FICTION
1. THE APPEAL
by John Grisham
Doubleday
Political and legal intrigue ensue when a Mississippi court decides against a chemical company accused of dumping toxic waste.
2. STRANGERS IN DEATH
by J.D. Robb
Putnam
Lieutenant Eve Dallas investigates a businessman's scandalous death; by Nora Roberts, under a pseudonym.
3. 7TH HEAVEN
by James Patterson and
Maxine Paetro
Little, Brown
In San Francisco, Detective Lindsay Boxer and the Women's Murder Club hunt for an arsonist and a missing teenager.
4. LADY KILLER
by Lisa Scottoline
Harper
When her high-school rival disappears, possibly as a result of foul play; a Philadelphia lawyer must confront her past.
5. DUMA KEY
by Stephen King
Scribner
A Minnesota contractor moves to Florida to recover from an injury and begins to create paintings with mysterious power.
6. A THOUSAND SPLENDID SUNS
by Khaled Hosseini
Riverhead
A friendship between two women in Afghanistan against the backdrop of 30 years of war.
7. WORLD WITHOUT END
by Ken Follett
Dutton
Love and intrigue in Kingsbridge, the medieval English cathedral town at the center of Follett's Pillars of the Earth.
8. THE KILLING GROUND
by Jack Higgins
Putnam
A spy helps a man whose family has terrorist ties.
9. STRANGER IN PARADISE
by Robert Parker
Putnam
Jesse Stone, the police chief of Paradise, Massachusetts, must protect a hit man's intended victim.
10. THE FIRST PATIENT
by Michael Palmer
St Martin's
When he becomes doctor to his old friend the president, a country physician discovers a conspiracy to kill him.
11. PEOPLE OF THE BOOK
by Geraldine Brooks
Viking
A rare-book expert unlocks the secrets of a medieval manuscript.
12. PLUM LUCKY
by Janet Evanovich
St Martin's
Stephanie's grandmother finds a bag of cash and goes gambling in Atlantic City.
NONFICTION
1. LIBERAL FASCISM
by Jonah Goldberg
Doubleday
This "alternative history of American liberalism reveals its roots in classical fascism."
2. IN DEFENSE OF FOOD
by Michael Pollan
Penguin Press
A manifesto urges us to "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
3. THE AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON
by Susan Jacoby
Pantheon
Are Americans hostile to knowledge?
4. RECONCILIATION
by Benazir Bhutto
Harper/HarperCollins
A posthumous look at Islam, democracy and the West, by Pakistan's former prime minister.
5. PREDICTABLY IRRATIONAL
by Dan Ariely
Harper
An MIT behavioral economist shows how emotions and social norms systematically shape our behavior.
6. I AM AMERICA (AND SO CAN YOU!)
by Stephen Colbert et al
Grand Central
The wit and wisdom of the mock pundit of Comedy Central's Colbert Report.
7. AN INCONVENIENT BOOK
by Glenn Beck and Kevin Balfe
Threshold Editions
Beck's solutions to problems including global warming and political correctness.
8. REAL CHANGE
by Newt Gingrich with Vince Haley and Rick Tyler
Regnery
How to build a better America, from the former speaker of the House.
9. GOD'S PROBLEM
by Bart Ehrman
HarperOne
A scholar examines the Bible's contradictory pronouncements on the meaning of suffering.
10. MANIC
by Terri Cheney
Morrow
A memoir of life with bipolar disorder.
11. THE REASON FOR GOD
by Timothy Keller
Dutton
A minister addresses common doubts and defends faith in a Christian God.
12. SEND YOURSELF ROSES
by Kathleen Turner with Gloria Feldt
Springboard
A leading lady's life.
13. THIS REPUBLIC OF SUFFERING
by Drew Gilpin Faust
Knopf
The impact of the Civil War's enormous death toll, from the new president of Harvard.
Nothing like the spectacular, dramatic unraveling of a political party in Taiwan has unfolded before as has hit the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) over recent weeks. The meltdown of the New Power Party (NPP) and the self-implosion of the New Party (NP) were nothing compared to the drama playing out now involving the TPP. This ongoing saga is so interesting, this is the fifth straight column on the subject. To catch up on this train wreck of a story up to Aug. 20, search for “Donovan’s Deep Dives Ko Wen-je” in a search engine. ANN KAO SENTENCED TO PRISON YET AGAIN,
When the Dutch began interacting with the indigenous people of Taiwan, they found that their hunters classified deer hide quality for trade using the Portuguese terms for “head,” “belly,” and “foot.” The Portuguese must have stopped here more than once to trade, but those visits have all been lost to history. They already had a colony on Macao, and did not need Taiwan to gain access to southern China or to the trade corridor that connected Japan with Manila. They were, however, the last to look at Taiwan that way. The geostrategic relationship between Taiwan and the Philippines was established
Sept. 9 to Sept. 15 The upgrading of sugarcane processing equipment at Ciaozaitou Sugar Factory (橋仔頭) in 1904 had an unintended but long-lasting impact on Taiwan’s transportation and rural development. The newly imported press machine more than doubled production, leading to an expansion of the factory’s fields beyond what its original handcarts and oxcarts could handle. In 1905, factory manager Tejiro Yamamoto headed to Hawaii to observe how sugarcane transportation was handled there. They had trouble finding something suitable for Taiwan until they discovered a 762mm-gauge “miniature” railroad at a small refinery in the island of Maui. On
When Sara (names in this story are changed to protect the sources’ identities) takes her daughter April out anywhere in Taiwan, she’s frequently asked the same question: “Is your husband Taiwanese?” Sara is white, and April has unmistakably Asian features. “My wife is Taiwanese,” she replies. If asked, she may then clarify that April is her biological child, Taiwanese by blood, and has two moms. This often creates more confusion, but it is a difficult reality for Sara, her wife Dana and April. While Dana has adopted April, the child does not have Taiwanese (Republic of China) nationality despite both of her
RSS