It’s funny how things have changed in the publishing business. It wasn’t too long ago that writers bemoaned the death of the market for short fiction. Few high-circulation magazines were buying fiction anymore. Competition was steep at both literary and genre magazines, but readership wasn’t as robust as you might’ve liked.

Now with e-publishing, there’s a place for short stories and novellas again. They’ve become teasers, small morsels to tempt readers to take a chance on an author’s full-length books. Not too long ago, Kindle launched its Kindle Singles series, offering short stories and article-length non-fiction from brand name authors. Many publishers got in on the act, too, getting their authors (primarily novelists) to write a short story to help promote a book coming out in another format, trade paperback or mass market.

I bring this up to explain why I’m releasing my first e-short story, The Marriage Price. It features characters out of The Taker Trilogy, and tells the story of the ill-fated marriage of Evangeline McDougal, a child bride in the 1820s, to Jonathan St. Andrew, the most eligible bachelor in the remote town that bears his family’s name. If you’ve read The Taker, you might find interesting this glimpse of life in St. Andrew through a secondary character’s eyes. If you haven’t read either The Taker or The Reckoning, this is your chance to get a taste of these historical/supernatural novels free on Kindle for two days, August 7 and 8.

– Alma Katsu, author & guest blogger

Note: You can find more information on my books at http://www.almakatsu.com or find me on Facebook.

Her latest book OCEAN BEACH is no exception.  With some laugh out loud moments, Wendy’s memorable characters Maddie, Nicole and Avery from TEN BEACH ROAD return to renovate another dilapidated beachfront property while hoping for a do-over in their own lives as well.  This time however, the property’s owner has a dark secret and his own agenda and the women discover that what they thought was a pilot for a home and garden television show is actually a reality show and the network has plans to film them 24/7.

Of course, as with all of Wendy’s books, in between the laughs there is plenty of “real” stuff for book clubs to dig in to.  For example:  Could you live your life, even for a few months, in front of a national television audience?  Would you be willing to forgive a mother who abandoned you as a child  but now wants to come back into your life?  Could a marriage go back to how it was before troubled financial times?  And the list goes on.

Wendy sat down with me the week the book came out to talk about some of these weightier issues, along with the fun stuff and what it was like for her to write her first-ever sequel.

As always, I hope you enjoy the interview… and be sure to check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes!

Now, you can get almost any kind of food from the height of gourmet to vegan options to breakfast to just about anything out of a truck or cart.  And New York Times columnist and James Beard Award Winner John T. Edge did just that.  He traveled across the country finding the best and most interesting food trucks and bringing you the best recipes from the those trucks (along with beautiful photos and some funny stories from his travels!)

If you love food, you won’t want to miss this interview (or this book).  Though you might want to eat before you listen.  I got really hungry just talking to John T.!

As always, I hope you enjoy the interview… and be sure to check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes!

Regular Contributor Amy Pence is with this season’s poetry review.   If you are a lover of poetry this one seems like it will not disappoint, but it also looks like it would be great for just the casual poetry reader and a nice change from you normal spring and summer reading!

Lee Rossi is a master portraitist.  Reading his third collection Wheelchair Samurai (Plain View Press, 2011), I’m reminded of Van Gogh’s honest rendering of his friends and neighbors such as “Roulin’s Baby” (often referred to as the “green baby”) that hangs in the National Gallery.

His vision is wry and sometimes brutal; he sees to the core.  In “Yakuza in the Jacuzzi,” the speaker sends up his sister’s mobster boyfriend “floating like a walrus in the giant/ redwood crockpot behind their house.”  His appraisal continues:

…all I really want is to scrub away those awful tattoos
covering the drive-in movie screen of his back—

geishas with shotguns, samurai in wheelchairs,
Fuji-san about to blow its top
and drown Edo in a sea of fire.

Like Van Gogh, in both his portraits and his landscapes, the strokes may be broad, but they have depth and texture.  You’ll be taken on a wondrous ride in every poem.  Whether wandering in Stonehenge, at the Ice Age Museum, on the island of Rhodes, or on May Day 1975 chasing Rilke’s angels, he balances so many elements, you may wonder how he‘s going to end these things.

In poem after poem, exquisitely.  In “Perché No,” the speaker and his wife tour Florence, where he takes everything in:  “Fragola, the fugitive/ taste of strawberry lips,” the flower sellers “where bees circled/ the flowers as if the flowers had invented bees,” and a shocking tour of the nightmarish tannery that will turn out “gloves that fit like a caress.”  Rossi closes the poem:

Tourists are like cut flowers.  After a week
we begin to smell, and you throw us out.
I can still see that young couple of drunks
stumbling up twisting, cobbled streets, lips numb,
giddy with wonder and anticipation.
The night was warm, the air sweet with the smell
of leather, all those hairless skins, empty
now of their bodies, ready to wrap
anyone willing to pay the price.

Likewise, in “Elegy in an Elephant Graveyard,” Rossi’s closure bears no false epiphany, but gives us a healthy undertow that prevents an easy resolution:

…Every day, they say, another species is lost.
Tonight my children will dream of beauties we’ve destroyed

to keep them alive.  After lunch they spin down the park’s
grassy slopes like asteroids in the giant fridge of space.
SUV’s hunt for parking like wolves circling a flock of sheep.

