http://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/books/index.xml News, sports and entertainment from The Kansas City Star en-us Copyright 2013Kansas City Star Books 60 Wed, 22 May 2013 17:00:35 CDT http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss McClatchy Interactive's PubSys 1.1.fi feedback@kansascity.com (Feedback) http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/18/4240139/novels-for-young-adults-are-reaching.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/18/4240139/novels-for-young-adults-are-reaching.html#storylink=rss Sat, 18 May 2013 23:46 CDT When so many adult fiction offerings read like variations on a theme of emotional impotence, is it any wonder readers are turning to young-adult novels for spellbinding stories and authentic connection? http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/16/4239585/the-guns-at-last-light-completes.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/16/4239585/the-guns-at-last-light-completes.html#storylink=rss Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00 CDT "The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945" is the third volume of Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy, which details the triumph of the Allied powers in Europe and North Africa. He began researching the project in 1999. But, arguably, he began working that story 18 years before that, during a three-hour drive through southeastern Kansas. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/16/4239563/book-review-guns-at-last-light.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/16/4239563/book-review-guns-at-last-light.html#storylink=rss Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00 CDT In the third volume of Rick Atkinson's Liberation Trilogy, he reconstructs the period from D-Day to V-E Day by weaving a multitude of tiny details into a tapestry of achingly sublime prose. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/16/4239544/readorama-a-local-military-historian.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/16/4239544/readorama-a-local-military-historian.html#storylink=rss Thu, 16 May 2013 16:00 CDT A reader-friendly version of more than 200 years of U.S. Army history would seem a contradiction in terms. But that's what Kansas City area military scholar D.M. Giangreco achieves with "The United States Army: The Definitive Illustrated History." http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/15/4234985/jim-gaffigans-dad-is-fat-is-packed.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/15/4234985/jim-gaffigans-dad-is-fat-is-packed.html#storylink=rss Wed, 15 May 2013 20:16 CDT "When you are handed your screaming newborn for the first time," Jim Gaffigan writes, "you are simultaneously handed a license for gallows humor." The comic will discuss his new book Tuesday at Unity Temple on the Plaza. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/09/4227360/book-review-bolivar-american-liberator.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/09/4227360/book-review-bolivar-american-liberator.html#storylink=rss Thu, 09 May 2013 16:00 CDT "Epic" is a word used too often to describe lesser work, but Marie Arana's marvelously readable "Bolivar: American Liberator" is a biography that earns its adjectives. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/10/4227374/book-review-country-girl-captures.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/10/4227374/book-review-country-girl-captures.html#storylink=rss Fri, 10 May 2013 00:00 CDT "Country Girl" invokes O'Brien's first novel, "The Country Girls," the book published in 1960 that simultaneously launched her literary career and scandalous reputation. The memoir reveals more through its syntax than through its story. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/11/4227361/readorama-missouri-professor-becomes.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/11/4227361/readorama-missouri-professor-becomes.html#storylink=rss Sat, 11 May 2013 21:26 CDT Larry Gragg's new book, "Bright Light City: Las Vegas in Popular Culture" traces the evolving perception of the town as it has been depicted in film, TV, fiction and journalism. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/10/4229366/fyi-book-club-readers-swept-away.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/10/4229366/fyi-book-club-readers-swept-away.html#storylink=rss Fri, 10 May 2013 16:01 CDT Readers were eager to talk about a young adult novel, set in the Civil War era, that had much appeal for adults. And they were treated to a surprise guest: the book's author, Richard Peck. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/05/4216842/cat-daddy-jackson-galaxy-comes.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/05/05/4216842/cat-daddy-jackson-galaxy-comes.html#storylink=rss Sun, 05 May 2013 19:26 CDT Host of 'My Cat From Hell' is on a mission to stem the number of unwanted animals flooding shelters and being euthanized. He knows the pain of that loss -- he killed shelter animals himself. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4204395/rt-booklovers-convention-is-a.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4204395/rt-booklovers-convention-is-a.html#storylink=rss Fri, 26 Apr 2013 20:51 CDT Starting Wednesday, authors (450-500 of them), aspiring authors, fans of authors, booksellers and bloggers will schmooze, attend workshops, snatch up freebies, collect autographs and let their hair down during the five-day convention. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202282/book-review-in-equilateral-ken.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202282/book-review-in-equilateral-ken.html#storylink=rss Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00 CDT Science, Mars and the human heart come into play in 'Equilateral,' a historical novel set among those who believed in the potential of the fourth planet. