Novel News

"sTORI Telling" -- Guilty Pleasure at Its Best

noreply@blogger.com (Enelra) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 18:22:00 +0000

Ok, I know I am admitting here on this public forum, that I, a Librarian, have read the biography of Tori Spelling and thoroughly enjoyed it. Do I feel guilty about it? You bet. I know I should be reading the greats – Tolstoy, Austen, Dickens. They are heavy meals worthy of consumption. But then there are times when you just want to scarf down a dozen donuts – that’s what reading sTORI Telling was for me without all the nasty calories and only a little guilt.

On the remote chance you don’t know who Tori Spelling is allow me to enlighten you. She is the daughter of the late great television producer Aaron Spelling and played virginal Donna Martin in the television drama Beverly Hills 90210. Ok, I’ll admit it. I have seen every episode of 90210 – that’s 10 years of episodes! She’s gone on to do other things, especially made-for-TV movies (that even I wouldn’t watch!), but she’ll always be known as the daughter of Aaron Spelling who was on his show 90210 and who has been tabloid fodder ever since (I never read tabloids! Really!).

Though the book is touted as revealing all of the secrets of the goings-on on the set of 90210 and in her private life, it really is a book that reads like a conversation with a close girlfriend. It starts with Tori’s early years with the over-the-top birthday parties and Halloween costumes through the years where she had to struggle to overcome having such a famous name. Just to give you some insight into the book, there are chapters called, “They Hated Me at Hello”, “Strings Attached (or Why I Didn’t Notice That I Shouldn’t Be Getting Married” and my favorite “Is That a Knife in Your Purse or Are You Just Glad to See Me?”. You learn through reading the book, which some could see as just another “Poor Little Rich Girl” tale, that Tori’s a regular person with a really interesting life. She’s had problems with money and with her mother and with irrational fears. It was humanizing to read about her struggle with ODC. She loves her dogs and her second husband and, just like all of us, wants to be successful on her own without help from her parents.

I find the interactions between her and her mother especially intriguing. When Tori was 12 and all dressed up for a family portrait, she asked her mother, “Am I pretty?” Her mother responded with “You will be when we get your nose done.” Throughout the book there are plenty of other examples of her mother’s “sweetness”. To anyone that has watched 90210 with any regularity, you will know that Tori’s character on the program also had an uneasy relationship with her mother. Though Tori doesn’t say so in the book, it does leave you wondering if her real mother was the pattern the writers for the show followed. It is also notable that her father on the show was very sympathetic – did the fact that the producer of the show was Tori’s father have any bearing on this too?

I am in no way saying read this book and forget all about the Dostoevskys and James Joyces out there. But every now and then it’s nice to put aside the Lobster Newburg and opt for a donut with pink icing. That’s this book.

Chasing the Rising Sun: The Journey of an American Song by Ted Anthony

noreply@blogger.com (Esteban) — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 22:32:00 +0000

When I was a kid I remember poking around the 700's in the reading room of the old Carnegie library in Lafayette, Indiana. While there I found a book of sheet music with a red library binding that had the lyrics of "The House of the Rising Sun" in it. I knew the song. It was such a mysterious reflective song, about a life done gone wrong in New Orleans, and I wondered at that young age just what The House of the Rising Sun was. Later in life I pretty much had it nailed down that it was a brothel in Storyville, perhaps one with a round window under the eaves that looked like a rising sun ... but now I find out that no one really knows what "the House" refers to. The author of the book Chasing the Rising Sun examines the origins and meaning of the song. He's pretty obsessive about it. He collects recorded versions of it, and travels around searching for pretty much any reference of it. We find out that perhaps the "House" is a bar in England, or a long gone hotel/brothel in New Orleans, and that the author really doesn't really find the meaning of the House of the Rising Sun in the end. What he does find is the soul of America -- of who we are and how we got here. Which is stuff like families coming together to make music and eat BBQ with Pepsi poured over it, or an old guy who loves early American recorded music so much that he's got a better collection of 78's than the Library of Congress in his New Jersey basement, which is the same library that sent a guy and his wife out in the 1930's with a special vehicle fitted out to make recordings of the local folks making music in the hills of Appalachia, who just so happened to record a little girl singing the song the way we know it, which ultimately gave us the Animals version that we are familiar with.

Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life

noreply@blogger.com (Enelra) — Wed, 30 Jan 2008 20:45:00 +0000

"In a sense, this book is not an autobiography but a biography, because I am writing about someone I used to know. Yes, these events are true, yet sometimes they seemed to have happened to someone else, and I often felt like a curious onlooker or someone trying to remember a dream. I ignored my stand-up career for twenty-five years, but now, having finished this memoir, I view this time with surprising warmth. One can have, it turns out, an affection for the war years."