What I appreciate most about Rossi’s collection is his accumulation of vision.  Many experiences have been mulled over the years.  For the most part, these are  healthy stews, rich with flavor.  “The Sauna,” on the other hand, distills the experience of aging with humor and wisdom.  “Gravity has had its usual/ simplifying effect” he writes of the occupants of the sauna sitting around him.  Rossi ends the poem:

…Who would recognize
us from our yearbook?
Not our current crop of wives.
Not even classmates, absent
thirty years.  Only our parents,
there at the beginning,
who could not stay for the end.
And ourselves, aggrieved
at time’s heedless insult
to our once flagrant beauty.

Ultimately, the poems show us, with a raw and an unerring vision, the “flagrant beauties,” that we might catch, if we would just pay attention.

– Amy Pence, Regular Contributor

Amy Pence’s most recent poetry collection Armor, Amour is available from Amazon and from www.ninebarkpress.org.  Her first, The Decadent Lovely, is available from www.mainstreetrag.com.

Eric joined me in studio the day before the book release to tell his story and to talk about the book, the crazy world of Hollywood and (randomly) laundry!

Intrigued?  You should be.  If you already an Eric Jerome Dickey – you’ll want to get to know him better and hear right from the man, where he gets his ideas…

If Eric Jerome Dickey is a new author you, don’t be fooled by the pretty pink cover.  This book is as gritty and fast-paced as they come.

As always, I hope you enjoy the interview… and be sure to check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes!

PS – Here’s a little quiz for you… which of the following jobs do you think Eric Jerome Dickey has had in his career?*

a) cook
b) software engineer
c) substitute teacher
d) all of the above

*For the answer, you’ll have to listen to the interview!  (Of course!!)

New York Times bestselling author Eloisa James already lives a double life. She is both the beloved and bestselling romance author Eloisa James AND Professor Mary Bly who teaches Shakespeare at Fordham University and has degrees from Oxford, Harvard and Yale.

But now Eloisa is taking on a third role – that of memoirist. Her new book is called PARIS IN LOVE and it is the story of a year she and her family spent in Paris.

The book will in turn have you laughing, hoping for love for Florent, wanting to meet Milo the dog, and wishing you were as chic as the french women Eloisa encounters.  It will also make you hungry!  There is plenty of chocolate in this one, along with tucked away French bistros and interesting groceries and markets.

If you think uprooting your life and moving to Paris would be a challenge – imagine what it was like for Eloisa’s kids, who had to go to school and learn in a foreign language (or two!).

You may already feel like you know and love Eloisa from reading her romance novels, but after reading PARIS IN LOVE,  you will wonder why she’s not calling you to meet for lunch!

It was a pleasure talking to Eloisa for this interview and the best part is I got an update on all the friends and family I had to say goodbye to at the end of the book!

As always, I hope you enjoy the interview!  Be sure to check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes!  AND — if your’re in Miami you can meet Eloisa tonight at Books & Books or tomorrow at Florida International University.  If you’re in Atlanta, Eloisa will be in town this Saturday making two stops, one at the Alpharetta Barnes & Noble at 2:00PM, and then at Foxtale Books in Woodstock, at 6PM!  For a full listing of Eloisa’s appearances, check her website!

Until our book club won copies of Night Road by Kristin Hannah, in  a contest sponsored by the author and Bookreporter, I’d never read one of Ms. Hannah’s books.

Two months later, and I am on my third….and my book club has discussed two, Night Road and Winter Garden.

If your club is looking for books to spark some great conversation, consider Hannah.

You know the adage; don’t judge a book by its cover?

Well, I do….and had decided that Hannah’s books were a little too light for me.  (Don’t even bother asking me if I can name all the Kardashian children….I can.   So how I come up with these rules about substance is, to say the least, a little nuanced.)

I don’t always love Hannah’s books….but, once started, I can’t put them down.  She creates worlds your imagination can easily embrace, and centers them with realistic, complicated protagonists.

Ever feel misunderstood and undervalued?   Have complicated relationships with your spouse, your children, your parents?  Feel life is moving along without you?  Uncertain people know how much you love them?

Kristin Hannah’s books will get you talking about this, and much more.

Friends of Kevin Neary

Do you ever read a good book, and think “really interesting, exciting, but so not like my own life?  Me, too.

No more.

On the morning of November 15, my 29 year old nephew Kevin was shot in the neck in a botched robbery attempt.   The bullet severed his spinal cord; he is quadriplegic, and he relies on a ventilator to breathe.

So much for the fabled dramatic moment when everything changes.

I am “only” an aunt, and it is heartbreaking.  I don’t pretend to know how this feels for Kevin and his immediate family.

But as is almost always true with the unspeakably sad, there are lovely things, too.  I write to point readers to some great writing. Here is the webpage Kevin’s brothers JP and Chris developed to keep Kevin’s legion of friends up to date on Kevin’s rehabilitation, on fundraising efforts, on visiting hours, on the related criminal case:

http://kevinneary.com/kevins-situation/

Take a look at it, and I think you will understand how proud I am of Kevin and his family.   Faced with horrible, they have chosen to do the best they can to make their new lives work for them.  They opt to thank the detectives, the medical team, the friends and family who are doing so much to help Kevin.

