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Featured Books of the Month
December 2001

FICTION

Fire And Ice, by Dana Stabenow Fire and Ice: A Liam Campbell Mystery
by Dana Stabenow


About Words Rating: 7 out of 10
About Words Review: It took a while to get into this series, of which there are three so far. It's not as good as the Kate Shugak series, but it is well worth reading, especially if you are an aviation or Alaska enthusiasist, or even just a mystery fan. As always, her characters are well-drawn and fascinating. However, you might spend most of this book, if not all, in a state of confusion about what is going on. The main character gets plunged headfirst into a small community which drags him around from one crazy situation to the next. There is definitely too much going on without understanding the context. It all gets straightened out in the end, though.
Even so, Dana Stabenow is one of the most talented mystery authors around. Every one of her books is well worth reading, including this one. And the next two books in this series revert back to the usual Stabenow excellence.

Amazon.com Review: Dana Stabenow won an Edgar Award for her books about Kate Shugak, a resourceful Indian woman living in Alaska. The series is full of respect for the landscape and the hard work it takes to survive in the far north. Now she starts a new series starring Liam Campbell, an Alaskan State Trooper with a troubled past and an uncertain future; the environmental issues of the 1980s appear to have been back-burnered in favor of the personal needs and feelings of the 1990s...[more]

 

NONFICTION

The End Of Time, by Julian Barbour The End of Time: The Next Revolution In Physics
by Julian B. Barbour


About Words Rating: 6 out of 10
About Words Review: This is one of the more fascinating physics books around. It's not one of the easiest to understand, however. You really will need a background in physics to understand it fully, which most people do not have. Kudos to Mr. Barbour for tackling a fascinating angle on a difficult subject, with an entertaining and down-to-earth style.

Amazon.com Review: In this provocative volume, Barbour presents the basic evidence for the nonexistence of time, explaining what a timeless universe is like and showing how the world will nonetheless be experienced as intensely temporal...[more]

 

FOR WRITERS ONLY

Stein On Writing, by Sol Stein Stein On Writing
by Sol Stein


About Words Rating: 10 out of 10
About Words Review: This is the absolute best writing reference book to be found. It is thorough, concise, practical, and above all, if you do what it says, it works!

Amazon.com Review: "The best reading experiences," says Sol Stein, "defy interruption." With Stein's assistance, you can grab your reader on page 1 and not let go until "The End." Stein--author of nine novels (including the bestselling The Magician) and editor to James Baldwin, W.H. Auden, and Lionel Trilling--offers "usable solutions" for any writing problem you may encounter. He is authoritative and commanding--neither cheerleader nor naysayer. Instead, he rails against mediocrity and demands that you expunge it from your work. Perhaps the concept of scrutinizing every modifier, every metaphor, every character trait sounds like drudgery. But with Stein's lively guidance, it is a pleasure...[more]


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