In one eye, out the other...

It’s about the people, not the game

2012-01-19T15:26:00.000-08:00

The Art of Fielding
by Chad Harbach

Full disclosure: This novel forced me to acknowledge that I really had no idea what a shortstop was, beyond it being some sort of baseball position. Because, WHY WOULD I KNOW? So, that tells you something about me.

And I mention this because, for me, the very best works transcend what may be uninteresting subject matter. For instance, while I am aggressively disinterested in the sport of wrestling and don’t read memoirs, John Irving’s memoir of his life in wrestling (Trying to Save Piggy Sneed) was brilliant. I thought that The Art of Fielding was a fantastic debut novel, but it never transcended the baseball. There’s a lot of baseball, and I’m a girl who doesn’t know what a shortstop is.

Fortunately, this is not a novel about baseball, it’s a novel about character. Specifically, the tale revolves around an ensemble cast of five central characters. The first two (surprise, surprise) meet on a baseball diamond. The novel opens:

“Schwartz didn’t notice the kid during the game. Or rather, he only noticed what everyone else did—that he was the smallest player on the field, a scrawny novelty of a shortstop, quick of foot but weak with the bat. Only after the game ended, when the kid returned to the sun-scorched diamond to take extra grounders, did Schwartz see the grace that shaped Henry’s every move.”

On the day of their meeting, Henry Skrimshander is contemplating the end of his baseball career. He’s graduated from his small South Dakota high school, and there’s no college on the horizon. But Mike Schwartz sees the talent that others have missed. And he takes action. (“He knew how to motivate people, manipulate people, move them around; this was his only skill.") With no authority, he promises Henry a place at Westish College, where he’s about to enter his sophomore year—and delivers on it. By sheer force of will, he changes the course of Henry’s life.

At Westish, Henry meets the other major players… “My name’s Owen Dunne. I’ll be your gay mulatto roommate.” And then there’s the college president, Guert Affenlight, and his 25-year-old daughter, Pella. “When they spoke they spoke in monosyllables, more like characters in a Carver story than real live Affenlights.”

I’m concentrating on the characters more than the plot because while a whole lot happens, this truly is the very best kind of character-driven fiction. These five are appealing, fallible, and so very human. In the end, it’s not about the big game, it’s about lives, relationships, and coming of age—no matter your age. Yeah, I could have done with a little less baseball, but even with all the sports, this book was a joy from start to finish. And it augurs a career that many of us will be watching for years to come.

Naughty was never so nice

2012-01-18T12:34:00.000-08:00

Smut: Stories
by Alan Bennett

I’m a fan of Alan Bennett’s wonderful plays, but my greatest affection is reserved for his charming novella The Uncommon Reader. Coming in at a slight 160 pages, Smut is similar in length, but this book is made up of two brief stories. In content, they have nothing in common with that earlier tale, but they exhibit the same trademark humor and warmth. This is a writer it’s difficult not to like. Therefore, it may be surprising to hear that Mr. Bennett is writing Smut. These tales are about sex—at least in part. And though it’s been years since I read them, these stories remind me of nothing so much as the “adult” stories of Roald Dahl.

The first and longer of the two stories was my favorite. “The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson” involves a middle-aged widow who supplements her income by acting out symptoms for medical students to diagnose. There’s much more to it, of course, but half the pleasure here is in the discovery. The other half of the pleasure is the loveable and very human Mrs. Donaldson. And then the third half of the pleasure is the gentle humor.

I didn’t like the characters in “The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes” quite as much, but they weren’t meant to be as likable. The vain Graham Forbes has several secrets he’s keeping from his new wife, but it turns out she has an agenda of her own.

Despite Bennett’s natural sweetness, these stories really do discuss sexual matters in a very frank and adult manner. Nonetheless, I wouldn’t describe them as graphic. I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend The Uncommon Reader to anyone who’s ever loved a book. I won’t be recommending Smut quite as unreservedly. I think more open-minded readers will enjoy these stories the most. But I enjoyed them immensely, and I do recommend them.

Thanks for the memories!

2012-01-17T22:22:00.000-08:00

Look, I Made a Hat: Collected Lyrics (1981-2011) with Attendant Comments, Amplifications, Dogmas, Harangues, Digressions, Anecdotes and Miscellany
by Stephen Sondheim

The first volume of Stephen Sondheim’s collected lyrics and reflections was so spectacular, all I could hope for was that he could equal it—and that’s exactly what he’s done. Look, I Made a Hat has all the strengths of the first volume. It has the same gorgeous photographic spreads, and the book designer must have heard all the complaints about the difficult to read typeface of the lyrics in the last volume. This book features black print that’s perfectly legible.

It should be no surprise to any reader that Stephen Sondheim is a master wordsmith. His precise and slightly persnickety voice comes through loud and clear. Sondheim’s “comments, amplifications, dogmas, harangues, digressions, anecdotes, and miscellany” are absolutely riveting, and his humor peeks through as he relates his stories. And the man’s vocabulary is absolutely staggering! I was delightedly looking up the occasional word as I read. “Gallimaufry” anyone? Steve, I’m happy to learn from you any day.

It could be argued that Mr. Sondheim’s most productive years were covered in Finishing the Hat. Still, the five major musicals covered in this volume (Sunday in the Park with George, Into the Woods, Assassins, Passion, and the many incarnations of Wise Guys) are some of his very finest. In the first volume, I was so excited to read about the troubled production of Merrily We Roll Along. In this volume is was the circuitous history of Wise Guys/Bounce/Road Show—a “saga in four acts, he calls it—that I was anxious to hear straight from the horse’s mouth, as it were.

There’s one more thing about this second volume that, in some ways, tops the first book for me. Mr. Sondheim wrote about many of his most famous and classic shows in the first book, but there are a lot of resources with which to learn about those celebrated productions. In this volume, he speaks of the musicals that were never to be, the movies, the television work, and other miscellaneous projects. A lot has been written about Company, not so much about the unproduced musical Muscle, or the amazing television musical Evening Primrose. In short, this is the only place you can really read about these almost mythological productions. Yes, I’m a huge geek, but I’m not alone. It’s thrilling!

I came of age during the years covered by this book. I must have been 18 or 19 when I took the train to NY for the first time to see a Broadway show. I vividly remember the sight of the giant’s enormous legs hanging over the side of the (then) Walter Beck Theater. It was my very first Sondheim production on Broadway. It was the first of many, and it was life-altering. All I can say at this point is: Thanks for the music and thanks for the memories!

VIDEO: Adam Johnson on The Orphan Master's Son

2012-01-16T17:57:00.000-08:00

I am so pleased to be able to share this video of Adam Johnson's book launch for The Orphan Master's Son. This was filmed on the book's release date, January 10th, at the wonderful Booksmith on Haight Street in San Francisco. If you are not already aware of it, Adam is one of our local San Francisco talents, and it's a great pleasure to see the success he's already having with this novel. It could not be more deserving! (My review can be seen here.) This book is going to be huge, and I can't recommend it highly enough.