-- Steve Martin in "Born Standing Up: A Comic's Life"

Though the name of our blog is Novel News, I am guessing that a non-novel would be ok. "Born Standing Up" is the candid autobiography of comedian/author Steve Martin that showcases his early years as a stand-up comic. The book reveals the fascinating journey of a kid who once sold guidebooks at Disneyland and later worked in the magic shop there and then went on to command audiences in stadiums that comedians had never seen before him.

As a big fan of Martin's published works, "Shopgirl" and my favorite, "The Pleasure of My Company", it was no surprise to me that Martin's story would be written beautifully and with humor. But the book also reads kind of sad -- the kind of sadness that comes when you look back at your long gone "salad days" before life made you jaded. So while you enjoy the ridiculous photos of Martin that are interspersed throughout the book (instead of having all of the photos crammed into the center of the book like most biographies) as a hippy-wanne-be or with ballons on his head, you also feel the sober whimsy behind the photos as you read about his loneliness and estrangement from his parents and sister (though he did eventually reconcile with them). You get the sense that being a comedic avant-garde genius isn't all that it's cracked up to be and that to get to the top took a lot of struggle not to mention fine-tuning of an act that often people didn't quite get.

On a more personal note, as I read this story I couldn't help thinking of my brother, also named Steve, who like Martin got his start in entertainment at a Disney property and went on to become a professional juggler. I felt compelled to share this book with him and just as I hoped he found a lot in the book that felt familiar, especially dealing with audiences who don't quite appreciate what you do. Just as a juggler has to qualify a trick (doing the trick without a drop a certain amount of reps), so Martin had to qualify his act through hard work, repitition and fine-tuning. The message of the book was not a blueprint for fame -- at time the regret that's implied in the book would be a discouragement to would be comedians. I found it more of a cautionary, "be careful for what you wish for" tale. In the end, fame would cause Martin to lose his desire to do stand-up but the struggle for the fame would make him a comedic juggernaut for years to come.

Ask The Dust by John Fante

noreply@blogger.com (Esteban) — Thu, 17 Jan 2008 02:47:00 +0000

One night I was sitting on the bed in my hotel room on Bunker Hill, down in
the very middle of Los Angeles. It was an important night in my life,
because I had to make a decision about the hotel. Either I paid up or I
got out: that was what the note said, the note the landlady had put under my
door. A great problem, deserving acute attention. I solved it by
turning out the lights and going to bed.”

So reads the first paragraph of John Fante’s novel Ask the Dust. When I first read this in the preface of Brett Easton Ellis’s The Informers, I was immediately drawn to the simplicity, the frankness, and the desperate nonchalance that even a few sentences brought out. So I said to myself, “Who is this John Fante, and where can I get a hold of his book Ask the Dust? It wasn’t anywhere. I couldn’t even buy it locally.

Eventually, I found a copy and read it. It was written in first person. The situations were real. There was both a human and animal element to it. The story was about a young displaced writer in 1930’s L.A., facing poverty and unrequited love while trying to make a name for himself in a rented room. Actually, the story wasn’t necessary. You see, when I had finished reading it, I barely remembered the plot. It didn’t matter. The author had opened up the private thoughts of the human mind. He had not spared embarrassing, awkward situations, and had written about the details of life. This was what most impressed me -- that a guy could be this honest about himself, and that he could truly know himself this well to put it all down on paper.

So after that, I read everything by Fante I could get my hands on. It was more of the same. Situations more honest than before – even his domestic writing that was done in the 1950’s like Full of Life, a story about the birth of his son, had that edge. Well, come to find out that Ask the Dust was heavily influenced by another called Hunger by Knut Hamsun. I picked that up too, and started reading it. It was even more desperate, and more spiritual. I sort of felt gyped -- like Fante had simply popped himself into Hamsun’s book and taken out some of the more desperate elements. But I’m still glad he wrote it, they say he is the father of the L.A. novel, and probably one of the more underappreciated writer’s of American Literature. Fante eventually ended up making big bucks writing for the movies, and he always said it finished him as a novelist.

Fante would have pretty much been lost as a writer, had he not been rediscovered in the early 1980’s by Charles Bukowski. Bukowski had a huge following and called Fante “his god” after having discovered him the reading room of the L.A. Public Library. While Fante’s stuff is more toned down than Bukowski’s, you can still see the influence there. That wonderful raw edge of humanity.

