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Lisa McLendon

‘Wish You Were Here’ a novel of quiet power

Last updated Saturday, July 7, 2012 - 9:32pm

“WISH YOU WERE HERE.” By Graham Swift. Knopf. $25.

“A good novel,” Graham Swift wrote in a recent essay in the New York Times Book Review, “is like a welcome pause in the flow of our existence; a great novel is forever revisitable. Novels can linger with us long after we’ve read them — even, and perhaps particularly, novels that compel us to read them, all other concerns forgotten, in a single intense sitting.”

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Psychology gives depth to Russian fantasy

Lisa McLendon McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Sunday, June 10, 2012 - 7:31am

"THE SCAR." By Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, translated by Elinor Huntington; Tor ($24.99)

Sergey and Marina Dyachenko, husband-and-wife authors, have written numerous science-fiction and fantasy novels in Russian -- and have racked up a mantel-ful of awards in doing so -- but they've only now made a foray into U.S. bookshelves with "The Scar."

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Charles Duhigg book probes what drives habits

Lisa McLendon McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Sunday, May 20, 2012 - 7:34am

"THE POWER OF HABIT: WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO IN LIFE AND BUSINESS." By Charles Duhigg. Random House. $28.

The cue: The "thwack" of the Sunday newspaper hitting the driveway.

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The No. 1 girls' detective agency

Lisa McLendon McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Sunday, April 15, 2012 - 7:24am

"THE GREAT CAKE MYSTERY." By Alexander McCall Smith. Anchor Books. 7 and up. $6.99.

For all the fans of Precious Ramotswe, Botswana's No. 1 lady detective -- and there are legions -- and for all the kids who think it would be fun to solve mysteries, "The Great Cake Mystery" delivers a sweet, fun story about how Precious got her start detecting.

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'The Odds' explores a broken marriage and desperate choice

Lisa McLendon McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Sunday, January 29, 2012 - 5:05pm

"THE ODDS." By Stewart O'Nan. Viking. $25.95.

Stewart O'Nan doesn't write sweeping epics, doesn't delve into places far away or times long past. Instead, he peers deeply into the personal -- the real lives of real people, their dreams and fears, their triumphs, however small, and their failings, however petty. In these lives, he teases out larger truths, the truths we can all relate to, even if we haven't shared the experience.

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'Running the Rift' finds hope amid horrors of war

Lisa McLendon McClatchy Newspapers

Last updated Sunday, January 22, 2012 - 6:14am

"RUNNING THE RIFT." By Naomi Benaron. Algonquin Books. $24.95.

When a book wins an award for promoting social justice -- in this case, the Bellwether Prize, established by writer Barbara Kingsolver -- one might expect it to be heavy-handed or preachy.

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