So, the footage above consists of Adam's introductory remarks before he began reading from the novel. Sorry about the early shakiness, it passes quickly.

The next two clips are Adam reading from the second half of the novel. I have to admit that there's a gap of a couple of minutes between the first video and the second. (I was changing batteries.) This isn't that big a problem, however, because observant readers of the novel will notice that this isn't one continuous passage from the text. Actually, he's cobbled together several different passages into one fairly linear narrative. The missing moments shouldn't cause you a problem.

I know what you're thinking. You're wondering, What happened to video 4 of 7? Well, the audience clapped for so long after Adam finished reading that I just stopped filming after a minute and started again once the applause died down. So, that's nothing you need to see.

However the following three videos are the lively Q & A session after the reading. For those who are wondering about the truth behind the fiction, this is absolutely fascinating! Adam talks about his research, his trip to North Korea, and more.

The other thing that makes these events such a privilege to attend is that the author's personality shines through as he answers questions. And Adam Johnson seems to be a sweet, thoughtful, gentle, and funny man. I've seen him at other Bay Area lit events, and have met him in passing before. Every time I see him he impresses me as a truly good guy.

If you haven't already picked up a copy of The Orphan Master's Son, seriously, go get it now. Even better, contact The Booksmith for a signed first edition!

NOTE: Last week was an awesome one for lit events in San Francisco. I also filmed some amazing footage of Tea Obreht reading from and discussing The Tiger's Wife (which made my top ten list for the year). I'll be posting that footage to the blog next week. Please check back!

The first great novel of 2012!

2012-01-16T13:29:00.000-08:00

The Orphan Master's Son
by Adam Johnson

I read a lot. I read a diverse cross-section of fiction. And I am telling you that I have never read anything like Adam Johnson’s novel, The Orphan Master’s Son. And I’ll cut to the chase here and tell you that it knocked my socks right off!

The novel is the story of Pak Jun Do, the eponymous orphan master’s son. Jun Do spends the novel explaining to people that despite his orphan’s name and upbringing in an orphanage, that he is not an orphan. Although he is not parented well, or for long. “All orphans are destined for the Army eventually. But this was how Jun Do, at fourteen, became a tunnel soldier, trained in the art of zero-light combat."

This is merely the first chapter of Jun Do’s absolutely extraordinary life. He’s a tremendously appealing character, who struggles to overcome the many challenges of his life with integrity and without complaint. He literally doesn’t know there is an alternative to the harsh life he has experienced in North Korea.

So, the novel revolves around a terrific central character, and the author has given him an epic and eventful story, but truthfully it’s the North Korean setting that makes this story so compelling. The novel opens with the first of many propaganda bursts played from ubiquitous loudspeakers. What it broadcasts is insane!

“In local news, Our Dear Leader Kim Jong Il was seen offering on-the-spot guidance to the engineers deepening the Taedong River channel. While the Dear Leader lectured to the dredge operators, many doves were seen to spontaneously flock above him, hovering to provide our Reverend General some much needed shade on a hot day.”

That is just the very tip of the iceberg. Life in North Korea is like nothing I could imagine in my wildest dreams. Well, nightmares. Author Johnson spent years researching the peninsula, and actually had the rare opportunity to visit the country while writing this novel. It is fascinating in a truly horrifying way. I will never listen to news out of North Korea the same way again.

I could write more about Jun Do’s picaresque story, but the joy here is in watching it unfold. The Orphan Master’s Son has been described as a literary novel, a romance, and a thriller. It is all of those things and more. Beneath the surface of the story, there is commentary not only on life in this oppressive realm, but in our own. And it’s actually about the role that the stories we tell has on the direction of our lives. It has humor, emotion, heart, and a hero you’ll root for. This is a powerful novel and simply fantastic storytelling. I highly recommend it for pretty much everyone. This early in the year, I may just have read one of 2012’s best books.

NOTE: I shot some great video of Adam Johnson speaking at the novel's book launch in San Francisco last week. I wanted to get it posted earlier, but I've been having "technical difficulties" getting the footage uploaded. Adam's discussion of the book, reading, and the Q & A is fascinating, so hopefully I'll be able to post it soon. :-)

Not my cup of tea, but it might be yours

2012-01-13T12:58:00.000-08:00

Island of Wings
by Karin Altenberg

My best friend and I jokingly rate books and films on their “Susan-friendliness,” and that’s nothing more than the completely subjective scale of my idiosyncratic likes and dislikes. I should have known that Karin Altenberg’s debut novel, Island of Wings, wouldn’t be my cup of tea. But that said, I don’t necessarily think that there’s a thing wrong with this novel. It’s not my kind of story, but I think that it was skillfully and effectively told.

Perhaps most interestingly, the story here is heavily based on historical fact. It is a fictionalized account of the life of Reverend Neil MacKenzie and his wife Lizzie. MacKenzie, dealing with demons of his own, asks the Church of Scotland to “preach the Gospels in the most godforsaken place they could offer—he had suggested Newfoundland, where he was sure he could do a world of good. In the end, the Society in Scotland for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge had asked him to go to St. Kilda—the furthest inhabited islands in Britannia.”

The novel, which is told somewhat episodically in eight parts between the years 1830 and 1843, has clearly been meticulously researched, and I found the author’s note at the end quite interesting. The setting of the novel is a fascinating place with which I was completely unfamiliar. When the couple arrives in 1830, the islanders are enjoying a happy subsistence, living exactly as their ancestors did centuries earlier. It’s a very different, rather primitive way of life. Altenberg does a great job of conveying the harsh beauty of this remote place, with special attention to the natural world.

What I personally had trouble with was the relationship at the heart of this novel, and the character of the Reverend. Women didn’t have an easy time of it back then, and while I can’t say that this novel is completely joyless, it’s a harsh existence and utterly humorless. Also, as a secular Jew, the whole idea of Christianity being forcefully foisted onto a disinterested people is distasteful to me in the extreme. Reverend MacKenzie is not a sympathetic character and was simply not someone I wanted to spend 300 pages with. Still, he was characterized well enough (and not as some kind of black and white monster, but as a very flawed human) to arouse strong feelings in me.

While Island of Wings ultimately wasn’t for me, I fully expect it to find its audience, and I am certainly open to reading Ms. Altenberg’s future work.

A review in 420 characters

2012-01-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

420 Characters
by Lou Beach

These stories began as Facebook status updates, and each was limited to 420 characters—barely a paragraph. So I began reading, and I was like, “What’s the point?” Sure these brief stories were well-written, but there was no big picture. Still, I kept reading, and discovered nurses named Ann O’Dyne, satires of Beatrix Potter, and openings like, “His shoot failed to open.” They grew on me!