Babbitt by Sinclair Lewis

noreply@blogger.com (Esteban) — Sat, 22 Dec 2007 19:41:00 +0000

When the 20's were bursting out all over, we find the antithesis of the Fitzgeraldian hero, a 40 something, unoriginal humpty dumpty, but groomed sort of fellow called Babbitt. Babbitt's secret desire is to live again, not in the suburban sense, but in a wild and colorful way, and he supresses it until he finally erupts and makes a complete hind end of himself. He throws away his Boosterism, his faithful but bland wife, and converges on his quiet midwestern city of Zenith with a fervor that will rock the tabloids and fuel the gossips until the second coming. Realizing that the futility of his efforts will not free him from the dyed in the wool masses, Babbitt submits to becoming a cog in the machine and finally realizes his ambitions through his offspring in a sarcastic salute to Zenith and to the world. Hurray for all the Chicken Croquets and Lettuce Sandwiches that are consumed in this book, and a toast to Sinclair Lewis who has had entirely to many already.

The Year of Living Biblically

noreply@blogger.com (Joan) — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 21:11:00 +0000

A.J. Jacobs likes to pull stunts, get book deals, and write about them. In addition to being a regular writer for Esquire magazine, he's written a book called The Know-It-All, where he told about his adventures reading the entire Encyclopedia Britannica. This time, he vows to adhere as literally as possible to all the laws in the Old and New Testaments.

I found this book entertaining and intriguing. Jacobs is thoughtful and funny. His adherance to the laws is most obviously manifested as he grows out his beard and wears white clothes with tassels on the end. One particularly hilarious episode is in the beginning, when he cannot touch his wife for 7 days, or sit anywhere that she has sat, because she might be unclean. His wife, being a modern woman, is a little resentful about what this particular law implies. She retaliates by sitting in every chair in their apartment, thereby making it impossible for him to sit down anywhere.

Jacobs is an agnostic with a Jewish background. He comments freely about his fluctuating viewpoints on God and religion. He examines carefully the impact of doing good deeds and following rules...all the rules...and what effect this has on his inner thoughts. The reader also gets to follow Jacobs and his wife through their quest to have another child...which works out a little differently than planned.

Jacob performs a stunt, but it is one that he carries through thoroughly as he can, and his modern-day thoughts and humor make this a book for anyone, regardless of spiritual choice.

Snowflower and the Secret Fan

noreply@blogger.com (Eliza) — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 19:46:00 +0000

I have had Snowflower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See on my "to read" list forever, and saw the library owns it on audio through Overdrive, so I thought that was a better way for me to catch up on my reading list. I really enjoyed this book, especially because it focused on so many cultural and historical practices of China. I had never studied in depth any of these like foot binding, and arranged marriages, but See was able to make the facts and stories so interesting that it was a very quick listen. I really felt drawn to the characters with the unbelievable trials they went through as the novel described two friends over many decades of their lives. The traditions and the pain and joy they went through seemed so real. I also thought it was a great book to listen to because it was such good storytelling.

Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

noreply@blogger.com (Joan) — Sat, 18 Aug 2007 22:13:00 +0000

Devil in the White City came to me highly recommended, but I can't say I was overly thrilled. I was under a time constraint and so was forced to listen to it on audio, which, truth be told, is not my favorite way to read a book, though I feel very efficient.

Perhaps I wasn't intrigued with the serial killer, Holmes. Larson wrote about Holmes childhood with a little too much bias, in my opinion. I felt myself thinking in frustration, "He (Larson) can't KNOW that!" There are several incidents were Larson makes conjectures about Holmes reaction to stressful events or his attitude toward animals. Since there doesn't seem to be any proof of his reaction or attitude in either situation, I would have preferred that Larson kept his account a little more objective, at least during this portion of the tale.

Perhaps I wasn't intrigued by the development of the World's Fair in Chicago. It seemed that Larson went over every painstaking detail 10 times - the committees, the architecture, the bad weather plaguing it all. There were moments during this portion that captured my interest - particuarly when it was revealed (finally) what the structure was that would "out-Eiffel Eiffel." I also enjoyed the moments that involved Frederick Law Olmsted, who was also developing the grounds for the Biltmore House in North Carolina, which is a place I've visited three times. His view of landscape architecture and his ability to plan 40 years in advance were very impressive. I just couldn't get a sense of the buildings somehow.

I'm in the minority on this one. Others I've talked to find this book one of the best non-fiction books they've ever read. I just found it too slow and detailed - and I'm not usually one to shy away from detail. Perhaps I just don't respond to being read to. On this one, it might be best to NOT take my word for it.

One Thousand Secret Suns

noreply@blogger.com (Joan) — Mon, 02 Jul 2007 18:35:00 +0000

One Thousand Secret Suns by Khaled Hosseini is one of those books that, when people ask me how I liked it, I have trouble answering. I want to say I loved it, but how can you love a book that deals with so much pain? And yet, several of the characters are true-to-life, multi-dimensional, and ultimately triumphant.

