Poornima A

Poornima A

BookBrowse Reviewer
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BookBrowse Reviewer Poornima is a BookBrowse Reviewer and has written reviews featured in The BookBrowse Review.

Poornima is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and an award-winning journalist who lives in the greater Boston area. Trained as an engineer, she gradually made the shift to journalism after a brief stint as a technical writer. She loves to read and review literary fiction and narrative non-fiction and is most comfortable when her bedside stash of books looks like a Jenga pile. In addition to her editing responsibilities, she reviews for BookBrowse and publishes snappy 100-word-critiques of most of the books she reads on her blog, booksnfreshair.blogspot.com.

BookBrowse Editorial Reviews (121)

BookBrowse Editorial Review
November Road
by Lou Berney
(11/14/2018)
Gripping novels are founded on brilliant characterization and/or a nail-biting plot. November Road's portrait of Guidry falls into the usual "criminal with a heart of gold" cliche-ridden trap but Charlotte's slow evolution into a woman realizing her own power is a thing of beauty. Author Lou Berney is an Edgar-award winner and it shows. The story moves along at a compulsive clip and is powered by crisp and sharp writing.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Incendiaries: A Novel
by R. O. Kwon
(10/3/2018)
The slow burn focuses on just how systematically a life can spiral out of control and incinerate everyone in its wake. At its best, The Incendiaries teases out the subtle differences between religion and faith.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Winter Soldier
by Daniel Mason
(9/19/2018)
The Winter Soldier weaves a spellbinding story, which draws you into another world from the very first page. There is so much grandeur and sweep in these pages that you might be forgiven for not wanting to turn the last page.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The President's Gardens
by Muhsin Al-Ramli (Author), Luke Leafgren (translator)
(8/1/2018)
We might already know the cruel end that awaits Ibrahim but his life's story and those of his fellow citizens along the way make for a compelling narrative precisely because of their essential ordinariness. Occasionally the (translated) sentences feel a little belabored but they don't detract from this visceral and touching story of everyday lives carved hollow by war in a country the West largely seems to have forgotten.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Star of the North
(7/11/2018)
It's summertime. You're looking for an absorbing thriller while you flop at the beach. Bonus points if it's somehow tied to current events where a summit with "Little Rocket Man" has just migrated to the rearview mirror. You're in luck because Star of the North doesn't just have the advantage of being an engaging rollercoaster ride, it's also a story that's that much more relevant because it's set in a country that's got enough intrigue for mil
BookBrowse Editorial Review
A Lucky Man: Stories
by Jamel Brinkley
(5/16/2018)
The essence of A Lucky Man can perhaps be best summed up by Brinkley's approach to the craft of writing, in an interview he gave to The San Francisco Chronicle: "I finally got to the point where I'm taking...writing seriously, so what's the rush now? What's the point of bulldozing my way?" That measured attitude leads to less histrionics but more
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Overstory: A Novel
(4/18/2018)
Many glowing adjectives can be used to describe a novel by Richard Powers: brilliant, moving, mesmerizing. But one word succinctly captures the feeling I come away with every time I put a novel of his down: awe. Of course, given that I look forward to a new Powers novel just as eagerly as my daughter waited for the next in the Harry Potters series, I will be the first one to admit I come to the table already biased. But Powers meets my ridiculously high expectations every single time. He does it
BookBrowse Editorial Review
An American Marriage
(2/21/2018)
All told, An American Marriage is a memorable dissection of one of society's most venerable institutions. Hard work or not, Jones brilliantly shows us just how easy it is for things to go awry in the blink of an eye, even in a happy marriage let alone in a less-than-perfect one.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Grist Mill Road
by Christopher J. Yates
(1/24/2018)
Yates knows how to pack a mean punch and he does so delivering plenty of momentum. Right from those memorable opening lines, you will get swept along so smoothly you’ll barely notice the occasional bump.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Maze at Windermere
by Gregory Blake Smith
(1/24/2018)
By situating each set of characters squarely in history, Windermere succeeds in delivering a full-bodied portrait of the evolution of our very definition of status and what it really means to make it in the New World.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Improvement: A Novel
by Joan Silber
(11/15/2017)
With achingly real characters and sharp writing, Improvement is a reminder that our actions have real consequences that cannot always be predicted. The only comfort can be derived from living our best lives; putting one brave foot in front of the other every single day.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The King Is Always Above the People: Stories
by Daniel Alarcón
(11/15/2017)
The young and the restless. This moniker might well apply to the characters in this brilliant collection of short stories by Daniel Alarcon. Recently pronounced a Macarthur Genius, Alarcon revisits familiar territory here, returning to topics of displacement and familial expectations.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Sing, Unburied, Sing
by Jesmyn Ward
(10/4/2017)
"Watching the family grabs me inside, twists, and pulls tight. It hurts. It hurts so much I can't look at it," Richie once says. The same could be said of the reader as misery after misfortune seems to pile on thick for Jojo and his loved ones. Yet despite their trying circumstances, the novel is nowhere near bleak. In fact, just as the title promises, it sings — the ghosts and the cast of characters together create a beautiful and haunting melody, one that resonates long after the las
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Who Is Rich?
by Matthew Klam
(9/6/2017)
Who is Rich? For one thing, he’s a self-absorbed, middle-aged, mediocre white twit. Worse, he’s an unreliable narrator. But then again, as he reminds us, there’s no such thing as a reliable narrator anyway. The odds are certainly stacked against Rich as we dive into this captivating novel. Quite frankly, at first, I was convinced I was going to finish this book hating the spineless cretin. But here’s the reason why you should read this novel: I didn’t hate him — and you won’t either.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Confusion of Languages
by Siobhan Fallon
(8/2/2017)
The Confusion of Languages is about collision — across boundaries and between cultures for sure, but it also showcases the clashes that can develop between people bound together by marriage, vocation or circumstance... It is a sharp and brilliant meditation on the steep costs of coloring outside the lines, especially in an environment where conforming to the norm demands the difficult task of walking between two very straight and narrow perimeters.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Graybar Hotel: Stories
by Curtis Dawkins
(7/12/2017)
Despite the dark material, The Graybar Hotel never spirals into the depths of despair. The sharp writing and engaging narrators elevate the collection into an intelligent and eagle-eyed look at a part of the world most of us hope to never see.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness
by Arundhati Roy
(7/12/2017)
The Ministry of Utmost Happiness is a welcome addition to Roy’s fiction, even if it sometimes staggers under the yoke of its hefty political ambitions. Readers who don't know the subcontinent’s history needn’t worry, Roy’s prose is eloquent enough to paper over unfamiliar territory, even if the novel does sag in the middle as Roy tries to find her footing and corral the disparate story threads into a cohesive whole. Ultimately, ardent Roy fans won’t be disappointed, although they might gr
BookBrowse Editorial Review
What It Means When a Man Falls from the Sky: Stories
by Lesley Nneka Arimah
(5/17/2017)
Each story in Arimah's nuanced collection is tinged with the complexities of the human experience. The writer Junot Diaz once said that writing a short story was especially challenging because "you spend 16 years chefing in the kitchen, and all that's left is an amuse-bouche." But if the amuse-bouche is as glorious as Arimah's debut, all is forgiven. The result here is most definitely worth the labor.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Not-Quite States of America: Dispatches from the Territories and Other Far-Flung Outposts of the USA
by Doug Mack
(4/5/2017)
In the end, The Not-Quite States of America proves to be an absorbing ride into the history of the United States, regions of the country beyond the “sea to shining sea” narrative that very few Americans know much about. This is Mack’s greatest contribution – to give the territories their just place under the sun. That we get to go along for the turquoise waters and friendly people is icing on the cake.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Ghachar Ghochar
by Vivek Shanbhag (author), Srinath Perur (translator)
(3/22/2017)
Brilliantly translated by Srinath Perur, Ghachar Ghochar is a finely narrated epic in every way – it’s a slim novel that packs a punch and is a true heavyweight in all the ways that matter.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Animators: A Novel
by Kayla Rae Whitaker
(2/1/2017)
Very few novels can handle multiple themes with the seamless grace that moves beyond a plodding and studied dexterity. That The Animators does so with ease is even more commendable given that this brilliant book is a debut.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
El Paso
by Winston Groom
(11/16/2016)
Cinematic, sprawling, and exploding with (occasionally brutal) action and color, El Paso will probably lasso in many lovers of the genre who will delight in Groom’s meticulously narrated story.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The People of the Broken Neck
by Silas Dent Zobal
(11/2/2016)
Unbridled Press has nurtured the early careers of many talented authors including one of my favorites, Emily St. John Mandel. In Zobal, they have another winner. His clipped and poetic prose is saturated with the weight of its storytelling obligations and delivers handsomely.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Mothers
by Brit Bennett
(10/19/2016)
Bennett, who started work on The Mothers nine years ago when she was seventeen, walks a high-wire act: treading complicated story arcs, maturing characters and voice and tone with impressive panache. I can't wait to see this young author's career ripen and evolve and see what she comes up with next.

