Hello and welcome to the 19th edition of the Book Review Blog Carnival proudly hosted here at The Symposium this week! This edition features a large number of entries ranging from reviews, news, and even recommended reading lists. I hope you enjoy reading these posts as much as I have.

Joining the carnival is as easy as can be. Simply go to the carnival’s submission page and fill out the appropriate information. The 20th edition of the carnival will be hosted on June 21, 2009 at Book Dads: Fathers That Read!. Now, without further ado, let’s get this edition underway!

Poetry:

• Christina M Rau reviews Lawrence Ferlinghetti’s A Far Rockaway of the Heart.

Children’s Books:

• Tracy reviews The Wackiest, Wildest Weirdest Animals in the World by Jack Hanna.

Fiction:

• KerrieS reviewed Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn. KerrieS also reviewed Unseen by Mari Jungstedt and Search the Dark by Charles Todd, #3 in the Ian Rutledge series.
• Peter Jones reviews Midnight In Madrid, book two of Noel Hynd’s Russian Trilogy.
• Christa Visperas recommends Wally Lamb’s The Hour I First Believed stating that it’s a great book to curl up with.
• Jeanne reviews Olive Kitteridge – a review of a volume of linked short stories.
• Amy reviews This Song is You.
• Emm Media reviews the Georgina Kincaid series by Richelle Mead. The Georgia Kincaid series is an exciting adult series by Richelle Mead, author of the popular young adult series, Vampire Academy. ‘Succubus Blues’ and ‘Succubus Nights’ are set in the urban fantasy genre and are full of action, adventure, mystery and romance.
• Kristen reviews Storm Glass by Maria V Synder. Kristen also reviewed Anne Bishop’s Dreams Made Flesh and Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris
• switch2life reviews White Man Falling by Mike Stock.
• Jim Murdoch reviews Gentlemen by Klas Östergren. This book tells the story of two unusual brothers who have led unusual lives that come together when they discover a secret that could shake Swedish society if it became public. This is a big book that takes its time getting to it denouement. While its getting there we get an interesting tour of Europe during the sixties and seventies. Östergren is a major writer in Sweden and this book is regarded as his masterpiece.
• Jim Murdoch also reviewed Stick Out Your Tongue by Ma Jian. This collection of short stories presents a stark, dispassionate view of Tibet a million miles away from the idealised picture postcard view that most of us have of the country. It is a harsh place in many ways and the question you’ll find ringing in your head when you’ve finished it is: Is this a society that needs to be preserved? Longevity isn’t reason enough. Some if its practices are barbaric but does that give China the right to run roughshod over them? A book to make you think.

Non-Fiction

• Kakie Fitzsimmons reviews Raising Cain: Protecting the Emotional Life of Boys. This book explores the state of our society today as it relates to raising boys. It explores how it can affect them and give them the emotional literacy to thrive.
• MB presents Financial Book Reviews.
• jim reviews Money Strategies for Tough Times by Matt Bell.
• Rick Sincere presents . The death of the last survivor of the Titanic inspires a re-look at the book, Titanic Legacy.
• Silicon Valley Blogger is giving away copies of 10,001 Ways To Live Large On A Small Budget along with incentives for those who purchase it through Amazon.com.
• GeekMBS360 presents another review of 10,001 Ways to Live Large on a Small Budget.
• Heather Stein reviews John Keegan’s The Mask of Command.
• Ms. SP reviews E=mc2 by David Bodanis and claims that it is actually a “relief to actually understand this concept now”.
• Brett Schulte reviews Southern Storm: Sherman’s March to Sea. This book review covers Noah Andre Trudeua’s Southern Storm, a recent book on Sherman’s famous March to the Sea. I found Trudeau’s work to be especially interesting because it overturns many previously held assumptions about the March.
• jim also reviewed How Successful People Think by John C. Maxwell.
• Bruno Vigneault recommends Zero Limits by Joe Vitale.
• Greg Laden reviews When Your Genes Turn Bad.
• Glowing Face Man reviews Steve Pavlina’s Personal Development For Smart People.
• Srinivas Rao reviews There’s More to Life than a Corner Office.
• Tracy Dear reviews Boundaries by Townsend and Cloud.
• Flea reviews Emergency: This Book Will Save Your Life by Neil Strauss.

Biographies and Memoirs:

• Kaylia Marie reviews Don’t Call Me A Crook by Bob Moore. Reading a memoir offers the unique experience of seeing someone’s life through their own eyes…. Which can be both a good and a bad thing…
• Eric Gargiulo reviews Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry. “One of my favorite pro wrestling books is now available in paperback. Matthew Randazzo V’s Ring of Hell: The Story of Chris Benoit and the Fall of the Pro Wrestling Industry is one of the most powerful books ever written on pro wrestling. Regardless of your level of fandom, Ring of Hell will change the way you look at pro wrestling forever.”
• Susan Gaissert reviews Who Do You Think You Are by Alyse Myers, a memoir [that she claims] is truly a fine and worthwhile book.
• Woman Tribune reviews Kinky Gazpacho by Lori Tharps.
• expatriare reviews Jane Austen: A Life, by Carol Shields. This is a fantastic biography which helps provide great insight for reading Jane Austen’s novels.

And last, but certainly not least One Language would like to present a list of Literary Choices for Students of English as a Second Language

That concludes this edition of the Book Review Blog Carnival. Don’t forget to tune in for the next edition which will be on June 21st, 2009 at Book Dads: Fathers That Read!