Like Kite Runner, One Thousand Secret Suns is set over several decades in Afghanistan beginning in the 1970s. We are introducted to Mariam at age 15 , who longs for her father and ultimately feels responsible for her mother's death. We see Mariam become involved in an arranged marriage with a man 30 years her senior, Rasheed. Initially, things are not actually too bad, though her new husband makes her wear a burqa. Our Western sensibilities are horrified at the idea, but Mariam actually feels cherished and able to observe her world without reserve behind her burqa. Her situation quickly deteriorates when it becomes evident that she cannot bear children.

We then meet Laila, who is eventually orphaned by war. She becomes Rasheed's second wife, which is rather timely since she has become pregnant just before she is orphaned. Laila is Rasheed's adored second wife, but eventually her rebelliousness results in beatings, just as they have for Mariam. In the meantime, Laila and Mariam build a bond together against Rasheed, and Mariam is finally able to experience love.

Although the end of the tale is a little too neat for my taste, and there is a plot twist at the end that seemed a little formulaic, Mariam is a truly heroic character to me. She has done what her mother said that all women must do: endure. How she does this is subtle and real, with no histrionics. She is just a woman who continues day after day, and does what she can for those she loves.

Set This House in Order

noreply@blogger.com (Joan) — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:04:00 +0000

How do you write a book about 20 characters when you only have 2 physical bodies with which to work? Have the two main characters be people who suffer from MPD (multiple personality disorder). Step back, and enjoy the ride...

The reader is immediately introduced to Andrew Gage, who is a very well-adjusted, aware, multiple. Andrew has even developed some good jokes about being multiple - for instance, he will always win in a vote because he always has everyone else outnumbered. Andrew has worked with a psychologist for several years, and has chosen to keep all his personalities separate. Andrew is in control of the body, but is aware of the existence of his other personalities, and often has running relationships with many of them. The scene where they all eat breakfast is one of the most entertaining and illuminating of the novel.

Andrew is introduced to Penny, who also has MPD, but is not aware of it. She is currently living a tumultuous existence where she loses time frequently. She has several personalities, but is unaware of them, and therefore has no say in who has control over the body at any given time.

Andrew reluctantly agrees to reveal Penny's disorder to her. This results in Andrew further addressing facts about his past that even he or any other of his personalities knows about. Andrew and Penny go on a rolicking road trip and find that some of their respective personalities become kindred spirits.

Ruff describes the process of dealing with MPD with such sympathy and accuracy, it is difficult to believe that he is not a multiple himself. Characters who shouldn't be sympathetic become quite endearing in their own way, and somehow one can empathize with Andrew and Penny and what it would be like to deal with all their personalities.

Set This House in Order must be read slowly, but it is thoroughly engaging and one of the most unusual book premises that's been explored in a long time.

Dickens World

noreply@blogger.com (Joy) — Fri, 25 May 2007 16:04:00 +0000

Not a formal review but I have to say I am exceedingly excited about a new theme-attraction I heard about yesterday on NPR that opens today. It is Dickens World, that's right...an exciting journey all about the world of 19th century England centered on the works of Charles Dickens. Located in Chatham, it features Scrooge's haunted house, Fagin's Den, the dockside, streets and alleys...all the sights and smells (I don't know if I'm too enthused about smelling the dockside, I think they were still using the Thames as a sewer in Dicken's time). The Dickens World web site doesn't have too many pictures, just a time lapse streaming video of the construction site. NPR Marketplace has an inside construction view and the picture towards to bottom of the article features the London sewer boat ride (very Our Mutual Friend). So the next time you happen to be near England, stop by and step into another era!

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell

noreply@blogger.com (Joan) — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 16:10:00 +0000

Winter's Bone by Daniel Woodrell is a great book to read when it's 98 degrees outside because it inexplicably made me feel cold through and through.

This short novel is set in the Ozarks in an unspecified time period. Although there are hints at modernity - headphones, New Age sound tapes, and meth labs are mentioned throughout - the pervasive feel is that it takes place in the early 20th century.

Woodrell tells the story of a week in the life of Ree Dolly, a 16-year-old who is hardened far beyond her years. Her father, who cooks meth, has disappeared and her mother has some sort of mental illness. Ree takes care of her two younger brothers and worries about their future. At the beginning of the novel, we learn that Ree's father has a court date for which he put up his house and land as bail. If he doesn't make his court date, their house and land will be repossessed. During this week, Ree must find her father in order to save their home.

This book depicts lives that are cold and dark. I got the feeling that the sun never shines where Ree lives. Ree's family is hardened and callous, but a few of them - Ree, her best friend, and Ree's Uncle Teardrop - have glimmers of morality and steadfastness that make them highly sympathetic. Ree herself is smart, responsible and realistic, and one cannot help but hope that she can figure out a way to save her family and herself.