Believe the hype. Read this book. Be prepared to be floored.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Here I Am
by Jonathan Safran Foer
(9/21/2016)
I imagine that being a Jewish American (I am not), especially a Jewish American man who can relate to Jacob’s existential crisis, might cast Here I Am in an infinitely more favorable light. But one of the responsibilities of good fiction is to make the story universal, to draw the reader in. Sadly, while there might be a couple of redeeming facets to this novel, the Blochs are too busy navel-gazing to really lend anybody else a helping hand.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Nix
by Nathan Hill
(9/7/2016)
In the end, Nathan Hill has crafted an impressive debut, which is a polished showcase for his sensitivity and humor. The Nix is audaciously ambitious in its agenda and sweep. Will it be the next Great American Novel? Not quite, but it comes close. Very close.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Dragon Behind the Glass: A True Story of Power, Obsession, and the World's Most Coveted Fish
by Emily Voigt
(7/13/2016)
The Dragon Behind the Glass is not just a marvelous peek into an industry very few of us have heard of, it’s an immensely enjoyable portrait of the lengths we can go to feed our obsessions. “Across all those miles, I felt the dark, far-off swamp that spawned the Super Red tug at me like a magnet. I wanted to get to the wild place – to see a fish that counted as part of the natural world,” Voigt explains. We get it, we really do. So...go fish!
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Homegoing
by Yaa Gyasi
(6/22/2016)
...This marvelous debut succeeds in creating an impressive sweep by the sheer dint of powerful writing and narrative scope. “In my village we have a saying about separated sisters,” Esi’s mom tells her. “They are like a woman and her reflection, doomed to stay on opposite sides of the pond.” An ambitious saga that moves back and forth across these “opposite sides of the pond” and weaves a rich and colorful tapestry, Homegoing is an emotionally resonant debut that hints at great things yet
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Year of the Runaways: A novel
by Sunjeev Sahota
(4/6/2016)
The novel starts off a tad clunky, too constrained by its narrative technique, weaving between past and present. Sahota lingers longer than feels necessary on the characters’ backstories, a little overly fascinated by the scenery. The momentum picks up in the latter two-thirds of the novel, when the four characters’ lives weave together in compulsively readable ways. Sahota effectively employs dramatic irony, where the reader is privy to both the whole canvas and smaller details of the character
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Forty Rooms
by Olga Grushin
(3/16/2016)
It’s this gradual evolution – the giving up of dreams – that is superbly captured in its seamlessness. The narrator’s growth from a bright ambitious girl to the entirely dependent, yet seemingly content Mrs. Caldwell, the last name underscoring that her identity is now derived only through a husband, is moving and resonant.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City
by Matthew Desmond
(3/2/2016)
Desmond’s important book might set out practical prescriptions for solutions such as improving the size of the housing voucher program, but the deeply touching portraits are what really make Evicted the heavyweight that it is. It should be mandatory reading for everyone, especially politicians and others those who walk the corridors of power. That such bruising poverty can exist in the world’s richest country is a scathing indictment of our regulatory policies.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Tender
by Belinda McKeon
(2/17/2016)
It takes special talent to take basic, everyday story material and turn it into high art. Read this book for the audacious and brave perspective that McKeon shines on our very human vulnerabilities. Then, just like I did, read it again for the spellbinding writing. What more can I say? I can count on the fingers of one hand the number of novels that I have read twice – back to back. Tender is one of them.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Your Heart Is a Muscle the Size of a Fist
by Sunil Yapa
(2/3/2016)
It takes talent and a generous dose of bravery to peg an entire narrative arc on just one day, however eventful it may be, and Yapa escapes claustrophobia by zooming in and out of each character’s backstory and then connecting the dots to yield a larger breathtaking picture.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Oblivion
by Sergei Lebedev (Author), Antonina W. Bouis (Translator)
(1/20/2016)
Lebedev’s rich and searing story explores how the oppressive weight of history, especially one that is not acknowledged, can smother the life out of an individual.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
A Strangeness in My Mind
by Orhan Pamuk
(11/18/2015)
A Strangeness In My Mind brilliantly illuminates the difference between the happiness and contentment — for between these states of mind lies an entirely different mindset and attitude toward life that can make or break a man. And Mevlut, just like his beloved Istanbul, is nothing if not resilient — he knows how to take change squarely in the jaw and yet retain his essential indomitable spirit.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Gold Fame Citrus
by Claire Vaye Watkins
(10/21/2015)
With crackling prose that she delivered so brilliantly in her debut collection of short stories, Battleborn, Watkins yanks the ground out from under our feet, exposing us to every vulnerability that this story so resolutely delivers. When all else is gone, what do we thirst for most?
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Chilled: How Refrigeration Changed the World and Might Do So Again
by Tom Jackson
(10/7/2015)
From the sands of ancient Persia to the refrigeration technologies of tomorrow, Chilled is a fact-filled ride sure to please the nerd in all of us. It’s...er...a wicked cool story.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Purity
by Jonathan Franzen
(10/7/2015)
Franzen fluidly dissects the meaning of identity and the intersection between our online avatars and our flesh-and-blood realities. Likening the Internet to a new brand of totalitarianism, he shows how media narratives can warp reality to such an extent that the constructed persona begins to feel more real than the original person ever was. The stories we tell ourselves — and the ones we chose to present to society — bind us in unforgiving ways, Franzen implies. By the time Andreas Wolf wants to
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Dragonfish: A Novel
by Vu Tran
(8/12/2015)
In all her moral complexities, Suzy is a boldly imagined protagonist, not easily likeable but deeply human just the same. That we learn about Suzy solely through memories pieced together by others and end up caring about her as deeply as we do, is testament to Tran’s remarkable craftsmanship. By effortlessly moving a noir story beyond the confines of its genre, he proves he is a writer to watch.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Fly Trap
by Fredrik Sjöberg
(7/22/2015)
Sjöberg’s keen eye and effervescent tone are infectious, you can’t help but be carried along by his boundless enthusiasm for nature’s many wonders. In many ways this memoir reads like Ray Bradbury’s Dandelion Wine, like summer trapped within the pages of a warm and nourishing book.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Leaving Orbit: Notes from the Last Days of American Spaceflight
by Margaret Lazarus Dean
(6/17/2015)
Leaving Orbit succeeds on many levels — in its evocative descriptions of Florida's humid, mosquito-infested space coast, and by delivering a heartfelt ode to a slice of American history. However, readers (like me), expecting a more probing and wide-ranging exploration of the hows and whys of the end days of an era of American spaceflight, might be a little let down by Lazarus Dean's check-all-the-boxes approach to the New Journalism format.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
This Is How It Really Sounds
by Stuart Archer Cohen
(6/3/2015)
Cohen also expertly uses recurring motifs — a warm, welcoming home and even a magazine advertisement — to unite his stories and transport readers seamlessly from one character to the other. By setting such everyday motifs in different lives and different situations, (the magazine ad, for example, shows up both in Shanghai and Alaska), the reader is left to connect the dots — to imagine not just the novel’s three central characters but to adopt a wide-angle perspective and marvel at the many seem
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Wonder Garden
by Lauren Acampora
(5/13/2015)
It should come as no surprise that the land of the white picket fence and the McMansion can harbor deep existential angst. The trope has been expertly mined many a times before by veteran authors like John Updike, John Cheever, Philip Roth, Tom Perrotta and many more. To this eclectic list we can add Lauren Acampora, whose debut collection of short stories, The Wonder Garden, set in a tony New England suburb called Old Cranbury, carries a razor-sharp edge of dark satire and lands Acampora
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Rain: A Natural and Cultural History
by Cynthia Barnett
(4/29/2015)
Barnett delivers an endlessly whimsical and engaging narrative tour of rain through life’s many lenses. It is a testament to her writing ability that the reader will be left wanting more — a consistently drenching information soak instead of mere drizzle in places.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Odysseus Abroad
by Amit Chaudhuri
(4/15/2015)
With his quiet ruminative voice and powerfully crafted sentences, Chaudhuri has carved himself a specific kind of niche, where high art can be found even in one long Sunday afternoon walk, in such everyday “small existential dramas.”
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Sympathizer
by Viet Thanh Nguyen
(4/15/2015)
The Sympathizer himself is a marvel of a complex character, navigating his many loyalties with outward aplomb even as he is internally conflicted by his actions. With flawless writing, Nguyen paints his protagonist as a man haunted by many ghosts, both literal and metaphorical, primary among them being his very identity.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara
(4/15/2015)
"The past is a foreign country. They do things differently there." These memorable opening lines might belong to another brilliant novel (The Go-Between, by L. P. Hartley) but they could well form the essential scaffolding for A Little Life, a wrenching yet illuminating exploration of how child abuse can exert a suffocating grip on adulthood.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
When the Doves Disappeared
by Sofi Oksanen
(4/1/2015)
While the novel’s primary trope — of ordinary people being galvanized by war to different actions and outcomes — is nothing new, Oksanen lends the story (translated seamlessly by Lola Rogers) a more raw and visceral touch. The players’ emotions are laid bare not crudely or in an overly simplistic fashion, but in ways that hit the reader with a sense of urgency that makes you take notice.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
In Manchuria: A Village Called Wasteland and the Transformation of Rural China
by Michael Meyer
(3/4/2015)
...this is a remarkable piece of reporting supplemented with pictures - a snapshot of China at a particular place and time, and the peeks into Manchuria’s history will serve as solid ground for further research.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Jaguar's Children
by John Vaillant
(2/18/2015)
At its best, The Jaguar’s Children is a humane look at the everyday people behind the headlines. It is said that one death is a tragedy, a million is a statistic. By the end of the novel, we begin to see why Hector and Cesar would even bother playing such a high-stakes game. In that sense Jaguar’s Children fulfills fiction’s essential function remarkably well — shining light on the human condition.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
A Man of Good Hope
by Jonny Steinberg
(2/18/2015)
The real touching moments in A Man of Good Hope are not the readily obvious ones of large and spectacular losses. They come, instead, in the smaller personal memories that Asad holds dear. These observations underscore his refugee status better than any grander events can.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Why Did the Chicken Cross the World?: The Epic Saga of the Bird that Powers Civilization
by Andrew Lawler
(2/4/2015)
While this strong piece of narrative non-fiction does explore the “whys” of the chicken takeover — they could eat a wider variety of food, were amenable to living in small spaces, and produced more eggs over a longer period of the year — it is equally an inquiry into the “hows” of the bird’s phenomenal journey.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Forty Days Without Shadow: An Arctic Thriller
by Olivier Truc
(1/21/2015)
