Handing In Our Assignments

Ann and I have finished our Summer Reading assignments; the books you voted for us to read, The Poisonwood Bible and Middlesex, respectively. We both loved the books and we both thank the Books on the Nightstand listeners who voted! We don’t say too much about the books on this episode because we’re going to have two live call-in book group shows! I’ll be discussing Middlesex on Monday, September 27 at 9pm EST and Ann will talk about The Poisonwood Bible on Tuesday, October 5 at 9:30pm EST. More information is at our page on TalkShoe, but full details will be announced here on the blog, just before the calls. In the meantime, get cracking on these books so you can join the discussion!

While we were wrapped up in our assigned books, a couple of big book releases slipped by us. Sorry we didn’t give Mockingjay and Freedom that coverage they deserved! We vow to better keep you informed of all of the big books coming out, even if we don’t get a chance to read them all. We’d love your help. Please always let us know what books you’re most looking forward to. You can email us, call our voicemail line or leave comments here on the site.

How Do You Drink Your Books? (8:22)

A blog post at Tor.com debates reading books in big gulps or small sips. Jo Walton, the author of the post, says she reads all the time (“…if I’m [at a restaurant] with you, I’ll get my book out for the two minutes while you’re in the bathroom.”), and doesn’t need to read for long stretches to fully enjoy a book. Ann and I share our opinions on this topic. For us, it matters on what kind of book it is (dense literary fiction vs. a page-turner mystery). Ann also thinks gulping or sipping could mean reading quickly or slowly. It’s a rare book that you want to race through to find out what happens and, at the same time, slow down to savor the writing. For Ann, one of those books is The History of Love by Nicole Krauss. The first book that sprang to mind for me was The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon. Please share with us your thoughts on gulping vs. sipping, and any books you wanted to read both quickly and slowly.

Two Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read (17:25)

I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve heard amazing things about Ape House, the new novel by Sara Gruen. I loved Water for Elephants. The new book is in stores now, and follows a family of bonobo apes who are “liberated” from the language researcher who has cared for them for years. Ann has been deeply moved by David Grossman’s To the End of the Land. It’s the story of Ora, an Israeli mother whose son has returned to the front lines. Rather than wait for what she feels is the inevitable bad news, she sets out on a hike with a former lover, reconnects with him and fills him in on her life and that of her son. To this day, Ann still has trouble even thinking about this book without getting emotional. To hear a wonderful interview with David Grossman, check out this episode of the Guardian Books Podcast.

Take our listener survey, please!

It’s been about 18 months since our last Books on the Nightstand reader/listener survey, and the numbers of you have grown quite a bit. We’d love to learn more about you: how you listen, what you think we are doing well, where you’d like us to improve, and anything else you’d like to tell us. It’s a short, 16-question survey, mostly multiple choice. If you choose to include your email address, you’ll be eligible to win a prize. We’ll choose one name at random to receive a cool Books on the Nightstand tote bag that will contain 2 books we can’t wait for you to read. We’ll close the survey on September 30th, but why wait? Go to the survey now.

Book Podcasts for the rest of the week: (03:46)

There must be something in the water: in the last few weeks, I’ve learned about several new book podcasts. We’re so thrilled that we have something to listen to (besides ourselves) and we couldn’t wait to share them with you. We’re also having a “proud parent” moment, since several of these podcasts are being produced by friends and listeners of Books on the Nightstand. While I’m not sure that we had anything at all to do with their entry into bookish webcasts, we hope that you will give them all a listen.

So, while we hope you will continue to listen to Books on the Nightstand on Wednesdays, please do also check out:

• Guys Can Read – Kevin and Luke talk about books, from the male perspective
• Do Nothing But Read – Amanda and Brandon talk about all things bookish.
• Reading and Writing Podcast – Books on the Nightstand friend Jeff Rutherford interviews authors about their writing and reading pleasures.
• Bookrageous – A revolving cast of booksellers and book bloggers, including many friends of BOTNS, give us a fun and sometimes outrageous podcast about books.
• Enthusiasticast – Our friend Mark and his friend Jon talk about books, comics, movies and pop culture.
• Books and Blogging – Amanda from Australia has just started her book podcast, but I loved it and hope she does many more.