Pulitzer, anyone?

noreply@blogger.com (Joy) — Tue, 17 Apr 2007 16:58:00 +0000

Are you up to date on your Pulitzers? They were just announced yesterday and the winner of the fiction category was Cormac McCarthy's The Road. Everyone's raving about it seeing how it is an Oprah book selection and she provides author info, reading guides and all that other good stuff on her website. Malcolm Library Book Chat also had this as their book club book earlier this year so we do have multiple copies. Other winners include The Race Beat by Gene Roberts and Hank Klibanoff (about the civil rights movement) for best history, The Most Famous Man in America by Debby Applegate (about Henry Ward Beecher) for best biography and The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright (about Al-Qaeda and 9/11) for best general nonfiction. Check the Pulitzer website for a complete listing of all their winners.

NonFiction – Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America’s Independent Business by Stacy Mitchell

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan) — Tue, 20 Mar 2007 16:32:00 +0000

This is a very interesting in depth look at the impact of large chain stores with in the United States. Mitchell, head of the American Independent Business Alliance, is very convincing and illustrates many of the negatives that can come about when a large chain retail store opens in a community. Many of the arguments against the expansion of large chains are quite obvious while others are more subtle but still convincing. For example, she spends a good deal of time discussing job loss and creation. Often a community or local government will embrace a large chain by stating how many jobs it will bring to the community. However, as large chain stores open and grow local small businesses, lacking the resource to compete, close over time. Therefore, a community experiences more job loss than job gain over a period of a few years, but since this is subtle it goes unnoticed. One issue I did have with the book was that the author did not discuss any benefits a chain store brings to a community as I am sure there are some. Mitchell concludes with the argument that it is time for governments and communities to step in and level the playing field so that small business can compete against large retail chains. Only time will tell if this will happen.

Silent in the Grave by Deanna Raybourn

noreply@blogger.com (Joy) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 18:27:00 +0000

I was completely misled in thinking this novel by Deanna Raybourn was a typical historical romance offering simply because I knew that the publisher, Mira, is an imprint of Harlequin. But I was completely enthralled in this mystery debut. At their own dinner party, Lady Julia Grey’s husband, Edward, dies a sudden and not so unexpected death. A weakening heart condition had Lady Grey prepared for the eventuality of his death but not for the doubts of a private inquiry agent, Nicholas Brisbane. It is only after a year’s worth of accumulating suspicion that Lady Grey engages the services of Mr. Brisbane into the possible murder of her husband. The year has given Julia time to emerge from her repressive marriage and slowly grow stronger in self sense of self and she is determined to assist Nicholas. They are at constant odds with each other leading to a tremendous amount of romantic tension. But, instead of romance being the focus of the story, the search for Edward’s killer takes center stage leading Julia into a sordid and dark world. The historical detail, strong characters and at times, the almost gothic overtones proved to make for a strong storyline. I shall definitely put Deanna Raybourn on my author watch list!

NonFiction - Cold Burial By Clive Powell-Williams

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan) — Tue, 13 Feb 2007 22:52:00 +0000

The story of Jack Hornby, Canadian frontiersman, and his young cousin Edgar Christian and friend Harold Adlard is a tale of inspiration. The author, Clive Powell-Williams, tells the story relying upon the diary and letters from the party as they travel across Canada to their winter home on the Thelon River in 1926. We soon discover that Jack, though notorious for exploits on the Canadian frontier, is not an accomplished frontiersman. His decisions as he leads the two young greenhorns into the tundra end up costing the lives of all three men (due to starvation). Most of the story is told from the diary that Edgar (only 18 at the time) kept. Edgar’s diary reflects how all three stayed positive and fought to the very end before succumbing to death. In fact, during World War II the Nazi party printed this story in German as an mandatory read for young recruits illustrating the importance of duty and a never give up attitude. Overall this is well written as Clive often includes excerpts from Edgar’s diary to give an insight to what all three were experiencing as they tried to survive on the Thelon.

The Nanny Diaries

noreply@blogger.com (Eliza) — Fri, 26 Jan 2007 17:55:00 +0000

I recently finished The Nanny Diaries by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus in an easy two days. I was pleasantly surprised by this book and enjoyed it all the way through. The good and the bad are well presented in this novel, and I think the two authors’ experience as nannies helped make this book funny, but also tender hearted in the end. A conveniently named Nan, is a young college student who nannies part time. She seems experienced in her stories of interviewing for jobs, getting jobs and keeping jobs. But this story is focused on one four year old Grayer. He is sometimes sweet, sometimes rotten, but completely cute and in need of his parents. Nan goes through school as well as finding a new boyfriend while working for the Xs. They ask her to do the impossible, she misses important events, and she is talked down to. The things that Nan and other Nannies go through are almost unbelievable. She is frustrated with her position, yet she finds the time to become emotionally attached to Grayer, and has a hard time telling the Xs “no.” I picked it up because I heard about the movie coming out (in April) and wanted to read it before seeing it. I hope it is as great as the book!

