Top Ten Books I Want for the Holidays

The Broke and the Bookish, a brilliant book blog, 

hosts a weekly top ten list meme.

I like this meme because I like lists. I like this meme because it reminds me of the Top 5 lists from High Fidelity (by Nick Hornby as a book, starring John Cusak as a movie). And I like this meme because it causes me to think long and hard about book-related topics. So here goes:

Top Ten Books I Want to Receive for the Holidays

1. The Next Always (Inn Boonsboro Trilogy, Book 1) 

by Nora Roberts

9780425243213, Berkeley (Penguin), $16

My favorite romantic fiction author's new book. I can't wait to curl up with this and read it in  one sitting.

The historic hotel in BoonsBoro, Maryland, has endured war and peace, changing hands, even rumored hauntings. Now it's getting a major facelift from the Montgomery brothers and their eccentric mother. As the architect of the family, Beckett's social life consists mostly of talking shop over pizza and beer. But there's another project he's got his eye on: the girl he's been waiting to kiss since he was fifteen...

2. Saints Astray (Santa Olivia, Book 2) 

by Jacqueline Carey

9780446571425, Grand Central Publishing (Hachette), $14.99

I fell in love with Jacqueline Carey's writing in high school. She seems to be fearless in terms of the tremendous scope of her work, covering time, space, topics, and creating worlds like few others before her.

Fellow orphans, amateur vigilantes, and members of the Santitos, Loup Garron-the fugitive daughter of a genetically engineered "wolf man"-and Pilar Ecchevarria grew up in the military zone of Outpost 12, formerly known as Santa Olivia. But now they're free, and they want to help the rest of the Santitos escape. During a series of escapades, they discover that Miguel, Loup's former sparring partner and reprobate surrogate brother, has escaped from Outpost 12 and is testifying on behalf of its forgotten citizens-at least until he disappears from protective custody. Honor drives Loup to rescue Miguel, even though entering the U.S could mean losing her liberty. Pilar vows to help her. It will take a daring and absurd caper to extricate Miguel from the mess he's created but Loup is prepared to risk everything... and this time she has help.

3. Ottoline at Sea 

by Chris Riddell

9781405050593, Macmillan

I'm not sure what happened to this book. The first two books in the Ottoline series (Ottoline and the Yellow Cat and Ottoline Goes to School were both brilliantly illustrated, well-written, and overall darling books to hand to anyone, but girls especially, age 4-8. Though my sources say this was published by Macmillan in 2010, that may have only been in the UK as I've never seen this one a bookstore shelf and it's not available from Indiebound. But somehow, some way, I will get a copy.

Ottoline and Mr. Munroe do everything and go everywhere together. That is, until the day Mr. Munroe mysteriously disappears leaving a strange clue written in string...Armed with her Amateur Roving Collectors' travel pass Ottoline sets off on a journey over, under and on top of the sea to find her hairy best friend - and bring him back home.

4. The Outcasts (Brotherband Chronicles, Book 1) 

by John Flanagan

9780399256196, Philomel Books (Penguin), $18.99

Oh John Flanagan - I loved your Ranger's Apprentice series, perfect for boy and girl readers age 10-14, and now, now you've begun another.

They are outcasts. Hal, Stig, and the others - they are the boys the others want no part of. Skandians, as any reader of Ranger's Apprentice could tell you, are known for their size and strength. Not these boys. Yet that doesn't mean they don't have skills. And courage - which they will need every ounce of to do battle at sea against the other bands, the Wolves and the Sharks, in the ultimate race. The icy waters make for a treacherous playing field . . . especially when not everyone thinks of it as playing.

5. The Informationist

by Taylor Stevens

9780307717108, Broadway Books (Random House), $14

A female Jason Bourne? (-ish.) Yes, please!

Vanessa “Michael” Munroe deals in information—expensive information—working for corporations, heads of state, private clients, and anyone else who can pay for her unique brand of expertise. Born to missionary parents in lawless central Africa, Munroe took up with an infamous gunrunner and his mercenary crew when she was just fourteen. As his protégé, she earned the respect of the jungle's most dangerous men, cultivating her own reputation for years until something sent her running. After almost a decade building a new life and lucrative career from her home base in Dallas, she's never looked back.

Until now.

A Texas oil billionaire has hired her to find his daughter who vanished in Africa four years ago. It’s not her usual line of work, but she can’t resist the challenge. Pulled deep into the mystery of the missing girl, Munroe finds herself back in the lands of her childhood, betrayed, cut off from civilization, and left for dead. If she has any hope of escaping the jungle and the demons that drive her, she must come face-to-face with the past that she’s tried for so long to forget. Gripping, ingenious, and impeccably paced, The Informationist marks the arrival or a thrilling new talent.

6. The Scorpio Races 

by Maggie Stiefvater

9780545224901, Scholastic, $17.99

This would be my first Maggie Stiefvater, and considering her reputation, I think it's about time.

Some race to win. Others race to survive.

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line.
Some riders live.
Others die.
At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.
Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn't given her much of a choice. So she enters the competition - the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

7. Every You, Every Me

by David Levithan

9780375860980, Knopf (Random House), $16.99

Dear David Levithan, you make my heart sing and hurt with every one of your books. Thank you. Love, me.

In this high school-set psychological tale, a tormented teen named Evan starts to discover a series of unnerving photographs—some of which feature him. Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author. 

