Factory Girls
Rating: Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China, by Leslie T. Chang. Spiegel & Grau (2009), 436 pages. This book provides a multifaceted understanding of those three little words we cannot escape: “Made in China.” We think we have some...
Leaving Mother Lake
Rating: Leaving Mother Lake: A Girlhood at the Edge of the World, by Yang Erche Namu and Christine Mathieu. Back Bay Books (2004), 308 pages. Anybody who has fantasized about what life would be like in a completely matriarchal society needs to read this...
When Skateboards Will Be Free
Rating: When Skateboards Will Be Free: A Memoir of a Political Childhood, by Said Sayrafiezadeh. The Dial Press (2009), 287 pages. There was a time when I couldn’t get enough of tragic childhood memoirs. I would be appalled and heartbroken on behalf...
Sickened
Rating: Sickened: The Memoir of a Munchausen by Proxy Childhood, by Julie Gregory. Bantam Books (2003), 246 pages. This is the most one-of-a-kind memoir I’ve ever read. It is incomparable in its horror—even within the subcategory of memoirs featuring...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.