Edgar Award Nominees 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Joy) — Sun, 21 Jan 2007 08:08:00 +0000

Due to some shuffling around of positions at work, I haven’t had a chance to read much of anything or find the time to report on the novels I have had a chance finish but all that aside…the Edgar Award nominations have been announced for all those mystery lovers out there. The awards for books published in 2006 will be given out April 26, 2007 in NYC. So, out of the nominees for hardback books, I have read four. For the Best Novel Nominees … you can read back to my post on The Virgin of the Small Plains by Nancy Pickard. Gentlemen and Players by Joanne Harris dealt with life in an uppercrust Brit prep school and the child of the school’s caretaker, flash forward to about 20 years later (if I remember right) and we revisit the school as someone with a vendetta takes on the school and its faculty one by one, in a mystery way, not a horror way and very good with an ending to which I never saw coming (but then again, I’m one of those reader’s that do NOT try to figure out who-done-it, I just go along for the ride!) I also have to mention that The Janissary Tree by Kevin Goodwin is sitting, right this moment, on my bookshelf and I keep looking at it knowing I have to read that (and a million other things) soon. Out of the Best First Novel by an American Author… Sharp Objects was very psychologically intriguing and I normally don’t go reading about people with the afflictions this young reporter had but by the time I realized what was going on, I was already sucked into the story and it was too late to stop, also loaded with tons of dysfunctional family life. And I have commented on another post about Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith but let me reiterate, if you want a super fun Holmesian western mystery out with the cowboys, this is definitely the book for you. I eagerly await the second installment of the adventures of the Amlingmeyer brothers in their second book, On the Wrong Track, due out March 6th. And of course, A Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson and A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read are sitting on that same bookshelf by The Jannisary Tree (need to get to those soon!) Anyway, check the partial list and see you see anything to put on your “to read” list and for more categories (like the Best Motion Picture Screen Play category to go on your “to watch” list…go to the Mystery Writers of America complete nominees list)

Best Novel Nominees

The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Bayard (HarperCollins)
The Janissary Tree by Jason Goodwin (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Gentleman and Players by Joanne Harris (HarperCollins - William Morrow)
The Dead Hour by Denise Mina (Hachette Book Group - Little, Brown and Company)
The Virgin of Small Plains by Nancy Pickard (Random House - Ballantine Books)
The Liberation Movements by Olen Steinhauer (St. Martin's Minotaur)

Best First Novel By An American Author

The Faithful Spy by Alex Berenson (Random House)
Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn (Crown - Shaye Areheart Books)
King of Lies by John Hart (St. Martin's Minotaur - Thomas Dunne Books)
Holmes on the Range by Steve Hockensmith (St. Martin's Minotaur)
A Field of Darkness by Cornelia Read (Warner Books - Mysterious Press)

Not-So-Grown-Up January Book

noreply@blogger.com (Nik) — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 19:29:00 +0000

This month's book club read is A Long Way Down By Nick Hornby.
Here is a brief summary from the book jacket:

"In his eagerly awaited fourth novel, New York Times-bestselling author Nick Hornby mines the hearts and psyches of four lost souls who connect just when they've reached the end of the line. Meet Martin, JJ, Jess, and Maureen. Four people who come together on New Year's Eve: a former TV talk show host, a musician, a teenage girl, and a mother. Three are British, one is American. They encounter one another on the roof of Topper's House, a London destination famous as the last stop for those ready to end their lives. In four distinct and riveting first-person voices, Nick Hornby tells a story of four individuals confronting the limits of choice, circumstance, and their own mortality. This is a tale of connections made and missed, punishing regrets, and the grace of second chances. Intense, hilarious, provocative, and moving, A Long Way Down is a novel about suicide that is, surprisingly, full of life."

We will discuss this book at the next meeting. It will be held on February 1st, 2007 @ 6:00pm

If you're interested in joining the Not-So-Grown-Up Book Club please visit the James I. Gibson Library or contact us at 564-9261.

1635: The Cannon Law by Eric Flint and Andrew Dennis

noreply@blogger.com (Tom) — Thu, 28 Dec 2006 18:23:00 +0000

It is always difficult to pigeon hole the genre of these types of works. Is it fiction, science fiction or an alternate history? Since the opening volume, 1632, I would say the answer to the question is all three. How is that for a definitive answer?

1635: The Cannon Law continues the saga of the Grantsville Americans thrown back in time by the Ring of Fire. For those who are students of history, this series and this book in particular are entertaining reads. Just imagine trying to overlay a modern American value system across Europe during the Spanish Inquisition. As one might assume, there are a variety of conflicts as our 20th/ 21st century heroes try to enact reforms several centuries before their time. While Pope Urban VIII sees value in some of the American's views, the nemesis, Spanish inquisitor, Cardinal Borja views the Pope as weak and unfit in light of Spain's supremacy in the world.