8. Girl Meets Boy: Because There Are Two Sides to Every Story 

by Kelly Milner Halls

9781452102641, Chronicle Books, $16.99

What do guys and girls really think? Twelve of the most dynamic and engaging YA authors writing today team up for this one-of-a-kind collection of "he said/she said" stories-he tells it from the guy's point of view, she tells it from the girl's. These are stories of love and heartbreak. There's the good-looking jock who falls for a dangerous girl, and the flipside, the toxic girl who never learned to be loved; the basketball star and the artistic (and shorter) boy she never knew she wanted; the gay boy looking for love online and the girl who could help make it happen. Each story in this unforgettable collection teaches us that relationships are complicated-because there are two sides to every story. 

9. The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories 

by Joseph Gordon-Levitt

9780062121660, It Books (HarperCollins), $14.99

Because this sounds wonderful and looks adorable.

HitRECord’s collaborative coalition of artists and writers are making history with The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories: Volume 1, a collection of innovative crowd-sourced creative projects that pushes the limits of originality, cooperation, imagination, and inspiration. HitRECord, a grassroots creative collective founded by actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt, known worldwide for his performances in (500) Days of Summer and Inception, is a forum where thousands of artists worldwide share work and contribute to their peers’ projects in writing, music, videos, illustration, and beyond. Alongside Dean Haspiel’s ACT-I-VATE, a groundbreaking comics collective, and the photographer JR’s Inside Out Project, hitRECord is a haven for budding creatives. Now, the collective has edited together its most promising stories and illustrations to serve as its face in introducing the world to a new generation of talent, in The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories. 

10. I'm leaving this one open-ended and hoping that someone actually does give me a book for the holidays this year, as that rarely happens, for some very odd and unknown reason. Keeping my fingers crossed!

Waiting on Wednesday: Under the Never Sky by Veronica Rossi

Waiting on Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly meme hosted by

Breaking the Spine.

My posts about adult literary fiction are here:

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

My posts about my guilty pleasure reading (romantic, often paranormal, novels) can be found here:

Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here by Christine Warren

Tempest's Legacy by Nicole Peeler
Saint's Astray by Jacqueline Carey

Timeless by Gail Carriger 

Third Grave Dead Ahead by Darynda Jones

My posts about YA/teen titles are here:

Witch & Wizard: The Gift by James Patterson & Ned Rust

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

The Mockingbirds, Book 2: The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

Kiss of Frost by Jennifer Estep

My posts about middle grade titles are here:

The Pirate Captain's Daughter by Eve Bunting

And now for today's:

Under the Never Sky

by Veronica Rossi

9780062072030, Harper Collins, $17.99
Pub. Date: January 2012 

A young adult book by a first-time author, this is a retelling of Romeo & Juliet in a post-apocalyptic setting. Here is the publisher's description:

Since she’d been on the outside, she’d survived an Aether storm, she’d had a knife held to her throat, and she’d seen men murdered. This was worse.

Exiled from her home, the enclosed city of Reverie, Aria knows her chances of surviving in the outer wasteland—known as The Death Shop—are slim. If the cannibals don’t get her, the violent, electrified energy storms will. She’s been taught that the very air she breathes can kill her. Then Aria meets an Outsider named Perry. He’s wild—a savage—and her only hope of staying alive.

A hunter for his tribe in a merciless landscape, Perry views Aria as sheltered and fragile—everything he would expect from a Dweller. But he needs Aria’s help too; she alone holds the key to his redemption. Opposites in nearly every way, Aria and Perry must accept each other to survive. Their unlikely alliance forges a bond that will determine the fate of all who live under the never sky.

In her enthralling debut, Veronica Rossi sends readers on an unforgettable adventure set in a world brimming with harshness and beauty.

Book Review: Uncommon Criminals by Ally Carter

Uncommon Criminals (Heist Society, Book 2)
by Ally Carter
9781423147954, $16.99, Disney-Hyperion (HarperCollins)

Teenage girl thief. That should really be 'nough said, right?

Kat (Katarina Bishop) comes from a family of thieves. One of THE family of thieves (of which there are about 7 in the world). In book 1, Heist Society, Kat tries to give up her thieving ways, only to end up pulling the biggest heist of her life with a full team of other teenage thieves in order to clear her father's name. In book 2, Kat has stayed true to her desire not to steal for stealing's sake. She has begun returning stolen goods taken from Jewish families during World War II. Only these she pulls these jobs on her own. No team, no backup, half the time no one knows where she is. That doesn't sit too well with certain members of her team/family, most notably the sexy possible love-interest Hale and Kat's cousin Gabrielle. Hale and Gabrielle are trying to badger Kat back into the family fold when Kat is contacted by an old woman and her grandson who beg her to make the heist of the century to return a stolen emerald to their family and restore their family's name.

When you head a team of teenagers that has stolen a Cezanne from one of the most heavily guarded museum exhibits in the world, in certain circles, your name becomes a famous one. Names are powerful things, like the name Visily Romani, one of the sacred names among thieves. When the old woman evokes the Romani name, saying he is the one who sent her to Kat, Kat knows she has to take this job.

But this is not just any emerald, and this is not just any job. Kat would have to steal the Cleopatra Emerald, the one rumored to be cursed by the doomed love between Cleopatra and Marc Antony, the one no one has ever successfully stolen, including Kat's very own Uncle Eddie. The one he's forbidden anyone in the family to steal. Kat knows she's on her own for this one...or is she really? Hale and Gabrielle have no intention of letting Kat go after the emerald by herself, and as they crisscross the globe, their team grows in numbers as faces old and new let Kat she doesn't have to be alone, on this job or any job in the future.

The plot thickens with a double-cross, a first kiss, a long-lost family member, and the customary high-class stakes, adventure, and excitement I've come to expect from an Ally Carter novel. Not super-fluffy, but also missing most of the super-teen-angst (thank goodness!), this is a light, enjoyable, well-written read. You don't need to have read book 1 to understand book 2, but it's an equally enjoyable read, so I highly recommend you dip into both.