They have been overwhelmed by the generous response of strangers who have read the site.

So I post this on Midtown Review, to suggest some good reading about a story that feels like being in a scary novel, hoping that someone reading might know of an avenue we don’t know to pursue.  You never know.

Thanks in advance for your support.

– Denise Neary, Regular Contributor

For the details on the Atlanta gatherings (in Sandy Springs), join our Meetup group at http://www.meetup.com/MidtownReview/.  (To start a Midtown Review meetup near you – click here: http://www.meetup.com/Midtown-Review-Book-Club/)

If you’re nearby, we’d love to have you join us in person – but if you can’t feel free to comment here or on our Facebook page!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

Here at Midtown Review, we love watching an author’s career take off… and that is just what has happened with Brad Taylor.  When he visited last year for the an interview about his debut novel ONE ROUGH MAN, I knew he was going to be big.  And I was right… ONE ROUGH MAN, the first in the Pike Logan series became an instant New York Times and Publisher’s Weekly bestseller!  Can Midtown Review take credit for that?  Er, well… probably not, but I’m still proud of Brad’s success and thrilled that he was willing to come back for an interview about his new book ALL NECESSARY FORCE.

ALL NECESSARY FORCE picks up the story of Pike Logan and Jennifer Cahill not too long after we left them at the end of ONE ROUGH MAN.  Pike is not going back to work for the Taskforce directly, but he is going to work with them, as part of a cover organization he and Jennifer are setting up.  She’s getting trained to be a serious ass-kicker and having a hard time gaining the respect and trust of the veteran Taskforce members as she and Pike start working on getting their new business up and running.

Before the pair can really get too much done in terms of the cover organization they find themselves up against a terrorist plot to get ahold of and possibly use some nasty weapons on American soil.  As with the first book, Brad masterfully weaves his expertise with military operations and international politics with the moral and ethical and personal dilemmas that come with using force.  Forget the “sophomore slump”ALL NECESSARY FORCE is another page turner!

Check out my interview with Brad where we talk in detail about women kicking ass, about the some of the moral and ethical challenges AND about some of the cool weapons and technology in the book.  Of course Brad also gives us a sneak peek into Book 3 and what’s next for Pike and Jennifer!

Joshilyn is one of our favorite authors here at Midtown Review, and I for one, can’t wait to start reading this one.  Here’s the description of A GROWN UP KIND OF PRETTY from Joshilyn’s website - or even better listen to Joshilyn describe the book and bring the characters to life in my most recent interview with her.

As with all the Midtown Review podcasts, this one also contains a sneak peek of what Joshilyn is working on next!

As always, I hope you enjoy the interview!  And be sure to check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

As the novel opens, the story focuses on Madeleine Hanna who is a Brown University senior on her graduation weekend (class of ’82), without much of a post-graduation plan. In fact, many of the students do not have set plans, due to a high unemployment rate (suggestive of our current job market). Madeleine is dealing at the moment with her overeager yet well-meaning parents who are visiting for graduation, and more chronically with a recent breakup that has contributed to her lack of direction.

We are introduced to Mitchell Grammaticus as Madeleine runs into him during a breakfast outing with her parents. While Madeleine sees Mitchell as a friend, it becomes clear that he has more romantic interests. Shortly thereafter we learn of Madeleine’s other love interest, Leonard Bankhead, and the triangle emerges that is the focus of the novel.  Madeleine is intensely attracted to Leonard’s charisma and energy, while a much quieter Mitchell secretly pines for Madeleine.

Fancying herself as a romantic, Madeleine is desperate to understand love as well as to find the “perfect” mate to fit her exacting criteria. As Madeleine demonstrates her naïveté regarding relationships, she writes her senior thesis on the marriage plot in 18^th-19^th century literature. Through her study of romantic literature and semiotics, Madeleine ponders love and attempts to reconcile her traditional notions of it, with the blurred boundaries of college relationships, and the twin societal movements toward increased gender equality and promiscuity.

Meanwhile, Leonard, a brilliant student with a post-graduation science fellowship, struggles with psychological issues that threaten both his personal and professional future. Mitchell, a religious studies major, plans a trip around the world to postpone the necessity of beginning his life, as well as to distance him from Madeleine’s lack of reciprocal interest. Over the course of their first post-graduate year, Eugenides illuminates these three characters’ journey into the “real world”; threading throughout the history of their relationships during Brown and after.

I enjoyed the pace of the novel, as well as the alternation among the perspectives of Madeleine and her two male interests. I was not entirely sympathetic for Madeleine, as her regular missteps and general immaturity are a little tiring (as perhaps are many college students). Of the three, I found myself rooting for Mitchell the most, although not necessarily in his endeavors for Madeleine’s affections. Although I somewhat agree with those who think this is not as high a caliber as Middlesex, I enjoyed the book immensely and would recommend picking it up for a fun New Year’s read. Enjoy!

– Shannon Ross, Regular Contributor

Is it your new year’s resolution to be published in 2012?  Keep reading!

