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Georgie came to us from the other side of the world — Australia's finest
independent bookstore (Readings, located in Melbourne). Happily ensconced here
at Powell's for over five years now, she will gladly read and review nearly any
book within reach and is responsible for putting together our Review-a-Day feature on the website.
To quote a passage from
her fan club charter: "Our Georgina's patience and grace is matched only by her
modesty and wealth of spirit." Those suggesting otherwise may find themselves
on the receiving end of one of her majesty's signature sneers.
 Martin Sloane
by Michael Redhill  Robert Hughes, in American Visions, wrote of the artist Joseph Cornell, famed for boxed dioramas of found objects: "At times, though not often, Cornell's imagination looks fey or precious. There is a treacherous line between sentiment and sentimentality....Yet his gothic fantasies and fussily reverential evocations of dead Victorian ballerinas....are usually drawn back from the edge by Cornell's rigor as a formal artist." This "treacherous line between sentiment and sentimentality" worries (or should
worry!) many artists whose work ventures into the realm of the love relationship.
Michael Redhill's novel Martin Sloane not only manages to tightrope walk
across this line, but with breathtaking grace explores the artist and lover
in relation to sentiment and love.... 
 Hell
Hath No Fury: And Other Women's Letters from the End of the Affairby Anna Holmes "Dear Jamie, I missed you today, I missed you yesterday and with any luck I won't see you tomorrow," writes Kylie, 28, from Queensland, Australia, to her ex-fiancée Jamie. Gleefully caustic, she begins her version of the little publicized, but oft-penned, epistolary form — the breakup letter. Writer Anna Holmes was inspired to research the field of the breakup letter throughout history after sending her own "poison pen" email to an ex-boyfriend — and afterward to ten of her closest friends. Hell Hath No Fury is the result — a collection of some of the most sweet, funny, heartbreaking, and highly entertaining breakup letters written by women, both famous and not so famous, real and fictional....  read
the entire review
 Set
This House in Order: A Romance of Soulsby Matt Ruff Imagine being greeted on the street by a stranger who seems to know you well, finding cigarettes in your purse when you don't smoke, discovering clothes in your closet you don't remember purchasing (and perhaps never would have, given a choice) and notes addressed to yourself telling you how to get to work and reminding you where you are. If this sounds like the beginning of a science fiction novel — something
written by Sewer, Gas & Electric author Matt Ruff, perhaps —
you are halfway there. Matt Ruff's third novel deals with the scenarios above,
but in this case the subject matter is multiple personality disorder, and the
time and place is contemporary Seattle....
 When
We Were Orphans by Kazuo Ishiguro John Banville wrote of W. G. Sebald in The New Republic that his work bears "a superficial resemblance to that of [Kazuo] Ishiguro and [Ian] McEwan." He goes on to say, however, "the difference is that he is an infinitely greater artist than either of them." Quite a statement Mr. Banville. To my mind Ishiguro and McEwan are two of Britain's finest living authors,
some of the finest writers at work today. The word "superficial," however, is
particularly relevant for Ishiguro, and despite what Banville says, it is a
terrain that Ishiguro knows better than any other contemporary writer, being
a modern master at portraying the depths and deceptions that lie beneath the
thin veneer of proper behavior....
 The
Bad Beginning by Lemony Snicket A terribly well-read editor friend who works for a well respected publisher of young adult fiction confessed to me that she has a hard time reading literary fiction anymore. She's grown too addicted to the fast paced plot lines necessary to keep young readers turning the pages rather than turning on the TV. The success of the Harry Potter series proves she's not the only adult with a penchant for a good, old-fashioned, razzle-dazzle story line, the infinite possibilities of alternate worlds, and smart, sassy heroes and heroines who defy the odds. Even Lee Seigel wrote in the New Republic that the Potter books "possess more imaginative life than the majority of novels that are published in this country in any given year." I must confess that I've not yet experienced Rowling's "literary artistry,"
but I have been seduced by a series that I would confidently recommend
to those young readers (and their parents — and parents' friends, for that matter)
waiting impatiently for the next Potter installment....
 Before
I Say Goodbye: Recollections and Observations from One Womans Final Year by Ruth Picardie Ruth Picardie, a columnist for the London Observer, was diagnosed with breast cancer when she was thirty three years old and new mother to twins. She died within the year. Before I say Goodbye is her achingly brilliant memoir, compiled posthumously by her husband and sister from email correspondence, the five columns she wrote about her illness, and recollections from family and friends. There are even profoundly moving letters written to her in response to her published articles, from strangers touched by her revelations. At 131 pages, the book is a mercifully short read. However Picardie's frank and biting humor as she looks down the barrel will reverberate long after you put it down.... read
the entire review
 Running
with Scissors: A Memoirby Augusten Burroughs If you casually peruse the Salon.com sex section, you may well come across one of Augusten Burroughs's essays. They are pretty hard to miss, with such eye-catching titles as "A Priest on his Knees: Some of the best sex in my life has been administered by men of the cloth," which is a hilarious self-confessional about his experiences with certain members (no pun intended) of the Catholic Church. Burroughs has a way of writing reminiscent of David
Sedaris. His mock-naivete is a little shocking, a little naughty. He confesses
to things that most people just don't admit to in polite conversation. But the
twinkle in the eye is there, the nudge in the side encouraging you to "c'mon,
admit it — you thought it was funny." Also, like Sedaris, Burroughs makes laugh-out-loud
fun of his family, his own quirks, and his experiences growing up. Yet Burroughs's
family life is pretty damn extraordinary...
