The Lost City of Z
Rating: The Lost City of Z: A Tale of Deadly Obsession in the Amazon, by David Grann. Doubleday (2009), 313 pages. There are many reasons to read this book, the primary one being the ending, which I will refrain from saying anything about, even though I...
The Snakehead
Rating: The Snakehead: An Epic Tale of the Chinatown Underworld and the American Dream, by Patrick Radden Keefe. Doubleday (2009), 414 pages. In June of 1993, in the middle of the night, a ship ran aground a few hundred yards off the Rockaway Peninsula in...
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
(This review first appeared in August 2003) Rating: The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, by Mark Haddon. Doubleday (2002), 240 pages. This book is narrated by an autistic boy who discovers his neighbor’s dog has been murdered. As he...
Under the Banner of Heaven
Rating: Under the Banner of Heaven, by Jon Krakauer. Doubleday (2003), 372 pages. One of the exceptional things about Krakauer’s writing is his talent for branching off into ten different fascinating offshoots of his topic, while building suspense by...About Us
The Book Shark began as an independent book review website created by Cindy Pinto 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. We are aware that this may offend some authors who have toiled for years on their books and believe their words are the only thing that matters...
Reader Reviews
What’s the best or worst book you’ve ever read? What’s the most recent book that you’ve had a strong reaction to? Send us your thoughts, and we’ll post them in this spot.