Now, this is a Winter I can get on board with!

2012-01-05T23:48:00.000-08:00

The Demi-Monde: Winter
by Rod Rees

I started reading this novel on Christmas Day, and what a gift to me! I enjoyed it way more than expected—to the point that I could barely drag myself away to celebrate with friends. Why the limited expectations? Well, I was unfamiliar with the author, but even more I was wary of a science fictiony-sounding premise. The novel does indeed intersect the genres of science fiction, fantasy, and thriller, making it a bit difficult to pigeonhole, but it all comes together terrifically.

Unfortunately, if you try to summarize the plot to anyone, you’ll sound like a lunatic. Early in the novel, a character explains the basic set-up to Ella Thomas, the novel’s protagonist:

“Asymmetric Warfare is the U.S. military’s name for all those messy little conflicts that our country keeps finding itself fighting in hellish places like Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan. They are wars without rules and without honor and, to be blunt, they are wars the U.S. Army isn’t particularly good at fighting. When the U.S. military began to study its performance in Asymmetric Warfare Environments it discovered that its soldiers, especially its officers, weren’t effective because they had no appreciation of or understanding of what sort of war they would be fighting. So in order to prepare them better, the U.S. Army InDoctrination and Training Command came up with the idea of creating a computer simulation that would let our combat personnel experience what was waiting for them in Peshawar and desperate places like it… The Demi-Monde is the most sophisticated, the most complex and the most terrifying computer simulation ever devised. It’s a simulation that recreates the visceral anxiety and fear of being in an… Asymmetric Warfare Environment. To play the Demi-Monde you have to be hardwired into it and the hardwiring creates a full sensory bypass: you believe you are in the Demi-Monde.”

Oh, and one other little detail… If you die in the Demi-Monde, you die in real life. Ella has been recruited for a rescue mission. She possesses unique skills and qualifications—and is desperate enough to risk her life—in order to save the daughter of the President of the United States, who has somehow been lost in the Demi-Monde.

Okay, that is not the premise of what I typically read, but this book grabbed me almost immediately. Without being “literary” in any way, the novel is very well written. Rees isn’t merely setting his novel, he is world-building. And doing so very, very effectively. (In addition to the descriptions within the novel, I was fascinated by the maps scattered throughout.) Elements of the Demi-Monde are based on Nazi Germany, but the world that Rees has created is so much richer and more complex than just that. The novel is both political and philosophical, and Rees plays around a lot with language. In fact, at the back of the book there’s a complete glossary of words like UnFunDaMentalism, HerEticalism, HimPerialism, ill-ucination, and the like. At first, I thought the author was just having fun and being clever, but soon enough the use of language became highly Orwellian. After all, it was Orwell who said, “But if thought corrupts language, language can also corrupt thought.” It’s all so entertaining and so smart.

And we haven’t even discussed the characters yet. Ella is terrific character to build the novel around, but is actually one of several major characters. The bulk of this novel takes place in the virtual reality of the Demi-Monde, which is peopled with 30 million “dupes,” basically artificial intelligences. And they are so convincingly rendered that the reader experiences the same cognitive dissonance that Ella does in distinguishing exactly who and what is real. The relationships depicted encompass the entire spectrum from love to hate and everything in between. Race, religion, nationality, and yes, reality, all cause conflict with countless lives on the line. But do dupe lives even matter?

You’ve probably gathered by now that this is a complicated 500+ page novel, and it is only the first of a quadrilogy. There is a story arc in this first novel, but there really is no resolution. It ends on multiple cliff-hangers. This is the sort of thing I generally hate, but I was so caught up in this fast-moving epic that really I’m just looking forward to the next installment and pleased that there will be three more volumes to look forward to. Hooray for trying something a bit outside my comfort zone! What a great find! My New Year’s resolution: resist ordering a copy of the sequel from England. It’s going to be hard.

NOTE: Click on the link attached to the author's name above to visit the very cool Demi-Monde website!

Susan's Top 10 Books of 2011

2012-01-03T23:06:00.000-08:00

Now, in a normal year, paring down a top 10 list is a torturous process for me. This year, it was just ridiculous. Oddly enough, in some ways, having to be so ruthless with the cuts made it easier. What I've compiled below is a very idiosyncratic list. I'll tell you right now, from an objective viewpoint, these are not necessarily the best books I read this year. There were a lot of highly acclaimed novels that I read and loved that surely deserve to be on this list more. A few examples:

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides was the 11th book on my short list. I thought it was fantastic. But it didn't effect me as strongly as some of theses others that I did choose.

And I wrote a review of The Art of Fielding, the acclaimed novel by Chad Harbach, the other night. I read the book months ago, but reflecting on the book in order to finally write the review, I realized more than ever how much I'd enjoyed reading it, and what an accomplished debut it is.

And I read Haruki Murakami's massive and impressive 1Q84 this year! And I enjoyed it so much! The language, especially, was just unbelievable. I still want to carry the tome around and make people listen to me read from it. But truthfully... It was just a little too much work to make my top 10 list.

So, what did make the cut? And how did I choose? Well, simply put, these are the books that I felt that I had the strongest response to. Perhaps I can explain that a little better in the notes that accompany each pick. What you'll notice is that about half of these books are on every mainstream reviewers' list, and about half of them are on no one's. That seems like a good balance to me. But the single most interesting thing about this collection of titles? Seven of the ten are debut novels. Me and the NYT, we're simpatico, yo. (And we are. Three of their five fiction picks overlap my own.)

As is my tradition, only the #1 pick is ranked. The rest are in no particular order. And without stalling any further, here are my top ten books of 2011:

1. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern - I started hearing the buzz about this book months and months before it was published. Months before the galley was in my hands. And I believed it. I passed it on, forcing other reviewing friends to read the title before I'd ever picked it up myself. But when I finally did, wow. Magic. I've known that this would be my top pick of the year since I was about midway through the book, and when I've tried to explain how I feel about this book, I tell people, "This book didn't entertain me; it made me happier to be alive." It's true. You can tell me that it needed more character development, or that debut novelist Morgenstern is still learning her craft, but I don't care. What an imagination! What beauty! It made me happier to be alive. And that's not just rare in books, it's rare in almost everything.

Ready Player One by Ernest Cline - Okay, this is the pick on my list that I'm most uncomfortable with, so I may as well get this over with first. It's arguably insane to list this book rather than Eugenides, Harbach, Murakami, or any number of other serious literary novelists I read this year. This debut is not a brilliant literary work. But it is probably the most out and out fun I've had reading any book in years. It's an homage to my formative years, and it was just a nostalgic blast! Shoot me; I think reading should be fun.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes - Okay, I'm regaining a semblance of literary street cred with this pick of this year's Man Booker Prize winner. It will be no surprise that this novella is beautifully written, but what really elevated it above other major literary works I read this year was that kick in the stomach that the novella's end evinced. Wow. I did not see that coming.

