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September/October
2003 Book Sense 76 Picks
Unique and provocative
selections from a great diversity of voices...all personally recommended by
the independent booksellers of America.
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| New nonfiction in paperback |
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 The Bitch in the House
by Cathi Hanauer
"If there's a better snapshot of middle-class white women's lives today,
I'd like to see it. The essays collected in The Bitch in the House are
funny, smart, and meaningful. Read it for the absorbing peer inspiration; read
it to understand women in your life and the complexities they sometimes shield
from you; read it for an unabashed and clear vision of what family, love, self,
and work mean to these women." -- Joan Barberich, Food For Thought Books,
Amherst, MA
 Blue Latitudes : Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before
by Tony Horwitz
"What a fantastic book. It is a well-written, fascinating account of Captain
Cook and the colonization and devastation of the Pacific. And, of course, mixed
in with the grim and tragic is Horwitz's characteristic wit. I couldn't put it
down." -- Julia Green, Front Street Books, Alpine, TX
 Last Train to Paradise: Henry Flagler and the Spectacular Rise and Fall of the Railroad That Crossed Anocean
by Les Standiford
"I am as excited about this as I was about Longitude
and Isaac's
Storm. Standiford's narrative is as driven and engrossing as one of his
well-crafted mysteries. There is a keen and abundant interest in the histories
that happen between the lines." -- Mitchell Kaplan, Books & Books, Coral
Gables, FL
 Need for the Bike
by Paul Fournel
"Paul Fournel is an award-winning French novelist and a publisher, but equal
to these interests for him is his lifelong love of biking, which he whimsically
chronicles in this fun(ny) and fascinating book. Written in short, two- to four-page
chapters, it is the perfect book to take along on a ride, for reading during water
(wine?) breaks." -- Curt Witteveen, Annie Bloom's Books, Portland, OR
 Off to the Side: A Memoir
by Jim Harrison
"This is my favorite book by Harrison (I say that about each of his books)
because this beautifully written memoir is most like listening to him speak. I
found sentences on each page that break the world open, that glitter in the darkness.
The French are masters of the aphorism, but I don't know of any other contemporary
American writer who does it as well as Jim Harrison." -- Karl Pohrt, Shaman
Drum Bookshop, Ann Arbor, MI
 The Plot Thickens: 8 Ways to Bring Fiction to Life
by Noah Lukeman
"The
First Five Pages
has been on my shelf for a few years now; I always re-read it before I declare
anything done. The Plot Thickens, with all the intense character work,
is sure to become the book I read before I start anything. Lukeman's two titles
are enjoyable to read and teach me something every time I pick them up."
-- Scottie Hill, Kepler's Books & Magazines, Menlo Park, CA
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