 Observatory
Mansionsby Edward Carey Observatory Mansions is a shadow of its former glory as the family home to generations of Ormes. Now a decrepit apartment building encircled by traffic, it provides a decaying sanctuary to the catatonic, the haunted, the deranged, and the fearful. Among these inhabitants is Francis Orme, who wears white gloves at all times, makes a living as a statue of whiteness in the local park, and describes himself as "the attendant of a museum. A museum of significant objects." Belonging to both people he knows and strangers, these "objects" were cherished possessions to their owners, and it is that status of having been loved that he hopes to vicariously absorb when he steals them for his "Exhibition of Love." When Anna Tap moves in, chain smoking and half blind, she interrupts the entropy
of the isolated apartment building. Her arrival initiates a process of unraveling
memory that propels the evolvement (and in some circumstances, disintegration)
of its tenants before ensnaring her with it....
 Everybody
Dies by Lawrence Block The term "cozy" connotes a mystery targeted toward the type of women who take time out from their quilting to sit by the fire and revel in the mischievous adventures of feline detectives (such as Sneaky Pie Brown or Koko and Yum Yum), or perhaps garner a few recipes amidst the red herrings in a Goldy Bear Schultz or Pennsylvania Dutch culinary whodunit. And, perhaps, fair enough. These titles are a far cry from the lurid details of a Thomas Harris or Jeffery Deaver serial killer thriller. Yet for me there are few things more cozy on a cold, wet weekend than spending the day under the blankets with a mystery that is as grisly as it is intelligent.... read
the entire review
 True
Enoughby Stephen McCauley The homosexual comic sidekick to the heterosexual woman is a relationship we see in books and movies often. The camp, perpetually single Rupert Everett, friend to the neurotic, and embarrassingly single Julia Roberts character in My Best Friend's Wedding for example. She is the protagonist and he the disher of sage advice and sympathetic noises. Thirty something female characters, from Sex in The City to Bridget Jones's Diary, have their obligatory gay male buddy: there for the good times and the bad — the martinis and the tears. The plot line to Stephen McCauley's fourth novel, True Enough, would
appear at first glance to be more of the same. In fact, all his novels revolve
around a gay male and his straight female friend. However, the characterizations
are far from clichéd. Jane Cody collaborates with Desmond Sullivan on
a TV documentary project about...
 Shopgirlby Steve Martin When Steve Martin's Shopgirl came out in hardcover, it was praised wildly by the critics. Graceful and precise at 130 pages, this novella is now out in paperback and deserves revisiting if only to heap even more adoring praise upon it. Shopgirl is a succinct portrayal of the fragility of relationships and
a witty look at how men and women communicate — or at least think they
communicate when, in fact, they miss nearly everything....
 The
Dirt: The Autobiography of Mötley Crüeby Mötley Crüe The Dirt is a book that is easy to dip into. Getting out is another matter. I was unable to put down this 420-page autobiography of Mötley Crüe, the "World's Most Notorious Rock Band," until I had read it cover to cover. I began by flipping it open here and there in the hope of finding a little voyeuristic titillation. But I would then become engrossed in the middle of some chapter and have to flip back and read from the beginning. The hairsprayed, drug-addled, womanizing exploits of the four inspire as much fascination as they do repugnance. It's hard not to find Nikki, Tommy, Vince, and Mick at least a little endearing;
they really want you to understand them. And you get the feeling some
of them really want to understand themselves. Nikki and Tommy's time
spent in therapy is painfully apparent in some of their musings....
 Labyrinth
of Desire: Women, Passion, and Romantic Obsession by Rosemary Sullivan Feminist authors such as Jungian analyst Clarissa Pinkola Estes (Women Who Run with the Wolves), Elizabeth Wanning Harries (Twice Upon a Time) and Catherine Orenstein (Little Red Riding Hood Uncloaked), have analyzed mythology and fairy tales' influence on female cultural and sexual identity. Inspiring and fascinating, Pinkola Estes argues that the Bluebeard myth — a classic fable interpreted as a caution against the dangers of curiosity — in fact, illustrates the opposite: that girls enter womanhood through experience. For Pinkola Estes, Bluebeard is a feminist fable, illustrating that women have an inclination to search for love, for answers, and for fulfillment in another, when ultimately it is within herself that a woman should search.... read
the entire review
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