The breathtaking beauty of Sápmi, of the Arctic tundra, is the real scene-stealer. Almost every chapter begins by noting the date and the minutes of sunlight received. Tuesday, January 11, for example, receives 27 minutes of sunlight. There is cold and then there is Kautokeino cold. That the locals zip around on their snowmobiles and skis anyway, is a testament to our capacity to endure even the harshest conditions. The panoramic setting, the Northern Lights, the snow-draped landscape - together
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Laughing Monsters
by Denis Johnson
(1/7/2015)
Fans of Denis Johnson (I count myself among them) will find much to love in The Laughing Monsters. His powerful, adrenaline-fueled writing is in full force and he brings Africa alive in these pages: “In an instant the day ended, night came down, and the many voices around us, for the space of ten seconds, went quiet. A few hundred meters away the buildings began, but not a single light shone from the powerless city, and the outcry coming from the void wasn’t so much from horns and engines
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Cities of Empire: The British Colonies and the Creation of the Urban World
by Tristram Hunt
(1/7/2015)
Hunt expertly avoids the topic of whether the Empire was good or bad, charting, instead, its expansion — and showing how it learned its lessons over the years and modified its policy accordingly. It’s what allowed such a small country, a cluster of islands essentially, to dominate the world stage for well over 200 years. The sheer audacity and strategy needed to even execute such a thing are unimaginable. Hunt gives us a glimpse into the process.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
A Brief History of Seven Killings
by Marlon James
(11/19/2014)
One of the many strengths of Seven Killings is its resolute insistence on authenticity. It is obvious that James has no patience for tired cliches about Jamaica (you won’t find the word mon here, except as ironic device). It’s perhaps one of the reasons the narrative is equipped with such a diversity of voices and points of view. Piece them all together and you get something entirely breathtaking and maybe, just maybe, a glimpse of truth.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
A Map of Betrayal
by Ha Jin
(11/5/2014)
Ha Jin's protagonist is a frustratingly malleable man, battered by the forces of history into a bare shell of a person, and barely recognizable even to himself. Yet it is to Jin's credit that he brilliantly captures the emotional angst of a man who is caught between two hard choices.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Lives of Others
by Neel Mukherjee
(11/5/2014)
Claiming that you can't be an Indian writer without politics somehow seeping into your work, Neel Mukherjee makes no bones about his novel, The Lives Of Others, being a deeply political animal. Mukherjee expertly fuses his political ambitions into his narrative plots. While Supratik’s story carries its agenda overtly, the story of the Ghoshes also serves to reinforce Mukherjee's belief that the family is the primary unit of exploitation.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Birth of the Pill: How Four Crusaders Reinvented Sex and Launched a Revolution
by Jonathan Eig
(10/15/2014)
The Birth of the Pill is a revealing and thoroughly researched account of the players who put everything on the line — money, prestige, careers — to create a product they truly believed in. Eig’s account is impressive, not just as an insight into a slice of American history, but as a reminder of the path of women’s rights across well over half a century. It’s a searing testament to how much has been gained since — and just how much things have remained the same.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Wallcreeper
by Nell Zink
(10/15/2014)
The Wallcreeper is arrestingly hypnotic, full of some brilliant and often funny writing: “Stephen has a fair level of control, and he figures at some point I’ll get control and stop spending all my time compulsively coming up with ways to excuse my lack of it,” Tiffany narrates. “He has those seven habits of highly effective people, and he’s graciously letting me pick up one habit at a time.” You just can’t look away.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine
by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz
(10/1/2014)
Kindness and empathy are available in good measure in the world. So is intellect. But Mütter was a surgeon who had all these qualities in spades. Even better, as this biography shows, he had the integrity to stand up to creaky institutions and do what was right for his patients. Dr. Mütter's Marvels should serve to shine some well-deserved light on one of medicine's most important and revolutionary practitioners.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
De Potter's Grand Tour
by Joanna Scott
(10/1/2014)
De Potter’s Grand Tour is based on author Joanna Scott’s own family history — her great-grandfather also disappeared mysteriously. Even if the text is punctuated with pictures (one assumes they are of the great-grandfather and his charmed travels), it is unclear how much overlap there is between reality and fiction. Regardless, the novel is touted first and foremost as a detective story, but the mystery at the heart of the book is transparent enough to have the narrative’s charms lie else
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Bone Clocks: A Novel
by David Mitchell
(9/3/2014)
The Bone Clocks is a powerful reflection on the ravages of time, be they on our own bodies (our bone clocks) or on the larger things that mold us into shape: family, friends, the environment. Life, one realizes, might be the stage where our drama unfolds, but the end result reminds us about what truly matters.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Shadows In the Vineyard: The True Story of a Plot to Poison the World's Greatest Wine
by Maximillian Potter
(8/13/2014)
While the details of the crime itself turn out to be a tad anticlimactic, you soon realize that Shadows is more about the journey than the end result. This is equal parts travelogue as it is detective story, and the descriptions of the quaintest towns in the Côte d’Or, along with the insights into the immensely profitable wine industry, are truly what hold the reader’s attention.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
California
by Edan Lepucki
(8/13/2014)
For some, the dystopia might not be “dystopian” enough - the disconnect between what we know and what Lepucki imagines coming across as incongruous at best. Yet there’s plenty to root for in California. It is chilling precisely because so much of it feels so real - and so darned close. It doesn’t take a wild stretch of the imagination to know that such a life might be waiting for us, just around the corner.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
We Are Not Ourselves
by Matthew Thomas
(8/13/2014)
Through the lens of one all-American family, Thomas has crafted a profound meditation on the meaning of success, the joys and challenges of marriage, and the lure (and traps) of the American dream. Eileen Leary, with all her strengths and weaknesses, leaps off the page.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Eyrie
by Tim Winton
(6/18/2014)
Always one to emphasize plot and pace, Winton excels at crackling cinematic dialog, the best I have read in a long time. It serves to keep the tension high as the stakes grow increasingly desperate. Winton’s signature characters – strong women and troubled men – are also a strong component of Eyrie. Tom Keely might not be a very likeable character, but most readers can find something to relate to in his desperate struggle to hang on to some ballast in his life.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape Our Man-Made World
by Mark Miodownik
(6/4/2014)
In Stuff Matters, Miodownik successfully rekindles that enthusiasm, not just for plastics, but for all manner of materials in our everyday lives. Read Stuff Matters because, well, stuff matters. You’ll develop a whole new outlook for the many engineering wonders around us - from the tip of your ballpoint pen to knee joint replacements.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
In the Light of What We Know
by Zia Haider Rahman
(5/21/2014)
Debut novelist Zia Haider Rahman is a true polymath and the novel showcases his ample talent effectively. It tells both Zafar and the narrator’s stories, eventually focusing on Zafar alone. But as Zafar ruminates about an endless series of topics - from salamanders to Poggendorff’s illusion, to why flags sometimes fly at half-mast and more, one begins to wonder whether Rahman is trying a little too hard to make this a dazzling debut.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
All That Is Solid Melts into Air
by Darragh McKeon
(5/21/2014)
Mckeon’s descriptions of the fallout are memorable, not just for the pain he depicts so movingly, but for the fact that he does so without a hint of melodrama. What’s even more unsettling is the knowledge that there’s a cloud of suspicion and half-truths; that information is not being shared fully; that the enormous human costs of such a tragedy are largely being swept under the rug.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Birdmen: The Wright Brothers, Glenn Curtiss, and the Battle to Control the Skies
by Lawrence Goldstone
(5/7/2014)
Goldstone outlines practically every nuance about the patent fight and this makes for slow reading, especially since the field of view is restricted mostly to the players’ lives on the airfield. While we do learn of the Wright brothers’ strict religious views (their father was a pastor in Ohio), very little else comes through clearly about their personal lives. Despite these drawbacks, Birdmen soars in having us weigh the costs of shared knowledge on the one hand and just rewards on the o
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Ten Thousand Things
by John Spurling
(4/23/2014)
It is striking that a novel set hundreds of years ago in China can have lessons that resonate even in our times. Spurling has us contemplate our own lives; revisit what values we hold dear over others. He makes us consider the role of duty and passion and what we would do if the two don’t align. “The Ten Thousand Things,” after all, never fade away. They take different avatars and ring with varying resonance for different people through the generations.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Family Life
by Akhil Sharma
(4/23/2014)
The choice of the first-person narrative is just right for the story, which above all, can be read as a special twist on the coming-of-age narrative. In fact, Sharma’s light-handed touch belies the expert way in which he slowly moves the focus away from the accident and the older brother to young Ajay. As the tragedy is now viewed through the rearview mirror, it’s all about the child and his self-centered preoccupation with young adulthood.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Trapped Under the Sea: One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles Into the Darkness
by Neil Swidey
(3/19/2014)
Swidey, a reporter for The Boston Globe, intermixes engineering details and descriptions of the harrowing work along with stories from the workers’ colorful lives. The technical details are presented in a lucid style, easy enough for a non-technical reader to understand (well-illustrated diagrams help). While Swidey’s narrative (which took years to research) pays generous attention to the divers and their personal backgrounds, these wide-eyed back stories sometimes teeter on the edge of r
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The UnAmericans: Stories
by Molly Antopol
(2/19/2014)
The UnAmericans powerfully shows what happens to everyday people when the moral compass they use to navigate their daily lives no longer points true north. Life can be a challenge without a good radar.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Little Failure: A Memoir
by Gary Shteyngart
(2/5/2014)
As much as his memoir succeeds in painting the travails of Shteyngart’s experience as an immigrant straddling two cultures, it is the parts that deal with his problems with his parents that are deeply moving and his to own. It really is true that “the secret source of humor is not joy, it’s sorrow.” In Little Failure this applies both to Shteyngart’s description of the Soviet Jewish experience and to his more immediate family struggles. Even the book’s title, a nickname coined by his moth
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Orfeo
by Richard Powers
(1/22/2014)
“Life turned out to be one shot, stray and mistaken, a single burst scattered on the air,” Peter Els reflects in Orfeo. Even just that one line captures wave upon wave of heartache, loneliness, and profound regret. It delivers a sense of immediacy and empathy that only truly great fiction can. 2014 might just be getting started but I already know which book will be on my list of favorites this year.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
On Such a Full Sea
by Chang-rae Lee
(1/22/2014)
