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Books Noted

New, forthcoming, or just plain notable:


After Lyletown, by K.C. Frederick. The Permanent Press, July 2011. 208pp. $28.00.
(Amazon)

Dark Solus: An Assassin's Tale, by David Andrew Crawford. Eloquent Books, January 2011. 224pp. $26.50.
(Amazon)

All the King's Horses: An Expression of Depression (Vol. 3, anthology), includes contributors such as Sadie Frost, Nina Antonia, and Sarah MacManus. Little Episodes Publishing, March 2011. 128pp. $9.99.
(Amazon)

Green Bites: Ecological Musings from the Front, by John Vlahakis. New Leaf Distributing Co., March 2011. 250pp. $18.00.
(Amazon)

The Price of Guilt, by Patrick Garry. Kenric Books, May 2011. 254pp. $17.50.
(Amazon)

Take One at Bedtime, by Jenny Twist. Melange Books, LLC, June 2011. 108pp. $12.51.
(Amazon)

Midnight Sin, by Michael Tabman. Total Recall Publications, April 2011. 358pp. $19.95.
(Amazon)
Updated on: February 14, 2012
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berniE-zine - Featured Book Reviews

Still Life with Oysters and Lemon, by Mark Doty

by Bernadette Geyer on 01/24/12

Part memoir, part meditation, part art theory, Mark Doty's essay collection weaves historic and cultural references with anecdotes from the author's life as he considers his relationship with a single painting by Dutch artist Jan Davidsz de Heem. read the full review here

Full Moon on K Street: Poems about Washington, DC, edited by Kim Roberts

by Bernadette Geyer on 09/07/11

Not only has Washington, DC, served as home to many poets, but it has also served as the inspiration for many poems. In this anthology, Kim Roberts has collected one hundred poems inspired by this city.  read the full review here

The Financial Lives of the Poets: A Novel, by Jess Walters

by Bernadette Geyer on 07/26/11

Matt Prior gambled big when he quit his job to launch a web site that reported financial news in verse. Bills piled up, as did the size of his family's debt. With no stable job, a marriage on shaky ground, and a father with severe Alzheimer's, Prior stumbles into a more lucrative business -- dealing high-grade  marijuana to white-collared friends and former co-workers who don't know where to score it outside of a college campus. read the full review here

The Dissemblers, by Liza Campbell

by Bernadette Geyer on 07/05/11

"Once you admit to yourself that you want to be an artist, that you want nothing more in your life than to paint, you've taken a great weight upon your shoulders." These words, spoken by Ivy Wilkes, the protagonist of Liza Campbell's debut novel, prove to be quite prophetic as the burden of Ivy's own artistic desires drives her into the unseemly world of art forgery. read the full review here

Barney and Gienka, poems by John Surowiecki

by Bernadette Geyer on 05/12/11

In his previous poetry collections, John Surowiecki has proven to be a memorable voice with an ability to draw on the humorous aspects of even the most commonplace situations to create poems that delight as they resonate with authenticity. In this new collection, his poems take a much more personal and introspective turn as he focuses on his parents. read the full review here

Under the Jaguar Sun, by Italo Calvino

by Bernadette Geyer on 04/03/11

This collection of short stories was to include one story dedicated to each of the five senses, but Calvino passed away after completing only three: Taste, Hearing, and Smell. Calvino's widow, Esther, suggests the reader consider this work "not as something Calvino started and left unfinished but simply as three stories written in different periods of his life."  read the full review here

St. Patrick's Day Review - Ladies' Night at Finbar's Hotel

by Bernadette Geyer on 03/17/11

In honor of St. Patrick's Day, we're revisiting an older review of Ladies' Night at Finbar's Hotel, a collection of linked short stories by well-known Irish women writers including Emma Donoghue and Kate O'Riordan, edited by Dermot Bolger.  read the full review here

Water the Moon, poems by Fiona Sze-Lorrain

by Bernadette Geyer on 02/10/11

Published by Marick Press, this debut poetry collection features an array of subject matter as richly diverse as Sze-Lorrain's background. The poet's imagistic flights of fancy are grounded in the real and sensual world, and infused with heritage and history.  read the full review here

Beowulf, a new verse translation by Seamus Heaney

by Bernadette Geyer on 12/03/10

With his translation of Beowulf, Seamus Heaney has more than succeeded in bringing this epic poem into a contemporary language that will ensure the readability of the story by a wider populace for years to come. The result is a work that is poetic and beautiful without contrivance, yet avoids "dumbing down" the language.  read the full review here

Scavenge, poems by RJ Gibson

by Bernadette Geyer on 11/04/10

Co-winner of the 2009 Robin Becker Chapbook Prize, Gibson is like the ghosthunter in the abandoned factory as we readers hold our collective breath wondering what the flashlight's spot will illuminate next.  read the full review here

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