Book Rec of the Day 5/9-5/13/2008

GROUP BIO

Doris Kearns Goodwin is one of nonfiction’s gifts to the world. Here she examines Lincoln’s political savvy in his choosing for allies disgruntled rivals William H. Seward, Salmon P. Chase, Edward M. Stanton, and Edward Bates, enlisting all three opponents in the Republication nomination of 1860 for important posts in his cabinet. The “rube” from Illinois won the respect and loyalty of these accomplished, urbane men, and together they put their skills and abilities to work in the service of a nation very much in need of leadership and vision.

TEAM OF RIVALS: THE POLITICAL GENIUS OF ABRAHAM LINCOLN, by Doris Kearns Goodwin (Simon & Schuster, 2005)

LAS VEGAS THRILLERS

What a brilliant idea: Michael Connelly, himself a brilliant mystery writer (City of Bones and Blood Work, among others), has collected 22 stories with the same setting, Sin City, by his favorite writers. Money, sex, greed, neon, and failure in the desert: It’s a winning formula, and you can bet on that.
Stories by James Swain, S. J. Rozan, Wendy Hornsby, Michael Collins, T. P Keating, J. Madison Davis, Sue Pike, Joan Richter, Libby Hellmann, Tom Savage, Edward Wellen, K. J. A. Wishnia, Linda Kerslake, John Wessel, Lise McClendon, Ronnie Klaskin, Ruth Cavin, A. B. Robbins, Gay Toltl Kinman, Micki Marz, Rick Mofina, and Jeremiah Healy.

	MURDER IN VEGAS: NEW CRIME TALES OF GAMBLING AND DESPERATION, edited by Michael Connelly (Forge Books, 2005)

HERSTORY

While George Washington strode out into the world, his wife, Martha, was quietly laboring in the background to bring balance to a republic that celebrated the common man yet needed decorum to gain respect in the rest of the world. And what of the sacrifices and contributions of Esther Reed and Sarah Bache, who raised more than $300,000 for Washington’s troops, or Abigail Adams, Aaron Burr’s mother, Benedict Arnold’s wife? They all played their parts in the nation’s most decisive era, and their stories needed to be told. Happily, Roberts has taken on the task and her labors have yielded a fascinatingly informative bestseller.

FOUNDING MOTHERS: THE WOMEN WHO RAISED OUR NATION, by Cokie Roberts (Harper Perennial, 2005)

OTHER WORLDS

John Pitt is a sensitive English lad of 18 who moves to Iran in the 1970s on something of a whim and installs himself there as an English-language teacher. The beautiful 17-year-old Shirin is one of his students, and their great love emerges against the backdrop of political unrest and the exotic land and history of Iran. The lovers have a child and share an uneasy bliss before being wrenched apart by war and its madness. Both Pitt and Shirin are complex, thoughtful characters, and Buchan’s prose is “supple and elegant” (Publishers Weekly). The Persian Bride was chosen as a New York Times Notable Book.

THE PERSIAN BRIDE, by James Buchan (Mariner Books, 2002)

STYLISH READ

Carmel Snow does not have the name-brand recognition that her protégée and rival Diana Vreeland has, but Snow’s life is equally fascinating and perhaps even more enjoyable for its fresh material. Born in Ireland, she went from her mother’s high-society dressmaking shop to work for Vogue in 1922. Ten years later, Snow went to Harper’s Bazaar, where from 1932 to 1957 she guided the magazine as editor-in-chief and worked with talented hirelings such as Man Ray, Richard Avedon, Truman Capote, and Andy Warhol, and, of course, the breathtaking couture of Balenciaga, Dior, Chanel, and Givenchy.

A DASH OF DARING: CARMEL SNOW AND HER LIFE IN FASHION, ART, AND LETTERS, by Penelope Rowlands (Atria, 2005)