Review by New York Times Review
EMPIRE OF COTTON: A Global History, by Sven Beckert. (Vintage, $17.95.) With gathering force in the 19th century, as plantations proliferated across the American South, the production of cotton has linked millions of people to the slave trade, fueled the Industrial Revolution and shaped the modern economy. Beckert illuminates this commodity's violent history in his study, one of the Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2015. ALL THE OLD KNIVES, by Olen Steinhauer. (Picador/Minotaur, $16.) Still brooding over a terrorist attack that occurred six years earlier, Henry Pelham, a Vienna-based C.I.A. operative, comes to California to visit a former agent (who is also a former lover). Both were working in Austria at the time of the attack, which some believe was executed with the help of someone inside the agency. Steinhauer presents all the action of this taut espionage thriller through their intimate dinner conversation. MY LIFE AS A FOREIGN COUNTRY, by Brian Turner. (Norton, $15.95.) Turner has written about his years in the Army, including deployments to Bosnia and Iraq, in two earlier poetry collections. In this lyrical and empathetic memoir, composed as a series of brief vignettes, he pairs his own wartime recollections with the imagined experiences of other veterans. THE GIRL WHO WAS SATURDAY NIGHT, by Heather O'Neill. (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, $16.) Nouschka and Nicolas are the twin children of a French Canadian singer celebrated for his quirky lyrics and heralded as an emblem of Québécois identity but who is an inept father. O'Neill's novel unfolds in gritty, bohemian corners of Montreal as the twins meet an eager filmmaker making a documentary about their family and attempt to escape their fame. THE LAGOON: How Aristotle Invented Science, by Armand Marie Leroi. (Penguin, $18.) Before heading his own school in Athens, the philosopher, whose contributions to science are often overlooked, lived on Lesbos, off the coast of modern Turkey, and was enthralled by the natural world. In this travelogue cum history, Leroi returns to the Aegean island and shows that a great deal of modern zoology and biology can be traced to Aristotle's observations and writing on the subjects. TRIGGER WARNING: Short Fictions and Disturbances, by Neil Gaiman. (Morrow/HarperCollins, $16.99.) Drawing inspiration from a wide range of sources (including Sherlock Holmes and tweets from his fans), many of Gaiman's collected tales are "lovingly steeped in established fictional worlds while artfully nudging them into unexplored territory," our reviewer, Andrew O'Hehir, wrote. BETTER THAN BEFORE: What I Learned About Making and Breaking Habits - to Sleep More, Quit Sugar, Procrastinate Less, and Generally Build a Happier Life, by Gretchen Rubin. (Broadway, $16.) A greater awareness of habits - those powerful, unconscious behaviors that Rubin calls the "invisible architecture of daily life" - can change lives in profound ways.
Copyright (c) The New York Times Company [December 27, 2015]
Review by Booklist Review
Gaiman here breaks his own rule of anthology structure. The 24 entries are a willy-nilly hodgepodge of contemporary horror, classic fantasy, poetry, and general imaginative musings sketched out by one of our time's most celebrated fantasy authors. For this, Gaiman asks the reader's indulgence and forgiveness in his equally meandering and captivating introduction (including perhaps one of the best and shortest of his stories). This collection will surely be absolved and thoroughly indulged in, as all but one of the included stories are previously published favorites that chill and enchant with worlds of meaning, serendipity, and intent. Black Dog is the lengthy newcomer here, taken from a director's cut of Gaiman's novel American Gods. The story caps off Gaiman's folktale-fed narratives by following a mysterious traveler through an English countryside still quietly ruled by the spirits of old religion. Those who want to greet and shake hands, or settle in for a conversational catch-up with Gaiman's delightfully dramatic minstrel's-tale-by-the-campfire style will love everything in Trigger Warning, naturally.--Francis, Chris Copyright 2015 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane) again delivers masterful compositions and style in his third collection. His decision to include poetry is vindicated by the concrete images in "Making a Chair" and the mournful tones of "Witch Work." Among the prose pieces are two works of stark horror: "'The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains...'" and "My Last Landlady." The experimental "ORANGE" and the collected internet project "A Calendar of Tales" represent the rewards of Gaiman's fearlessness in storytelling. He also includes shared-world tales, revisiting Sherlock Holmes in "The Case of Death and Honey" and Doctor Who in "Nothing O'Clock." In "Kether to Malkuth" Gaiman creates a new mythology with the flavor of science fiction, while "The Sleeper and the Spindle" is a delightful fusion fairytale that subverts tropes and creates a new sense of wonder. Both enthusiasts of short fiction and fans of Gaiman's longer works may approach this volume with confidence. Full of small and perfect jewel-like tales, this collection is a thrilling treasure. Agent: Merrilee Heifetz, Writers House. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Review by Library Journal Review
In this compilation, Gaiman (The Graveyard Book) brings together poems and short stories, some original and some built inside of existing fictional universes (including Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes, American Gods, and others). In his typical hauntingly beautiful and well-paced style, Gaiman bewitches listeners, crafting exquisitely detailed worlds and guiding us along the unfamiliar paths of familiar archetypes. Though every narrative is different, and at times some feel slightly out of place, each holds its own in captivating listeners and nudging the boundaries of natural and supernatural realities, leaving us with questions about the worlds into which we've glimpsed. Gaiman narrates his own work, which makes it feel particularly authentic, every pause and tonal shift deliberate and meaningful; unfortunately, some sections are very quiet, requiring occasional fiddling with the volume. VERDICT Both dedicated fans and those new to Gaiman's work will delight in the unexpected twists and turns of this collection.-Jeremy Bright, Georgia State Univ. Lib., Atlanta © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
The third collection of short fiction from a beloved modern mythmaker. Everything that endears Gaiman (The Ocean at the End of the Lane, 2014, etc.) to his legions of fans is on display in this collection of short stories (and the occasional poem): his gift for reimagining ancient tales, his willingness to get down into the dark places, his humor. Most of these stories have been published elsewhere, except for the new American Gods story "Black Dog" (which does not disappoint), but the collection as a whole does add up to something bigger than it seems (only partly because there's a TARDIS in it). Even the weakest of these tales have something to recommend theman image, a turn of phrase, a mood. And the strongest are truly extraordinary. There's the grim implacability of "The Truth Is a Cave in the Black Mountains," walking steadily on to its inevitable yet unexpected ending; there's the absurd Wodehouse-an charm of "And Weep, Like Alexander"; the haunting power of "The Man Who Forgot Ray Bradbury"; and the skin-crawling, slow-building creepiness of the love letter "Feminine Endings." Sherlock Holmes is here, explaining the real reason he started keeping bees, and Sleeping Beauty, twice, and our old friend Shadow, and even David Bowie, in a way. Full of all manner of witches and monsters and things that creep in the night, this collection will thoroughly satisfy faithful fans and win new onesif there's anyone out there left unconverted. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
