Reading
Reading
Map Quest
Sex gives way to self-reflexivity in Michel Houellebecq’s new novel
January 26th, 2012
Novelist Michel Houellebecq’s new, Prix Goncourt-winning book, The Map and the Territory (Knopf, $27), is a rather mild offering by Houellebecqian standards. There is less sex and heresy than in any of the novels since Whatever. Instead, there are liberties of a different order Read more »
Book Jacket
A Las Vegan’s memoir of television success is for fans only.
January 5th, 2012
I really don't know what to make of Mr. CSI, the new memoir from the TV show's creator Anthony E. Zuiker. The book, which was written with Todd Gold, doesn't really know what it wants to be. Is it a straightforward memoir? A behind the scenes look at a modern television phenomenon? A scrappy self-help book? A primer on surviving your dysfunctional family? Mr. CSI: How a Vegas Dreamer Mad a Killing in Hollywood One Body at a Time (Harper, $27) contains elements of all those things, but despite its best intentions, it never transcends its mongrel pedigree. On the plus side, Zuiker was raised in Las Vegas, so there's plenty of local appeal. Read more »
Librarian Loves
Salvage the Bones
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
January 5th, 2012
The 2011 National Book Award winner for fiction, Jesmyn Ward's Salvage the Bones (Bloomsbury USA, $24), recounts 12 days in the lives of a poor, motherless, rural Mississippi family as Hurricane Katrina builds up and then hits their dilapidated home. Read more »
Reading
One More Ace Up His Sleeve
When a publishing empire wasn’t enough, Cardoza tackled fiction with a gambler’s steely focus
December 22nd, 2011
Cardoza Publishing is the world’s largest publisher of gaming books, and the adjacent building, the Gambler’s Book Club, is the world’s largest bookstore devoted to gaming books. But the unassuming compound on Eastern Avenue near the airport reveals none of that. It looks like the converted residence it is. You’ll pass it a hundred times before you notice it once. Read more »
Book Jacket
Exegesis is nothing short of a religious experience—if you can handle it
December 22nd, 2011
I’ll be honest: I’m completely thrilled by the mere existence of The Exegesis of Philip K. Dick, edited by Pamela Jackson and Jonathan Lethem (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $40). It was one of my most highly anticipated reads of the year, and the finished product did not disappoint me. Read more »
The Librarian Loves
The Art of Fielding
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
December 22nd, 2011
’ve heard three people (two men and a woman) strongly recommend The Art of Fielding (Little, Brown & Co., $26) by Chad Harbach in just the last two days. Read more »
Book Jacket
Take a bite out of this epic biography
December 8th, 2011
There’s not a lot of dramatic tension in Steve Jobs, Walter Isaacson’s exhaustive, authorized biography of the brilliant Apple visionary, but that’s not Isaacson’s fault. Jobs, who died from complications of pancreatic cancer on Oct. 5, lived a very public life as the face of two hugely successful and profoundly influential companies: Apple and Pixar. Read more »
Reading
Librarian Loves: Naked in Death
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District
December 8th, 2011
The holiday season is a good time to indulge in delectable treats, and my secret indulgence is the In Death series by J. D. Robb (the pseudonym for prolific romance writer Nora Roberts). I wouldn’t be caught dead reading a romance novel (not that there’s anything wrong with them), but I’ve become hooked on this futuristic thriller series featuring street-tough police lieutenant Eve Dallas and sexy billionaire businessman Roarke. Read more »
Book Jacket
Will the awful Christmas Wedding break Patterson’s winning streak?
November 10th, 2011
James Patterson’s books have sold more than 230 million copies, and you just don’t post that kind of numbers without striking a real chord with your audience—the man seems to have a genuine knack for turning casual readers into rabid fans. Read more »
Librarian Loves
Brandwashed: Tricks Companies Use to Manipulate Our Minds and Persuade Us to Buy
Selected by Jeanne Goodrich, executive director for the Las Vegas-Clark County Library District.
November 10th, 2011
Believe it or not, cola marketing executives have figured out how many bubbles they need to depict in print and on store displays to get you to crave their soft drink. Read more »