On Such a Full Sea succeeds at painting isolation, this attention to wearying toil above all else...Where Sea really scores however, is in outlining the deep political costs of such alienation. In a society gone dangerously awry, Lee implies the worst kind of sin is apathy.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Anything That Moves: Renegade Chefs, Fearless Eaters, and the Making of a New American Food Culture
by Dana Goodyear
(1/8/2014)
Anything That Moves is a winning and delicious account of avant-garde American cuisine. Many of these chapters have been cobbled together from The New Yorker and occasionally the book lacks a tight coherence. It’s subtitle - Renegade Chefs, Fearless Eaters, and the Making of a New American Food Culture - tries to remedy this lapse somewhat but doesn’t completely succeed. Nevertheless Anything That Moves is reporting at its best and deserves a wide and enthusiastic aud
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Jeeves and the Wedding Bells
by Sebastian Faulks
(11/20/2013)
The book is funny, but it’s not laugh-out-loud hilarious like the originals are. At best, one can finagle an occasional chuckle. I suspect Faulks was too constrained by the parameters of his construct to really let loose and launch something on his own. By worrying too much about conforming to style, he loses some (although not all) substance. Of course one can hardly blame Faulks for this. This experiment is probably a case of darned if you do and darned if you don’t.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Woman Who Lost Her Soul
by Bob Shacochis
(11/6/2013)
This is not an easy book to read - for one thing it is over 700 pages long. For another, the attentions that Steve Chambers bestows on his daughter are enough to creep you out. Equally, this is a difficult book to digest. The scope of American intervention and the incredible machinery set in place to keep the giant appeased are depressing to say the least. Yet it is hard to look away. Like the country for which she is supposed to be a metaphor, The Woman Who Lost Her Soul might be
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Goldfinch: A Novel
by Donna Tartt
(11/6/2013)
[The book] could have used some heavy editing. Frankly I am not sure I would have continued on had The Goldfinch not been a Donna Tartt book, knowing she’d spring a sudden surprise on me toward the end. And boy, does she! A dramatic event happens about two-thirds of the way in that upends the very foundations that the story is built on. It upsets, not just Theo, but the reader too, because Tartt has a way of enveloping us completely in her beautifully imagined world. That this plot turn h
BookBrowse Editorial Review
At Night We Walk in Circles: A Novel
by Daniel Alarcon
(11/6/2013)
Set in an unnamed South American country, At Night We Walk in Circles explores concepts of identity and loss, among others, in a soulful story that confirms Alarcon’s status as one of America’s most dazzling fiction writers.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Lowland
by Jhumpa Lahiri
(10/2/2013)
Readers looking for a plot-driven narrative might not find The Lowland to be their cup of tea. An expert chronicler of the human condition, Lahiri’s work has always been deeply introspective, relying less on external “action,” relentlessly propelling onward nevertheless. In The Lowland, she again mines the complex emotional landscape of her characters, chiseling away at stone with a fine scalpel.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Asunder
by Chloe Aridjis
(9/18/2013)
It is to Chloe Aridjis' enormous credit that she makes the daily machinations of a museum guard riveting reading. Marie’s days might be outwardly repetitive and even boring but the reader sees her mind working in inventive and interesting ways...As Marie tries to make peace with her internal struggles, there’s a tightly wound energy that’s apparent on every wonderful page, just waiting to leap up and hold the reader in its welcome embrace.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Dissident Gardens: A Novel
by Jonathan Lethem
(9/18/2013)
Because Dissident Gardens is epic in terms of its scope and executed vision, there are times when the story takes its own sweet time, caught in elaborate machinations that seem a little too constraining and tight. Lethem’s sprawling canvases have always worked extremely well and they do so here too - only, in some places, one is left to wonder if he isn’t a little too much in love with the sound of his own voice... [It] eventually works because it beautifully illuminates the yawning gap b
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Sound of Things Falling
by Juan Gabriel Vásquez
(9/4/2013)
Through the book, Vasquez wanted to “show how the drug trade affects somebody not involved in it, somebody who – like me – has never seen a gramme of coke in his life.” That is precisely what he achieves so eloquently in Falling. Antonio finds his life “molded by distant events” and the attendant feeling of disillusionment feels heartbreakingly real. The players caught up in the drug wars were not innocent, they were innocents. Vasquez writes, “I’m not sure you realize what a distance the
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Explanation for Everything
by Lauren Grodstein
(9/4/2013)
An atheist herself, Grodstein needs to be lauded for taking on such a loaded topic. She has that most generous gift every writer needs: empathy. Yet sometimes in her eagerness to do right by everyone, the book is too earnest, too indecisive, not willing enough to take sides. But Grodstein aims to level the playing field, giving them equal airtime - which is a good thing – however, we want a good fight that we ultimately don’t get...Despite these drawbacks though, Explanation succeeds in s
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Night Film
by Marisha Pessl
(8/21/2013)
Pessl’s beautiful, haunting imagery and vivid writing completely pull you in and you emerge breathless. She makes you lose sight of the trees for the forest - the eerily creepy forest. Already famous for her literary pyrotechnics with her debut, Special Topics in Calamity Physics, Pessl showcases her immense talent again.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Save Yourself
by Kelly Braffet
(8/21/2013)
There are instances when the extreme darkness seems endless but Braffet’s incisive writing is brilliant and edgy and it keeps you reading through the worst of it. There’s something strangely mesmerizing in watching the characters’ brave struggles.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code
by Margalit Fox
(7/10/2013)
Digging into archaeology, linguistics, history and cryptography, Margalit Fox’s The Riddle of the Labyrinth solves this jigsaw puzzle for us in an exciting and easily understandable way...One can’t help but remember President Kennedy’s immortal words: “We do these things not because they’re easy, but because they’re hard.” In that sense Fox’s book is not just an ode to Alice Kober and the men behind Linear B but to all humanity - to the many who have looked at a challenge and soldiered on
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Lullaby of Polish Girls
by Dagmara Dominczyk
(6/5/2013)
Dominczyk's weakness lies in story development. While she is skilled at building characters, the story that binds them together seems overly contrived at times, eventually barreling into a pretty melodramatic conclusion. Nevertheless The Lullaby of Polish Girls is worth reading for its strong sense of place and the light it shines on the bittersweet process of growing up and moving on.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
TransAtlantic: A Novel
by Colum McCann
(6/5/2013)
McCann had me hooked me on his writing from his novel Dancer on. He has proven time and again that he is a powerhouse among contemporary fiction writers. He understands that what binds humanity together are not broad, panoramic moments but the smaller-scale happenings that bring those large historical events home to the everyday person...TransAtlantic is an absolute tour-de-force. If you can read only one book this year, this should be it.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Overbooked: The Exploding Business of Travel and Tourism
by Elizabeth Becker
(5/22/2013)
Despite some drawbacks, Overbooked emerges as a vital and compelling book that shines light on an important global issue. Even if it might not offer many solutions, it at least asks the questions worth asking. “Amplify these remarks into a broad public debate, and soon communities, businesses and governments can sort out what they want – and don’t want – from tourism and travel,” Becker writes in the afterword. “Without a debate, nothing changes.” Fair enough.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Woman Upstairs
by Claire Messud
(5/8/2013)
Claire Messud has shown an extraordinary range in all her work and this book is no exception. At times the analogies and metaphors to A Doll's House are too overtly drawn, yet this story is much more than a well-paced, slightly creepy look at one woman's obsession. It helps us step back and take a look at weightier questions: What exactly is art? How much does one have to sacrifice to reach one's life goals? Is such a pursuit even worth it? And what happens when the best you can offe
BookBrowse Editorial Review
A Map of Tulsa: A Novel
by Benjamin Lytal
(4/17/2013)
A Map of Tulsa charts the contours of Jim Praley's own complex and beautiful coming-of-age journey. Benjamin Lytal has written a soulful and utterly haunting book that is as much an ode to a city as it is to first love. As his novel shows us, It is hard to distill and separate a sense of time or place from love – especially first love. They are all interconnected, together forming the essential arteries of one universal map.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald
by Therese Anne Fowler
(4/17/2013)
I absolutely loved Therese Ann Fowler’s charting of the Fitzgeralds’ relationship – the fairy-tale young love, the giddy first years of marriage, the gradual disillusionments piled richly one on top of the other, and the eventual complete unraveling of the relationship. It’s deeply tragic because both Scott and Zelda are so deeply talented yet so fundamentally flawed. Right until the end, you can sense their deep and abiding love of one another even as they become increasingly toxic for each oth
BookBrowse Editorial Review
American Dream Machine
by Matthew Specktor
(4/17/2013)
American Dream Machine beautifully illustrates not just how the sun is setting on the myth of self-made individualism but also how, with their feet planted on unsteady ground, the young now have no guaranteed formulas for success. "Life was more like the movies than anyone cared to admit. It was predicated on them, far more than vice versa," Nate says. Fair enough. Except, as he very well knows, not all movies have fairytale endings.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Burgess Boys
by Elizabeth Strout
(4/3/2013)
The dialog is superb and in Strout's trademark style, entirely unpretentious. The Burgess Boys is an insightful examination of how our childhoods shape and define us even as we struggle to shake loose the ghosts of our past. Fans of Elizabeth Strout will want to read this new one even if it might not rank among her very best. Visiting the hardy Puritan New England state of Maine is always fun in Strout's able hands.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
All That Is
by James Salter
(4/3/2013)
Despite its many merits though, the pillar on which this novel rests, Philip Bowman, remains a frustratingly opaque character. Protagonists don’t necessarily have to be good or bad for us to engage with them but they have to give us some reason to care. Bowman doesn’t. That we can still engage with the story regardless speaks volumes about Salter’s writing.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia: A Novel
by Mohsin Hamid
(4/3/2013)
The second person “you” is hard to read, although talented writers like Junot Diaz have done wonders with it, and Hamid’s usage of “you” feels especially appropriate for this biting story. The “you,” Hamid seems to say, encompasses every individual in rising Asia.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us
by Michael Moss
(4/3/2013)
I don’t want to give away any of the “I didn’t know that” moments you’ll doubtless encounter while reading this book – mainly because I want you to read this book. There are times when Moss gets repetitive when he is trying to explain a new concept or idea. But this is a minor flaw in a book that should be essential reading for all.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Where'd You Go, Bernadette: A Novel
(4/3/2013)
What struck me most about this delightful book is that for all its breeziness (and there's plenty of it to move you right along) there's also much that runs deeper beneath the surface.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Detroit City Is the Place to Be: The Afterlife of an American Metropolis
by Mark Binelli
(1/9/2013)
When Mark Binelli, a native of Detroit, and general assignment reporter, began work on a book about the city, one of his interview subjects asked him if the book was going to be fiction or non-fiction. “Non,” Binelli replied. Binelli writes about the guy’s reaction: "He snorted and said, ‘No one’s gonna believe it.'”