Swamplandia! by Karen Russell - I didn't love this debut novel when I started reading it. It's told in three parts, and I had a fairly mixed reaction to part one. It wasn't what I expected. It was a lot sadder, for starters. But things picked up a lot in part two. By part three, you couldn't have pried the book from my hands. by the end, I was won over completely by this quirky story full of humor and pathos. It is truly unlike anything I've read in recent memory. But more than anything, I loved the language, which was beautifully crafted and unexpected at every turn. This book has been highly polarizing among readers, who seem to have a love it or hate it response. Clearly I'm in the "love it" camp, but this won't be the only polarizing choice on my list.

The Tiger's Wife by Tea Obreht - I'm right on the bandwagon with this one. Early in the year, this became one of the most acclaimed debut novels in recent memory, and the young author something of a wunderkind. All hype aside, I thought this was a gorgeous, beautifully-written book. Unlike some readers I know, I'm not turned off by a little magical realism. In fact, in my book it's a plus.

I'll Never Get Out of this World Alive by Steve Earle - I was not familiar with Renaissance man Steve Earle in his incarnations as a musician, playwright, political activist, or actor. And the description of this novel's plot--dealing as it does with junkies, dealers, prostitutes, and the ghost of Hank Williams on a Texas Skid Row in the early 60--was distinctly weird and unappealing. I'm pretty sure I only picked it up because it was so short. Well, thank goodness I'm lazy! This was surely the surprise of the year. It was heart-warming, bittersweet, and uplifting. I loved it.

The Fates Will Find Their Way by Hannah Pittard - This was another short debut novel to which I brought absolutely no expectations. It was also a book I read in the first week of the new year, in a single day. This is what I remember most about the experience of reading it: By the time I finished, I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin if I couldn't discuss it with someone--immediately! (This is a very rare response. And a problem; the novel had not yet been published.) This book has been compared to Eugenides' debut, The Virgin Suicides, and it is likely that had I read that novel, this one would not have affected me so powerfully. But I haven't, and it did. I thought the strange first person plural voice and structure of the novel was fascinating, effective, and beautiful.

11/22/63 by Stephen King - As I wrote in my review of this book, it's amazing and awesome that Mr. King is still finding inventive ways to tell new stories at this stage of his career. This was just great storytelling pure entertainment. And there are few authors as adept at character development. All of his characters wind up feeling like friends--especially when you spend nearly 900 pages with them.

State of Wonder by Ann Patchett - Two of my favorite literary genres are thrillers and literary fiction. It is incredibly rare to find the two blended in the manner that Ann Patchett did with this book. Really, this was like my dream novel, and unlike some others, I thought she did an amazing job pulling it off.

The Submission by Amy Waldman - This one sneaked up on me. If you had asked me at the time I read it, I would not have expected it to make my top 10 list. This is one of the most provocative novels I've read in years. It made me angry. It was totally fictional, but so realistically (and yet still somehow satirically) depicted that I fumed for weeks over an imaginary situation. This one is really going to stick with me for a long time, and that counts for something.

So, for better or worse, those were my top 10 for 2011. Agree? Disagree? Feel like sharing your own list? I'd love to get the year started with a good discussion!

What DID Susan read last year?

2012-01-03T22:04:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year, Readers! Please forgive the radio silence of late. I sincerely hope you all had wonderful holiday seasons. This seems like an ideal time to thank you all for coming around. I'm looking forward to another good year together!

Wow, December was a weak blogging month for me, but I'm giving myself a pass. It was a prolific year, and frankly, there's been a lot of stuff going on on my end--and probably yours too. It's that kind of month. Plus, while I haven't been posting them to the blog--yet--I've been making a concerted effort to catch up on review writing. So, hopefully, I'll get back with the program as we enter the new year.

So, about the books... In 2010, I read 78 or 79 books, and it was a record year for me. 100 books felt like an unobtainable goal. Therefore, I'm at a loss to explain this, but I read nearly 150 books this year! I have 148 listed right now, but to be honest, I didn't really keep a faithful list this year, and those are the books I was able to confirm having read after looking at what's in my Kindle and iPod, what I've reviewed, and what I can remember. I'm surely missing a few, and perhaps I'll add them later. This list is plenty long enough.

So, for those who are incurably curious, here's the complete list:

The Vault – Boyd Morrison
Aftertime – Sophie Littlefield
This is Where I Leave You – Jonathan Tropper
One of Our Thursday’s is Missing – Jasper Fforde
The Red Garden – Alice Hoffman
I Think I Love You – Alison Pearson
Faking Life – Jason Pinter
Gideon’s Sword – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
Swamplandia! – Karen Russell
Blogging for Dummies – Susannah Gardner & Shane Birley
A Discovery of Witches – Deborah Harkness
Pandemonium – Warren Fahy
The Weird Sisters – Eleanor Brown
Storm Front – Jim Butcher
The Tiger’s Wife – Tea Obreht
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day – Winifred Watson
Spiral – Paul McEuen
The Peach Keeper – Sarah Addison Allen
Devil’s Plaything – Matt Richtel
The Devil Colony – James Rollins
The Devil’s Elixir – Raymond Khoury
Guilt by Association – Marcia Clark
The Ninth Wife – Amy Stolls
The Tragedy of Arthur – Arthur Phillips
A Tale of Two Castles – Gail Carson Levine
The
Inner Circle
– Brad Meltzer
The Sixth Man – David Baldacci
The Girl in the Garden – Kamala Nair
Skipped Parts – Tim Sandlin
Long Gone – Alafair Burke
The Door to Lost Pages – Claude Lalumiere
The School of Night – Louis Bayard
Bossypants – Tina Fey
The Two Deaths of Daniel Hayes – Marcus Sakey
Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid – Wendy Williams
Jake Ransom and the Howling Sphinx – James Rollins
A Little Bit Wicked – Kristen Chenoweth
Let the Great World Spin – Colum McCann
Arcadia: The Complete
Love You More – Lisa Gardiner
Sweet Jiminy – Kristin Gore
I’ll Never Get Out of This World Alive – Steve Earle
Bellwether – Connie Willis
The Informationist – Taylor Stevens
Skinny – Diana Spechler
Mr. Poppers Penguins – Richard & Florence Atwater
The Uncertain Places – Lisa Goldstein
Blood of the Reich – William Dietrich
The Map of Time – Felix J. Palma
State of Wonder – Ann Patchett
The Woodcutter – Reginald Hill
Before I Go to Sleep – S. J. Watson
A Bad Day For Scandal – Sophie Littlefield
The Fates Will Find Their Way – Hannah Pittard
Still Missing – Chevy Stevens
Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World – Haruki Murakami
Charlie All Night – Jennifer Cruisie
Then Came You – Jennifer Weiner
Rebirth – Sophie Littlefield
Killing Kate – Julie Kramer
Jaws – Peter Benchley
The Sherlockian – Graham Moore
The Help – Kathryn Stockett
You’re Next – Gregg Hurwitz
The Forgotten Waltz – Anne Enright
The Wise Man’s Fear – Patrick Rothfuss
22 Britannia Road
– Amanda Hodgkinson
The Stranger’s Child – Alan Hollinghurst
Mr. Fox – Helen Oyeyemi
Zone One – Colson Whitehead
The Litigators – John Grisham
Special Topics in Calamity Physics – Marisha Pessl
There But For The – Ali Smith
Micro – Michael Crichton & Richard Preston
Native Tongue – Carl Hiaasen
The Prague Cemetery – Umberto Eco
Anne of Green Gables – L.M. Montgomery
A Thousand Lives – Julia Scheeres
Too Much Stuff – Don Bruns
Why Read Moby Dick – Nathaniel Philbrick
11/22/63 – Stephen King
1Q84 – Haruki Murakami
When She Woke – Hillary Jordan
Countdown – Mira Grant
Replay – Ken Grimwood
I’ve Got Your Number – Sophie Kinsella
City of Thieves – David Benioff
Lightning Rods – Helen DeWitt
1222 – Ann Holt
The Time in Between – Maria Duenas
Look, I Made a Hat – Stephen Sondheim
The Family Fang – Kevin Wilson
I Married You For Happiness – Lily Tuck
The Revisionists – Thomas Mullen
Death Match – Lincoln Child
The Callahan Chronicles – Spider Robinson
The Invention of Hugo Cabret –Brian Selznick
The Marriage Plot – Jeffrey Eugenides
Matched – Ali Condie
Tension City – Jim Lehrer
The Sense of an Ending – Julian Barnes
Reamde – Neal Stephenson
The Visible Man – Chuck Klosterman
The Dovekeepers – Alice Hoffman
Heft – Liz Moore
The Language of Flowers – Vanessa Diffenbaugh
Eyes Wide Open – Andrew Gross
Sanctus – Simon Toyne
Sacre Bleu – Christopher Moore
Why We Broke Up – Daniel Handler
Sister – Rosamund Lipton
Darkness, My Old Friend – Lisa Unger
Only Time Will Tell – Jeffrey Archer
The Black Stiletto – Raymond Benson
Birds of Paradise – Diana Abu-Jaber
The Art of Fielding – Chad Harbach
The Submission – Amy Waldman
One Day – David Nicholls
The Leftovers – Tom Perotta
The Magician King – Lev Grossman
The Night Circus – Erin Morgenstern
Cold Vengeance – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
The Winters in Bloom – Lisa Tucker
The Griff – Christopher Moore
Ready Player One – Ernest Cline
Machine Man – Max Barry
LA Mental – Neil McMahon
Pigeon English – Stephen Kelman
The Twelfth Enchantment – David Liss
Bed – David Whitehouse
Girls in White Dresses – Jennifer Close
Luminarium – Alex Shakar
Jamrach’s Menagerie – Carole Birch
Crossed – Ali Condie
Beauty Queens – Libba Bray
The Name of the Wind – Patrick Rothfuss
Fever Dream – Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child
The Accident – Linwood Barclay
Dominance – Will Lavender
Sleeping Beauty – Elle Lothlorien
The Gunslinger – Stephen King
420 Characters – Lou Beach
We the Animals – Justin Torres
The Demi-Monde: Winter – Rod Rees
Smut: Stories – Alan Bennett
Island of Wings – Karin Altenberg
From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant – Alex Gilvarry
The Whisperer – Donato Carrisi

Over 100 of the books above were published in 2011, but there is a generous smattering of 2012 titles in the list as well. And, yes, I am still working to catch up on the reviews.

Plus, I'll finally be posting my 2011 top 10 list next. Meanwhile, 2012 is already off to a great reading start!

Imagine the most boring John Hughes film never made…

2011-12-21T01:05:00.000-08:00

Why We Broke Up
by Daniel Handler
Art by Maira Kalman
Release date: 12/27/2011

“Dear Ed,

In a sec you’ll hear a thunk.”

So begins Daniel Handler’s (AKA Lemony Snicket) latest YA offering, Why We Broke Up. The aforementioned “thunk” is the sound of a heavy box flung by Min Green hitting the porch of her ex-boyfriend, Ed Slaterton. The 350-page novel is comprised of the long, long, long letter that she includes as she returns to him the minutia of their relationship. This relationship is recounted from start to finish in the letter/novel through Min’s apparently photographic recall. Scattered throughout the text are Maira Kalman’s charming illustrations of the contents of the box, which range from bottle tops to ticket stubs to clothing.

With all the drawings and white space throughout the book, it isn’t really a full 350 pages, and yet it felt longer. It was written as an angsty, teen, stream of conscious rant, and it was chock-full of pointless filler, such as detailed descriptions of dozens of fictional films, made by fictional people, starring fictional stars. You see, Min’s the substantive one in the relationship. She’s “different.” Ed’s a popular jock, co-captain of the basketball team. They’re from different worlds, with different friends! And yet they struggle to make it work.

I’ve never been an adult that had the slightest problem reading and appreciating YA or children’s fiction, but this was just an overly drawn-out, boring, and humorless waste of time. Ultimately, I found it unsatisfying on every level. And that, Daniel, is why WE broke up.

Note to parents: This novel includes frequent obscenities, underage drinking, references to drug use, lack of respect for parents and authority figures, and teen sex.

Too much... something

2011-12-15T16:54:00.000-08:00

Too Much Stuff
by Don Bruns

I had been looking forward to reading Too Much Stuff, my introduction to Don Bruns' work. I love both comic novels and treasure hunts, so I thought this would be a sure-fire winner. Ever the optimist, in this case I was mistaken.

Too Much Stuff is, I believe, the ~~fifth~~ sixth novel in Bruns' Stuff series. While it's true that I have not entered this series with the characters' full back stories and histories, I have a very difficult time imagining it would have made a difference in my enjoyment of the novel. The protagonists at the center of the series are 20-somethings Skip Moore and James Lessor. They're high school grads that have been bumbling their way through a series of menial jobs. Now they've decided they're going to be private detectives. They got the licenses and placed the yellow pages ad. This leads to their improbable first job, helping track down a fortune in lost gold in the Florida Keys.

