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Fran Wood | The Star-Ledger

Fran Wood | The Star-Ledger

Posts by Fran Wood | The Star-Ledger (216 total)    RSS

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What Fran's Reading: B.A. Shapiro's "The Art Forger"

Posted on Arts on February 17, 2013, 6:01AM

March 18 will mark 23 years since the theft of 13 works of art from Boston’s Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. To date, none of these art works – collectively valued at more than $500 million today – has been recovered. For B.A. Shapiro, this true-crime story is the hook for her fascinating novel “The Art Forger” (Algonquin Books of... Full story »
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Ask the governors: Memories of Hizzoner

Posted on Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne on February 11, 2013, 6:32AM

Former N.J. Govs. Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne discuss their memories of former Big Apple Mayor Ed Koch, who died in January. Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: Two new audio books

Posted on Arts on February 10, 2013, 6:01AM

Hildy Good, the most successful realtor in her historic Massachusetts shore town, is recently back from rehab, where her two grown daughters insisted she go to give up drinking. Hildy is convinced she never had a drinking problem. And while she’s “dry” at the start of the story, the secret stash of wine in the trunk of the sports... Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: Adrian McKinty's "The Cold, Cold, Ground"

Posted on Arts on February 05, 2013, 9:21PM

This is the first book in a new trilogy by the much-touted Irish crime novelist Adrian McKinty, “The Cold Cold Ground” (Seventh Street Books, 340 pp., $15.95) transports the reader back to 1981, arguably the worst year of Northern Ireland's troubles.With prisoners embarking on hunger strikes, the situation in the streets becomes more fraught with danger. Riots and car... Full story »
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Ask the governors: The reaction to Time magazine's "Boss" cover featuring Gov. Christie

Posted on Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne on January 28, 2013, 5:59AM

The picture was not all that flattering. Full story »
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Ask the governors: How have our national political parties changed?

Posted on Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne on January 14, 2013, 5:56AM

The Republican Party cannot win an election the way it's structured now. Full story »
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Fran Wood: Saluting Gov. Chris Christie, loud and proud

Posted on Fran Wood on January 06, 2013, 5:26AM

Chris Christie is an original. He achieves his own gold standard in every nuance of his behavior. Full story »
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Ask the Governors: Can N.J. kick the can any farther down the road

Posted on Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne on December 31, 2012, 6:30AM

Former Govs. Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne talk about New Jersey's fiscal future, plus Gov. Chris Christie's re-election bid and funding for Newark schools. Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: 'The Dark Winter'

Posted on Arts on December 30, 2012, 6:00AM

Fans of the police procedural genre eager to get in on the ground floor of what promises to be a captivating new series will want to check out David Mark’s “The Dark Winter” (Blue Rider Press, 304 pp., $26.95). The setting is Hull, an old port town in northern England, where a teenaged girl has been knifed to death... Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: Books for giving

Posted on Arts on December 20, 2012, 4:50PM

If you’ve left your holiday shopping until the last minute, books are your best bet. For starters, it’s one-stop shopping. Find an independent bookstore, and you’re likely to get some help from the proprietors. Plus, small bookstores usually will gift-wrap your purchases. The following, published within the last few months, have reliable reader appeal: NOVEL: Beautiful writing and sheer imagination... Full story »
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Ask the governors: Can New Jersey get what we need?

Posted on Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne on December 17, 2012, 7:00AM

The former New Jersey governors discuss Hurricane Sandy relief, Cory Booker and marriage equality. Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: David Baldacci's "The Forgotten"

Posted on Arts on December 09, 2012, 6:06AM

The Florida panhandle town of Paradise is anything but in David Baldacci’s “The Forgotten” (Grand Central, 432 pp., $27.99). Army Special Agent John Puller, the compelling special agent introduced in the author’s West Virginia-set “Zero Day,” has flown to the resort town on his own time to follow up on a cryptic note his aunt sent to his father.... Full story »
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Chris Christie unbeatable in 2013?: Ask the Governors

Posted on Tom Kean and Brendan Byrne on December 03, 2012, 7:00AM

Is there a Democrat who can beat Chris Christie in 2013? Two former governors debate that question. Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: "Ancient Light" and "Meet Me at Emotional Baggage Claim"

Posted on Arts on December 02, 2012, 6:06AM

John Banville’s stories tend to be strange and depressing, but his compelling writing hooks you immediately, and you can’t put him down until you’ve turned the last page. Even then his stories will stay with you. In “Ancient Light” (Knopf, 304 pp., $25.95), two stories intertwine in the life of Alexander Cleave (protagonist in two of Banville’s earlier novels),... Full story »
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Opinion: In Sandy's aftermath, mixed matches come together

Posted on Fran Wood on November 06, 2012, 7:44AM

Gov. Christie is feeling the love from President Obama AND Bruce Springsteen.  Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: Audio books "The Cursing Mommy's Book of Days" and "The Other Woman"

Posted on Arts on October 28, 2012, 6:01AM

Montclair author’s Ian Frazier’s “The Cursing Mommy’s Book of Days” (read by Cynthia Nixon, Macmillan Audio, 6 CDs, $29.99) is based on the author’s New Yorker columns and, as such, may be best enjoyed in small doses. Essentially, it’s a variation on the same joke: the frustration of a homemaker over such routine activities as making dinner, house cleaning,... Full story »
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Lance Armstrong still inspiring, despite doping revelations

Posted on NJ Voices Guest blog on October 24, 2012, 8:16AM

They can erase his achievements from the record books, but not from the hearts of those suffering from a life-threatening disease. Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: Dalton Fury's "Tier One Wild"

Posted on Arts on October 21, 2012, 5:09PM

When I depart this mortal coil, I hope to end up wherever Ari Fliakos does so I can spend select portions of eternity listening to him read Dalton Fury’s novels -- of which I hope will by then be many. Okay, the narrator is not where one usually begins a review of an audio book. But Fliakos is among... Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: Chelsea Cain's newest thriller "Kill You Twice"

Posted on Arts on October 14, 2012, 6:00AM

In Chelsea Cain’s “Kill You Twice” (Macmillan Audio, 8 CDs, $39.99), the hanged corpse of a young man is found in a park east of Portland. Evidence at the scene shows the victim was tortured for hours before he died. Ordinarily, the primary suspect would be Gretchen Lowell, aka the “Beauty Killer,” as events so closely parallel the serial killer’s... Full story »
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What Fran's Reading: A.M. Homes' "May We Be Forgiven"

Posted on Arts on October 07, 2012, 6:00AM

Humor doesn’t get any darker, nor families any more broken than in A.M. Homes’ “May We Be Forgiven” (Viking, 496 pp., $27.95). It opens with a series of events sufficiently shocking to grab you by the throat, and within a scant few pages you’ll be hooked. The story is told from the point of view of Harold Silver, a professor... Full story »
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