We're featuring two Editor's Choice reviews this week: Sentient by Jackie Higgins, a nonfiction book about the sensory perceptions of humans and animals, and Antoinette's Sister by Diana Giovinazzo, a historical novel about the sister of French queen Marie Antoinette.
We also have a new Wordplay and comments from our Book Club discussion of Kazuo Ishiguro's Klara and the Sun.
Thanks for reading,
Davina Morgan-Witts
BookBrowse Publisher
|
|
From the Jacket:
Klara and the Sun is a magnificent novel from the Nobel laureate Kazuo Ishiguro--author of Never Let Me Go and the Booker Prize-winning The Remains of the Day.
From the Discussion:
"This is one of my favorite books! It is so unusual and full of surprises. I hope my book club will be able to add this to our reading list!" - Anne C
"I don't typically read futuristic books but I decided to take a chance on Klara based on the reviews it received. I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the book, and how human Klara seemed. The symbolism was interesting, as were the philosophical questions of what it means to be human and to love." - margiec
"It was a page-turner, and it certainly makes for good thought-provoking conversations!" - Jessica F
|
|
Sentient
by Jackie Higgins
Reviewed by Elisabeth Herschbach
Over the course of the book, Higgins introduces readers to a menagerie of creatures—from peacock mantis shrimps and octopuses to orbweaver spiders, cheetahs and duck-billed platypuses—to illustrate the ingenuous sensory mechanisms our animal kin have evolved in adaptation to the world around them. In each case, these examples serve as a springboard for discussing parallels in the sphere of human perception, showing that our senses are both more powerful and more varied than we may commonly assume. Indeed, beyond touch, taste, vision, smell and hearing—the classic notion of five senses inherited from Aristotle more than 2,000 years ago—scientists now think we may have upwards of 22 senses and counting...
|
|
Antoinette's Sister
by Diana Giovinazzo
Reviewed by Maria Katsulos
Even though many people who pick up this book will know the ending of Marie Antoinette's life, fewer will know the details of Charlotte's. This intelligent queen was part of one of Europe's most powerful families; her mother, Maria Theresa, was the only female ruler of the Holy Roman Empire. Charlotte certainly follows in her mother's footsteps as she gains control of the kingdom of Naples, steering it to greater heights than ever before. Yet that is not to say that she is a perfect character. Especially after her sister's violent death, Charlotte takes her anti-France sentiment (which has led her to outlaw French customs and language in her court) a step further by imposing an authoritarian police state in order to prevent a popular uprising in Naples like the one that has just occurred in France. In her personal life, Charlotte is quick to judge, holds a grudge better than nearly any other character I have recently read, and uses her children's marriages for political gain. She certainly has her flaws. Yet it's hard -- impossible, I'd say -- not to root for her... continued
|
|
For Members: The BookBrowse Review |
|
- Books across borders: rebuilding the Gaza bookshop destroyed by bombing
- Publishers looking for answers to paper shortages
- Russia's war of words with Ukraine
- European book trade condemns Russia's attack on Ukraine
- Veritas Capital buying Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for $2.8 billion
- Waterstones acquires Blackwell’s, the UK’s biggest independent bookseller
|
|
Solve our Wordplay puzzle to reveal a well-known expression, and be entered to win the book of your choice or a 6-month membership to BookBrowse!
"A R Stone G N M"
|
|
The answer to the last Wordplay: T Road T H I P W G I
"The Road to Hell is Paved With Good Intentions"
Meaning: Most sources interpret this expression as meaning that good intentions are worthless unless followed up with action.
Some offer an alternative interpretation: that actions that are taken with good intent can have unintended negative consequences.
According to The Phrase Finder (phrases.org.uk), the expression is often attributed to the Cistercian abbot Saint Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153), but that provenance is suspect given the earliest reference to Saint Bernard is in a work written almost 500 years later...
|
|
With so many new books published every month, it's difficult to find the standouts, the ones which are really worth your time. This is why hundreds of thousands of readers rely on BookBrowse to do the hard work of sifting though the multitude of titles to find the most promising new books, with a focus on books that entertain, engage and enlighten. |
|
BookBrowse Highlights is one of our four free newsletters. We also offer Publishing This Week every Sunday, and Book Club News and Librarian News monthly.
|
|
|
1-408-867-6500
Toll Free: 1-800-745-5306 (US & Canada)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