A friend and colleague, Paul Vamvas, was generous enough to let me read a draft of a book he was working on a few years ago.  I gave the draft the ultimate commuter compliment…..I almost missed my stop, I was so engrossed in what I was reading.

Paul worked on the book, made it better, even warmed my heart by including a character named after Chester County (PA) bookseller extraordinaire Joe Drabyak, http://articles.philly.com/2010-09-12/news/24999341_1_bookseller-character-aspect

Paul got thumbs up for his work from readers, other generous writers, agents, editors, publishers—but his book never found the right home in traditional publishing.

So what did he do?

Reader, he self-published.

Here is the message he sent at the end of the year:

My novel, A Terror In Byzantium, is now available as an e-book from Barnes & Noble.

A nationalist fanatic bent on killing millions, two nations with an ancient hatred and a nuclear super-power on the verge of imploding, these are the threats that American diplomat Alexander Brandt must overcome.

Go to the link below to buy the book.

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-terror-in-byzantium-paul-vamvas/1108072471?ean=2940013817944&itm=1&usri=terror+in+byzantium

Paul started 2011 as a writer with a book dream; he starts 2012 as an author.

I encourage you to read his book, and encourage all of those reading this with a dream to publish to do it.

Roddy Doyle self-published his first novel, and it seems to have worked out okay for him.

– Denise Neary, Regular Contributor

Need a post holiday book escape? Bruce Machart’s The Wake of Forgiveness tells the story of the Skala family and provides a fascinating glimpse into the rural Texas town of Dalton at the turn of the 19^th century.

The story features Karel Skala, the fourth son of Czech immigrant Vaclav Skala, who in the first pages enters the world while losing his mother in childbirth. Vaclav, instead of compensating for his sons’ lack of a mother, is tyrannical in raising his children, hitching them to the plow daily in a display of his hostility to those who took his beloved wife from him. After his wife’s death, Vaclav is known throughout town as a bitter man, and only takes solace in his two prize racing horses.

The arrival of Guillermo Villaseñor to Dalton, with his abundant riches and three beautiful teenage daughters, causes the townspeople of Dalton to take notice. All but Vaclav, who ignores this new resident until Villaseñor arrives at his farm to offer his three daughters’ hands in marriage, with a generous cash and land dowry for each. Vaclav turns down this offer, unwilling to give up his sons as manual labor. Villaseñor ups the ante by offering a wager over horseracing:  if Vaclav’s horse wins then he keeps his sons and acquires the new land, if Villaseñor’s wins, the sons are his grooms. Vaclav is intrigued by this wager and confidently readies his youngest Karel as jockey for the race.

Over the coming days, Karel becomes secretly acquainted with his opponent, the expert rider and youngest Villaseñor daughter, and is instantly infatuated. Karel then has been given the responsibility of maintaining his family name and gaining his father’s esteem, with the knowledge that a loss would also hand his adored to one of his older brothers.

The resulting race, its outcomes, and the future of Karel and his family follow. As the novel alternates between Karel’s childhood, the time of the race, and his adulthood, Karel’s origins are more fully revealed and his perspective throughout life better understood. Other characters that touch the family are woven into the story throughout, revealing how the Skala family impacts this small town and how one event can influence the course of a family’s trajectory.

If you think a story centering on Old West cowboys is not for you, I completely understand…. but I would recommend taking a look at this novel despite that! I found the story to be captivating and the plot to revolve around forbidden love and coming of age as much as horses and life in the West. While not the most upbeat novel, the story was also a quick read, and one that held my attention throughout. All in all, The Wake of Forgiveness is definitely an intriguing and worthwhile read.

– Shannon Ross, Regular Contributor

So – on to the review:  REAMDE is a story that in many ways takes place in two worlds, the real world and the world of T’Rain, an online game that has become more popular than World of Warcraft.  As someone who is not a gamer, it felt a little bit like historical fiction for me, in that I was getting to learn about a world I know very little about.  It also felt like the “real world” in the case of this story became very much like the game world… with characters moving around the world, picking up and losing weapons and money, and battling and killing each other that would not be normal in the REAL real world.  If you’re not a gamer, don’t let that turn you off because I can also compare REAMDE to a season (or three) of your favorite action TV drama.  In other words, there was plenty of action, mixed with characters you can’t help care about and an overarching plot line that will keep you turning pages and have you wishing it would never end.

The main characters are many, but the standouts are Richard Forthrast, a former drug-runner and the owner of the company that created T’Rain and his adopted niece Zula who is resourceful and plucky (yes, I have been waiting to use that word too!).  Good thing she is too, because due to the scheming of her no-good boyfriend Peter, she is kidnapped by some Russian mobsters and dragged to China where she inadvertently lands in the hands of one of the world’s most notorious terrorists.  See… told you it sounds like a video game, or a season of 24!  The characters Zula encounters along the way, from the terrorist himself, who in a lovely British accent politely threatens to kill, maim and torture Zula if she does not behave, to the Chinese guide Yuxia, who learned English from movies and is seemingly not afraid of anything, are what kept the book moving along for me.

I’ve read some mixed reviews of this book.  But it seems the people who gave REAMDE bad or weak reviews tend to be those who have read Stephenson before and came into this one with certain expectations.  Having none of that, and just looking for a good read, I was not disappointed in the least.