Two books we can’t wait for you to read:(14:30)

I’ve been loving narrative nonfiction lately, and Susan Casey’s The Wave may be my favorite nonfiction of 2010. Taking us inside the worlds of rogue waves and the surfers that attempt to conquer them, Casey has a way of captivating the reader in the way that the resembles fast-paced fiction.  We learn about ships that disappear into the sea, taking the entire crew with it; waves that can decimate landscapes in a few seconds; and the surfer that risk their lives, and those of their camera crews and friends, to ride that wave that’s just a bit bigger than the one they rode yesterday.

Michael finally gets to tell you about The Bells by Richard Harvell. He’s been raving about it to me for months.  Michael was captivated by the beautiful writing in this novel about a castrato named Moses, who is born in a town with beautiful bells that are so loud, they can only be rung by a deaf woman who lives in the village. Be sure to check out the iTunes mix featuring music mentioned in The Bells. Thanks to BOTNS listener Tanya for putting it together and sharing it with us!

image credit: streets of Malmö-8 by Tomme040

What is a Review?

On our Goodreads Group several people mentioned reviews, what are they are, how to write them. Ann and I have always intended Books on the Nightstand to be a recommendation show, not a review show. It’s why we don’t talk about books we don’t like and it’s why we don’t write out a script ahead of time. We’re just here to tell you why we love a book.

As for “real” reviews, we do our best to say what we think they do (analyze characters, plot structure, writing style) and how much they should give away, but we’d love to know what all of you think. We’ve started a new discussion thread for your thoughts.

Series, Redux (9:33)

We heard from so many of you about series you love. So many that we are embarrassed to have forgotten! Here’s the full list of series discussed:

• William Kennedy’s Albany Cycle, the first three of which have been published in one book
• Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey-Maturin seafaring adventures. Master and Commander is the first in the series
• A Dance to the Music of Time by Anthony Powell
• Olivia Manning’s The Balkan Trilogy and The Levant Trilogy
• The North and South Trilogy and The Bicentennial Series (more commonly known as The Kent Family Chronicles) by John Jakes
• Jan Karon’s The Mitford Years
• The Shopaholic books by Sophie Kinsella
• Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
• The Boxcar Children by Gertrude Chandler Warner
• Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books
• Madeleine L’Engle’s series about the Murry family, which begins with A Wrinkle in Time
• The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon
• Remembrance of Things Past/In Search of Lost Time by Marcel Proust
• Authors like P.G. Wodehouse, Dante and William Shakespeare all wrote series and were mentioned
• The Rabbit Angstrom books by John Updike
• Robertson Davies wrote several trilogies
• Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin

Back at our Goodreads group (it really is the place to be), in the discussion on Books in Series, Vanessa told us about her rigid guidelines for series reading and how those are enabled, errr… helped by a site called Fantastic Fiction, which lists authors and their series in order.  I heard about the site from a BOTNS listener several years ago, but am finally getting around to checking out now! A British listener mentioned the popularity of historical series in the UK, most notably Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books and Conn Iggulden’s Caesar and Khan series.

Two Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read (21:51)

Baking Cakes in Kigali by Gaile Parkin arrives in paperback on August 31. It’s the story of Angel Tungaraza, a woman in Rwanda’s capital who runs a bakery out of her apartment. Meeting with her customers, she learns their stories and so do we. Ann cheats  a bit and talks about new reissues of several Nancy Mitford novels, most notably Wigs on the Green, a satire of fascists; it has been out of print since the 1930′s.

Hi there! We’re back from vacation, with quite the chatty podcast. We missed you all! We’ve both had book-filled vacations, and we tell you a bit about what we did on our break.

Some of our favorite books, back in the news:

We’re thrilled at the shortlist announcement for The Flaherty-Dunnan First Novel Prize, awarded by The Center for Fiction. Four of their seven shortlisted titles were featured on Books on the Nightstand. The full list:

• Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste (W.W. Norton)
• The Invisible Bridge by Julie Orringer (Alfred A. Knopf)
• Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes (Atlantic Monthly Press with El León Literary Arts)
• Mr. Peanut by Adam Ross (Alfred A. Knopf)
• The Quickening by Michelle Hoover (Other Press
• The Report by Jessica Francis Kane (Graywolf Press)
• This is Just Exactly Like You by Drew Perry (Viking)

Also this week, Rebecca Skloot, author of The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, announced that the Henrietta Lacks Foundation has made its first grant awards to some Henrietta’s descendants. These grants were made possible by donations from Rebecca Skloot and from readers of the book.

