brendan DuBois, “Blowback” imagines a president determined to defeat America’s enemies once and for all.
A pair of secret agents are honored to help the president’s plan – until they realize he’s about to destroy the country.
“Blowback” by James Patterson and Brendan DuBois (Little, Brown and Company), in Hardcover, Large Print Trade Paperback, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
Mary Rodgers, who died in 2014, lived her life in the melodies of American musical theater. She was Richard Rodgers’ daughter, composer Adam Guettel’s mother, and Stephen Sondheim’s friend – and she was an accomplished composer and author herself.
Now, all these wonderful stories take center stage in “Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), written with New York Times theater critic Jesse Green.
Through painful relationships and happy ones, disappointments and successes, Rodgers is never anything but candid, forgiving and witty. So, take a seat and let the curtain rise.
“Shy: The Alarmingly Outspoken Memoirs of Mary Rodgers” by Mary Rodgers and Jesse Green (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), in Hardcover, eBook and Audio formats, available via Amazon, Barnes & Noble and Indiebound
Follow @JesseKGreen on Twitter
Books: Kirkus Reviews – September 15, 2022 Issue
An Athlete and Activist Shares His Story With Kids
Here is the truly amazing thing that few people besides Tommie Smith remember about his gold medal–winning 200-meter run in the 1968 Olympics: He broke the world record in just under 20 seconds on one good leg.
‘The Rushdie Affair,’ Back in the News
As we were editing our Sept. 15 issue in mid-August, news broke that author Salman Rushdie had been attacked at a lecture in western New York state. The story sent shock waves through the literary community—a stark reminder that violence can lurk in the corners of literary debate. Rushdie is the author of many works of fiction and nonfiction and is most celebrated for his 1981 novel, Midnight’s Children, a kaleidoscopic epic of Indian life after independence that won the Booker Prize as well as two subsequent honors, the Booker of Bookers in 1993 and the Best of the Booker in 2008.
Research Preview: Science Magazine – Sept 16, 2022
Seasonal monsoon rainfall replenishes groundwater reserves in the Bengal basin of Bangladesh thanks to the region’s seemingly counterintuitive intensive dry-season irrigation practices, a new Science study finds.
Europe’s energy crisis hits science hard
Supercomputing and accelerator centers struggle with surging gas and electricity prices
Private venture tackles Long Covid, aims to test drugs soon
Initiative to explore whether coronavirus lingers in patients
U.S. Antarctic Program has ignored sexual harassment
Decades of complaints have gone unheeded by NSF and contractors managing operations, employees say
Polio returns in rich countries, but big outbreaks are unlikely
As New York state declares an emergency, experts are far more worried about a resurgence in low-income countries
Read that and more in this week’s issue: https://fcld.ly/dt1xr77
Covers: New York Review Of Books – October 6, 2022
The October 6 issue is online now, with Bill McKibben on the climate refugee crisis, Hermione Lee on Joseph Roth’s violently mixed feelings, Linda Greenhouse on Justice Breyer’s most powerful dissent, Jerome Groopman on diabetes, Leslie T. Chang on narrative nonfiction in China, Ange Mlinko on H.D., David S. Reynolds on séances in the Lincoln White House, Verlyn Klinkenborg on the Beach Boys’ moment in the sun, Erin Maglaque on the pope’s astronomer, Mark Danner on the long, slow Trump coup, a poem by Vona Groarke, and much more.
Where Will We Live?
Three books on the movement, of both humans and wildlife, spurred by climate change illustrate the magnitude of the challenge before us.
Nowhere Left to Go: How Climate Change Is Driving Species to the Ends of the Earth – by Benjamin von Brackel, translated from the German by Ayça Türkoğlu
Nomad Century: How Climate Migration Will Reshape Our World – by Gaia Vince
Border and Rule: Global Migration, Capitalism, and the Rise of Racist Nationalism – by Harsha Walia
Poet of the Dispossessed
Joseph Roth was unwavering in his passion for the vanished Austro-Hungarian Empire, which inspired his greatest novel, his hatred of nationalism, and his prophetic and courageous loathing for the Nazis. About everything else, as a new biography shows, he had violently mixed feelings.
Endless Flight: The Life of Joseph Roth – by Keiron Pim
Preview: Offshore Travel Magazine – Fall 2022
The Fall 2022 Issue of OFFSHORE is hot off the press and ready to inspire! Join our editors on a luxury journey across Spain aboard the Costa Verda Express. Plus, enjoy the scenic drive through one of Ireland’s most famed routes and more!
Five of the best spots to see North America’s spectacular fall colours
Come mid-September, Canadians everywhere recognize the telltale signs of the autumn season. Cooler nights call for cosy knits, a dockside Caesar gets swapped for a glass of Cabernet Sauvignon, and in bustling cities and quiet towns alike, tree leaves begin to change colour, and eventually fall. An abundance of external influences like warmer or cooler temperatures make “peak” autumn colour
Previews: The Economist Magazine – Sept 17, 2022
Why the monarchy matters
The monarchy is an anachronism, yet it thrived under Elizabeth II. That holds lessons for her successor and for democracies elsewhere
Tech Reviews: The iPhone 14 + Dynamic Island (2022)
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pros have a new multitasking feature called the “dynamic island.” WSJ’s Joanna Stern went out to a real island to test the Pros’ new always-on screen cameras, including the new 48-megapixel main camera and the new action mode.
She also compares them to the more affordable iPhone 14. 0:00 Welcome to Joanna’s dynamic island 1:07 iPhone 14 screen size and tests: always-on and dynamic island 3:41 iPhone 14 camera specs and tests 4:58 iPhone 14 action mode tests 5:35 Emergency SOS and crash detection: the iPhone 14 features Joanna couldn’t test
Preview: Times Literary Supplement – Sept 16, 2022
This week’s @TheTLS , featuring @motionandrew, Claire Lowdon and Jane Ridley on Elizabeth II; @MirandaFrance1 on motherhood; @lindseyhilsum on the US’s catastrophic withdrawal from Afghanistan; @15thcgossipgirl on sex in the Middle Ages – and more.
2023 Reviews: Top Electric & Plug-In Hybrid SUVs (CR)
Alfa Romeo Tonale (2023)
The Tonale rounds out the trio of cars in Alfa Romeo’s small, stylish lineup, bringing small-SUV utility and a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) powertrain into the fold. Both the PHEV and the more conventional turbocharged, 2.0-liter gasoline versions of the Tonale will be all-wheel drive, showcasing an interior and exterior aesthetic that will be familiar to Alfa aficionados.
Chevrolet Blazer EV (2023)
The Blazer EV is based on GM’s Ultium platform that underpins the latest automaker’s electric models. This midsized SUV will meet the competition, notably the Ford Mustang Mach-E, Volkswagen ID.4, and Hyundai-Kia pair in terms of price, functionality, and range. It will be offered in several trims, initially starting with the 2LT trim for $47,595 with a 293-mile estimated range.
Fisker Ocean (2023)
The Fisker Ocean pure-electric SUV features a solar roof and a 17-inch center touchscreen that can be rotated 90 degrees for either a horizontal or vertical display layout. The interior, which features recycled materials throughout, seats five passengers.
Mercedes-Benz EQS SUV (2023)
The EQS SUV takes all the opulence and engineering marvel long associated with the Mercedes-Benz EQS sedan and applies these concepts to a large, three-row electric SUV. It comes standard in a rear-drive, one-motor configuration, with the 4Matic upgrade granting it all-wheel and two motors.
Boomers Daily 