Waiting on Wednesday: The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey

Waiting on Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly meme hosted by

Breaking the Spine.

 

My posts about adult literary fiction are here:

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Caleb's Crossing by Geraldine Brooks

 

My posts about my guilty pleasure reading (romantic, often paranormal, novels) can be found here:

Prince Charming Doesn't Live Here by Christine Warren

Tempest's Legacy by Nicole Peeler
Saint's Astray by Jacqueline Carey

 

My posts about YA/teen titles are here:

Witch & Wizard: The Gift by James Patterson & Ned Rust

The Piper's Son by Melina Marchetta

The Mockingbirds, Book 2: The Rivals by Daisy Whitney

The Space Between by Brenna Yovanoff

 

My posts about middle grade titles are here:

The Pirate Captain's Daughter by Eve Bunting

And now for today's:

The Flight of Gemma Hardy
by Margot Livesey
9780062064226, $25.99, HarperCollins

I've never read anything by Margot Livesey before, though she has published many novels, but this book caught my attention because it is a contemporary nod to Jane Eyre set in Iceland and Scotland. Sounds promising. Here is the publisher description:

When her widower father drowns at sea, ten-year-old Gemma Hardy is taken from her native Iceland to Scotland, to live with her uncle’s family. But the death of her doting guardian soon after leaves Gemma under the resentful eye of her aunt. When she receives a scholarship to a private school, Gemma believes she’s found the perfect solution, and she eagerly sets out again to a new home. Alas, at Claypoole she finds herself treated as an unpaid servant. To Gemma’s delight, the school finally goes bankrupt and she takes a job as an au pair on the Orkney Islands. The remote Blackbird Hall belongs to Mr. Sinclair, a London businessman; his eight-year-old niece is Gemma’s charge. Even before their first meeting Gemma is intrigued by Mr. Sinclair. Rich, single, flying in from London when he pleases, Hugh Sinclair fills the house with life. The unlikely pair are drawn to one another, but their courtship is cut short by Gemma’s discovery of a secret that has shadowed her employer’s life; soon after, she resolves to flee to mainland Scotland and vows to forget Mr. Sinclair. But as she rebuilds her life she wonders with increasing intensity whether she may still have a family in Iceland. As for her vow, that proves harder to keep than she imagines.

Book Review: Miss Timmins' School for Girls by Nayana Currimbhoy

Miss Timmins' School for Girls
by Nayana Currimbhoy
9780061997747, $14.99, HarperCollins

I don't know what made me pick this book up. I don't remember if I saw it advertised somewhere online, or if someone recommended it on Goodreads, or if I just saw it on the new books shelf, but for whatever reason I checked it out of the library and am so glad I did.

This is Nayana Currimbhoy's first novel. Her writing can only be described as lovely, and I look forward to reading more of her work. I'm not a fan of overt similes - X was like Y - and Ms. Currimbhoy is a master of the subtly evocative metaphor.

Told in three parts, Miss Timmins' School for Girls is first and foremost the story of Charulata Apte, a Brahmin Indian girl called Charu for short. At the age of 21 in 1974, Charu makes her first venture out into the world by taking a teaching position at boarding school in Panchgani, one still run "like an outpost of the British Empire". Class structure is very much at play, and shy, timid, only-child Charu is slowly, almost delicately, drawn out of herself when she unwillingly befriends Miss Moira Prince, a prickly, insubordinate, unexpectedly charming White teacher. Through Pin, as Charu calls her, Charu is introduced to the charms of the 70s - the Mystery Man known as Merch (a friend of Pin's), and with him, the music, the drugs, the politics, the independence. Touched by new ideas, new feelings, new experiences, Charu nonetheless feels safe inside her Panchgani/Timmins' School bubble, where the outside world never really intrudes.

Until a murder occurs. Until her mother is hospitalized.

Suddenly the perspective changes, and the story continues from the perspective of Nandita, one of Charu's top students, and Nandita's friends, who had snuck away to the place known as table-top on the night of the murder. With Macbeth and Gothic romances and contemporary detective novels as their guides, Nandita, Akhila, Ramona, and Shoba attempt to put together the pieces of that night. Miss Nelson, the school principal, was seen on table-top. So was Charu. So was Merch. So were some boys from another local school, Mr. Blind Irani, and enough people so that it seemed like half the school and town were out that night, the night there was a full moon and the rain stopped in the middle of the monsoon season. False accusations, false arrests, family connections and secrets and revelations, for a brief moment Timmins' School and all of Panchgani are national news in a huge game of who-dunnit.

Perspective changes again and it is now several years later. Charu has gone to Bombay, to become a teacher there. No longer provincial, living with her father and her child, life has moved on in so many ways, but she has never forgotten. A chance meeting with an old student brings it all rushing back, all the same feelings of first love, second love, guilt, confusion, frustration - and under it all, still a lingering question about what really happened the night of the murder. A trip back to Panchgani is needed to once-and-for-all discover the truth about that night up at table-top and how those events formed who Charu came to be.

The publisher's marketing calls this book "ultimately, a coming-of-age tale set against the turbulence of the 1970s as it played out in one small corner of India," but it's so much more than that. Reading this book was almost like traveling to India, with words and phrases and actions and castes and socio-cultural elements sprinkled throughout the prose. Though there is a glossary in the back of the book, I preferred not to use it, instead immersing myself in this place I had never been, letting the unfamiliar words wash over me while I sympathized with the budding womanhood of Charu's experiences. A true sensory pleasure.

