‘Tis by Frank McCourt

     After Frank McCourt’s Angela’s Ashes, one of the bleakest books I’ve ever read, I wasn’t sure what to expect from ’Tis. Frank McCourt was born in New York City, but moved back to Ireland with his family as a small child. The fact that young Frank, at the age of 19, was able to [...]

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The Vampire: A Casebook edited by Alan Dundes

Before I begin this review, let me say that all fans of either Bill – whose name is pronounced while simultaneously trilling like an idiot and shivering – or Edward Cullen – whose name is pronounced while sighing dreamily and simultaneously shivering – may stop reading here.  This review is for serious Wild Things. Adolescents [...]

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The Woman’s Field Guide to Exceptional Living by Corrie Woods

So you have the blahs, your life is moving nowhere, or worse still you’re in a holding pattern where your daily routines are so meticulously planned there is no room for spontaneity or change. Well, North Carolina author Corrie Woods has produced a refreshing little tome for women that extols them to move beyond ordinary [...]

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Consecrated Phrases: A Latin Theological Dictionary [2nd ed.] by James T. Bretzke

The Reverend James T. Bretzke is the Professor and Chair of the Department of Theology and Religious Studies at the University of San Francisco, and he has presented a very concise and informative volume of Latin phrases utilized in Church liturgy and practice. This slim volume covers many phrases familiar to Roman Catholics and Protestants [...]

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Charlatan: America’s Most Dangerous Huckster, the Man Who Pursued Him, and the Age of Flimflam by Pope Brock

Quacks have always been around, but Charlatan proves they have been especially prolific in the United States. Pride, vanity, and the endless pursuit of youth are human qualities that have helped quackery flourish. Charlatan is the story of the greatest con man of early twentieth-century America, John R. Brinkley, who exploited male vanity to build [...]

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Persepolis: the Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi

With hopes that it doesn’t reflect poorly on my intelligence, I must admit that I always have loved graphic novels (also known as comic books by certain cretins who don’t understand the art form). Persepolis certainly falls within the description of a graphic novel and is the story of Marjane Satrapi as she grew up [...]

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The Girls Who Went Away: The Hidden History of Women Who Surrendered Children for Adoption in the Decades Before Roe v. Wade by Ann Fessler

If you have preconceived notions of adoption and the young birth mothers forced to relinquish their children during the post World War II years in America, you’ll not have them when you finish The Girls Who Went Away.  This book grew from an audio and video installation project that Ann Fessler began in order to [...]

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Lost Christianities: The Battles for Scripture and the Faiths We Never Knew by Bart D. Ehrman

Well, this one sat on the nightstand for a long time, but it’s actually a really accessible book on the subject of Gnostic Christianities, although I must say for an outstanding introduction to Gnostic Christianity, someone would be best off to begin with Elaine Pagels’ most excellent, The Gnostic Gospels. However, Ehrman’s book is very [...]

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Prisoner of Tehran: A Memoir by Marina Nemat

  Marina Nemat was born in Tehran, Iran and grew up enjoying school, friends and summers at her family’s cottage on the Caspian Sea.  That all changed in 1979 when the Shah of Iran was exiled and the Ayatollah Khomeini became the leader of Iran.   At the age of 16, fed up with an endless barrage of political propaganda, she [...]

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