Monday, April 02, 2007
[Book Review] A YEAR IN THE WORLD by Frances Mayes
Nonfiction/Travel WritingJane Carter reviews A YEAR IN THE WORLD: JOURNEYS OF A PASSIONATE TRAVELLER by Frances Mayes (Broadway Books, 2006)
Frances Mayes, the popular author of Under the Tuscan Sun, once again writes with lyrical passion of her travels to twelve new places across Western Europe and Africa.
Actually, this narrative spans a five year period, in which Mayes and her husband sample everyday life through each region’s cuisine, gardens, and culture. Imagine being able to savor Naple’s pizza, Sicily’s seafood, Crete’s lamb, and Scotland’s shortbread, with a few recipes thrown in. You travel with the couple on the Aegean Sea, hike to archaeological sites, scour museums, and live among the inhabitants of every region, soaking up literary, architectural, and social history. This book is definitely for everyone, but particularly for armchair travelers who love to be transported and immersed with beautiful prose to exotic and unknown regions of the world.
Jane Carter, Collection Development
Read Doris Dixon's review of A YEAR IN THE WORLD
Labels: Nonfiction, Reviews by Jane Carter, Travel Writing
Monday, February 26, 2007
[Book Review] DEEP STORM by Lincoln Child
Fiction/SuspenseJane Carter reviews DEEP STORM by Lincoln Child (Doubleday, 2007)
Lincoln Child, best known for coauthoring thrillers with Douglas Preston, has written an "unputdownable" literate, science fiction/adventure thriller that is certain to be a best seller for weeks to come. Former Naval doctor Peter Crane is summoned to an oil platform in the North Atlantic to diagnose a strange medical condition which is spreading through the personnel working in an advanced science research facility, Deep Storm, built two miles beneath the ocean. He is sworn to secrecy and can reveal nothing concerning this top-secret research and excavation of an ancient site – you guessed it – Atlantis. Scientists and technicians are experiencing violent psychotic episodes, which have no explanation, and then there is a saboteur who threatens the safety of the project. This novel could be interpreted as a cautionary tale about artificial intelligence but I also found it to be a suspenseful, highly entertaining read. If you like a fast-paced plot, with lots of twists and turns and a terrifying climactic ending, this is definitely the book for you.
Jane Carter, Collection Development
Labels: Reviews by Jane Carter, Suspense