The blurb from Mystery Scene Magazine promised me "witty dialogue and likeable, wacky characters." Well, I suppose that first person narrator Skip was ok, but violent, cop-hating, married woman-chasing James left me rather cold. As for the dialogue, it was about as far from witty as I can imagine. Sophomoric is more like it. In fact, that's really the best description for these two characters. They are so unbelievably unsophisticated (emphasis on the unbelievable) that the prospect of valet parking throws them completely for a loop. I get it that these are working class characters, but, what? They've never seen a movie? I simply don't find stupidity, ignorance, and a lack of sophistication to be a recipe for hilarity. What it is is tiresome.

And perhaps I could have gotten past the cast of not very interesting or likable characters, and the decidedly unfunny comedy, if only there had been a great mystery plot. But the simple truth is, I was bored. The pages plodded, the dénouement was telegraphed, and surprises were rare. It was a short novel, but it was work to get through it.

The publisher recently offered the first novel in this series as a Kindle freebie and I downloaded it, but somehow I doubt I'll be revisiting this series. I'm glad others have enjoyed the novels, and goodness knows that humor is subjective. This stuff, it seems, is not for me.

The romantic writer, the unruly muse, and the reality of the wife

2011-12-13T14:35:00.000-08:00

Mr. Fox
by Helen Oyeyemi

Generally speaking, most fiction worth pursuing is on my radar, but somehow both Helen Oyeyemi and her latest novel, Mr. Fox, passed me by completely until they showed up on Audible.com’s Best Audiobooks of the Year list. (And rightly so, reader Carol Boyd gives a standout performance.)

Mr. Fox is different. It is the story of the love triangle between a writer and his unruly muse (Always an excellent starting point!) and his flesh and blood wife. But don’t for a minute think things are as straightforward as all that. The love triangle and the muse’s struggle for independence are merely the base of a novel comprised of constantly shifting stories, each of which feature an iteration of writer St. John Fox and his imagined perfect woman Mary Foxe. In one, he’s a psychologist and she a model. In another, they are children in an African village. In one he’s an actual fox and she an old woman. The imagery of all things foxy is pervasive, from foxes both human and animal to foxglove flowers and foxholes.

Here is an illustrative exchange between writer and muse:

’Mary, I think I know what we’re trying to do with this game of ours.’
‘Tell me.’
‘We’ve been trying to fall in love.’
She raised her eyebrows. ‘With each other?’ she asked coolly.
‘Would you let me finish?’
‘With pleasure.’
‘We’ve been trying to fall in love, yes with each other, but we’ve been trying to take some of the danger out of it so no one ends up maimed or dead. We’re trying for something normal and nice.’
Mary folded her arms. ‘That is not what we’re trying to do.’
‘Oh, what then?’
‘Your wife loves you. Turn to her properly. Stop fobbing her off and being a counterfeit companion. It would be good, if after all this, just once you wrote something where people come together instead of falling apart. Just show me you can do it and I’ll leave you alone.’
‘But I don’t want you to leave me alone.’

As you can see, the dialogue is witty as hell, and aside from the brilliant dialogue, the book is a joy to read from start to finish. Oyeyemi’s prose is lovely.

As much as I read, there is an element of free association when I consider books. This novel has an unusual structure, but it’s nothing I haven’t seen before. I found myself thinking of Italo Calvino’s If On a Winter’s Night a Traveler. The two novels are completely different, but each features a base story fleshed out by many changing tales that, just as you get into them, end suddenly. Actually, Oyeyemi’s version isn’t quite that cruel. There is a completeness or arc to each of the stories contained within Mr. Fox, but still be prepared for a novel comprised of different stories connected only by themes, and what the tales themselves reflect upon the internal lives of the three individuals at the center of the novel. What an amazing way to illuminate her characters!

What Oyeyemi has done is impressively complex and sophisticated without being in any way onerous for the reader. In fact, there is a lightness of tone, and a slight air of whimsy to the proceedings despite frequently heavy subject matter. Mr. Fox is full of fable, fairytale, and elements of magical realism. There is a delightfully comic and romantic core to this tale, and yet, in addition to romance, these stories feature recurring themes of violence against women, death, and the pain of love.

Oyeyemi is a delightful discovery! With three prior novels and surely a long career ahead of her, I look forward avidly to exploring her work further.

John Grisham isn't taking things too seriously

2011-12-12T14:58:00.000-08:00

The Litigators
by John Grisham

There may be no literary cachet to this admission, but I've always enjoyed John Grisham novels. They're fun, they're entertaining, and Grisham rarely lets me down. A lot of his novels come packaged with a message, but his latest, The Litigators is really just a romp. It opens with successful bond lawyer David Zinc "snapping" on the way to his 80-hour-a-week job. Instead of the office, he spends the day in a bar getting absolutely blotto and reevaluating his life. Clearly changes have to be made. Still enormously inebriated, David staggers into the offices of Finley & Figg. If you were being charitable, you might call them "ambulance chasers." Senior partner Oscar Finley and junior partner Wally Figg are a couple of hustlers scraping by in their street practice. They aren't too picky about their cases, and don't loose any sleep over legal ethics. What other law firm would actually hire a drunken lunatic with no relevant experience?

Finley and Figg would because Wally insists that their ship is finally going to come in in the form of a huge mass torte case against a drug manufacturer. This case may indeed be their ticket to the big time, but all meal tickets come with unexpected complications. I've made the premise of this novel sound light, and it is, but things do get heavier as the story goes along. It's a good yarn, but the real strength of this novel is the characters. It's hard not to root for David to find his way as he swims with the sharks in treacherous legal waters. Wally is a larger than life and deeply flawed character, but it's hard not to root for him, too--for the entire firm of underdogs. Even a bar patron with a walk-on role held me captivated. The story moves quickly and the end is satisfying.

I was looking for a light vacation read and The Litigators was exactly what the doctor ordered. I shall look forward to seeing the film (that is surely in the works) some day.

"I hate therefore I am"

2011-12-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

The Prague Cemetery
by Umberto Eco

The quote above tells you almost everything you need to know about the protagonist of Umberto Eco's latest novel. Set in 19th century Europe, Captain Simonini is an equal opportunity misanthrope, and early in the novel there's a lengthy diatribe against not only the Jews (always very much at the center of Simonini's hatred), but also the Germans, French, Italians, priests, Jesuits, Masons, women, and several other groups in asides. Simonini expounds, "They say that a soul is simply what a person does. But if I hate someone, and I cultivate this grudge, then, by God, that means there is something inside! What does the philosopher say? Odi ergo sum. I hate therefore I am."

I think it took me about three attempts to make it past these over-the-top opening salvos of hatred, and a smarter reader would have quit, but Eco has defeated me in the past, and I was determined to read this entire book. Why? Why? The Prague Cemetery is a dense, complex, convoluted tour through 19th century European history. (I strongly recommend that you acquire a Ph.D. in the subject before you sit down to read.) Simonini, it seems, is--Forrest Gump-like--at the center of almost all major events, and pretty much behind every conspiracy of the era.