The Cardinal begins to ferment trouble throughout Rome with a number of paid malcontents sent out to create discontent in the Roman populace through a variety of rabble rousing endeavors. Of course the American embassy in Rome is a target of the Cardinal's plots as is the fledgling Committee of Correspondence run by Frank Stone and his Italian wife Giovanna. As the ambassador to Rome from the United States of Europe, Sharon Nichols must make some difficult decisions and play a few political games of her own to try and offset the Cardinal's plans. Her fiance, the strong, humorous and often deadly Castilian Ruy Sanchez supports the entire American entourage in Rome with his political and military savvy.

Ultimately Cardinal Borja attempts the military conquest of Rome, providing considerable concern for his Spanish monarch but endless possibilities for the political realist among the King's men. The work builds to an interesting end and to an intriguing continuation of the series as the "uptime" Americans continue in their efforts to thwart the Spanish Inquisition.

Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman

noreply@blogger.com (Joan) — Tue, 12 Dec 2006 00:00:00 +0000

Neverwhere is not a book I expected to enjoy. However, it was the selection for December for the Not So Grown Up Bookclub, and because Neil Gaiman's name pops frequently, I decided to read it.

The premise is this: Richard Mayhew, an ordinary man with a good job and an overbearing, beautiful fiancee, lives in London. One day, on the brink of yet another screw-up with his fiancee, he rescues a girl who appears from nowhere and is hurt. The girl, Door, returns from whence she came, but Richard wakes up the next day to find that he has essentially ceased to exist in London Above. He makes his way unknowingly to London Below, which exists in the subways and sewers of London and is populated by those who have fallen through the cracks of society.

London Below is a land where rats are revered and is filled with murderers, Hunters, and angel, a Beast, people with magical powers, and a various assortment of other characters. The story details Richard's efforts to return in full to London Above and regain his life, and his conclusions when he does get his life back, even better than before.

Unlike other fantasy worlds which are close enough to our own but with no relation to anything that actually exists in the world we know now, Neverwhere exists half in our known world, and half below. There are frequent references to things we're all familiar with: the Thames, the Underground and it's various stations, St. Paul's Cathedral. The references to things known makes references to things unknown infinitely more possible.

The book is at times funny, and at times repulsive (vegetarians beware of the diet of Mr. Vandemar!), but always engaging. I feel the urge to re-read it to get all the allusions more clearly the second time around...and that's always a sign of a worthy read for me. Plus, I'll be looking out when I next ride the London Underground.

NonFiction - Strapped: Why America's 20 and 30 somethings can't get ahead

noreply@blogger.com (Bryan) — Mon, 11 Dec 2006 22:17:00 +0000

Strapped by Tamara Draut is a very interesting examination of the financial situation of young adults from their early 20s to their mid 30s. The author has done extensive research in comparing the situations currently faced by young adults with those of the baby boomers. Her research is supported by real life experiences of young adults who have struggled as they have tried to attain the same success in society as past generations. I initially thought that many of the young folks who have struggled to become adults were based largely upon poor decisions, lack of effort, etc. But I was surprised to find that was not the entire case. Draut focuses much of her blame on, rising college costs, student loan debt, unaffordable housing, lack of support of child rearing (including time away from work and child care), credit card debt, and paycheck paralysis. She spends a substantial amount of time on each of these topics making her arguments for each. However, it should be noted that while making her case she does dive into politics (which is probably unavoidable). Whether you agree with her arguments will ultimately depend upon your political point of view. The last two chapters are solutions that she thinks will help the situation. Her ideas are solidly researched and well thought out but call for a less capitalistic approach. Do these solutions have the ability to take root in this country? Maybe, but it will be a difficult sell to the American people.

New Books for December 2006

noreply@blogger.com (Joy) — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 21:17:00 +0000

A little late this month…due to that fact that I’ve got so many holiday projects going, I completely forgot!! Here are the new books coming in for December so take a break (like I plan to do) and read until the stress melts away…

December 5
The Bolelyn Inheritance by Philippa Gregory
From the "New York Times" bestselling author of "The Queen's Fool, The Virgin's Lover, The Constant Princess" and "The Other Boleyn Girl" comes a tempestuous Tudor tale about two queens, Anne of Cleves and Catherine Parr, and the woman who destroys them both.
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
HE IS ONE OF THE MOST HAUNTING CHARACTERS IN ALL OF LITERATURE. AT LAST THE EVOLUTION OF HIS EVIL IS REVEALED. Hannibal Lecter emerges from the nightmare of the Eastern Front, a boy in the snow, mute, with a chain around his neck.He seems utterly alone, but he has brought his demons with him. Hannibal’s uncle, a noted painter, finds him in a Soviet orphanage and brings him to France, where Hannibal will live with his uncle and his uncle’s beautiful and exotic wife, Lady Murasaki. Lady Murasaki helps Hannibal to heal. With her help he flourishes, becoming the youngest person ever admitted to medical school in France. But Hannibal’s demons visit him and torment him. When he is old enough, he visits them in turn. He discovers he has gifts beyond the academic, and in that epiphany, Hannibal Lecter becomes death’s prodigy.