Book Review: House of Dolls by Francesca Lia Block, illustrated by Barbara McClintock

House of Dolls
by Francesca Lia Block, illustrated by Barbara McClintock
9780061130946, HarperCollings, $15.99

Known for being poetic and surreal while featuring elements from the real world, Francesca Lia Block's latest, House of Dolls, is lovingly illustrated and difficult to sell. Its charming trim size and brightly-colored cover make it appeal to a picture book audience, but the length of the text will make it hard for most children under the age of 8 to sit through. 

This reads as an ambitious project, tackling many tough subjects, filtered through the lens of three female dolls, two boyfriend doll-counterparts, and one human girl. The subtle themes of love and loss, family relations, and the larger context of wartime struggles may require some explaining to a younger reader. It is difficult to see quite how the human characters arrive at the ending they do, when the connecting piece is so clearly missing. Part of the story deals with the human girl's jealousy over the gorgeous doll clothes sewn by her grandmother. At a pivotal point in the book, one doll designs three dresses for herself and her doll friends - this would have been the perfect moment to draw a fourth dress for the little girl, giving the grandmother a clue that she wants to be involved. While the grandmother does eventually make a dress for her granddaughter, it's a stretch of the imagination to see how she comes to this conclusion. Perhaps the author, in signature style, felt that obvious a plot point did not fit with her writing, but as a reader, it would have helped.

The delightful, delicate, and intricately detailed illustrations are classic McClintock, and lend an air of charm to an otherwise heavily-burdened book that tries to do too much at once.

Book Review: Burning Bright: Stories by Ron Rash

Burning Bright: Stories
by Ron Rash
9780061804120, Ecco Press (HarperCollins), $12.99

Though I had every intention of attending his appearance at Harvard Book Store last month, I'm afraid in the end I missed it. I did, however, finish reading his book on the day of the event. Despite my missed attendance, everything else about this book was the perfect set of circumstances. I walked into the library and saw it in front of me on the shelf. I read a little bit of it every morning and afternoon on the T to-and-from work, and finally finished it the day of the event. Short stories are a favorite form of mine, so I was even more thrilled to be reading this collection by one of my favorite southern authors (Dorothy Allison being another).

Overall, Burning Bright is a collection of thoughtful, evocative, charming, and quick reads. The language is not wasteful of words but is also fully descriptive. Speech in dialect normally drives me up a wall, but in this case fits naturally with the Appalachian setting. I think the word "raw" is often overused, but that quality comes from the stark lives of the characters; much like the words used to describe them, there is no flash–no excess–in their living. What little happiness or advantage appears in their lives is so unexpected and often burdened that you question whether it's worth it.

For instance, an older woman, widowed, marries a young outsider. The community that should have taken care of her now questions not only her relationship, but if her new husband is the one setting the recent rash of forest fires.
In another story, a young man, burdened by the hospital bills for his mother, agrees to grave robbing for Civil War artifacts. Though his mother's bills get paid, he'll have nightmares of what happened that night for the rest of his life.

The portrayal of modern day poverty leading to drug usage in that historical a setting was especially meaningful.

A pawn broker takes family matters into his own hands: Who is worth saving? His brother? His nephew?
Two loving yet meth-addicted parents struggle to provide a Christmas for their son while coming down off a high. The son provides momentary salvation for them by secretly stealing pawnable items from a plane crash, but is the quick fix worth the ultimate sacrifice?

From historical to modern day, these brief slice-of-life moments offer a powerful glimpse into one view of Appalachian society.

For more Ron Rash, read my review of his novel, Serena, here.

March Book Events

I've just decided on a new New Year's resolution (yes, I know it's March).

Inspired by my friend Kate, who decided to make a concerted effort to see one live music performance each month, I've decided to attend one live literary event each month. "Literary event" can be broadly defined; it doesn't have to mean strictly author event/book signing. For instance, in February I attended the Bookbuilders of Boston's first 2011 Spring Forum (on children's publishing, had a great time, nice to see familiar faces and meet new people).

For the month of March, I'm turning to the great Harvard Book Store to see what their events calendar offers. Would anyone care to join me? Here are the two (2! Ambitious!) events I'm hoping to attend:

Ron Rash, author of Burning Bright, on Thursday, March 24

Burning Bright
9780061804120, Ecco Press (HarperCollins), $12.99

Having greatly enjoyed reading and recommending Serena (for my review, click here), and being a huge fan of short stories, what's not to love (price point included!) about this new paperback original from a brilliant Southern writer. Here is the Harvard Book Store description:

In Burning Bright, the stories span the years from the Civil War to the present day, populated by raw characters mined from the landscape of Appalachia. In "Back of Beyond," a pawnshop owner who profits from the stolen goods of local meth addicts, including his own nephew, comes to the aid of his brother and sister-in-law when they are threatened by their son. The pregnant wife of a Lincoln sympathizer alone in Confederate territory takes revenge to protect her family in "Lincolnites." And in the title story, a woman from a small town marries an outsider; when an unknown arsonist starts fires in the Smoky Mountains, her husband becomes the key suspect.

For information on this (free!) Harvard Book Store event, click here.

Sarah Vowell, author of Unfamiliar Fishes, on Friday, March 25.

Unfamilar Fishes
9781594487873, Riverhead Books (Penguin), $25.95

I've been reading Sarah Vowell on-and-off since 2006, and there's absolutely no denying that she's smart, witty, and not only makes sense of history but really brings it into context for today. In my personal opinion, in addition to all of Howard Zinn's works, high school students should be assigned Sarah Vowell for an alternative, true, perspective of American history.