As you may have gathered above, he is not a good guy. At one point he justifies: "Yes, I admit it. In my conduct toward my would-be Carbonari comrades, and to Rebaudengo, I did not act in accordance with the morals you are supposed to preach. But let us be frank: Rebaudengo was a rogue, and when I think of all I have done since then, I seem to have practiced all of my roguery on rogues." Yeah, right.

The novel is an autobiography of sorts, as there is some confusion as to Simonini's identity. He seems to be possibly inhabiting the same apartment? body? mind? as a clergyman named Abbé Dalla Piccola. Simonini's memory is full of holes, which Dalla Piccola seems to be able to fill, as he inserts his own recollections into Simonini's written document. Does this sound confusing? You have no idea. "Abbé Dalla Piccola seems to reawaken only when Simonini needs a voice of conscious to accuse him of becoming distracted and to bring him back to reality, otherwise he appears somewhat forgetful. To be frank, if it were not for the fact that these pages refer to events that actually took place, such alternations between amnesiac euphoria and dysphoric recall might seem like a device of the Narrator."

On the subject of "events that actually took place," pretty much all of the history (if not the stories behind the events) took place, and in fact, according to Eco, Simonini is the only fictional character in the entire novel. So, those European history Ph.D.s are really going to have a field day. For the rest of us, not so much fun, I have to say.

If it's not yet clear, I hated this book. I violently HATED this book! Reading it gave me PTSD. I know, you're wondering why the three stars? Well, as much as I hated it, I can't actually tell you it's bad. Eco is a brilliant, talented writer. I simply can't imagine why he chose to use his talent to tell this particular story. Here are some of the issues I had with the novel:

The required knowledge of history was oppressive. Without that knowledge, the novel was almost impossible to follow and/or appreciate.
The cast of thousands, all with multi-syllabic foreign names, was impossible to keep track of, especially as characters would reappear decades after their last appearance in the book.
Despite the sheer amount of stuff that happens within these pages, the story moves at what, for me, was an excruciatingly slow pace. I'm not actually sure how Eco managed that.
Not only is the central character a truly awful human being, there really is no one to like or care about much in the book.
While at first I was able to shrug off the anti-Semitic content of the novel, after 464 pages of the most vile garbage imaginable, it really, really got to me. As a Jew of European descent, no matter how ridiculous and over-the-top the hatred was (from all characters, not just Simonini), I know that everything Eco wrote was very reflective of the attitudes of the era. It made me ill. Make no mistake; I don't believe Mr. Eco is an anti-Semite. I just didn't need to read this hatred. It hurt me.

Umberto Eco is a great writer, but any way you chose to look at The Prague Cemetery, I don't believe to be among his strongest works, and it is certainly not one of his more accessible titles. Despite Mr. Eco's talent, I can't recommend this book to anyone. And it'll be a long time before I decide to read him again.

It's not a masterpiece, but it's fine airplane reading

2011-12-07T12:31:00.000-08:00

Micro
by Michael Crichton & Richard Preston

I was, and am, a huge fan of Michael Crichton's work. I never had very high expectations for this final novel, but that's no reflection on the choice of Richard Preston to complete the work. In any case, for better or worse, Micro lived up to my tempered expectations.

Like several of Crichton's earlier novels, Micro has a high concept hook. Most nanotech companies fabricate on a nano scale, but Nanigen MicroTechnologies has developed revolutionary shrinking technology. Not only can they reduce machines and robots, they can reduce living beings and then return them to full size. I won't get into all the details of the novel's set-up, but seven graduate students learn about this technology the hard way once they become a threat to Nanigen's president. Seven against one is much easier to manage when the seven (and one unlucky Nanigen employee) are half an inch tall. Before they can be dispatched quickly, however, the students escape into Hawaii's verdant "micro world."

Crichton's strengths and weaknesses as a storyteller remain consistent. His primary characters are more archetypes than individuals. Rather than Rick, Erika, Amar, and Karen, these students quickly show themselves to be the Leader, the Warrior, the Know It All, the Weasel, and so forth. Each has an assigned role to fulfill. Some barely live long enough to become typecast, because the micro world is treacherous. When you're half an inch tall, a beetle is not unlike a rhinoceros. Luckily, these students are unusually well prepared to survive their hostile surroundings--or unusually well informed about the danger they're in--depending on how you look at it. Among them there are experts in insects and arachnids, poisons and venoms, and the chemical defenses of plants and animals.

Crichton is great about translating the wonder of science. His amazing shrinking technology won't send me running to the textbooks this time around, but there's still plenty of gee whiz science to be enjoyed in Micro's pages. More than that, he effectively shows the beauty as well as the horror of the situation his characters are in. As for the horror, I have to admit that I found it especially disturbing this time out. I have no special fear of dinosaurs, but I am absolutely phobic about spiders and insects. There are scenes that I definitely could have done without reading, and if this is an issue for you as well, be forewarned.

Much like Jurassic Park, Micro has a picaresque quality, with its protagonists leaping from one threat to another. I hate to say it, but the plotting was pretty by the book. There was a police procedural subplot that never really went anywhere, and true surprises were few and far between. Despite this, I read the novel easily in a day (instead of saving it for my Thanksgiving flight like I was supposed to). Once I started, I didn't want to stop reading, and the pages flew past swiftly.

Preston appears to have done a good job finishing what Crichton left behind. There is no feeling that this is the work of another author. Still, I do find myself wondering how the novel would have differed had Crichton written it all. Alas, we'll never know. If you're a hard-core Crichton fan like me, by all means read this novel. Just don't expect this final work to be the man's masterpiece. And even if you're not a hard-core fan, if the premise sounds fun to you, you could do a lot worse for airplane reading.

It’s time to admit that I like zombies

2011-12-06T14:17:00.000-08:00

Zone One
by Colson Whitehead

For the past year or so, I’ve been reading and reviewing all of these zombie novels with the caveat that “I’m not a zombie fan.” While it’s true that I’ve never seen any of the classic films, I think it’s time to admit that I AM a zombie fan. (But please don’t chip away at my vampire denial.) I’ve read take after take on the end of the world, and each one is compelling in its own way. There’s something elemental in the horror of an end by zombies. Do I believe this could ever happen? Absolutely not. But in the hands of a talented writer, anything is believable. All is believable. Perhaps I am too willing with my suspension of disbelief, but this is the stuff of nightmares.

Much has been made of this “literary” foray into the horror genre. In addition to being a zombie fan, I am also a fan of literary fiction, and I love that serious writers are now being allowed to practice their craft on a broader range of genres and are exploring plot-driven stories in addition to character-driven fiction. This is a win/win trend for both readers and writers. Ironically, reading this beautifully-written exploration of the apocalypse made me reflect less on how good it was, but more on how good a lot of the zombie novels I’ve been reading have been. (Sophie Littlefield’s Aftertime Trilogy in particular comes to mind.) There’s just something deeply touching in these fights for survival, and I think a lot of apocalyptic writers are really plugging into something powerful and profound.