A large portion of Binelli’s engaging book, Detroit City is the Place to Be, covers the stuff that “no one’s gonna believe.”
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat
by Bee Wilson
(11/28/2012)
It is not just foodies who will love
Consider the Fork
, which is a fun and breezy read. At the very least, it will make you look at your pots and pans in a new light. And maybe even tempt you to give that bright-red Cuisinart on your countertop a whirl to create yet another memorable meal.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Casual Vacancy
by J.K. Rowling
(11/14/2012)
The problem with The Casual Vacancy is that the vast cast of characters and all their machinations leave little room for character development. Rowling's characters come across as cardboard cutouts, one-dimensional substitutes for the real thing. Even the situations in the story seem contrived and overly melodramatic – there are very few shades of grey here. Even if The Casual Vacancy might not have fully rounded characters or shades of subtlety in its telling, it finally is a
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Garden of Evening Mists
by Tan Twan Eng
(10/17/2012)
The novel's focus isn't strictly on plot but instead on creating a kind of metaphorical "mist" that only gives glimpses of forgotten memories. Some might find the book slow-going as a result, but the immersive experience of terrific writing about time and place more than compensates. The book is so rich in evocative detail and so steeped in its sense of place that it is hard not to be swept along for the ride.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Forgiven: A Novel
by Lawrence Osborne
(10/17/2012)
At its core The Forgiven sets out to be a story about the clash of values - between east and west. But the Westerners at least, seem so tone-deaf to the cultural mores of Morocco that clashes, if any, seem contrived...What Osborne really succeeds in doing is writing a terrific travelogue - which is unsurprising considering that he is an experienced travel writer. The Moroccan desert comes superbly alive in the novel - every detail is meticulously outlined...The novel is worth reading for
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Telegraph Avenue
by Michael Chabon
(9/19/2012)
Michael Chabon knows how to do narrative sweep; he knows how to write an epic. The author is skilled at knitting the various elements of a story together with material borrowed from a larger setting or theme.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
This Is How You Lose Her
by Junot Diaz
(9/12/2012)
...[I]t is to Díaz's enormous credit that Yunior and his coterie are so human, so absolutely lovable that you forgive their misdeeds. These are not people you might run into everyday, but Díaz's expert touch makes them pop and come alive. Great literature transcends plot and gives us a peek into the human condition. That is precisely what Díaz achieves to dazzling effect. He uses these broken love stories as the medium through which he addresses weightier themes.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
In the Shadow of the Banyan: A Novel
(9/5/2012)
Raami is the perfect vehicle for telling the horrific tale of Cambodia's genocide. Through her voice, Rattner is able to whittle down a complex multi-layered story to its basic essence. This is not an epic Killing Fields kind of a story. But in detailing the effects of the genocide on one family and by narrating it through one child's perspective, the effect is just as searing. Largely autobiographical in nature, the novel must have served as a cathartic release for Rattner who has said s
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Collective: A Novel
by Don Lee
(8/8/2012)
Lee has also mentioned that he wants to shed light on how Asian Americans wrestle internally with race. Sometimes The Collective wears this agenda on its sleeve too readily, but it serves as a must-read for everyone interested in the discussion of racial identity and its place in our supposedly post-racial world. Even if these issues can be answered internally within an individual race, even if a minority artist can move beyond the confines dictated by the stereotypes of his racial identi
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Homesick
by Roshi Fernando
(7/25/2012)
In the end, Homesick emerges as a moving and powerful novel about Sri Lankans in England. In showcasing her characters' everyday anxieties and triumphs, Fernando effectively portrays a slice of humanity we can all - immigrants or not - identify with readily. It is this empathy that Fernando manages to elicit from her readers and that makes Homesick such a compelling, triumphant debut.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Neruda Case: A Novel
by Roberto Ampuero
(7/11/2012)
The Neruda Case is a fun summer read, a great introduction to the work of a beloved Chilean author, and is worth a read for the terrific atmosphere alone. At a time when "staycation" has become a buzzword, The Neruda Case is the best kind of armchair travel there is. Ampuero's breezy read is an absolute winner. Mix yourself a pisco sour and dive right in.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Canada
by Richard Ford
(5/30/2012)
Canada is a big book in every sense of the word - set against a vast, stark landscape, dealing with heavy metaphors. It is a beautifully crafted novel; yet its languid pace, especially in the first half of the book, will unfortunately lose many readers. In the end, Canada emerges as a wonderful, deeply contemplative look at some of the most essential questions of all our lives: How do you deal with loss? Are there second acts in life? Exactly how fluid are boundaries?
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Newlyweds: A Novel
by Nell Freudenberger
(5/2/2012)
Readers expecting an exotic story set in a foreign locale won't find it in The Newlyweds. But those looking for a beautiful narration of one woman's gradual coming of age (think Nazneen in Monica Ali's Brick Lane) will love Freudenberger's novel. Despite her foreignness and her circumstance, Amina is an everywoman - forging ahead in life, making the best choices she can while figuring out how to live with their consequences: some good, some bad, all hers to own.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
The Man Without a Face: The Unlikely Rise of Vladimir Putin
by Masha Gessen
(4/4/2012)
This is incredibly brave journalism - her account of Putin's single-minded and gradual takeover of Russia is breathtaking, if at times relentlessly critical. Gessen's crisp writing style makes The Man Without a Face read like a well-paced page-turner. One doesn't need to know much about Russian politics to truly enjoy this book - Gessen gives readers enough historical background so that those without prior knowledge of the underlying geopolitics can still appreciate the book.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Red Plenty
by Francis Spufford
(3/14/2012)
Since the author's overarching focus is on the collapse of the Soviet planned economy, the book contains a fair amount of economic theory. The first chapter is pretty difficult to get through, but stick with it - the novel is fantastic, and Spufford's creative narrative device is a winner. None of his writing is dry or boring - Spufford couches these theories and history lessons wonderfully through his characters' stories - however there are portions that require careful reading.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
By Blood: A Novel
by Ellen Ullman
(3/14/2012)
The overall dark, eerie atmosphere also serves to accentuate the realization that one's identity can be as much a yoke as a release - whether that identity is forged by external circumstances or simply, by blood.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Running the Rift: A Novel
by Naomi Benaron
(1/11/2012)
[E]ven though this novel's subject matter offers plenty of opportunities for gratuitous violence and melodrama, Benaron thankfully steers clear of both. Through much of Jean Patrick's training, Coach emphasizes pace - the key to running the 800-metre, we learn, is not to burn out early. Benaron, herself a competitive runner once, seems to have translated this lesson well to the pages of her debut novel - which turns out to be a precisely paced, taut read.
BookBrowse Editorial Review
Just My Type: A Book About Fonts
by Simon Garfield
(11/17/2011)
As its tagline describes, Just My Type is precisely that - a book about fonts and almost everything one could possibly want to know about them. Garfield's breezy writing serves up many entertaining trivia - the role of hand gloves in font design; which font is used in the signs for the television sitcom The Office (and why); how Gotham played a large part in President Barack Obama's election campaign; and how the look of the entire city of London was changed by one beautiful font.

