Books

Author George Packer uses Tampa to illustrate the housing crisis. Carriage Point was supposed to be a pleasant suburban neighborhood in Gibsonton, but not all planned homes were built and many others fell into foreclosure, causing a spiral of neglect, despair and decay.CHRIS ZUPPA | Times (2009)

Review: Tampa plays a part in 'The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America'

Anyone paying attention in the last few decades has seen upheaval and breakdown in American institutions — economic, educational, governmental and more. Often, we perceive them abstractly, in overview: housing crisis, financial meltdown, industrial outsourcing, income inequality, political polarization. In The Unwi …

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  1. Review: In 'And the Mountains Echoed,' Hosseini weaves tales of beautiful ambiguity

    Books

    Nuance is rare on the bestseller list. In most cases, ambiguity is stripped away to appeal to the greatest number and lowest common denominator. So it always renews my faith when a popular novelist shows a decided preference for moral complexity. It suggests that readers crave more than simplistic escape. Or perhaps it …

  2. Review: Stories in Rebecca Lee's 'Bobcat' pounce on the reader

    Books

    Rebecca Lee, a creative writing professor at the University of North Carolina at Wilmington, certainly entrenches her new book, Bobcat and Other Stories, in the world of academia. The collection includes an assortment of stodgy professors and naive students, as well as dreamy campus courtyards …

  3. What's David Sheff reading?

    Books

    Nightstand

    David Sheff

    On this Father's Day, author Sheff offers dads two pieces of advice. "First, if you think something is wrong, then something is wrong. Don't do what I did and be in denial, but along with that allow yourself to be what we all are — flawed,'' he said. Sheff's advice …

  4. Notable: Sports books for Father's Day

    Books

    Notable

    Happy Father's Day, old sport!

    For that last-minute Father's Day gift, or for dads with bookseller gift cards burning a hole in their pockets, here is a new crop of books about sports.

  5. Review: Tampa plays a part in 'The Unwinding: An Inner History of the New America'

    Books

    Anyone paying attention in the last few decades has seen upheaval and breakdown in American institutions — economic, educational, governmental and more. Often, we perceive them abstractly, in overview: housing crisis, financial meltdown, industrial outsourcing, income inequality, political polarization. In The …

    Author George Packer uses Tampa to illustrate the housing crisis. Carriage Point was supposed to be a pleasant suburban neighborhood in Gibsonton, but not all planned homes were built and many others fell into foreclosure, causing a spiral of neglect, despair and decay.
  6. Notable: As the muse requires

    Books

    Notable

    As the muse requires

    Three new books look at the nuts and bolts of the creative process.

  7. Review: Pinellas author's sophomore book as suspenseful as the first

    Books

    On Alder Avenue in Detroit in 1958, husbands go off every morning to work at the nearby factory, and their wives await them at 5:45 sharp in the evening, with supper on the table and the house pin neat.

  8. Review: Riding Camp for Girls reveals secrets slowly

    Books

    It may seem improbable these days, but for 15-year-old Thea Atwell, Florida is a kind of paradise: "My mother's family was New Florida, as those families were called, those that went there after the War Between the States when Georgia was no longer a tenable place to live. … My father's family was Old Florida, of …

  9. What's Tamara Waggoner reading?

    Books

    Nightstand

    Tamara Waggoner

    When we caught up with Waggoner, a teacher in the language arts department at Largo High, she already had her summer reading list perched on her nightstand ready for action. Waggoner, 43, has taught reading and English at the school for 17 years and also serves as a tutor …

  10. The buzz at Book Expo in New York

    Books

    NEW YORK

    What do Snooki Polizzi, Ann Romney, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Grumpy Cat have in common?

    People wait in line to have books autographed by their authors at Book Expo America, Thursday, May 30, 2013 in New York.