Magic for Beginners

Magic for Beginners (2005) by Kelly Link. Link writes strange, dreamlike stories about haunted closets, zombies, vampires, stone rabbits, and so much more. Her work is indescribable, so I can only ask you to read this book and tell me what you think. Grade: B+

Bachelor Boys

Bachelor Boys (2004) by Kate Saunders. Cassie, a young professional woman, is asked by her older friend Phoebe to find wives for Phoebe's two sons. But the plot is richer than that, for Cassie was practically raised by Phoebe, who was her next-door neighbor for her entire young life. And now Phoebe is dying, and she wants wives found for her two sons before she dies because she fears they won't be able to take care of themselves after she is gone. By turns sharply witty and warmly poignant, "Bachelor Boys" is an entertaining and rewarding read. It suffers only because it falls within the category of chick lit, and so is in some ways all too predictable. Grade: B

Shockwave

Shockwave: Countdown to Hiroshima (2005) by Stephen Walker. In this painstakingly researched volume, Walker explores a brief period in the summer of 1945, during which the first atomic bomb was tested and the second atomic bomb was dropped on Japan. He portrays both the wonder and the horror of this new category of weapon, talking to people who designed and delivered the bomb, and to survivors of the Hiroshima blast. Even though we know what happened, this angle on the history of the bomb makes compelling reading. Grade: B+

User I.D.

User I.D. (2005) by Jenefer Shute. Compulsively readable account of a New York teacher whose identity is stolen by a low-grade thief in California. The pair, victim and perpetrator, become locked in a sort of codependent relationship and, ultimately, they meet. Grade: A-

The Tender Bar

The Tender Bar: A Memoir (2005) by J.R. Moehringer. Deserted by his father, cared for by a loving mother who is barely able to cope, Moehringer at a young age turned to the men of a neighborhood bar to provide him with parenting. He made the best of it, and came to love the men, and the bar, as much as he might have loved his real father. Grade: A