Books | AAN.org

Elements of a Novelnew

Earth, water, and the disappeared connect in Carolina De Robertis' Perla.

East Bay Express | Alison Peters | 04-03-2012 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Carolina De Robertis, Perla

Worlds Collide in Thomas Christensen's '1616'new

An action-packed year in profile.

East Bay Express | Alison Peters | 04-02-2012 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Books, 1616: The World in Motion, Thomas Christensen

Moshe Kasher Comes Homenew

The comedian's new memoir is part of a growing literary canon that features Oakland as a character—and a muse.

East Bay Express | Rachel Swan | 04-02-2012 | Books

Tags: Memoir, Vitus, The New Parish, Moshe Kasher, Oakland School of the Arts, Stork Club, A Bookstore, Diablo Valley College, Diesel, W. Kamau Bell

'Burn Down' delivers true American Gothicnew

The discomforting cliché that out of bad pain comes good comedy — an assurance that has, in some form or other, been made by acerbic jokers from Mark Twain to Bernie Mac — is nothing to scoff at.

San Antonio Current | Roberto Ontiveros | 04-02-2012 | Nonfiction

Tags: drama, memoir, pain, comedy, Kambri Crews Villard, dark comedy

Ellen Ullman Explores Her Inner Darkness With 'By Blood'new

A wickedly smart, deeply creepy thriller of the San Francisco Gothic kind.

East Bay Express | Stefanie Kalem | 04-02-2012 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: thriller, Gothic, Mrs. Dalloway's, Ellen Ullman

E-Books Create Challenges for Librariesnew

The growing popularity of checking out e-books at libraries is making it more difficult to actually do it.

East Bay Express | Holly McDede | 03-31-2012 | Books

Tags: Random House, Penguin, HarperCollins, Kindle, E-books, Alameda County Library, Alameda Free Public Library, American Library Association, Andy Ross, Annemarie Meyer, Association American of Publishers, Jane Chisaki, Molly Raphael, Oakland Public Library, Overdrive, San Rafael Public Library, Sarah Houghton, Susan Fisher

David Klein delves into the deep catalog of number songs in If 6 Was 9new

Reviewer's Fact #1: I downloaded 13 new songs as a result of reading this book. And, yes, I considered finding a reason to download another just to avoid the unlucky number.

INDY Week | Chris Vitiello | 03-31-2012 | Nonfiction

Tags: Books, Songs, Numerology, David Klein

Excerpts from Mitch Ryder's memoirs, poetry from Terry Blackhawk, a Q&A with co-author Steve Babson on a biography of attorney Ernie Goodman, pulp fiction from the mean streets of Detroit and suburban Ferndale, and more.

Metro Times | Mitch Ryder, W. Kim Heron, Michael Jackman, Christa Buchanan and Dan Merritt | 03-21-2012 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Mitch Ryder, Steve Babson, Terry Blackhawk, Anthony Polito, E. Scrill, Donald Levin, Anthony Polito, Donald Levin, E. Scrill, Mitch Ryder, Steve Babson, Terry Blackhawk

Kris Saknussemm: Bent and Reverentnew

The author takes the dirty backroads home in Reverend America.

East Bay Express | Stefanie Kalem | 03-09-2012 | Author Profiles & Interviews

Tags: Kris Saknussemm

Husband of slain icon Selena tells of romance, sufferingnew

In one of the final chapters of his book To Selena, With Love (out March 6), Selena's widower Chris Perez mentions that Abraham Quintanilla, his former father-in-law, once called him "a cancer" in the family.

San Antonio Current | Enrique Lopetegui | 03-09-2012 | Nonfiction