“The Journal of Best Practices may be one of the most unusual memoirs ever written. Author David Finch’s marriage was getting increasingly strained by his quirks and idiosyncrasies, which seemed perfectly normal to him. He finally discovered that he has Asperger’s Syndrome, a mild form of autism, which is more common than most people realize. His effort to …
“Blueprints of the Afterlife is a creative move away from the dragons, vampires and spaceships that dominate the sci-fi fantasy field. Set in a futuristic Seattle, corporate-sponsored armies do battle, medicine is dispensed by way of a version of the Internet, and a sentient glacier wreaks havoc on the continent. Imagine a Kurt Vonnegut treatment …
In 2003, Carolyn Olsen was president of the Shelton-Mason County Chamber of Commerce. Touring stores in the area, she met the owner of a shopping plaza in Shelton, who suggested that a bookstore would be a great tenant for his empty storefront. “I couldn’t get on it fast enough,” she says. “Nine months later we …
“Battle Hymn has raised a lot of hackles from people who think Amy Chua is telling them how to raise their children. But she’s not. She’s relating her experience with her own children and her commitment to being a Chinese tiger mother—strict, unwavering, focused. I, for one, thoroughly enjoyed it and recommended it to my …
