Last week Paul Takushi of the UC Davis campus bookstore guest hosted Words on Books.

He wasn't actually here, but I read to you some book reviews Paul wrote for his store's newsletter. There wasn't time to finish all of them last week, so I'll continue Paul's reviews now.

Last week Paul reviewed Smashed by Koren Zailckas, The Diary of Ma Yan, and The Extraordinary Adventures of Alfred Kropp by Rick Yancey.

This week to that admirable list add his reviews of The Lost Night by Rachel Howard, Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig and A Dangerous Place by Marc Reisner.

Here is Paul's review of The Lost Night by Rachel Howard:

As a young child Rachel Howard woke up to screams in the middle of the night and soon found herself standing in the hallway of her small home in Merced watching her father bleed to death from knife wounds. A few months later the unsolved case was considered 'cold' due to a lack of evidence, and all media attention ceased. Unfortunately, in our tabloid culture of 'if it bleeds, it leads' we do not pay attention to all of the victims of injustice because they all aren't as titillating or cinematic as the obviously distraught family member or the hysterical spouse. We lose sight of the way that tragedy is more like a ripple spreading without a boundary through time, rather than a single event. The Lost Night does a magnificent job of leading us through the twists and turns of Rachel Howard's ensuing years of denial and self-abuse, how this leads to her search for the truth, and how she comes to terms with the events of that night and finally attains enlightenment. This book is not concerned with solving the mystery behind a murder. It is about solving the mystery behind our frail human psyche, the tenuous connection behind what we think we should do and what we actually end up doing, and what the nature of inner peace fully encompasses. There is a triumph of the soul contained in this book and that is what readers will ultimately cherish.

Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig.

Paul writes:

Did you ever think your mother was overly anal retentive when she got everyone in the car to go somewhere, started it up, then cut the engine so she could go back inside to check to see if the stove was still on? How about the guy at work who, when first entering the restroom, pulls out a few feet of paper towels so he won't have to touch the dispenser's handle after washing his hands, then uses a paper towel to glove the handle on his way out? Compared to Jenny Traig, that kind of behavior is just the tip of the Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder iceberg. This memoir of Traig's adolescence comes from the David Sedaris school of writing: funny, bittersweet, hilarious, quirky, angst ridden, humorous, brutally honest, episodic yet suburban, dour but ultimately uplifting. Did I mention that this book is unrelentingly funny? I'd also recommend Devil in the Details as a parenting guide, especially for those who think THEIR kid is the weirdest one on the block. The senior Traigs handle their daughter's dark moments, oddly idiosyncratic behaviors, and maddening habits with aplomb, grace, loving concern, and a healthy dose of sarcastic ribbing. I also highly recommend this book for people who think they've got it tough in life, that they're the only social outcast at school or work, or think they're the only one with the weird mannerisms that others make fun of all the time. Give it a rest. Jenny Traig's got you beat.

A Dangerous Place by Marc Reisner.

Paul writes:

I haven't been this freaked-out by a book since I read The Hot Zone (a deadly virus from the central African rain forest suddenly appears in the suburbs of Washington DC). Reisner begins with an historical overview of California's history with earthquakes and the state's nasty habit of locating major urban, suburban, and industrial developments right on top of major geological fault lines even after, and in spite of, the discovery of their existence in the 1940s. Part Two surveys the work currently being done to assess the potential damage of the next Big One when it hits the Bay Area and the Delta region of the Sacramento River. The known effect of earthquakes on landfill areas and man-made earthworks (levees, viaducts, dams) makes for some frightening worst-case scenarios. Part Three is Reisner's fictional account of the first 24 hours after the Big One hits Northern California. He ends with the chilling and ominous admonition that this is not a major earthquake that MIGHT happen -- this is a major earthquake that certainly WILL happen, and it's going to wreak havoc on our state and the rest of the country if we don't prepare for it now. This book is concise, straightforward, very readable, fascinating in its take on California history, engrossing, and scary as heck.

I hope you've enjoyed hearing Paul Takushi's personal book reviews. I'm away next week, but I'll be here with another grueling edition of Words on Books.

Aired Sunday August 12, 2007 at 10:55 am and Wednesday August 15, 2007 at 1:00 pm

Orders/Information:

The Lost Night by Rachel Howard. Plume paperback $15.00. ISBN 9780452287426.

Devil in the Details by Jennifer Traig. Little Brown & Co paperback $14.95. ISBN 9780316010740.

A Dangerous Place by Marc Reisner. Knopf paperback $14.00. ISBN 9780142003831.

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