In six weeks during April and May 1915, as World War I escalated, Germany forever altered the way war would be fought by introducing three new weapons of mass destruction: the zeppelin, the torpedo, and poison gas. In A HIGHER FORM OF KILLING, celebrated historian Diana Preston links these events for the first time, revealing […]
Tag: war
Happy Belated #BookBday (2/18/15 Edition)
D’oh! We were so excited about our YA titles yesterday we forgot to wish happy #BookBday to these shiny, new books: THE REBELLION OF MISS LUCY ANN LOBDELL by William Klaber Journalist Klaber’s fictionalized memoir of the nineteenth-century woman known as both Lucy Ann and Joseph Israel Lobdell has two fabulous starred reviews: “Covering the […]
Happy #BookBday (8/26/14 Edition)
Happy #BookBday to these fabulous new titles: LOCK IN by John Scalzi Scalzi’s near-future thriller landed on the August 2014 LibraryReads list and received three starred pre-publication reviews, like this one from Kirkus: “This SF thriller provides yet more evidence that Scalzi is a master at creating appealing commercial fiction.” FIVES AND TWENTY FIVES by […]
B&N Fall 2014 Discover Picks
Barnes & Noble recently announced their Fall 2014 selections for the Discover Great New Writers program and several Macmillan titles made the cut! FIVES AND TWENTY FIVES by Michael Pitre We can’t stop talking about former marine Pitre’s deeply affecting debut novel about three men from a road repair platoon in Iraq and the struggles they […]
For Your Consideration: October LibraryReads titles
Download, read, and nominate our favorite titles now for the October 2014* LibraryReads list! *Nominations are due September 1 LILA by Marilynne Robinson Pulitzer Prize-winning author “Robinson has created a tour de force” (Booklist, starred review) with the final volume in her Gilead trilogy, LILA. It’s already received two starred reviews and has a major […]
Maximum Shelf: FIVES AND TWENTY FIVES
“I didn’t set out to write a book with a message or a moral. This really was just a story I had to tell. But along the way, I stumbled across the idea of people finding each other in their shared frailty. We’re at our most human when we can recognize our dread, and our […]
Booklist Book Clubs Abuzz webinar
Yesterday Talia “the troublemaker” Sherer highlighted her favorite titles during Booklist‘s Book Clubs Abuzz webinar. If you were lucky enough to listen in you chuckled at her jokes and cringed at her awful songs. If you missed out, don’t worry—we’ve got Talia’s top picks and a link to the archived webinar below. Fiction: For Women, […]
Friday Reads (3/28/14 Edition)
We've got some all-star picks for today's #FridayReads:
WAR! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?: Conflict and the Progress of Civilization from Primates to Robots by Ian Morris
“War!.... / What is it good for? / Absolutely nothing,” says the famous song—but archaeology, history, and biology show that war in fact has been good for something. Surprising as it sounds, Morris argues that war has made humanity safer and richer.
“Drawing on the work of Jared Diamond and Steven Pinker and myriads of others, Morris relentlessly develops his thesis, which never decreases in discomfort, though it does become more convincing. A disturbing, transformative text that veers toward essential reading.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“...erudite yet compulsively readable... Throughout this rare mixture of scholarship, stunning insight, and wit, Morris cites the widely divergent opinions of past philosophers and scholars, and, though he makes his case convincingly, future (and, oh yes, the future is projected) students, readers, and critics of this book are likely to continue the fascinating argument Morris raises here. WAR! WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? appeals to (indeed, may broaden) the large audience that has made Jared Diamond’s GUNS, GERMS, AND STEEL, much quoted in it, a modern classic and should join it on personal and library bookshelves.” — Booklist, starred review
LIFE OF THE AUTOMOBILE by Steven Parissien
The first all-encompassing narrative history of how the car—and the flamboyant entrepreneurs, shrewd businessmen, and gifted engineers behind it—shaped the world.
“This elegant and authoritative work demonstrates the historical links among people, machines, and cultures on a global scale. For readers who enjoy investigations into social, intellectual, business, technological, or transportation history—as well as dedicated car buffs.” — Library Journal, starred review
“From the Ford Model T to the Chevrolet Volt, Parissien covers every detail, including the sketchy safety and environmental record and a nod to the future of green technology.” — Booklist, starred review
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BITTER EDEN – “a jewel of a tale…”
Today we want to tell you about a little gem that might not be on your radar: BITTER EDEN by Tatamkhulu Afrika, one of South Africa’s most revered poets. Based on the author’s own capture in North Africa and his experiences as a prisoner-of-war in World War II in Italy and Germany, this frank and beautifully wrought novel deals with three men who must negotiate the emotions that are brought to the surface by the physical closeness of survival in the male-only camps.
We have early rave reviews:
“Afrika explores these relationships in depth, creating a remarkably honest and moving book. Originally published shortly after the author’s death in 2002 and based on his experiences as a POW in WWII, BITTER EDEN is a beautifully crafted, absorbing read, a careful examination of human relationships, and a rare glimpse into the complexities of life in wartime.” — Booklist
“Such a powerful, melodic, urgent and honest story of suffering, love and survival I have never quite encountered before. This is a jewel of a tale—a vital and raw piece of the true human experience—and it needs to never be forgotten. I am honored to have read it, and will pass it along to many others.” — Elizabeth Gilbert, New York Times-bestselling author of THE SIGNATURE OF ALL THINGS and EAT PRAY LOVE
BITTER EDEN is available on NetGalley. Email library@macmillanusa.com (subject line: BITTER EDEN) to get pre-approved for an e-galley. Even though BITTER EDEN is not available on Edelweiss, you can still nominate it for LibraryReads. Read our LibraryReads FAQ for more information.
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Veteran’s Day!
In honor of Veteran’s Day we’d like to share with you poignant novels and war-time accounts from award-winning authors:
THE GOOD SOLDIERS and THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE by David Finkel
In these companion works, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Finkel chronicles the Iraq War through the eyes of the soldiers of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion. Named a Best Book of the Year by The New York Times, The Chicago Tribune, The Boston Globe, The Christian Science Monitor, and many more, THE GOOD SOLDIERS is a new classic on war. In THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE, Finkel reconnects with the men of the 2-16 Infantry Battalion and follows them as they returned home and struggle to reintegrate into their family lives and into American society at large. As with THE GOOD SOLDIERS, it's received outstanding reviews and critical attention.
SPARTA by Roxana Robinson
In Robinson's novel, a young man drawn by the appeal of furthering a long tradition of honor, courage, and commitment enlists to serve in the Iraq War. Upon his return home four years later, he finds it nearly impossible to adjust to "normal" life and fears that the bitterness and rage he's festering will cause irreparable damage when it comes out.
BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME: An Oral History of New York City's Vietnam Veterans by Philip F. Napoli
In the spirit of Tom Brokaw’s THE GREATEST GENERATION, Napoli’s collection of oral histories from New York’s Vietnam vets humanizes the men and women who sacrificed for our country in a deeply troubling war. "Riveting... BRINGING IT ALL BACK HOME crackles with the kind of extraordinary voices Studs Terkel mined from ordinary people." – New York Daily News
MARSHLANDS by Matthew Olshan
In his first novel for adults, Olshan reveals the story of a prisoner who was formerly a doctor in a culture virtually snuffed out under Saddam Hussein. Transcending fiction, MARSHLANDS is a gripping and deeply moral investigation into our own history as occupiers and the myths we spin around it. [...]
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