A progress report: (11:22)

In segment two, we update you on the progress we’ve made with the summer reading that you’ve assigned us. Michael is reading Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides, and I’m reading Barbara Kingsolver’s The Poisonwood Bible. We both are on schedule to finish by Labor Day, as promised. We are making plans for an online discussion where you can call in and join us live. Stay tuned for more details.

Two books we can’t wait for you to read: (21:00)

Today, segment 3 features two great new works of nonfiction. Ann talks about The Tiger by John Vaillant which will be in bookstores on August 24th. This nonfiction look at a man-eating tiger in Siberia has been known to give readers nightmares, though it just kept me up late because I wanted to keep reading. The author video, below, will make you want to read this book — I guarantee it.

Michael is loving Let’s take the Long Way Home by Gail Caldwell, a memoir of one woman’s very important friendship, which he says more than lives up to the tremendous amount of acclaim that it has received. Melissa Klug, longtime friend of Books on the Nightstand, wrote a beautiful review of this book that you should read.

I have the pleasure of wrapping up the week of Random Acts of Reading guest posts by gushing about a few of my favorite recently published or forthcoming young adult novels that I think easily cross over into the world of adult literature.  Thanks to Ann and Michael for giving us the opportunity to share some of our favorite books with all of you; we hope that if you haven’t ventured into ‘YA’ yet, perhaps we’ve convinced you to give it a try!

Christina Gonzalez’s debut novel The Red Umbrella is a touching and thought-provoking story that sheds light on a little known but important part of history called Operation Pedro Pan.  When their parents make the heart-wrenching decision to send their children to the United States to escape the escalating turmoil of 1961 communist Cuba, fourteen-year old Lucia and her younger brother Frankie are forced to navigate a strange and foreign country, depend on the kindness of complete strangers, and ultimately redefine their idea of what it means to be home.  Based on the real life experiences of over fourteen thousand Cuban children, Christina Gonzalez crafts a poignant and hopeful coming of age tale that will resonate with readers young, old, and in between.

Sticking with historical fiction, a genre that can often transcend age, Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly is another timeless story about two teenage girls who live centuries apart but are connected through love and loss, music, tragedy and redemption.  Jennifer Donnelly, award-winning author of both YA and adult fiction, has created a novel that will appeal to a wide range of readers with its complex characters, vivid settings–from present day New York to eighteenth century France–that come alive on the page, and the perfect blend of historical and contemporary fiction. (on sale October 12, 2010)

Switching gears a bit to dystopian thrillers.  If you’re one of the many grown ups who’ve gotten completely sucked into The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins, you’re probably anxiety awaiting August 24th and the release of the third book, Mockingjay.  You’re also most likely plotting what you’ll read when it’s all over.  Enter The Maze Runner trilogy by James Dashner, a gripping story about a group of teenagers facing a life or death journey through a vast and terrifying dystopian world.  No matter your age, The Maze Runner’s fast-paced and suspenseful plot will keep you on the edge of your seat and guessing to the very end.  Book 2, The Scorch Trials is available from Delacorte Books for Young Readers October 12, 2010.

For more information about Sarah and her fellow Random Acts of Reading bloggers, please visit the About Us page on their website.

My co-worker and fellow blogger Kate did a fantastic job in her post here this week of summing up the reasons adult readers are flocking to well-written young adult novels. Instead of simply echoing her ideas, I thought I would give my own personal reasons for reading “teen” books (aside from the obvious fact that it is part of my job!) and share a few of my recent favorites.

When I was growing up, the young adult category was just getting started. Sure, we had Sweet Valley High and The Babysitters Club, but as a kid who always read way above my grade level, I was bored with the books marketed to my age group. My mom started sharing her adult novels with me when I was old enough to read them, but definitely too young to totally appreciate or understand them- Anne Tyler comes to mind as one such author who even at this stage in life I am still not sure I can fully relate to!

