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Browsing all staff pick reviews written by 'Ruby Boggs'

Short Stories You Must Read

Title: Interpreter of Maladies
By: Jhumpa Lahiri

A well-written short story is a precious pearl and in this collection, you have a delicate string of pearls. Jhumpa Lahiri's collection, Interpreter of Maladies, won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000 and the PEN/Hemingway Award. Lahiri writes about people who are balancing the cultures and values of India and the ... [Read more]

Posted by Ruby Boggs on Oct. 7, 2010
Tags: short stories, fiction
1 Comment

The End is Coming?

Title: Good Omens
By: Terry Pratchett

Discworld’s Terry Pratchett and Sandman’s Neil Gaiman teamed up to develop one of Gaiman’s short story ideas into an engaging funny novel about Armageddon. If you are familiar with either of these authors, you are not surprised. Yes, strictly speaking, the Divine Plan does seem to be developing as written ... [Read more]

Posted by Ruby Boggs on Sept. 23, 2010
Tags: fiction, fantasy
3 Comments

Melting Pot of Gods and Goddesses

Title: American Gods
By: Neil Gaiman

American Gods offers an answer to the question: What happens to the gods of different cultures when their followers emigrate to the United States? Do the gods follow them? Do they have influence here? How do Norse gods get along with Aztec gods? Gaiman describes the journey of Shadow, traveling ... [Read more]

Posted by Ruby Boggs on Sept. 2, 2010
Tags: fiction, fantasy
2 Comments

The Wife of a Famous Man

Title: Song Without Words
By: Sophia Tolstoy

Leo Tolstoy's wife bore him 13 children. He scribbled his novels in notebooks that only she was able to read so she spent all night copying in a legible hand everything he wrote the previous day...think about THAT the next time you see a copy of WAR AND PEACE. But ... [Read more]

Posted by Ruby Boggs on June 11, 2009
Tags: history, biography, photography
1 Comment

Something to Make You Think

Title: Principles of Uncertainty
By: Maira Kalman

Maira Kalman is a wonderful whimsical artist who has drawn many colorful covers for the New Yorker and has written several slightly wacky delightful children's books including Ooh-La-La (Max in Love), Smartypants, and Fireboat, an excellent 9-11 children's book. You don't have to have seen her art or read her ... [Read more]

Posted by Ruby Boggs on May 26, 2009
Tags: non-fiction, biography
0 Comments

A Colorful History

Title: Color: A Natural History of the Palette
By: Victoria Finlay

Doesn't this sound like something that would be assigned in a dry history class? If you think so, you'd be wrong! Victoria Finlay, an excellent writer, has given us a history of the development of color in paint that is actually a page-turner. Extensively researched, we learn that each hue ... [Read more]

Posted by Ruby Boggs on May 2, 2009
Tags: non-fiction, history, biography, art
0 Comments

Perfect Book for a Long Flight

Title: Balzac and the Little Chinese Seamstress
By: Dai Sijie

This is a lovely funny book which can easily transport you from a cramped seat in economy to an elegantly constructed world in China. Set in the Chinese countryside during the Cultural Revolution, Sijie tells us the story of two city boys sent to be re-educated by poor peasants in ... [Read more]

Posted by Ruby Boggs on April 6, 2009
Tags: fiction
0 Comments