The Virtual Bookcase : Other website book news/reviews

UK Telegraph : UK Telegraph Book section

Essential reading for dog owners Justin Marozzi reviews Dog Years: A Memoir by Mark Doty
Is your dog God, or just human? Mary Wakefield reviews Dog Years: a Memoir by Mark Doty and The Dog Allusion by Martin Rowson
Michelangelo's revolutionary ceiling Serena Davies reviews Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel by Andrew Graham-Dixon
A voracious spendthrift with a shot-away chin Claudia FitzHerbert reviews The Bolter by Frances Osborne
How Idina Sackville put the Happy in the Valley Selina Hastings reviews The Bolter by Frances Osborne
Deep insight on a narrow canvas Jane Shilling reviews The Collected Stories by Lorrie Moore
'If only I could give up my mind' Kasia Boddy reviews The Collected Stories by Lorrie Moore
Isaac Rosenberg, the outsider's outsider Nigel Jones reviews Isaac Rosenberg: The Making of a Great War Poet by Jean Moorcroft Wilson
You may not think as much as you think you thinke Tom Payne reviews The Kingdom of Infinite Space: A Fantastical Journey around Your Head, my Raymond Tallis.
The difficult life of Isaac Rosenberg Laura Thompson reviews Isaac Rosenberg: the Making of a Great War Poet by Jean Moorcroft Wilson
Neil Oliver: where have all the real men gone? TV historian Neil Oliver wants to resurrect the 'manly man' by telling tales of old-fashioned heroism, says Roya Nikkhah.
Neil Oliver: Scott of the Antarctic An extract from historian Neil Oliver's new book telling the story of Scott of the Antarctic and his final expedition to the South Pole.
Michael Frayn, theatre fan Charles Spencer reviews Stage Directions: Writing on Theatre (1970-2008) by Michael Frayn
All the agony and the ecstasy Judith Flanders reviews Michelangelo and the Sistine Chapel by Andrew Graham-Dixon
The bloody sacking of Smyrna Jeremy Seal reviews Paradise Lost by Giles Milton
A feast of horror Anne Billson reviews A New Heritage of Horror by David Pirie
What goes on inside your head Kenan Malik reviews The Kingdom of Infinite Space by Raymond Tallis

New York Times

Books of The Times: In a Changing World, an Ever-Evolving Terrorism Philip Bobbitt’s powerful, dense and brilliant new book argues that the nature of terrorism has changed as nationhood has evolved.


Books of The Times: Forget It, Comrade. This Is Moscow. Tom Rob Smith’s tightly woven debut novel is a thriller set in a Soviet era when serial killers didn’t exist. Officially.


Sports of The Times: A Son’s Death, a Mother’s Agony, a Country’s Shame Mary Tillman’s book reminds readers that, while athletes have died in wars before, her son Pat’s death in Afghanistan was different because of the way he was used, posthumously, blatantly.


Books of The Times: The Making of Yeltsin, His Boldness and Flaws Timothy J. Colton’s biography of Boris N. Yeltsin argues that the Russian president was a great democratizer, “in the company of Nelson Mandela, Lech Walesa, Mikhail Gorbachev and Vaclav Havel.”


It’s Florida. It’s Hiaasen. It’s Golf? Carl Hiaasen’s new book is part memoir, part golf diary: an account of how the novelist took up golf again after what he calls “a much-needed layoff of 32 years.”


Books of The Times: A Challenge for the U.S.: Sun Rising on the East Fareed Zakaria contends that the age of unipolar American power is over, writing that “we are moving into a post-American world, one defined and directed from many places and by many people.”


Chief of Random House Said to Be Stepping Down Peter W. Olson, one of the most powerful figures in American book publishing, will step down amid mounting pressure over declining profits at Random House.


Books of The Times: Hard Sell, Soft Touch and the Right Question Barbara Walters’s “Audition: A Memoir” is a legitimately star-studded autobiography.


Born Again The Chinese writer Mo Yan’s wildly visionary and creative new novel covers almost the entire span of his country’s revolutionary experience, from 1950 until 2000, while constantly mocking and rearranging itself and jolting the reader with its own internal commentary.


Call of the Wild Jiang Rong’s novel is set in the pristine grasslands of Inner Mongolia in the 1960s.


Miss Shanghai Wang Anyi’s novel spans four decades in the life of a woman making her way in a rapidly changing China.


Kissing the Cook In Yan Lianke’s satirical novel, a fervent Maoist is seduced by the wife of his commanding officer.

New York Times Sunday book review

Born Again The Chinese writer Mo Yan’s wildly visionary and creative new novel covers almost the entire span of his country’s revolutionary experience, from 1950 until 2000, while constantly mocking and rearranging itself and jolting the reader with its own internal commentary.
Call of the Wild Jiang Rong’s novel is set in the pristine grasslands of Inner Mongolia in the 1960s.
Miss Shanghai Wang Anyi’s novel spans four decades in the life of a woman making her way in a rapidly changing China.
Kissing the Cook In Yan Lianke’s satirical novel, a fervent Maoist is seduced by the wife of his commanding officer.
So It Goes Previously unpublished works by Kurt Vonnegut, including memories of his captivity in Dresden during World War II.
Don’t Know Much About History From the Vikings to Plymouth Rock, Tony Horwitz searches for the true story behind the founding of America.
Pen and Sickle A look at Russia’s major artists, writers, musicians and filmmakers in the 20th century.
Endless War For Israel, everything starts with the 1948 conflict.
Empty Nest Egg Roger Lowenstein says America’s pension system is in shambles.
Cheating Hearts The protagonist of this novel suspects her husband of an affair, and has one of her own.
Young Man, Old Man Nathaniel Rich’s first novel contains two interesting narratives.
Dharma Bum A memoir of a young Westerner’s adventures in Buddhism.
Stray Thoughts A man’s search for his runaway dog frames the action in this Australian novel.
On Gossamer Wings A web of associations connects a group of New England writers, including Emily Dickinson, Mark Twain and Harriet Beecher Stowe.
The Trouble With Harry In this first novel, a widower stumbles through life, lust in the heart, pain in his belly.
Making the Band This prehistory of Roxy Music focuses on British art, fashion and academia in the 1950s and ’60s.
Yearning to Breathe Free A memoir of life in a suffocating family — and the author’s fight to break free.