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202285/book-review-a-century-old-memoir.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202285/book-review-a-century-old-memoir.html#storylink=rss Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00 CDT Mary MacLane portrayed herself as a woman of deep and dangerous desires in 'I Await The Devil's Coming,' a 1902 sensation now back in print. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202278/historian-takes-another-look-at.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202278/historian-takes-another-look-at.html#storylink=rss Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00 CDT Timothy Messer-Kruse, author of "The Trial of the Haymarket Anarchists: Terrorism and Justice in the Gilded Age," examines the litigation during which several "anarchists" were convicted and later hanged for their roles in a bombing that killed seven police officers in Chicago. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202300/book-review-in-strange-stones.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/26/4202300/book-review-in-strange-stones.html#storylink=rss Fri, 26 Apr 2013 00:00 CDT Peter Hessler, who grew up in Columbia, reports from far-flung places and writes compelling magazine pieces. "Strange Stones" collects 18 previously published magazine features by Hessler, some of them extensively rewritten for this book. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/21/4191448/teen-rapture-an-author-revisits.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/21/4191448/teen-rapture-an-author-revisits.html#storylink=rss Sun, 21 Apr 2013 17:47 CDT "Rapture Practice" is not exactly a tribute to Aaron Hartzler's fundamentalist Christian parents. It's more along the lines of one of those "I survived my wacky family" tell-alls, although Hartzler takes care not to lampoon his folks. Amazon is featuring the book this month as a "best teen book." http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/20/4189764/book-review-dear-mark-twain-collects.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/20/4189764/book-review-dear-mark-twain-collects.html#storylink=rss Sat, 20 Apr 2013 21:11 CDT Our intrepid reviewer pens a missive to Mr. Twain himself in which to respond to this new collection of fan mail. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/20/4191276/walk-on-the-wild-side-backpacking.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/20/4191276/walk-on-the-wild-side-backpacking.html#storylink=rss Sat, 20 Apr 2013 13:00 CDT How long do you allow your life to spiral lower and lower before you shake and shudder and decide you must make a move? Any move. For writer Cheryl Strayed it was four years, from the death of her 45-year-old mother to her decision to backpack solo across the remote, mountainous terrain of the Pacific Crest Trail in 1995. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/18/4188904/book-review-the-slippage-by-ben.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/18/4188904/book-review-the-slippage-by-ben.html#storylink=rss Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:00 CDT "The Slippage" opens on the evening of a party in a generic, cookie-cutter suburban neighborhood, laid out like a model train display in a department store window. William and Louisa Day, a financial writer and museum worker, respectively, live on a cul-de-sac where "the houses were all one-story," a neighbor jokes, "because that's what they told." http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/18/4189737/jim-lehrer-veteran-of-presidential.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/18/4189737/jim-lehrer-veteran-of-presidential.html#storylink=rss Thu, 18 Apr 2013 16:00 CDT Broadcast journalist will sit down at 6:30 p.m. Monday with Kansas City Public Library director R. Crosby Kemper III and debates scholar Lee Banville at the library's Plaza Branch http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/12/4176370/book-review-a-journalist-journeys.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/12/4176370/book-review-a-journalist-journeys.html#storylink=rss Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:00 CDT In 'Marijuanamerica,' Alfred Ryan Nerz takes a weed-wonder journey across the country to understand our relationship to the legendary plant and its psychosocial effects. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/12/4176372/book-review-william-whartons-wwii.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/12/4176372/book-review-william-whartons-wwii.html#storylink=rss Fri, 12 Apr 2013 08:00 CDT William Wharton, a World War II veteran and a late-blooming writer, delivers a humble and striking account of witnessing war. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/13/4180374/book-review-the-searchers-aims.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/13/4180374/book-review-the-searchers-aims.html#storylink=rss Sat, 13 Apr 2013 21:09 CDT In his impeccably researched book "The Searchers" Glenn Frankel uses John Ford's 1956 film of the same name as a basis for comparison between the real-life abduction of a young pioneer girl and the mythic story movie makers turned it into decades later. http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/12/4176368/author-delves-into-the-founders.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/12/4176368/author-delves-into-the-founders.html#storylink=rss Fri, 12 Apr 2013 00:00 CDT "The conflicts over money -- economics, lending and credit -- have been with us forever," author William Hogeland said. "So it can be a bit of a relief, and make things seem a little less dire, if we can look more realistically at them." http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/06/4161362/readorama-uncomfortable-history.html http://www.kansascity.com/2013/04/06/4161362/readorama-uncomfortable-history.html#storylink=rss Sat, 06 Apr 2013 08:00 CDT Authors Chris Lamb and Bill White discuss baseball race relations