I’d say REAMDE is the perfect escape for the upcoming family holiday visits, long airport layovers and crowded flights.

Oh – and since I called this an Audio Book Review, I should add that narrator Malcom Hillgartner did an excellent job of reading the book.  Good pacing, clear distinction of characters voices without being distracting, and all around pleasant to listen to.  So if you’re an audio book fan, or have a long drive coming up to go visit relatives, the audio version of REAMDE is a winner!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

It is always a good week to be a book lover in Washington, DC, but hard to top last week.

Monday, the Smithsonian honored July Blume with the John P. McGovern Award for her work promoting the understanding of the American family.

She was interviewed by NPR’s Lynn Neary (not related to me, but I wish she were!)   She talked about her own books being such a target for censorship (there was even a pamphlet distributed with tips on people keep Judy Blume books out of schools and libraries), and recalled reading her grandchild Harry Potter and wondering when “they” would come after Harry.  Reflecting on her career, she noted that she wrote largely in isolation; she is happy that there are now “communities” of writers.

Tuesday, Chris Matthews spoke to a standing room only crowd at Politics and Prose, about his new book, JACK KENNEDY: ELUSIVE HERO.

Matthews arrived at the story early, and started signing books before his reading—he REALLY wants people to buy his book.   Hilarious to say that Matthews may be more opinionated in person than he is on TV—and he believes his research and interviews has unearthed a novel view of a mythical figure in American history.

Politics and Prose also hosted Robert Massie, Anne Beattie, Walter Issacson and struggling writer William Jefferson Clinton last week.

Bradley Graham (co-owner of the store, with wife Lissa Muscatine) said that whenever he hears about the decline of the independent book store, he wishes people could come visit see Politics and Prose author events like the ones held this week.

Hard, after a week like that, to live up to my often-stated and never-realized goal to stop buying so many books!

On a more positive note, my holiday shopping is done!

– Denise Neary, Regular Contributor

Concerned about the obvious stereotyping in this list?  Me too. So for those who have broken the mold, I offer this…

This week we’re giving away a hardcover copy of V IS FOR VENGEANCE by Sue Grafton (who we got to interview last week for our podcast!).  If you’re a fan of the Kinsey Milhone series, you’ll love the latest book (and of course the insight in our interview with Sue).

For a chance to win your copy of V IS FOR VENGEANCE, go over to the Midtown Review Facebook page… make sure to like us and enter the sweepstakes and maybe you’ll be our next lucky winner!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

PS – Remember to help support your favorite blog/podcast by shopping on Amazon through any of our Amazon links… like this one!

In other news… we’ll be doing two non-traditional book club get togethers in the next month or so;  a post holiday drink and book swap, and a movie outing to see THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO.  If you’re not in Atlanta think about doing something similar with your own book club!

Happy Holidays to All and Happy Reading!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

Want to know how Sue comes up with her titles?  If she always planned to write 26 novels?  Why she kept Kinsey in the 80′s and the amount of research she now has to do to be true to the time period? We talked about it all, as well as digging into some of the themes and details in V IS FOR VENGEANCE.  As it turns out, the frank and funny Ms. Grafton is a big fan of vengeance.  She says forgiveness is fine, but vengeance is far more satisfying!

If you’re a fan of the series, I know you’ll enjoy the interview and the book.  Be sure to check out our interviews with some other great mystery writers in our podcast series on iTunes!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

Click over to the Choice Awards page on goodreads.com to vote and be sure to support our fav’s:

FICTION:
SWAMPLANDIA by Karen Russell (a Midtown Review Book Club Pick)
THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman (Check out our interview from last week!)

MYSTERY & THRILLER:
LOVE YOU MORE by Lisa Gardner (Got to chat with Lisa while she was on tour for this one!)
THE AFFAIR by Lee Child (Talked to Lee a couple of years ago about an earlier book.  Love him.)

HISTORICAL FICTION:
MRS. TOM THUMB by Melanie Benjamin (We’ve done a couple posts about the fabulous Melanie!)
DREAMS OF JOY by Lisa See (One of the most searched for podcasts on our site.)

FANTASY:
ONE OF OUR THURSDAYS IS MISSING by Jasper Fforde (Talked to him about SHADES OF GREY – still one of my favorite books.)

HORROR:
THE NIGHT STRANGERS by Chris Bohjalian (When I interviewed Chris about THE SECRETS OF EDEN I didn’t think of him as a horror writer – but there you go.)

HUMOR:
THIS IS A BOOK by Demetri Martin (featured in our Debut Spotlight)

NONFICTION:
THREE CUPS OF DECEIT by Jon Krakauer (we buzzed about it)
POKE THE BOX by Seth Godin (we took a bath with him)

YOUNG ADULT FICTION:
SHINE by Lauren Myracle (Love her.  Interviewed her with her sister a few years back.)

