5/4/13
Robert Neer chooses the disturbing, iconic 1972 photo of Kim Phuc, a 9-year-old South Vietnamese girl — clothes seared off, "chunks of pink and black flesh … peeling off" her, screaming as she runs toward us on a road — as the horrific opening scene in his gripping, meticulously documented study of a devilish weapo …
Goyo Herrera, old and sick and angry, has only a couple of reasons to stay alive. Second among them is that "he didn't want to miss the pachanga in Miami when word spread of the tyrant's death. Other cities had disaster relief plans, backup generators, designated emergency shelters. Miami had a victory parade prepared …
Notable
No more Mr./Ms. Nice Guy
Guess which one of these self-help books is a parody; the other two are serious.
The chew-and-tell food memoir has subgenres. One is the behind-the-kitchen-door romp, like Anthony Bourdain's excellent Kitchen Confidential or Gabrielle Hamilton's Blood, Bones & Butter, which proves every restaurant entree comes with a free side of crazy sauce.
With few exceptions, characters in mysteries change and grow throughout the series. Not only does that reflect real life, but it also allows authors to stretch their storytelling skills.
Book Talk
Former Sen. Bob Graham discusses and signs his thriller, Keys to the Kingdom, at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at East Lake Community Library, 4125 East Lake Road, Palm Harbor.
Abandon common sense all ye who enter here.
You know them, or maybe you're one of them: the type of person for whom the most important thing in the world is to be interesting.
,TITLE: Malts & Milkshakes — 60 Recipes for Frosty, Creamy, Frozen Treats by Autumn Martin (St. Martin's Press, $17.99, 160 pages)
Notable
Maybe not, Mom
Three new books address questions like how to raise kids — or whether to have them at all.
On Mother's Day, every mom is a celebrity, at least to her family. These three new memoirs by well-known women explore their experiences with motherhood, as daughters, as mothers or both. Maya Angelou recalls a mother just as strong and unusual as the daughter she produced, although not always an easy mother to love. …
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