Reviews (2)

The Milk Lady of Bangalore: An Unexpected Adventure
by Shoba Narayan
Average at best (12/11/2017)
I couldn't figure out what this book is about: is it about the author's relationship with Sarala, the cow lady, about the author's move back to India from the United States, about the new India? Probably a mix of all, the book is light and airy at times and veers off into deep explanations about Hinduism and the role of the cow at others. All of it topped with Narayan's incredulous tone at the situations in which she finds herself gives the narrative too much distance to really let the reader dive in. An occasionally lively read but too often it reads like the author has milked much too slender a story for an entire book.
Our Short History
by Lauren Grodstein
The possessive mother (2/10/2017)
Lauren Grodstein has the possessive protagonist model down to a science. Her outstanding debut, A Friend of the Family, revolved around a father who just couldn't set his teen son free. In this novel, Karen Neulander feels the same way about her son although for a completely different reason: she is dying of cancer. As a mother, Karen is completely believable, if at times frustrating. But Grodstein stretches the possessive angle too far, stalling the story for too long well beyond the point where we can see the predictable ending coming at us. It is difficult not to indulge in histrionics in a story about a mother dying from cancer but Grodstein does pull this off for the most part. Our Short History is a sound addition to Grodstein's oeuvre, it's just not her best.

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7 ms 7 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/dsp_header.cfm
6 ms 6 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_following_count.cfm
5 ms 5 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/head.cfm
3 ms 3 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_reader_reviews_power_reviewers.cfm
2 ms 2 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/dsp_border_booktalk.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/act_libraryIPLogin.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_ezine.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_free_newsletters.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/queries/qry_get_previous_arcs_for_ad.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/dsp_bottom_block.cfm
1 ms 1 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/main_menu.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/Application.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/actions/udfs.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/banners/ad_594.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/formurl2attributes.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/js/fbjavascriptsdk.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/dsp_header_newsletter.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/dsp_wordplay.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/email_modal.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/google_tags.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/header_announcement.cfm
0 ms 0 ms 1 /root/website/site/blocks/layout/main_search.cfm
1 ms  STARTUP, PARSING, COMPILING, LOADING, & SHUTDOWN
1416 ms  TOTAL EXECUTION TIME
red = over 250 ms average execution time


SQL Queries

spidercheck (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=23ms, Records=1) in /root/website/actions/act_spider_tracker.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT	a.bot_number
        FROM	bots a
        WHERE	charindex(a.bot_name, ?) > 0
		OR a.bot_ip = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(cf_sql_varchar) = Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
Parameter #2(cf_sql_varchar) = 127.0.0.1

get_member_info (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=19ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_member_info.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
select 	a.*, 
    		b.member_account_type_name, b.member_account_type_charge, b.member_account_type_charge_frequency,  b.member_account_type_months, 
            c.member_chargetype_name, c.member_chargetype_number, a.member_classification_number, a.member_book_format
	
    from members a, member_account_types b, member_chargetype c
	
    where a.member_account_type_number = b.member_account_type_number
	and a.payment_method_id = c.member_chargetype_number
	and a.member_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 0

adactive (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=14ms, Records=2) in /root/website/actions/adstatus.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT	viewby, section
    FROM	adsystem 
    WHERE	active  = 1 
    AND		start_date <= GETDATE()
    AND 	(viewby = ? OR viewby = 'all')
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = non

get_current_ezine (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=0ms, Records=1, Cached Query) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_ezine.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
select		top 1 ezine_number, ezine_dt, ezine_image, ezine_brief_description, ezine_introduction
from		ezines
where		ezine_active_flag = 1
and 		ezine_type_number = 4
and			ezine_dt < getdate()
order by 	ezine_dt DESC
get_current_wordplay (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=17ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_wordplay.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT		a.wordplay_number, a.wordplay_dt, a.wordplay_name, a.wordplay_intro_text, b.wordplay_puzzle_number, b.wordplay_puzzle_question
    FROM		wordplays a 
	INNER JOIN	wordplay_puzzle_mapping c on c.wordplay_number = a.wordplay_number
	INNER JOIN	wordplay_puzzles b on b.wordplay_puzzle_number = c.wordplay_puzzle_number
	WHERE		a.wordplay_number = (	select top 1 a.wordplay_number
                                from wordplays a, wordplay_puzzles b, wordplay_puzzle_mapping c
                                where a.wordplay_number = c.wordplay_number
                                and b.wordplay_puzzle_number = c.wordplay_puzzle_number
                                and a.wordplay_dt < getdate()
                                and a.wordplay_expiration_dt > dateadd(day, -1, getdate())
                                order by a.wordplay_dt asc
                                )
get_ComNo (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=26ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_competition.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT 	TOP 1 	x.competition_number, x.bb_briefs_flag
	from			competitions x
	
		WHERE	x.competition_dt <= getdate()
		AND		x.competition_expiration_dt > dateadd(d,-1,getdate())
get_current_competition (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=16ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_current_competition.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT 	x.competition_number, x.book_number, x.competition_teaser_title, x.competition_teaser_description, x.competition_intro_text, x.competition_expiration_dt, x.bb_briefs_flag, x.competition_full_info_flag, x.competition_type, x.competition_optin,x.competition_optin_text, 
				a.book_title as "title",
				(b.author_first_name + ' ' +  b.author_middle_initial + ' ' + b.author_last_name) as "author",
	            f.edition_publish_dt AS "hardcover_publish_dt", f.edition_jacket_image as "hardcover_jacket_image",
				g.edition_publish_dt AS "paperback_publish_dt", g.edition_jacket_image as "paperback_jacket_image"
	
		FROM 		competitions x
		INNER JOIN	books a on a.book_number = x.book_number
		INNER JOIN	book_author_mapping c on c.book_number = x.book_number
		INNER JOIN	authors b on c.author_number = b.author_number
		LEFT JOIN	editions f on a.book_number = f.book_number and f.edition_paperback_flag = 0
		LEFT JOIN	editions g on a.book_number = g.book_number and g.edition_paperback_flag = 1

		WHERE		x.competition_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 0

get_previous_arcs_for_ad (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=0ms, Records=0, Cached Query) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_previous_arcs_for_ad.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT 	a.arc_number,a.arc_client_url,a.arc_active_dt, a.arc_off_ad_dt,
		b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_publisher, 
		b.ezine_preview_publish_dt, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_number_of_pages, b.ezine_preview_bb_comments, b.ezine_preview_isbn13,
		c.ezine_preview_category_name AS "ezine_preview_category",
		(select count(*) from arc_allocator d where d.arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) as "reviews",
		(select (CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,0))) AS numeric(12,0)))+
				(CASE WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 25 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 50 THEN 0.5
				 WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 50 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 75 THEN -0.5
				 ELSE 0
				 END)
 			from arc_allocator	where arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) AS arcrating,
 			(select (CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,1))) AS numeric(12,1)))from arc_allocator where arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) AS "decrating"

FROM arcs a
INNER JOIN ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
INNER JOIN ezine_preview_categories c ON b.ezine_preview_category_number = c.ezine_preview_category_number

WHERE arc_closed_flag = 1
AND arc_obc_flag = 0
AND getdate() >= arc_on_ad_dt
AND getdate() < arc_off_ad_dt