Pre-teens and teens today have so many wonderful books available to them in a wide variety of genres. And these books are often smart, funny, thought-provoking and challenging. When I pick up a YA book, I get to revisit my youth without having to relive the awkwardness, bad skin and social drama. The reading schedule I tend to loosely follow is one YA book for every two to three adult books- that way when I’ve burnt out on books about death, divorce, mortgages, child rearing and midlife crises, I can take a breather with a paranormal romance or a funny, cringe-worthy look into the mind of a teen boy.

Trying to choose just a few “crossover” YA titles to cover here was very difficult- there are so many that I have enjoyed and that have true appeal to readers of all ages. Some, like The Book Thief, have truly taken off with adult book clubs and need no further mention here. I decided to pick a few books that were published recently and are not as well known, but definitely worth a read.

Notes from the Blender by Brendan Halpin and Trish Cook (available October 26):
This book is thoughtful, crude and hilarious. It is told in alternating chapters by Declan, a Goth, heavy metal-loving, internet-porn surfing high school “loser” and Neilly, the beautiful, popular and talented teen queen he has a crush on. Neilly and Declan’s lives intersect when their parents rapidly fall in love, get pregnant, and move them in together. What elevates this above the standard teen novel is the depth that the authors give the teens as well as their parents. The relationship between Declan and his widowed father, in particular, is honest and touching. The authors are able to give great insight into the differences between the way teen boys and girls think and act- probably more insight than I needed! And the way that a mortified Declan deals with his fantasy girl becoming his stepsister is wholly believable.

All Unquiet Things by Anna Jarzab:
Strangely enough, this novel is also told in alternating teen boy and girl voices and one of the narrators is also named Neily (the boy this time). Set at a wealthy private high school, Neily, an introspective loner, wants to solve the mystery behind his ex-girlfriend Carly’s recent murder. Her cousin Audrey, whose father has been convicted of the murder, comes to him for assistance proving her father’s innocence, and the two teens delve deep into the dark underside of their upper-class town and its residents. Secrets, lies, and startling twists kept me reading late into the night. Jarzab did such a wonderful job drawing her characters that I was really invested in them finding the murderer and dealing with their own grief and confusion. If you, like me, were a “Veronica Mars” fan, you will love this book.

The Spectacular Now by Tim Tharp (paperback edition available this December):
This book didn’t connect as we hoped with teens, and one reason I think is that the book is a little too dark and unsettling for the age group- it felt much more like an adult novel to me all along. Nominated for the National Book Award, Tharp’s book is beautifully written, sad, and darkly humorous. Sutter Keely, the main character, is the life of the party, the boy who always lives in the moment and never lets the future concern him. He is also an alcoholic, drinking from sun up to sundown. When he meets the driven and innocent Aimee (after passing out on her lawn), he begins to realize the affect his lifestyle has on the people closest to him. Tharp makes Sutter a fresh and likeable character, even while showing his alcoholism in unflinching detail. This powerful book really stayed with me long after I finished it.

For more information about Erin and her fellow Random Acts of Reading bloggers, please visit the About Us page on their website.

Once upon a time children’s books were for children and adult books were for adults, and the only time any cross-pollination took place was on school reading lists.Well, times have changed and thankfully the old lines have blurred…..in the best possible way.

Teens are still reading “adult” books, but the traditional adult readers are discovering Young Adult (YA) Literature. Face it, these books are often shorter—usually between 200 and 350 pages with exceptions for titles like Harry Potter, Hunger Games and The Book Thief to name a few, and yes, they are often lower priced. Yet these YA books can pack the storytelling completeness and entertainment value of some of the best adult books.

YA books are funny, sexy, smart and though-provoking, what reader could ask for more?

I was thrilled to hear from a bookseller earlier this year that his store’s sales of YA titles had been on the rise – I asked him if it was customers buying for their kids or themselves, and he answered “both”. He stated that price was a consideration, but also said he believed this increase was due to there being “just some great books being published as YA”. Some adults come to YA by reading along with their own children (Bravo! to them), others completely on their own or with the guidance of great hand selling bookstore employees or their local librarian, whatever the path they know they’ve found gold.

Please join us in reading and recommending great YA to your friends and family, share your favorite recommendations with us and expand your “to be read” list!