Here is the new book's description from the Harvard Book Store website:

Many think of 1776 as the defining year of American history, when we became a nation devoted to the pursuit of happiness through self-government. In Unfamiliar Fishes, Sarah Vowell argues that 1898 might be a year just as defining, when, in an orgy of imperialism, the United States annexed Hawaii, Puerto Rico, and Guam, and invaded first Cuba, then the Philippines, becoming an international superpower practically overnight.

Among the developments in these outposts of 1898, Vowell considers the Americanization of Hawaii the most intriguing. From the arrival of New England missionaries in 1820, their goal to Christianize the local heathen, to the coup d'état of the missionaries' sons in 1893, which overthrew the Hawaiian queen, the events leading up to American annexation feature a cast of beguiling, and often appealing or tragic, characters: whalers who fired cannons at the Bible-thumpers denying them their God-given right to whores, an incestuous princess pulled between her new god and her brother-husband, sugar barons, lepers, con men, Theodore Roosevelt, and the last Hawaiian queen, a songwriter whose sentimental ode "Aloha 'Oe" serenaded the first Hawaiian president of the United States during his 2009 inaugural parade.

This event is ticketed and costs $5, but if I can swing it, so can you. For more information, click here.

Now for some clips:

Sarah Vowell reads an excerpt from her new book.



Sarah Vowell on The Daily Show talking about one of her previous books, The Wordy Shipmates

The Daily Show - Sarah Vowell
Tags: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall

Happy Valentine's Day!

My Heart is Like a Zoo by Michael Hall
9780061915109, Greenwillow (HarperCollins), $16.99

Waiting on Wednesday: State of Wonder by Ann Patchett

Waiting on Wednesday (WoW) is a weekly meme hosted by

Breaking the Spine.

My first and second WoW posts were about my guilty pleasure reading - romantic (often paranormal) paperback/mass market novels. My third and fourth WoW posts were YA (young adult) titles. For the first time ever, today's post will feature adult literary fiction:

State of Wonder by Anne Patchett

9780062049803, $26.99, Harper, Pub. Date: June 2011 

Oh, Anne Patchett, you make my heart sing. Bel Canto and Truth & Beauty (fiction and non-fiction, respectively) would make my top 20 favorite books of all time list, as both have the power to lift and inspire while compellingly describing the harsher aspects of love and life. Bel Canto is quite possibly one of her most famous works, about love, opera, terrorism, and sacrifice in South America. Truth & Beauty is simultaneously a love letter and a friendship manifesto, chronicling the relationship between Patchett and her best friend, Lucy Grealy. I recently picked up her first novel, The Magician's Assistant, and it's sitting on my shelf next-in-line to be read. And now, a new novel, due out in June. 

Here is the Library Journal early description:

Marina Singh, who's given up her medical practice for the relative quiet of pharmaceutical research, finds her world upturned when she's suddenly sent to the Amazon. A field team there, working on a new drug, has been unresponsive for two years, and Marina's colleague Anders, who has gone to investigate, is reported dead. An adventurous story of science and responsibility from the ever-popular Patchett, who's being rewarded with a one-day laydown on June 7, a 300,000-copy first printing, and a 12-city tour.

Doesn't that sound fascinating? Need more to be convinced? Here's a wonderful article from The Aspen Times about her new work. I've marked the on-sale date on my calendar; here's hoping you will, too.

Book Blogger Hop & Follow Friday

It's the end of the work week, the weekend looms,
and so do two great memes:

It's Book Blogger Hop and Follow Friday time!

This week's Book Blogger Hop question:

What is the thing you like most about reading book blogs? Is it the reviews, author guest posts, articles, giveaways, or something else entirely?

It would have to be a combination of several things for me. Certainly the reviews of books, because that's the real purpose of this type of network, isn't it? To receive new book recommendations? But I also really enjoy thought-provoking articles about the state of the book industry itself, whether they're about new book awards, banned books, independent bookselling news, new bookstores opening, or anything else topical. Posts like those help me catch up if I've missed something and keep me feeling connected to this wonderful, ever-changing, enormous industry.

This week's Follow Friday question:

Do you have an under-noticed author that you think we should all know about? 

I am a total evangelist for Australian young adult author, Melina Marchetta.

Melina Marchetta? you might say. Isn't she the author that won the Printz award for her young adult novel, Jellicoe Road? 

Why yes, I would answer. The book that is so good that I read it at least once a year and always sob my heart out in the best way possible each time? Yes, she is. But did you know about her recent epic fantasy novel, Finnikin of the Rock? 

No, you might respond.

Ah, I would nod wisely. I thought not. Few seem to, despite it being published by Candlewick Press, a fantastic, Boston-based, independently-owned children's/YA-book-only press.

For my review of Jellicoe Road, click here.

For my review of Finnikin of the Rock, click here.
To find out what the Printz award is, click here.

Both of these books, though completely different in genre and scope (Jellicoe Road is realistic young adult fiction set at an Australian boarding school and Finnikin of the Rock is a sweeping young adult fantasy set in an imagined world), have a similar depth of character, context, and complete world immersion. Her writing is tight, clean, beautifully wrought, and emotionally charged. Please run to your nearest library or independent bookstore to pick up a copy of any of her four books, though Jellicoe Road and Finnikin of the Rock are my two personal favorites.

Her complete book list (clicking on the title will bring you to indiebound.org, the independent bookselling website):

Looking for Alibrandi


Saving Francesca


Jellicoe Road


Finnikin of the Rock

Mass Market Monday: Eat Prey Love by Kerrelyn Sparks

Welcome to Mass Market Monday, 

a weekly meme where people share what mass market titles they've read in the previous week.