ORDER BY a.arc_on_ad_dt DESC
get_future_obc (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=7ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_active_obc.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT 		a.arc_forumidfk, a.discourse_flag, a.arc_promo_text, arc_on_ad_dt,
				b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_publisher, ezine_preview_publish_dt, ezine_preview_number_of_pages, ezine_preview_isbn, ezine_preview_short_summary,
	            b.ezine_preview_bb_author_link, ezine_preview_bb_link
	
	FROM 		arcs a
	INNER JOIN 	ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
	
	WHERE 		arc_obc_flag = 1

	AND 		getdate() < arc_on_ad_dt
	
		ORDER BY  	NEWID()
get_active_obc (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=25ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_active_obc.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT 		a.arc_forumidfk, a.discourse_flag, a.arc_promo_text,
				b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_publisher, ezine_preview_publish_dt, ezine_preview_number_of_pages,  ezine_preview_isbn, ezine_preview_short_summary,
	            b.ezine_preview_bb_author_link, ezine_preview_bb_link,
	            c.book_reading_guide
	
	FROM 		arcs a
	INNER JOIN 	ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
	LEFT JOIN  	books c on c.book_number = b.ezine_preview_bb_link
	
	WHERE 		a.arc_obc_flag = 1
	AND			a.arc_active_flag = 0
	AND 		arc_closed_flag = 1
	AND 		getdate() >= arc_on_ad_dt
	AND 		getdate() < arc_off_ad_dt
	ORDER BY  	NEWID()
get_recent_obc (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=15ms, Records=4) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_active_obc.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT 		a.arc_forumidfk, a.discourse_flag, a.arc_promo_text,
				b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_jacket_desc, b.ezine_preview_publisher, ezine_preview_publish_dt, ezine_preview_number_of_pages,  ezine_preview_isbn, ezine_preview_short_summary,
	            b.ezine_preview_bb_author_link, ezine_preview_bb_link,
	            c.book_reading_guide
	
	FROM 		arcs a
	INNER JOIN 	ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number
	LEFT JOIN  	books c on c.book_number = b.ezine_preview_bb_link
	
	WHERE a.arc_number IN (select top 4 arc_number
							from		arcs
							WHERE 		arc_obc_flag = 1
							AND			arc_active_flag = 0
							AND 		arc_closed_flag = 1
							AND 		getdate() > arc_off_ad_dt
							ORDER BY	arc_on_ad_dt DESC)
	ORDER BY  	NEWID()
get_member_profile (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=27ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_member_profile.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT  m.member_number, m.discourse_username, m.member_first_name, m.member_last_name, m.profile_image_url, m.member_full_name, m.member_bio, m.external_link, m.member_classification_number, m.member_email
        FROM    members m
        WHERE   m.member_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 6675

get_reviews_by_member (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=26ms, Records=2) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_reviews_by_member.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT  a.book_number, a.ezine_preview_number, a.reader_review_number,
            COALESCE(NULLIF(LTRIM(RTRIM(m.discourse_username)), ''), NULLIF(LTRIM(RTRIM(a.reader_review_reviewer_name)), '')) AS reader_review_reviewer_name,
            a.reader_review_title, a.reader_review_rating, a.reader_review_description, a.reader_review_dt,
            (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM reader_review_likes rl WHERE rl.reader_review_number = a.reader_review_number) AS like_count
    FROM    reader_reviews a
    LEFT OUTER JOIN members m ON m.member_number = a.member_number
    WHERE   a.member_number = ?
    AND     a.reader_review_approved_flag = 1
    
        ORDER BY a.reader_review_dt DESC
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 6675

get_follower_count (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=7ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_follower_count.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT COUNT(*) AS follower_count
    FROM member_follows
    WHERE followed_member_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 6675

get_following_count (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=6ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_following_count.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT COUNT(*) AS following_count
    FROM member_follows
    WHERE follower_member_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 6675

get_reviewer_number (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=27ms, Records=1) in /root/website/readers/dsp_profile.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT TOP 1 reviewer_number
                FROM reviewers
                WHERE reviewer_email = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = poornima@wordcumulus.com

get_reader_reviews_power_reviewers (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=0ms, Records=50, Cached Query) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_reader_reviews_power_reviewers.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT 		top 50 reader_review_reviewer_email_address, count(reader_review_reviewer_email_address) as "count"
	FROM 		reader_reviews
	WHERE 		reader_review_reviewer_email_address like '%@%'
	AND 		reader_review_reviewer_email_address <> 'reviews@bookbrowse.com'
	GROUP BY 	reader_review_reviewer_email_address
	
	
	ORDER BY 	count desc
get_reviewer_details (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=9ms, Records=1) in /root/website/readers/dsp_profile.cfm @ 00:20:35.035
SELECT reviewer_photo, reviewer_bio, reviewer_first_name, reviewer_last_name
            FROM reviewers
            WHERE reviewer_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 56

get_editorial_reviews (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=773ms, Records=121) in /root/website/readers/dsp_profile.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT  d.book_number, d.book_title, d.book_sub_title,
                    e.ezine_dt,
                    ep.ezine_preview_number, ep.ezine_preview_title, ep.ezine_preview_subtitle,
                    ep.ezine_preview_author, ep.ezine_preview_jacket_image,
                    mr.media_review_rating,
                    LEFT(mr.media_review, 500) AS review_excerpt
            FROM    ezine_edition_mapping b
            INNER JOIN editions c ON c.edition_number = b.edition_number
            INNER JOIN books d ON d.book_number = c.book_number
            INNER JOIN ezines e ON e.ezine_number = b.ezine_number
            LEFT JOIN ezine_previews ep ON ep.ezine_preview_isbn13 = c.edition_isbn13
                AND ep.ezine_preview_isbn13 IS NOT NULL AND LEN(ep.ezine_preview_isbn13) > 0
            LEFT JOIN media_reviews mr ON mr.book_number = c.book_number AND mr.media_review_type_number = 9
            WHERE   b.reviewer_number = ?
            AND     e.ezine_dt = (SELECT TOP 1 ez.ezine_dt
                                  FROM ezines ez
                                  INNER JOIN ezine_edition_mapping eem ON eem.ezine_number = ez.ezine_number
                                  INNER JOIN editions ed ON ed.edition_number = eem.edition_number
                                  WHERE ed.book_number = c.book_number
                                  ORDER BY ez.ezine_dt ASC)
            ORDER BY e.ezine_dt DESC
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 56

get_preview_by_id (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=16ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_preview_by_id_for_search.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT 	ezine_preview_number,
            ezine_preview_title, 
            ezine_preview_subtitle, 
            ezine_preview_author, 
            ezine_preview_publisher,
            ezine_preview_publish_dt,
            ezine_preview_number_of_pages, 
            ezine_preview_short_summary,
            ezine_preview_jacket_image,
            ezine_preview_reviews,
            ezine_preview_jacket_desc,
			ezine_preview_reading_guide,
            ezine_preview_isbn,
            ezine_preview_isbn13,
            ezine_preview_rating,
            ezine_preview_bb_author_link
            				
    FROM 	ezine_previews
    WHERE 	ezine_preview_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 12829

get_preview_awards_by_id (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=9ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_preview_awards_by_id.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
select a.book_award_number, a.book_award_name, a.book_award_image, c.book_award_dt
    from book_awards a 
    inner join book_awards_category b on b.book_award_number = a.book_award_number
    inner join book_awards_mapping c on c.book_awards_category_number = b.book_awards_category_number
    where ezine_preview_number =  ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 12829

get_preview_by_id (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=4ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_preview_by_id_for_search.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT 	ezine_preview_number,
            ezine_preview_title, 
            ezine_preview_subtitle, 
            ezine_preview_author, 
            ezine_preview_publisher,
            ezine_preview_publish_dt,
            ezine_preview_number_of_pages, 
            ezine_preview_short_summary,
            ezine_preview_jacket_image,
            ezine_preview_reviews,
            ezine_preview_jacket_desc,
			ezine_preview_reading_guide,
            ezine_preview_isbn,
            ezine_preview_isbn13,
            ezine_preview_rating,
            ezine_preview_bb_author_link
            				
    FROM 	ezine_previews
    WHERE 	ezine_preview_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 12133

get_author_name (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=39ms, Records=1) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_preview_by_id_for_search.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT 	a.author_number, datalength(b.author_info_interview) as "interview",
		        CASE 	WHEN datalength(a.author_middle_initial) > 0 then a.author_first_name + ' ' + a.author_middle_initial + '. ' + a.author_last_name
		            	ELSE a.author_first_name + ' ' + a.author_last_name
		            	END "author_name"
        FROM 		authors a
        INNER JOIN 	author_info b on b.author_number = a.author_number 
        
        WHERE 		a.author_number = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 2282

get_preview_awards_by_id (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=6ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_preview_awards_by_id.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
select a.book_award_number, a.book_award_name, a.book_award_image, c.book_award_dt
    from book_awards a 
    inner join book_awards_category b on b.book_award_number = a.book_award_number
    inner join book_awards_mapping c on c.book_awards_category_number = b.book_awards_category_number
    where ezine_preview_number =  ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 12133

get_arcs_for_ad (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=10ms, Records=0) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_arcs_for_ad.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT 	top 10 a.arc_number,arc_promo_text,
		b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_publish_dt, 
		(select (CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,0))) AS numeric(12,0)))+
				(CASE WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 25 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 50 THEN 0.5
				 WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 50 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 75 THEN -0.5
				 ELSE 0
				 END)
 			from arc_allocator	where arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) AS arcrating