YOUNG ADULT FANTASY:
MISS PEREGRINE’S HOME FOR PECULIAR CHILDREN by Ransom Riggs (another Debut Spotlight)

POETRY:
TESTIFY by Joseph Lease (Check out our review by in-house poet Amy Pence)

Of course I would never tell you how to vote.  Just wanted to give you a little reminder of some we love.  The important thing is just that you vote and support your favorite authors!  So get clicking!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

To that end, last week I shared my interview with Amy Waldman, and this week it is my pleasure to bring you another “rising literary voice”, Mary Glickman.

Mary says she has always been a writer, but her personal story of perseverance should inspire would-be novelists everywhere. (Especially this month – what with NaNo WriMo and all!)  After writing 6 novels that did not get published… Mary finally made her debut last year with HOME IN THE MORNING.  Her second book which ONE MORE RIVER is a sequel of sorts in that it is the story of one of the minor characters from HOME IN THE MORNING.

Mary and I had the chance to sit down for a quick interview after our onstage performance at the Book Festival of the MJCCA.  We chatted about both books and Mary’s personal journey.  As always, I hope you enjoy the interview (and will check out the rest of the podcast series available on iTunes)!

Oh – and if you’re in Atlanta, there’s still time to be a part of some of the wonderful Book Festival programming.  Check out http://www.atlantajcc.org/index.php?src=gendocs&ref=SE-BookFestival for details!

This week is all about THE SUBMISSION by Amy Waldman. In case you missed it, we posted a podcast with Amy earlier this week, and now we’re giving away a signed copy of the book.

THE SUBMISSION is turning out to be one of the most talked about books of the fall so go over to the Midtown Review Facebook page… make sure to like us and enter the sweepstakes and maybe you’ll be our next lucky winner!

This year I was honored to moderate a conversation called Rising Literary Voices which featured Mary Glickman, (HOME IN THE MORNING) and Amy Waldman (THE SUBMISSION).  Both Mary and Amy were kind enough to sit down with me backstage to share some insight into their work. Today’s interview is with Amy – and stay tuned for my talk with Mary which will air next week.

THE SUBMISSION which came out in August of this year is the story of an attempt to select a design for a memorial in the wake of a terrorist attack in New York City.  Submissions for the design are reviewed by a jury with no names attached and when the winning design is chosen and the name of the designer is revealed, it turns out that he is a Muslim American named Mohammed Khan.  The book focuses on six main characters that are all deeply affected by the controversy that ensues.

When Amy and I sat down, we talked about how she chose the six points of views to share, what kind of audience reaction she’s been getting and how she managed to cut her original manuscript of 800 pages down to the final 320.  We also dug into some of the characters in the book in detail and I even learned that one of the male characters in the book started out as a woman!  If you’re reading THE SUBMISSION for book club (which you definitely should!) you’ll definitely want to check out the interview to hear from Amy directly on some of these topics.

As always, I hope you enjoy the interview and will check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes.

And if you’re in Atlanta and wondering if you missed all The Book Festival goodness… not to worry… there is plenty of great programming still to come.  Just go to the MJCCA website for details and tickets!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

Still Suffering from World Series Fever?

Is there someone in your house aching with love over baseball?  What I don’t know about sports is endless—but I have a book to suggest for those who love baseball.

My husband, who reads and talks about books all of the time, is completely anti-book club.   Little does he know that he and his friends are an informal book club….they just don’t meet on any sort of schedule.

All of the great buzz on THE ART OF FIELDING, and the popularity of the book and movie MONEYBALL, reminds me of another baseball book you might not know.

The book, PROPHET OF THE SANDLOTS: Journeys with a Major League Scout by Mark Winegardner, is a favorite in our house: I suggest you consider it as a holiday gift for a baseball fan in yours.   (It is out of print, but used copies are available.)

From Library Journal:

“Tony Lucadello, likely to be the first scout to be inducted into Cooperstown, related to Winegardner during their trips through the Midwest the tricks of the trade in identifying and signing future major leaguers. Winegardner is reminiscent of David Halberstam in his research and reporting style, as he faithfully chronicles the events and emotions of the Lucadello scouting trips. The behind-the-scenes insight into baseball scouting alone is worthy reading, but the book’s ending is more dramatic than any fictional account. Winegardner’s honest writing style makes his admiration of Lucadello contagious.”

My husband was introduced to the book by a friend; he has given copies to at least ten people, and has lent his copy to another ten or fifteen.  Almost always, the review comes  back, “I am picking up a copy for (fill in the blank…my Dad, my sister, a friend at work.)”

Take it from the rave reviews of this unofficial book club; this is a book baseball fans might have missed, and will love!

– Denise Neary, Regular Contributor

Didn’t win?  Fear not.  This week we’ve got a copy of THE STORMCHASERS by Jenna Blum to giveaway! Just go over to the Midtown Review Facebook page… make sure to like us and enter the sweepstakes!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

The author of the runaway New York Times bestseller Those Who Save Us returns with a powerful novel about twins who must confront a dark secret from their past.