To participate:

1. Enter your blog into the list below with the main type of books you review.
Example: Blog Name (main type of books you review or "eclectic")
Wildly Read (eclectic children's & adult)

2. Post about this meme on your blog, sharing your Monday mass market review.

3. Visit other blogs on the list, finding great book recommendations, following new blogs, and sharing your own.

And now, for my Mass Market Monday review:

Eat Prey Love
by Kerrelyn Sparks
9780061958038, $7.99, Avon (Harper)

How could I not read a book with this title? Though the story had absolutely nothing to do with the famed Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert nor the movie based on the novel starring Julia Roberts, the title spoof alone was enough to have me pick up this book - which, let's face it, was probably the whole point. Though by no means great literature (and sorry, but I don't consider Eat, Pray, Love GL either), I definitely enjoyed it.

I'm stealing this tagline from the Publisher's Weekly review:

Wanted: Bride. Must love children. Mortals need not apply.

Too bad the one woman who smells perfect also smells human. Carlos Panterra can shapeshift into a jaguar, and possibly one of the last of his kind thanks to a merciless slaughter of two were-jaguar villages. He was able to save a few young, but now he's on a hunt for a woman of his species to not only mother these orphans but to produce more babies to help carry on the were-jaguar line. It's highly unlikely that Caitlyn Whelan would be able to do so, despite her own special skills.

Caitlyn can learn any language in minutes, include the language of animals. Though unable to turn into any other being herself, Caitlyn's special abilities make her much more understanding of the paranormal set, including her sister who happens to be married to a vampire. Caitlyn's father, however, is the head of a CIA agency bent on hunting, killing, and eventually eradicating all vamps and shifters everywhere, even if they haven't committed any crimes. When Caitlyn becomes part of the paranormal agency, she is choosing to stand against her father and to work with Carlos on finding a mate for him, despite her own nearly irresistible attraction.

As Carlos and Caitlyn travel deeper into the jungle on a hunt for rumored were-jaguars, the temperature and their passions get hotter and hotter as they encounter were-tigers, battle evil vampires, and use up another one of Carlos's nine lives. A quick read that includes steamy jungle sex, I highly recommend this for a guilty pleasure book.


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Mass Market Monday: Born to Bite by Lynsay Sands

Born to Bite: An Argeneau Novel 

by Lynsay Sands

9780061474323, $7.99, Avon Books (HarperCollins)

Armand Argeneau is a vampire-turned-farmer in the boonies of Canada. This isn't so odd when you consider he's tried to cut himself off from most of the world. The women in his life, most particularly his three wives, have all met with strange accidents over the years - accidents that left them dead. Armand hasn't shared his suspicions with anyone, but he suspects foul play. In order to keep his daughter and other various female relatives safe, he has retreated to a mostly solitary life, with the occasional visit from his brother and his second.

When his brother, Lucian, does visit, he tells Armand that he needs to have Armand hide someone away for a little while. Eshe d'Aureus is one of Lucian's best enforcers, but has caught the attention of some fiends and needs a place to lay low. Armand reluctantly agrees, but it's when he gets a glimpse of the 6-foot tall, gorgeous Egyptian woman with the golden eyes that he perks up about the arrangement. Unfortunately he doesn't know the real reason Eshe is there. Other people have become suspicious of Armand's wives' deaths, too, and as someone who brings rogue vampires to justice, Eshe is there to figure out if Armand is really the killer.

It's when they're both almost burned to a crisp that they realize neither one is the enemy, and they need to find out who really is. Of course, though, they've just realized they're each others' second life mates and so their attention is a little distracted as they tear each others' clothes off, gain new traits like the need to eat real food, and lose control of some pretty important powers like the ability to not broadcast their thoughts to every mind reader in the vicinity. Luckily, or perhaps unluckily for two people who want to be naked and alone for most of the time, Lucian was smart enough to send in backup.

My favorite part: Eshe is a leather-wearing, motorcycle-riding hellion. Gotta love a chick who makes an entrance.

Book Review: First Contact, Or, It's Later Than You Think by Evan Mandery

First Contact, Or, It's Later Than You Think (Parrot Sketch Excluded)
by Evan Mandery
9780061749773, Harper, $13.99

First Contact combines Kurt Vonnegut and Douglas Adams into sci-fi literary fiction that will have you chuckling almost til the very end. The one problem with it is that the author couldn't keep his own two cents out of it, so begins to interject with his own drivel, particularly toward the end. While I do recommend reading this because it was funny, relevant to the recent political state (as in pre-Obama) of the US, and if nothing else, will instill in you a desire to reread the original great gentleman, do prepare yourself to have the author talk out his own problems at you.

The story is really about Ralph Bailey, the current U.S. President's attache, and the course of his life pre-and-post alien contact. The hyper-intelligent beings from the planet Rigel-Rigel have contacted Earth. They've calculated, you see, that the people of Earth are on a bad personal trajectory, heading for the ruination of the entire planet if they don't change their lifestyles soon. Using drugged bundt cake and fruit punch, the aliens attempt to encourage the people of Earth, or certainly the President and those at the official first dinner, to have an enlightened experience and reevaluate their course in life. As humans tend to have a contradictory nature, not all goes according to plan.

The reader is also introduced to Ned, a Rigelian ambassador, and his wife Maude, who is having some driving issues on their home planet. Jessica Love, Ralph's girlfriend, features heavily, as well, as do Woody Allen movies, Dr. Pepper, Orthodox Jews, hip-hop, YouTube, and the quite religious views of the President of the United States.

Does First Contact work as political commentary? Yes. Does it work as a comedy? Assuredly. Does it work as a platform for either therapy or a personal ad for the author? No. But once you get over that bit, enjoy the other bits, and laugh out loud.

For an excerpt, go to the author's website here, and a big THANK YOU to him for linking to IndieBound.