FROM arcs a
INNER JOIN ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number

WHERE arc_closed_flag = 1
AND arc_obc_flag = 0
AND getdate() >= arc_on_ad_dt
AND (select count(*) from arc_allocator d where d.arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) > 1
and getdate() <= dateadd(day,1,a.arc_off_ad_dt)

ORDER BY NEWID()
get_arcs_for_ad (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=21ms, Records=3) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_arcs_for_ad.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT 	top 3 a.arc_number,arc_promo_text,
			b.ezine_preview_number, b.ezine_preview_title, b.ezine_preview_subtitle, b.ezine_preview_jacket_image, b.ezine_preview_author, b.ezine_preview_publish_dt, 
			(select (CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,0))) AS numeric(12,0)))+
					(CASE WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 25 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 50 THEN 0.5
					 WHEN right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) > 50 AND right(CAST(AVG(CAST(arc_allocator_review_rating AS numeric(12,2))) AS numeric(12,2)),2) < 75 THEN -0.5
					 ELSE 0
					 END)
				from arc_allocator	where arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) AS arcrating

	FROM arcs a
	INNER JOIN ezine_previews b ON b.ezine_preview_number = a.ezine_preview_number

	WHERE arc_closed_flag = 1
	AND arc_obc_flag = 0
	AND getdate() >= arc_on_ad_dt
	AND (select count(*) from arc_allocator d where d.arc_number = a.arc_number and arc_allocator_review_approved_flag = 1) > 1

	ORDER BY a.arc_off_ad_dt DESC
get_ads (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=33ms, Records=0) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT		a.adid,	adweight
	FROM		adsystem a
	INNER JOIN 	ad_category_mapping b ON b.adid = a.adid
	WHERE		a.section = ?
	AND			a.active  = 1
	AND 		a.start_date <= GETDATE()
	
	AND (a.viewby LIKE '%n%' OR a.viewby = 'all')
            

	AND     (b.category_number IN (	SELECT	category_number
									FROM	category_book_mapping
									WHERE	book_number = ?)
      		OR 	b.category_number = ?)
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = adzone6
Parameter #2(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = 0
Parameter #3(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = 0

get_ads (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=28ms, Records=1) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT	a.adid,	adweight
        FROM	adsystem a
        WHERE	a.section = ? 
        AND 	a.active  = 1 
        AND		a.start_date <= GETDATE()	
        
        AND (a.viewby LIKE '%n%' OR a.viewby = 'all')
        AND (select count(*) from ad_category_mapping where datalength(category_number) >= 1 and adid = a.adid) = 0
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = adzone6

get_type (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=11ms, Records=1) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT	a.start_date, a.adid, a.end_date, a.camp_views, a.image_name, a.alt_text, a.views, a.code, a.adsize
        FROM	adsystem a
        WHERE	a.adid = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 1112

get_quotes (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=36ms, Records=1) in /root/website/site/blocks/dsp_book_giveaway.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
select top 1 ezine_number, ezine_quote, ezine_quote_title
	    from ezines
	    where len(ezine_quote_title) > 1
	    order by newid()
get_free_newsletters (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=0ms, Records=4, Cached Query) in /root/website/queries/qry_get_free_newsletters.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT 	*
    FROM 	free_newsletters
get_ads (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=15ms, Records=0) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT		a.adid,	adweight
	FROM		adsystem a
	INNER JOIN 	ad_category_mapping b ON b.adid = a.adid
	WHERE		a.section = ?
	AND			a.active  = 1
	AND 		a.start_date <= GETDATE()
		 	AND a.adid NOT IN (?) 
	AND (a.viewby LIKE '%n%' OR a.viewby = 'all')
            

	AND     (b.category_number IN (	SELECT	category_number
									FROM	category_book_mapping
									WHERE	book_number = ?)
      		OR 	b.category_number = ?)
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = showcase_track
Parameter #2(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 1112
Parameter #3(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = 0
Parameter #4(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = 0

get_ads (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=17ms, Records=1) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT	a.adid,	adweight
        FROM	adsystem a
        WHERE	a.section = ? 
        AND 	a.active  = 1 
        AND		a.start_date <= GETDATE()	
        		AND a.adid NOT IN (?) 
        AND (a.viewby LIKE '%n%' OR a.viewby = 'all')
        AND (select count(*) from ad_category_mapping where datalength(category_number) >= 1 and adid = a.adid) = 0
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_VARCHAR) = showcase_track
Parameter #2(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 1112

get_type (Datasource=bookbrowse_com_new, Time=22ms, Records=1) in /root/website/adsystem/adsystem_mod.cfm @ 00:20:36.036
SELECT	a.start_date, a.adid, a.end_date, a.camp_views, a.image_name, a.alt_text, a.views, a.code, a.adsize
        FROM	adsystem a
        WHERE	a.adid = ?
Query Parameter Value(s) -
Parameter #1(CF_SQL_INTEGER) = 594


Scope Variables

CGI Variables:
AUTH_PASSWORD=
AUTH_TYPE=
AUTH_USER=
CERT_COOKIE=
CERT_FLAGS=
CERT_ISSUER=
CERT_KEYSIZE=
CERT_SECRETKEYSIZE=
CERT_SERIALNUMBER=
CERT_SERVER_ISSUER=
CERT_SERVER_SUBJECT=
CERT_SUBJECT=
CF_TEMPLATE_PATH=/root/website/readers/index.cfm
CONTENT_LENGTH=
CONTENT_TYPE=
CONTEXT_PATH=
GATEWAY_INTERFACE=
HTTPS=
HTTPS_KEYSIZE=
HTTPS_SECRETKEYSIZE=
HTTPS_SERVER_ISSUER=
HTTPS_SERVER_SUBJECT=
HTTP_ACCEPT=*/*
HTTP_ACCEPT_ENCODING=gzip, br, zstd, deflate
HTTP_ACCEPT_LANGUAGE=
HTTP_CONNECTION=upgrade
HTTP_COOKIE=CFCLIENT_BOOKBROWSE=order%3Dp%23member%5Fnumber%3D0%23member%5Factive%5Fflag%3D0%23member%5Flogged%5Fin%5Fflag%3D0%23library%5Fuser%5Fflag%3D0%23view%3Dbooks%23; CFTOKEN=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53; CFGLOBALS=urltoken%3DCFID%23%3D4077981%26CFTOKEN%23%3D78f61de552c0f8c8%2D058685F4%2D9EB4%2D8AC0%2DD2F7029629EDBB53%23lastvisit%3D%7Bts%20%272026%2D06%2D01%2000%3A20%3A35%27%7D%23hitcount%3D87%23timecreated%3D%7Bts%20%272026%2D06%2D01%2000%3A20%3A14%27%7D%23cftoken%3D78f61de552c0f8c8%2D058685F4%2D9EB4%2D8AC0%2DD2F7029629EDBB53%23cfid%3D4077981%23; CFID=4077981
HTTP_HOST=dev.bookbrowse.com
HTTP_REFERER=
HTTP_URL=
HTTP_USER_AGENT=Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)
LOCAL_ADDR=127.0.0.1
PATH_INFO=/6675
PATH_TRANSLATED=/root/website/readers/index.cfm
QUERY_STRING=
REMOTE_ADDR=127.0.0.1
REMOTE_HOST=127.0.0.1
REMOTE_USER=
REQUEST_METHOD=GET
SCRIPT_NAME=/readers/index.cfm
SERVER_NAME=dev.bookbrowse.com
SERVER_PORT=8500
SERVER_PORT_SECURE=0
SERVER_PROTOCOL=HTTP/1.1
SERVER_SOFTWARE=
WEB_SERVER_API=
Client Variables:
cfid=4077981
cftoken=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53
hitcount=98
lastvisit={ts '2026-06-01 00:20:36'}
library_user_flag=0
member_active_flag=0
member_logged_in_flag=0
member_number=0
order=p
timecreated={ts '2026-06-01 00:20:14'}
urltoken=CFID=4077981&CFTOKEN=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53
view=books
Cookie Variables:
CFCLIENT_BOOKBROWSE=order=p#member_number=0#member_active_flag=0#member_logged_in_flag=0#library_user_flag=0#view=books#
CFGLOBALS=urltoken=CFID#=4077981&CFTOKEN#=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53#lastvisit={ts '2026-06-01 00:20:35'}#hitcount=87#timecreated={ts '2026-06-01 00:20:14'}#cftoken=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53#cfid=4077981#
CFID=4077981
CFTOKEN=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53
Session Variables:
cfid=4077981
cftoken=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53
sessionid=BOOKBROWSE_4077981_78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53
urltoken=CFID=4077981&CFTOKEN=78f61de552c0f8c8-058685F4-9EB4-8AC0-D2F7029629EDBB53
URL Parameters:
6675=
Debug Rendering Time: 22 ms