Here is the first installment of some of our favorite YA books for adults:

The Realm of Possibility by David Levithan. I love books written in verse and this book is one of the reasons why—The Realm of Possibility is a marvelously structured story told via 20 different high school classmates, insiders and outsiders. Levithan gives each a distinct voice, and he gives the reader a marvelous glimpse inside high school, more than just the cardboard stereotypes, there is an honest feeling from each and every character. You’ll be smarter just for having read this book and listened to these voices, whether you’re 12 or 52. You may even glimpse yourself (or your high school self) somewhere. BONUS: As soon as you finish you might want to go back and start this one all over again.

A Swift Pure Cry by Siobhan Dowd. My eyes still well up when I try to describe this story. Heartbreaking doesn’t even begin to describe the circumstances of 15 year-old Shell Talent’s life in 1984 Ireland—her mother has recently died, he father has retreated into a world of alcohol-fueled religious fervor and she’s left to care for her younger siblings without a shred of support save the local young priest who is himself unsure of his devotion to the church. When Shell is taken advantage of by a local boy and finds herself pregnant she must find the courage to be the strength of her family. Siobhan Dowd takes these elements and crafts a story so lyrical, so real, that it will indeed break your heart and eventually set you on the road to putting it back together.

Spanking Shakespeare by Jake Wizner. Riotously funny, poignant and real—Shakespeare Shapiro is 17, a bit of a self-described loser (no girlfriend, over-achieving younger brother, lacking social skills in general, a rather odd best friend) and his senior English project is to keep a diary, complete with exercises like “Write Your Own Obituary”. Readers have the pleasure of looking over his shoulder as Shakespeare goes through all the uncomfortable, eye opening and ultimately character building moments on the way to adulthood. Author Jake Wizer is a talented writer who portrays Shakespeare as a talented writer (though Shakespeare underestimates his own skills) and that makes this an absolute pleasure to read no matter what your age. I dare you not to laugh out loud.

For more information about Kate and her fellow Random Acts of Reading bloggers, please visit the About Us page on their website.

Books on the Nightstand is going on vacation! Ann is on vacation up in Maine this week, and I’m taking next week off to clean my basement (do I know how to live, or what?), so there will not be another new episode of the podcast until August 18. Never fear; we’ve lined up some guest blog posts from our friends at Random Acts of Reading, and we’ve discovered a relatively new book podcast that we think you’ll enjoy. Guys Can Read is a weekly podcast from Luke Navarro and Kevin McGill and it’s very informal and conversational, just like Books on the Nightstand. We urge you to check it out!

In episode 86, we read an email from a listener who wanted an easy way to find books set in a particular destination and we got several suggestions. Annette, the Random House rep for NYC pointed us to Idlewild Books, which is a travel store that also carries fiction and everything is organized by country or region. LibraryThing was also recommended several times, including the Reading Globally group and LibraryThing’s Common Knowledge search. Then of course, there’s your local library, both their online search, if available, and the librarians themselves.

Books in Series (7:10)

Several listeners have suggested we do an episode on series, so here it is. Some of the series we talk about include The Three Investigators (which Ann and I both remember fondly), Brian Jacques’ Redwall, Jasper Fforde’s Thursday Next books and Alan Bradley’s Flavia DeLuce mysteries.

Another question we received was about trilogies. Why so often are there three books in a series? We have a couple theories, but nothing definitive. Ann checked Wikipedia and, while they don’t give a reason as to why three is better than two or four or more, there is some interesting information on the history of trilogies.

It also occurred to us that most series are either children’s books, mysteries or works of science fiction or fantasy. There must be some general fiction series out there that we’re missing. Tell us what we’ve overlooked and any other thoughts you have on series or trilogies. Do you wait until all the books in a series are out before you start it? Is three better than two or four? Let us know!

Two Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read (16:28)

While driving home the other day, I saw a sloppily-corrected typo on a billboard and it reminded about a new book that’s just out called The Great Typo Hunt by Jeff Deck and Benjamin Herson. These guys traveled across the country and corrected typos wherever and whenever they saw them. Sometimes they were thanked; sometimes – not so much. The project started out as a blog, which you can check out here. Ann is thrilled to be able to finally tell us about The Tower, The Zoo and the Tortoise by Julia Stuart, which will arrive in North American bookstores on August 10. Balthazar Jones is modern-day Beefeater who lives at the tower of London with his wife Hebe, and Mrs. Cook, the world’s oldest tortoise. This quirky novel (and there’s no better word to describe it) has already found a legion of admirers amongst booksellers and is perfect for fans of The Guernsey Literary and Potato-Peel Pie Society and Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand.

