A Widow’s Sto...
A Widow’s Story: A Memoir, by Joyce Carol Oates. Ecco (2011), 415 pages. Joyce Carol Oates, in my...
Blood, Bones &...
Blood, Bones & Butter: The Inadvertent Education of a Reluctant Chef, by Gabrielle Hamilton. Random...
Coming of Age in Mi...
Coming of Age in Mississippi, by Anne Moody. Random House (1968), 432 pages. I saw this for sale in the...
Let’s Take th...
Let’s Take the Long Way Home: A Memoir of Friendship, by Gail Caldwell. Random House (2010), 190...
House of Happy Endi...
House of Happy Endings, by Leslie Garis. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (2008), 360 pages. The title of this...
Turning Stones
Turning Stones: My Days and Nights With Children at Risk, by Marc Parent. Ballantine Books (1998), 400...
This Boy’s Li...
This Boy’s Life: A Memoir, by Tobias Wolff. Grove Press (2000), 304 pages. In This Boy’s...
A Charmed Life
A Charmed Life: Growing Up in Macbeth’s Castle, by Liza Campbell. Thomas Dunne Books (2006), 324...
All Souls
All Souls: A Family Story from Southie, by Michael Patrick MacDonald. Ballantine Books (1999), 265...
I Love Yous Are for...
I Love Yous Are for White People, by Lac Su. Harper Perennial (2009), 249 pages. Lac Su has a compelling...
The House at Sugar ...
The House at Sugar Beach: In Search of a Lost African Childhood, by Helene Cooper. Simon & Schuster...
Infidel
Infidel, by Ayaan Hirsi Ali. Free Press (2007), 353 pages. In order for me to love a memoir the author...
Stitches
Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small. W.W. Norton & Company (2009), 329 pages. This memoir is the biggest...
The Tender Bar
The Tender Bar: A Memoir, by J.R. Moehringer. Hyperion (2005), 370 pages. Moehringer has proven, in The...
Leaving Mother Lake
Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World, by Yang Erche Namu and Christine Mathieu. Back Bay...
When Skateboards Wi...
When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood, by Said Sayrafiezadeh. The Dial Press...
Sickened
Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood, by Julie Gregory. Bantam Books (2003), 246...
House of Cards
House of Cards: Love, Faith and Other Social Expressions, by David Ellis Dickerson. Riverhead Books (2009),...
A Wolf at the Table
A Wolf at the Table: A Memoir of My Father, by Augusten Burroughs. St. Martin’s Press (2008), 256...
My Lobotomy
My Lobotomy, by Howard Dully and Charles Fleming. Three Rivers Press (2008), 284 pages It’s hard to beat...
The Invisible Wall
The Invisible Wall, by Harry Bernstein. Ballantine Books (2007), 320 pages. Bernstein was 93 years old when...
Tales of Wonder
Tales of Wonder, by Huston Smith. HarperOne (2009), 209 pages. Huston Smith’s bestseller, The...
Cartwheels in a Sar...
Cartwheels in a Sari: A Memoir of Growing Up Cult, by Jayanti Tamm. Harmony Books (2009), 288 pages. In the...
When All the World ...
When All the World Was Young, by Barbara Holland. Bloomsbury (2005), 304 pages. This intelligent, literary...
Losing Mum and Pup
Losing Mum and Pup: A Memoir, by Christopher Buckley. Twelve (2009), 251 pages. Buckley’s memoir...
Twenty Chickens for...
Twenty Chickens for a Saddle: The Story of an African Childhood, by Robyn Scott. Penguin (2008), 452...
Finding Mañana
Finding Mañana: A Memoir of a Cuban Exodus, by Mirta Ojito. Penguin (2006), 302 pages. There was so, so...
The Only Girl in th...
The Only Girl in the Car, by Kathy Dobie. The Dial Press (2003), 240 pages. This book has much in common...
Wasted
Wasted, by Marya Hornbacher. Harper Perennial (1998), 320 pages. “It was that simple: One minute I was...
About Us
The Book Shark began as an independent book review website created by Cindy Blackett and Donna Long in 2002.
From the beginning our goal was not only to write great reviews, but also to recognize the most well-written books we read each year with an award...
Gustine Awards
The Gustine Awards were named in honor of the main character in one of our favorite books—The Dress Lodger, by Sheri Holman. Awards have been given out yearly since 2002 in three categories: fiction, nonfiction, and memoir...
Cover Art
A book’s cover is as important as the writing within it. Yes, I really just said that. I am aware that this is a highly offensive statement to many authors who have toiled for years on their books and believe their words are the only thing that matters...
Reader Reviews
We want to know your choice for best fiction of 2010! Send us your review and if we choose it, it will be posted here through the month of February.
Fiction»
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The Invisible ...
19 Jan 2012
The Invisible Mountain, by Carolina De Robertis. Vintage Books (2009), 424 pages.
More in Fiction
This is a book that will ....
Nonfiction»
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The Wave
15 Feb 2011
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean, by Susan Casey. Doubleday ....
More in Nonfiction
Memoir»
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A Widow’...
19 Aug 2011
A Widow’s Story: A Memoir, by Joyce Carol Oates. Ecco (2011), 415 pages.
More in Memoir
Joyce Carol Oates, in my ....
Angry Rants»
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Three Cups of ...
12 Oct 2011
Three Cups of Deceit: How Greg Mortenson, Humanitarian Hero, Lost His Way, by Jon Krakauer. Anchor (2011) ....
More in Angry Rants
Graphic Novels»
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Stitches
28 Dec 2009
Stitches: A Memoir, by David Small. W.W. Norton & Company (2009), 329 pages.
More in Graphic Novels
This memoir is the biggest ....
Bad Books»
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The Story of E...
17 Jan 2010
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle, by David Wroblewski. Ecco (2008), 576 pages.
More in Bad Books
I heard about The Story of ....