Jenna Blum’s debut novel became a grassroots sensation and was a New York Times bestseller for more than a year. In this emotional and provocative new novel, Blum asks the question: How far would you go to protect a sibling-and at what cost to yourself?
As a teenager, Karena Jorge has always taken care of her twin brother, Charles. Obsessed with severe weather, Charles, who suffers from bipolar disorder, begins chasing storms. Refusing to take his medication, Charles soon involves them both in a terrifying tornado chase-with deadly consequences.
Now, two decades later, Karena must find her long-estranged brother before he reveals the dark secret from their past or hurts himself-or someone else. But there is only one way to find him: the storms…

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I know you want to win… so what are you waiting for? Head over to our  Facebook page and sign up!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

I interviewed Dr. Fisher a couple of years ago when the book came out in hardcover and this remains one of my favorite interviews of all time.  Dr. Fisher and I hit it off right away (very possibly because of our similar brain chemistry) and the book provided some amazing PGOs… “penetrating glimpse(s) of the obvious”. (For more about PGOs – listen to the interview – or of course, read the book!)

If you’re not looking for love at the moment, but just want to understand your family members a little better before you gather at the holiday table, this book will definitely help you with that too!

Enjoy!  And be sure to check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes…

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

PS – To all of you who took the time to vote for the Midtown Review podcast in the recent Podcast Awards… a heartfelt thank you!  Winners will be announced later this week, so now we just ask that you cross all your fingers and toes!

This week we’re giving away a hardcover copy of THE TAKER by Alma Katsu!  I interviewed Alma for the Midtown Review Podcast earlier this week and LOVED this book.  Now I want you to read it!  So, just go over to the Midtown Review Facebook page… make sure to like us and enter the sweepstakes!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

True love can last an eternity . . . but immortality comes at a price. . . .

On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.

Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley.

Part historical novel, part supernatural page-turner, The Taker is an unforgettable tale about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy, and how each of us is responsible for finding our own path to redemption.

Sounds good, right?  So run, don’t walk… or just click really, really fast over to our Facebook page and sign up!

This month, purposefully timed with the upcoming movie release, we have chosen THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO by Stieg Larsson.  If you’ve already read it, great!  You are ahead of the game.  If not, now’s the time!!  In addition to our usual book club discussion we’re planning a movie night too!  For the details on the Atlanta gatherings, join our Meetup group at http://www.meetup.com/MidtownReview/.  (To start a Midtown Review meetup near you – click here: http://www.meetup.com/Midtown-Review-Book-Club/)

Here’s a brief synopsis of the book (in case you’ve been living in a cave!):

Stieg Larsson’s #1 bestselling mystery featuring Lisbeth Salander is now a major motion picture directed by David Fincher, starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, from Columbia Pictures/Sony. In theaters December 2011. The first volume in the Millennium Trilogy, and an international publishing sensation, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo combines murder mystery, family saga, love story, and financial intrigue into one satisfyingly complex and entertainingly atmospheric novel.

If you’re in Atlanta, we’d love to have you join us in person – but if you can’t feel free to comment here or on our Facebook page!

For starters, it has all the right ingredients; love, sex, immortality, history, royalty, alchemy, violence – and that’s just in the first couple pages.  Kidding.  But seriously, even though you may think you know these ingredients and have tasted this cake before… trust me, you haven’t.  Alma manages to mix these ingredients up in a whole new way, creating a delicious page turning novel that will keep you up at night and make you long for more.

Want more details?  Here’s the publisher’s summary of the book:  

True love can last an eternity . . . but immortality comes at a price. . . .

On the midnight shift at a hospital in rural Maine, Dr. Luke Findley is expecting another quiet evening of frostbite and the occasional domestic dispute. But the minute Lanore McIlvrae—Lanny—walks into his ER, she changes his life forever. A mysterious woman with a past and plenty of dark secrets, Lanny is unlike anyone Luke has ever met. He is inexplicably drawn to her . . . despite the fact that she is a murder suspect with a police escort. And as she begins to tell her story, a story of enduring love and consummate betrayal that transcends time and mortality, Luke finds himself utterly captivated.

Her impassioned account begins at the turn of the nineteenth century in the same small town of St. Andrew, Maine, back when it was a Puritan settlement. Consumed as a child by her love for the son of the town’s founder, Lanny will do anything to be with him forever. But the price she pays is steep—an immortal bond that chains her to a terrible fate for all eternity. And now, two centuries later, the key to her healing and her salvation lies with Dr. Luke Findley.

Part historical novel, part supernatural page-turner, The Taker is an unforgettable tale about the power of unrequited love not only to elevate and sustain, but also to blind and ultimately destroy, and how each of us is responsible for finding our own path to redemption.

And here’s what author Jamie Ford had to say: 

“This is a great book. And by great, I mean, devastatingly so, like reading The Scarlet Letter, while riding a roller coaster, on acid. Seductive, daring, soaring, and ultimately gut-wrenching, The Taker is a lush, historical rendering of transcendent love, paranormal beings, and the depths of pain that can be felt by immortal hearts.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Check out my interview with Alma to hear her talk about her inspiration for the book and share a few hints of what’s to come in the series!

Enjoy!  And be sure to check out the rest of the author interview series on iTunes…

Also, we’d love it if you’d take a moment to vote for the Midtown Review Podcast at http://podcastawards.com (in the Culture/Arts category).

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

So – there I sat with what I was hoping would be a fast-paced, super-natural, young adult book that would keep me entertained.  You’ll be happy to know — I was not disappointed.

BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is the story of Ethan Wate – a regular old mortal teenage boy and the new girl that moves to his hometown, the small (fictional) town of Gatlin, South Carolina.  But of course, the new girl, Lena Duchannes, is no ordinary girl.  She is a Caster.  From a long line of Casters whose fates have been mixed, Lena believes she is doomed to become “dark” on her sixteenth birthday.  As the story unfolds, Lena and Ethan grow closer (of course) as they try to understand and hopefully change her fate.

As with any super-natural tale, one of the the fun things about the book is learning how this particular magical world works.  What are the rules? What types of creatures are there?  How do they interact with the “real world” and who actually know what is going on?  All of that is present, along with some great characters, interesting plot twists and fun self-awareness.  (Maybe my favorite line in the book is when one of the characters is asked if he is a vampire.  His response? “I most certainly am not.  That’s such a common phrase, such a cliche, and so unflattering.  There are no such thing as vampires.  I suppose you believe in werewolves and aliens, too.”)

One of the other things I loved about the book is that the story is told from the boy’s perspective.  I know we had that with Harry Potter, but it does seem like lots of the other popular series are from the perspective of the hormonal teenage girl.  Nice to get the male perspective for a change, (even if it was written by women)!

In any case, Garcia and Stohl have created a world I wanted to know more about.  Which works out, since BEAUTIFUL CREATURES is the start of a series.  Book 2, BEAUTIFUL DARKNESS came out last year, and Book 3, BEAUTIFUL CHAOS just came out yesterday!  (Good timing on that sale Amazon!)  There’s also a short story for Kindle only.  And a movie deal??  Seems that way:  the book has been optioned by Warner Brothers, but no cast announcements yet, and no official page on IMDB!

So – if you’re looking for another series to dig into – I say give this one a go!

– Dana Barrett, Managing Editor

This week we’re giving away a signed copy of SHE’S GONE COUNTRY by Jane Porter! Just go over to the Midtown Review Facebook page… make sure to like us and enter the sweepstakes!

ABOUT THE BOOK:
Shey Darcy, a 39-year-old former top model for Vogue and Sports Illustrated led a charmed life in New York City with a handsome photographer husband until the day he announced he’d fallen in love with someone else.

Left to pick up the pieces of her once happy world, Shey decides to move back home to Texas with her three teenage sons. Life on the family ranch, however, brings with it a whole new host of dramas starting with differences of opinion with her staunch Southern Baptist mother, her rugged but overprotective brothers, and daily battles with her three sons who are also struggling to find themselves.

Add to the mix Shey’s ex-crush, Dane Kelly, a national bullriding champ and she’s got her hands full. It doesn’t take long before Shey realizes that in order to reinvent herself, she must let go of an uncertain future and a broken past, to find happiness—and maybe love—in the present.

“She’s Gone Country is a richly rewarding story about the importance of love, family, and friendship, and Porter writes with genuine warmth and quiet grace about the everyday problems all women face – and conquer – in their own lives.”

~ John Charles, The Chicago Tribune

Heidi Durrow’s Bellwether Prize Winning novel THE GIRL WHO FELL FROM THE SKY encircles race, family, and tragedy in a coming-of-age novel about a bi-racial girl transplanted from Europe to Portland, OR in the early 1980s. The daughter of a Danish mother, Nella and a black G.I. father, Rachel is a bi-racial girl who does not see herself as black or white, only as her parents’ child. When family circumstances bring Rachel to the US and tragedy strikes her mother and siblings, Rachel finds herself living with her black grandmother in Portland isolated from everything she has known.

As a pre-teen living in a predominantly black US neighborhood, Rachel quickly learns two lessons: kids self-segregate into white and black friend groups, and being bi-racial means you don’t fit into either. The majority of the story focuses on how Rachel thinks and grows as she interacts with her classmates and new family, and through this process details are revealed about Rachel’s parents and the family tragedy. This unveiling is assisted by interspersed chapters in the voices of Laronne (Nella’s manager) and Brick (a young child who witnesses the tragedy), as well as excerpts from Nella’s diary.

Author Heidi Durrow has written extensively on bi-racial identity, through short stories, her blog (www.lightskinnededgirl.typepad.com), and podcast (www.mixedchickschat.com), and there are evidently auto-biographical elements to the story. Like Rachel, Durrow has a Danish mother and G.I. father as well as blue eyes, although she is quick to point out on her website that she fortunately does not share any of the tragedy that Rachel does.

While I was interested in the story and read it quickly, I was left wanting a little more from the book. I did not feel as engrossed as I thought I would with Rachel’s voice and experiences, and I did not expect the story to stop where it did. There were definitely strong elements to the novel, and it is a worthwhile read, particularly for a debut novel. I am interested to see how Durrow’s career progresses, as this debut has received a fair amount of acclaim, including strong praise from Barbara Kingsolver (whom I enjoy) through her Bellwether Prize. From exploring her website Durrow seems very passionate and approachable, and even volunteers to participate in book clubs (FYI!)

Although my overall opinions were mixed, I’m glad I read it.  There are certainly a lot of issues and interpretations that a book club could discuss, and this novel might be a great precursor for more to come from Durrow.

– Shannon Ross, Regular Contributor