Author encounters of the cool kind:

We start today’s episode with a wonderful voicemail from Jarrod in Alabama, who tells of his brief encounter with Harper Lee, author of  To Kill A Mockingbird. I think Jarrod is a far braver person than I would be in those same circumstances, and I’m thrilled that we had just a tiny bit to do with Jarrod having the opportunity to meet such an esteemed author. Melissa Klug, whom you met in BOTNS #73, emailed to tell us about her chance encounter with author Neil Gaiman — and the Dead Sea Scrolls. You’ll just have to listen to the podcast to hear the whole story.

Have you ever encountered an author “in the wild”? Tell us your story in the comments, or call our voicemail line: (209) 867-7323.

What to read after you’ve finished The Girl Who… (08:55)

As we’ve traveled through New England visiting bookstores this week, we saw so many displays of Scandinavian mysteries. Inspired by the oft-asked question, “I’ve read all of the Stieg Larsson books, what should I read next?”, bookstores have put together creative assortments of titles that will appeal to those who like their crime novels set in Sweden. Some of the authors we spotted:

Mind’s Eye by Hakan Nesser

Woman with Birthmark by Hakan Nesser

The Cruel Stars of the Night by Kjell Eriksson

The Water’s Edge by Karin Fossum

Last Rituals by Yrsa Sigurdardottir

Henning Mankell’s Wallander series, which starts with Faceless Killers

And the pair that may have started it all, Maj Sjowall and Per Wahloo. Beginning with Roseanna in 1965, the Swedish couple wrote a series of 10 police procedurals featuring detective Martin Beck. These books were the precursors to the modern-day crime thriller, and there are many similarities between them and the Stieg Larsson books. Sarah Weinman has more information on the pair in her Daily Beast article.

Two books we can’t wait for you to read: (15:44)

Michael raves about Revolver, an original graphic novel (never before in comic book form) by Matt Kindt. It’s the story of Sam, who has a dead-end job and a materialistic girlfriend, but one day finds himself splitting his time between his ordinary world, and a world where there has been a major terrorist attack. Ann talks about Star Island by Carl Hiaasen, a quirky crime novel starring a drug-addled young celebrity and her body-double stand-in who has been kidnapped by a crazed papparazo fan.

Listener Projects

Nicky, from the UK, has helped implement, at her local library, a new program which gives people with disabilities special services such as free audio book and DVD rentals, no late fees and book delivery. Chris emailed us a few years ago, asking if we knew of any services which would notify him when his favorite authors had new books out. We couldn’t think of any and he never found one, so he created one that is now available to everyone. Check out Reader Alert; it’s wonderful! Way to go Nicky and Chris!

When I raved about Kings of the Earth, I forgot to mention that Jon Clinch, the author, had used a true story as his inspiration for the novel. Several BOTNS listeners wrote in to mention the documentary Brother’s Keeper, which told the story of the four Ward brothers. It’s a documentary that Ann has seen and loved, and that I have in my Netflix queue.

Ice-Cold Pages

Recently, in the midst of a New England heatwave, Ann asked our Facebook followers for their favorite reads set in a cold climate. We got an avalanche of responses. (sorry) Some of the most often-recommended titles were To Build a Fire by Jack London, Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer, The Terror by Dan Simmons and Smilla’s Sense of Snow by Peter Hoeg, which was The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo of it’s time (a Scandinavian mystery that came out of nowhere and sold like mad). One book that caught both my and Ann’s attention was The Children’s Blizzard by David Laskin, the true account of a late 19th-century storm that trapped a group of children in their one-room schoolhouse. You can see the full thread of recommendations here.

Two Books We Can’t Wait For You to Read

The Thieves of Manhattan by Adam Langer has been getting stellar reviews so, even though I haven’t read it yet, I feel confident recommending this paperback original set in the New York publishing world. It’s about a hapless, aspiring writer caught up in a fake memoir scheme. Ann tells us about Border Songs by Jim Lynch. Newly released in paperback, this novel tells the story of Brandon Vanderkool who, despite being uninterested in his new job as a guard along the Washington-Canadian border, actually excels at catching illegal aliens and drug-runners.