Book Review: On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl's Guide to Personal Finance by Manisha Thakor & Sharon Kedar

This post was originally published here in May 2008. It has been edited from its original version.

On My Own Two Feet: A Modern Girl's Guide to Personal Finance 

by Manisha Thakor and Sharon Kedar  

9781598691245, Adams Media Corporation, $12.95

On My Own Two Feet is knock-your-socks, stockings, or stiletto high heels -off enjoyable! This book is amazing for what it accomplishes without making you feel like a complete moron for not knowing it in the first place, and building you up so you believe you can actually be financially savvy. I realize I may be one of the only people in the world who thinks learning about financial planning is fun, but this book makes everything having to do with money so easy to understand, it's actually not scary! That's probably one of the best ways to recommend this book. Everything is dealt with so matter-of-factly, there's no chance to be scared. Things you sort of knew about, things you sort of heard about, and things that haven't yet crossed your mind are all addressed in a comprehensive, yet not overloading, fashion. The first part of the book is all the basic stuff - budget, what you should be saving for, and how to go about doing that. The second part of the books delves a little deeper into things like investments. A very good introduction for any woman 18-118.

Book Review: The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith

The Blue Place by Nicola Griffith
Paperback: 9780380790883, Harper, $13.99

This post was originally published here in February 2009. It has been edited from its original version.

Though published over 10 years ago, this is one of those "new to me" books that I have to tell everyone about. Especially considering how hot Scandinavian thrillers are at the moment, Nicola Griffith's Aud Torvigen is not a character to miss.

When I call this book a "thriller," I don't mean it in the Steven King, make you pee your pants with fright in the middle of the night, sort of way. It's an adventure thriller: a symphony where you have a beautiful melody and harmony and you're floating along on trills of music until all of a sudden it crescendos and the cymbals crash and the drums boom and you've got yourself a little rock 'n roll thrown in there.

Aud Torvigen is hot, sexy, and in control. A 6-foot, ice blonde Norwegian-American, Aud grew up in Norway, and now makes her home in Atlanta, GA. After leaving the elite "Red Dogs" special police force at the age of 29, Aud now works for herself, taking on jobs that pique her interest, since she no longer needs them to pay the bills.

After running, literally, into a strange woman on a dark road in the middle of the night, only to have a house blow up a block away a few minutes after that, Aud gets tangled in a mess of a private investigation involving a highly-placed politican, international money laundering, art forgeries, and one Julia Lyons-Bennet, who is at once more than and also exactly what she seems. When the investigation turns deadly, Aud and Julia escape to Norway where an unexpected betrayal will bring their trip to an abrupt end. Though Aud solves the investigation, Julia has helped her learn it's no longer about that thrill you only get when you're in the Blue Place. Though the end is very sad, it will make you glad there are 2 other books out there about Aud for you to read.

Called a "new wave crime-writer" and an author of "literary noir," Nicola Griffith's writing is a sensory delight. Like Aud herself, Griffith's words are precise and exacting, yet slow and senuous enough to have all of your senses enjoying the experience. You can feel the moist humidity of Atlanta and the icy breath of Norwegian fjords, the bump of rock 'n roll and the glide of skin against skin. Her writing has won her the Tiptree Award, the Nebula Award, the World Fantasy Award, and six Lambda Literary Awards. It is easy to understand why. Pick up The Blue Place - for an excerpt, click here. You won't be able to put Nicola Griffith or Aud Torvigen down.

When you look for more Aud reading, check out Stay (excerpt) (9781400032303, $12.95) and Always (excerpt) (9781594482946, $15).
When you look for more Nicola Griffith, check out her website and/or her blog.

Fall 2010 Picturebook Highlights: HarperCollins

Presenting publisher #2 in the Fall 2010 Picturebook Highlights series: HarperCollins!

There are a lot of amazing books on Harper's list for the fall, so get ready for a longer-than-usual post. I'm going to follow up with a post of winter holidays-specific books later in the year, probably November or December, as there are several worthy holiday titles, too.

Pajama Pirates
by Andrew Kramer, illustrated by Leslie Lammle
9780061251948, $16.99, Pub. Date: September 2010

Beautifully illustrated, these charming pictures perfectly capture the fun and adventurous spirit of the pajama pirates and their pre-bedtime escapades. The rhyming text tells a story of rowing away in a boat to have a pirate brawl on the high seas. The soothing, gentle rhythm of the story compliments the dusky blues and purples and moonshine color palate used in the illustrations.

Dinosaur Vs. The Potty
by Bob Shea
9781423133391, $15.99, Pub. Date: September 2010

Remember Dinosaur Vs. Bedtime? Well, now it's time to face that potty! With familiar, friendly illustrations, bright colors, lots of humor, and loads of potty-inducing playtime, this book will become an instant potty time classic.

Fancy Nancy and the Fabulous Fashion Boutique
by Jane O'Connor, illustrated by Robin Preiss Glasser
9780061235924, $17.99, Pub. Date: October 2010

Don't miss the newest, full-size, hardcover, fabulous Fancy Nancy title! In addition to running her fashion boutique, Nancy has to come up with an emergency plan to save her little sister's rained-out birthday party. What fancy ideas does Nancy have to save the day?

Knuffle Bunny Free
by Mo Willems
9780061929571, $17.99, Pub. Date: October 2010

Finally! The last installment of the Knuffle Bunny trilogy. Trixie and her family are visiting her grandparents in Holland. But on the way, a very important friend gets left on the plane! What will Trixie do? Is Trixie a big enough girl to spend a vacation in Holland without her beloved Knuffle Bunny? Find out what happens as Trixie grows up.

