All About Books | NET Radio

Charles Stephen reviews two new books. "Eaarth: Making a Life on a Tough New Planet," by Bill McKibbin, argues that we should consider the planet a very different place as a result of man"s cumulative negative impact on the environment. "Portabello," by Ruth Rendell, is the lastest offering from Britain"s "Queen of Mystery Writers."

Guest reviewer Clay Naff looks at "Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human," a readable book which proposes that it was fire and cooking that was the transformational event in human history. Also reviewed, "The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest," the third and final book in the immensly popular mystery series by the late Swedish author Stieg Larsson.

Charles Stephen reviews "Work Song," a novel by Ivan Doig set in the mining town of Butte, Montana in the years following WWI. Also reviewed, "Dubai- Guilded Cage," a critical expose of the world's latest "city of greed and luxury."

Guest reviewer Don Hanway looks at "Alec Cross's Trial" by James Patterson. This is an historical novel set in the South during the early 20th century in which a white lawyer defends an African American. Also reviewed, "The Grimm Reader," 40 of the Brothers Grimm's famous and not so famous stories in a new collection.

Charles Stephen reviews two books: "Hitch 22: A Memoir," is a brief autobiography by the noted intellectual and critic, while "Spies of theh Balkans"is a new espionage thriller by Alan Furst set in Greece at the outset of WWII.

Guest reviewer David Williams looks at "The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine." Williams, the author of several financial bestsellers, explores the recent Wall Street collapse.

Charles Stephen peruses "A Reader on Reading," a collection of essays from novelist and critic Alberto Manguel about the power of words. Stephen also unfolds "Freedom Summer: The Savage Season That Made Mississippi Burn and Made America a Democracy" by Bruce Watson, an account of the events of the summer of 1964 in Mississippi, when American college students travelled south to support the Civil Rights Movement.

Guest reviewer Steve Griffith looks at "A People's History of Christianity" by Diana Butler Bass. Also reviewed, Sebastian Junger's "War," an account of the author's time as an embedded journalist with the military in Afghanistan.

Charles reviews three books. "Hunting Evil," by Guy Walters, is an account of the quest to bring to justice Nazi war criminals who escaped the allies after World War II. Marie's Home, by Douglas Pope, is about a young girl who lives along the Platte River in Nebraska, grows up to become a wildlife manager, and eventually returns to Nebraska. Also reviewed, "Like No Other Place," by David Owen, a beautiful, photo-filled book about the Nebraska Sandhills.

Guest reviewer Pat Stephen looks at "The Help" by Katherine Sockett. This novel, set in the 1960s, is about the growing sensitivity of a white woman in Mississippi to the lives of the black women who work in the homes of white women like her. Also reviewed, "Yalta: The Price of Peace," a scholarly yet readable history of the 1945 Yalta conference that set the stage for balance of world power during the remainder of the 20th century.

"Innocent," by Scott Turow, is a novel that picks up 22 years after the events of the author's best selling legal thriller, "Presumed Innocent." Also reviewed, "Young Romantics," by Daisy Hay, a look at the tangled and intertwined lives of the 19th century English poets Shelley, Keats, Byron and others.

Guest reviewer Pat Leach unveils "Provenance: How a Con Man and a Forger Rewrote the History of Modern Art" by Laney Salisbury and Aly Sujo, the true story of how fake masterpieces with altered paper trails successfully escaped detection for a decade. Charles Stephen spotlights "Truth," a gritty new crime novel by Australian author Peter Temple.

Charles Stephen tracks down "Agents of Treachery," a collection of original short spy stories by various authors. Stephen also reviews "Merchants of Doubt: How a Handful of Scientists Obscured the Truth on Issues from Tobacco Smoke to Global Warming" by Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway, which names names and explores seven issues that have been subject to drummed-up controversy.

Guest reviewer Rev. Don Hanway meditates on "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression into Opportunity for Women Worldwide" by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn, a wide-ranging and well-written examination of women's rights situations all over the world. Charles Stephen looks at "Becoming a Doctor: From Student to Specialist, Doctor-Writers Share Their Experiences" from editor Lee Gutkind, an insightful collection of essays exploring the process of becoming a medical professional.

Charles Stephen checks out "Parisians: An Adventure History of Paris" by Graham Robb, a series of true narratives about Paris from the Revolution to the 21st Century. Stephen also considers "Franklin Pierce" by Michael F. Holt, a short biography of the not-so-well-regarded 14th President.