December 12
Mistral’s Kiss by Laurell K. Hamilton
Time for Meredith Gentry to give up detective work and conceive an heir to the Faerie world's Unseelie Court. Too bad her magic is off, even as dark curses are starting to do their stuff.
True Evil by Greg Iles
"New York Times" bestselling author Greg Iles returns with this smart and atmospheric work. Dr. Chris Shepard, a busy young doctor in Natchez, Mississippi, has never seen his new patient Alex Morse before. But the attractive young woman with the scarred face has come to Dr. Shepard's office on a mission to rip his idyllic life inside out.

December 26
Stalemate by Iris Johansen
Atlanta-based forensic sculptor Eve Duncan is lured to the Colombian compound of a notorious criminal to identify a skull he has found. Eve has agreed to a devil's bargain to save an innocent family, but also for another reason. The man in the jungle has promised to give Eve the key to unlocking the darkest and most painful mystery of her past in this latest thriller by "New York Times" bestselling author Johansen.
The Ravenscar Dynasty by Barbara Bradford
The first novel in a sweeping new epic series from Barbara Taylor Bradford, set in the early 20th century, features a powerful family whose lives are filled with drama, intrigue, and revenge.
More Twisted by Jeffrey Deaver
Diverse, provocative, eerie, and twisted, this collection of Jeffery Deaver's best stories exhibits amazing range and the signature plot twists that have made him a perennial bestseller.

December 28
The Perfect Fake by Barbara Parker
In "New York Times" bestselling author Barbara Parker's brilliant new stand-alone novel, the forgery of a rare 500-year-old map sparks a thrilling chase from Miami to London and the Italian Alps in a remarkable tale of international intrigue.
Find Me by Carol O’Connell
From one of the most acclaimed crime writers in America comes her most astonishing novel: a story of love, loss, death, and discovery. Kathy Mallory will find herself hunting a killer like none she has ever known, and will undergo a series of revelations not only of stunning intensity, but stunning effect.
Annotations from Baker & Taylor , Barnes & Noble and Books-a-Million.

Measure of a Lady

noreply@blogger.com (Eliza) — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:55:00 +0000

The Measure of a Lady by Deanne Gist was just as great as her first novel. The combination of a clean read, with the same romantic implications as a romance novel, makes it very enjoyable. The story is based on Rachel Van Buren’s trials in a very rowdy San Francisco. The historical part of the story is based on the difficulties in being one of the very few women in an undeveloped gold rush town. Rachel has a younger brother and sister to take care of; beginning with a place to stay, income and the basic necessities. The stress that goes into this is apparent immediately as she finds no proper hotels, and no proper church to ask for assistance. The story of course includes a romantic interest for Rachel, in the form of a gambling hall owner. She struggles with his choice of profession, and her love for him. It all is combined very well in the storytelling, and you really feel for Rachel throughout her struggles and accomplishments. Great, quick, inspirational read!

In the Bleak Midwinter by Julia Spencer-Fleming

noreply@blogger.com (Joy) — Mon, 27 Nov 2006 22:23:00 +0000

I love when I come across a series that is new to me and I get to play catch up on all the rest of the books. Our mystery bookclub chose to read Julia Spencer-Fleming’s In a Bleak Midwinter for December. The first in a series, this award-winning novel is set near to the New York Adirondacks in the little town of Miller’s Kill. A “kill” is actually the Dutch word for creek and isn’t it clever to use that as a town name for a setting of a mystery novel. In this small town on a bitter winter night, the newly hired Episcopalian priest, Clare Fergusson finds an abandoned baby at the doorway to her church. Promptly involving the proper authorities, Clare is now committed to the well-being of this infant. Despite the note left with the baby, asking it be given to a couple in the parish, Police chief Russ Van Alstyne is charged with the task of finding the true parents. The need quickly escalates as the body of a young female college freshman and possible mother to the infant is discovered murdered by the river just outside of town. As the leads keep pointing in different members of the community Clare and Russ must work together to find the killer. As they work together, their attraction for one another grows beyond friendship, slightly problematic since Russ is married. The quick pace, the remote setting and the intricate plot compliments each other very well. I only jumped ahead once to make everyone would be okay and it was towards the end of the book (I know, very bad habit of mine but I can’t stand the suspense). I look forward to discussing the novel at our next meeting and reading the rest of the series. Her fifth one in this series, All Mortal Flesh, just came out just this past October.