13 Words
by Lemony Snicket, illustrated by Maira Kalman
9780061664656, $16.99, Pub. Date: October 2010

Confession: I haven't actually seen this book in person with my own two eyes. Yet. BUT, I generally love the humor of Lemony Snicket, and I like the illustration-style in the cover image drawn by Maira Kalman, SO I'm going out on a limb and recommending this book. This is what the catalogue has to say about this book:

From bestselling author Lemony Snicket and celebrated illustrator Maira Kalman comes an uproarious, whimsical word book like no other.

Snicket and Kalman present a startlingly beautiful adventure woven from a practical introduction to thirteen wonderful words, including such marvels as Bird, Dog, Panache, and Haberdashery.
Maira Kalman, renowned for her design—illustrating the New York Times column The Principles of Uncertainty and books such as the bestselling The Elements of Style—carries this madcap adventure to wondrous heights with her vision of a world populated with hats, song, and cake. A rollicking adventure joins forces with magnificent art to create a true celebration of words.

Sounds good, right?!?

I Didn't Do It
by Patricia MacLachlan & Emily MacLachlan Charest, illustrated by Katy Schneider
9780061358333, $16.99, Pub. Date: October 2010

The follow-up to Once I Ate a Pie, this top-notch team has come up with another steal-your-heart picturebook of poems and paintings all from the dogs' points of view. Just as sweet as the first book, you'll be introduced to a whole new cast of dogs and their silly, naughty, loving little worlds

The Secret Message
by Mina Javaherbin, illustrated by Bruce Whatley
9781423110446, $16.99, Pub. Date: October 2010

This lyrical retelling of a Rumi poem is not written as a poem itself, but as a delightful, cheeky tail about a parrot who tricks his owner into delivering a secret message. The double-page full-color illustrations help to evoke the beauty, scenery, and culture of Persia.

She Loved Baseball: The Effa Manley Story
by Audrey Vernick, illustrated by Don Tate
9780061349201, $16.99, Pub. Date: November 2010

Every spring when I put my baseball picturebook display together, I think to myself, "We need more picturebooks about girls and baseball." An answer to my prayers was found in this fictionalized account of the true story of Effa Manley: a woman who lived, breathed, and worked baseball. As a mixed-race child growing up in the early 1900s, Effa experienced a lot of racism and sexism, but she didn't let that stop her. She organized protests in Harlem, married a ballplayer named Abe who helped start the Negro National League (a black baseball league), and managed the Brooklyn Eagles (a black baseball team). She never stopped working for the rights of black baseball players, and in 2006, she became the first woman inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. The last two lines of the book say, "On Effa's gravestone it says: SHE LOVED BASEBALL. In 2006, baseball proved it loved her back."

All the Things I Love About You
by LeUyen Pham
9780061990298, $16.99, Pub. Date: October 2010

Boy, I'm not a mother yet, and this book still brought a tear to my eye. That's not to say it's over-the-top sweet (though in some ways it is), but there are little elements of sly humor that keep it from being barf-inducing and instead firmly in the "Awww" category. Perfect for mothers and sons, with bold, contemporary illustrations.

Book Review: Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta

Jellicoe Road

by Melina Marchetta

Hardcover: 9780061431838, HarperTeen, $17.99

Paperback: 9780061431852, HarperTeen, $8.99

This post was originally published here in August 2008. A few alterations have been made to the version posted on Afterthoughts...

Every time I read this book, I cry. I am not generally a crier. Yes, tears welled at the news of Walter in Rilla of Ingleside (by L.M. Montgomery, and if you don't know the news, I'm not telling), and okay, I admit it, I am a HUGE movie crier (I swear I shed a tear at something in almost every movie), but about books, and most importantly, in real life? Not a weeper. Have you ever seen The Holiday with Jude Law, Kate Winslet, Jack Black, and Cameron Diaz? Jude Law has a funny bit in it about being a major weeper. Not. Me.

I digress. The point is, not every book reaches in and pulls at my heartstrings, so I wanted to tell you about one that has. Jellicoe Road by Melina Marchetta. Amazing.

The main character, Taylor Markham, is 17 and lives at the boarding school on Jellicoe Road. Her mother abandoned her when she was 7. She doesn't know anything about her father. 

Taylor has just become the new leader of her House at school, and the unwillingly chosen leader of all of the House leaders. The leaders don't believe in her. Her House barely knows her. Though Taylor doesn't want the responsibility, she has no choice but to shoulder it.

There's a war, you see. A war that began almost 20 years ago and is faithfully carried out while school is in session. Townies vs. Cadets. vs. the Houses of the school on Jellicoe Road. The Townies are kids who live in the town nearby. The Cadets are boys from the military academy that comes to the area for training ever year. There are property boundary lines, invasions, retaliations and retributions, fist fights, broken bones, treaties, and maybe a hidden tunnel.

There's Taylor's closest-thing-to-family, Hannah, who has just disappeared. There's Raffy, Talor's BFF, who tells her the truth and keeps it from her when necessary. There's Santangelo, leader of the Townies, with his sidekicks, The Mullets, and his history with Raffy. Lastly, there's Jonah Griggs - betrayer, former run-away mate, who knows too much about Taylor for his own good, and is currently the leader of the Cadets.

Betrayed numerous times beyond measure, hurt, afraid to hope for love, and reluctant leader, Taylor can't keep it together. She falls apart. The surprise is who is there to help put her back together when she does. 

Who is Taylor? Where is Hannah? Where is her mother? Who will win the war? And in the end, does it matter? 

If all that isn't enough, here's a taste of the book - just the first two lines should do it:

"My father took one hundred and thirty-two minutes to die. I counted."

Read it. With a box of tissues.

If you like Melina Marchetta's writing, also check out Finnikin of the Rock.