Certainly I count Colson Whitehead among their number. Whitehead’s tale centers on a character identified only by his nickname, Mark Spitz. Want to know why he’s called that? Read the book. As the novel opens, the worst has passed. The zombie plague has come, many have died, and society is taking its first baby steps towards rebuilding. Mark Spitz’s tale is told in a non-linear fashion, as he attempts to move forward despite suffering PASD (because the world has moved beyond “post-traumatic” to “post-apocalyptic” stress disorders). As he observes the new world around him and performs his duty of putting down zombie stragglers in a reclaimed lower Manhattan, he reflects on what he’s witnessed, who he’s left behind, and on what he’s survived while doing his “cockroach impression.”

Glancing over the reader reviews on Amazon before I sat down to type this, I have to admit that I’m surprised by the harsh criticism that many have brought against the novel. Some had issues with the non-linear nature of the story-telling, some felt it didn’t move fast enough, some thought the author was “showing off” or using “absurdly big words,” some seem to simply hate New York. There were many complaints about the protagonist, and I’ll admit that he’s not a dynamic character. He’s a traumatized everyman chronicling a dying world. Don’t go into this expecting an upper. There are more critical reviews than complimentary, and many of them are thoughtful and articulate. All I can tell you is that I disagree with these criticisms. I read this book in two days, and despite the depressing story told, I didn’t want to put it down. I was very invested in the fates of the primary and secondary characters. Whitehead’s prose was a pleasure to read without being overly ornate or intrusive in any way.

And one last thing—this is one of those rare novels where the author had me hanging on his words until the very last page. And those final words were just so… perfect. They gave me chills. I read them over several times. The end of this novel was amazing, and I simply don’t know how it could fail to impress. But that’s opinions for you. If you’re prepared to read a heavy, disturbing, and, yes, horrific tale, I’d highly recommend this novel. But you might want to survey some other opinions of this polarizing book before you take my word on it.

Mailbox Monday: The giving thanks edition

2011-11-21T13:43:00.000-08:00

Well, it's a few days early, but I'm ready to celebrate Thanksgiving! It's my favorite holiday, and the only one that I never miss spending with my family. I'm flying home to DC on the red-eye Wednesday night. That's tough, but once I'm there, I get to stay for ten whole days! So, I'm looking forward to seeing lots of family and friends, and eating a really great meal. (My family can cook!)

Also, there is one thing I'm looking forward to on my red-eye flight--finally getting to read the new (and final) Michael Crichton novel, Micro. Truthfully, my hopes aren't super high for the book, but it's still very special to me. I never articulated it until he passed away, but Crichton was a hero to me. I thought he was Human 2.0. He was brilliant and talented and handsome and really, really tall! I'd started reading his novels before I was ten years old, and they gave me decades of pleasure. And this is the very last new one. Sort of. Sort of because it was finished by Richard Preston, but sort of for another reason as well...

When Michael Crichton passed away, I learned of a little-known pseudonym that I'd neither heard of nor read before. He published eight novels under the name John Lange, and within 48 hours of his death, I'd acquired six of them. I had one shipped all the way from England. Hopefully, one day I'll dig up affordable copies of the other two, but for now I have a secret stash of unread early Crichtons. I've only read one, and I'll be rationing out the remaining titles for the rest of my life. That, my friends, is true fandom. But for now, I'm thankful that I'll be reading his final work this week.

I am also thankful, as noted earlier today, to have joined Amazon.com's Top 100 Reviewers for the first time. It was a long-term goal, and it feels good to have met it. I'm less thankful for the miserable cold I'm currently suffering from, but if I can get through the next 48 hours, I'm golden. I'm super thankful that my office is closing at noon on Wednesday, and that I won't have to return for 12 days! And on that note...

I've Got Your Number
by Sophie Kinsella
Release date: February 14, 2012
Source: Paper galley from publisher

I read Confessions of a Shopaholic a few years ago and kind of hated it. I thought the protagonist was an idiot. But, as you've gathered, I've been desperate to lighten my reading and this fit the bill. It was a pleasant surprise. I started reading it as soon as I opened the package. Review to come soon.

The Winters in Bloom
by Lisa Tucker
Release date: September 13, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

I'm not sure why Simon and Schuster sent this book months after its release, and after I read and reviewed a galley, but, okay. Thank you.

Special Topics in Calamity Physics
by Marisha Pessl
Release date: August 3, 2006
Source: Audible.com sale

I've been meaning to read this much-lauded novel for the past five years, and in addition to going on sale this week, I just learned that Pessl's second novel will be published this coming spring. I now have a deadline. Must read this book!

The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger
by Stephen King
Release date: June 24, 2003
Source: Free anniversary money from Audible.com

Since reviewing 11/22/63 on Amazon.com, a bunch of strangers have been leaving comments on my review telling me that I have to read the Dark Tower novels. I've always been a little wary of them, but I'll try to get to this one before the year is out.

Anne of Green Gables
by L.M. Montgomery
Release date: 1908
Source: $.99 Kindle purchase

I've never read this classic, and it was suggested by helpful reader friends to assist with scrubbing the Umberto Eco from my brain. I'm reading it now and it's delightful!

Live and Let Die
by Ian Fleming
Release date: April 5, 1954
Source: Kindle Daily Deal ($1.99)

Just over a week ago, my friends Melissa and Mike convinced me to give James Bond films another go. They were right; the re-make of Casino Royale with Daniel Craig was the best Bond film I've seen. It was during this discussion that I said I really needed to read Fleming's original novels. Now I'm one step closer.

Finishing the Hat: Collected Lyrics (1954-1981) with Attendant Comments, Principles, Heresies, Grudges, Whines and Anecdotes
by Stephen Sondheim
Release date: October 26, 2010
Source: Finished copy from publisher

Not only does the new Michael Crichton go on sale tomorrow, the new Sondheim does, too! It's the second volume of his collected lyrics/memoir that began with this volume last year. I was hoping the kind folks in Knopf publicity would honor my review request, and they did. Sort of. Someone SNAFUed and sent me last year's book instead of the new one: Look, I Made a Hat. Hopefully, I'll acquire a copy soon. Look for the bold pink cover; it'll be a popular gift title this holiday season.

Books finished this week:

I've Got Your Number by Sophie Kinsella
Too Much Stuff by Don Bruns

Currently reading:

Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery
Native Tongue by Carl Hiaasen

So, what have you been reading? What books have you acquired this week? What will you be reading during your holiday travel/time off? Please let us know in the comments. And happy Thanksgiving to you all!

#100!!!

2011-11-21T10:44:00.000-08:00

I have a cold, and no two ways about it--I feel like death on a trisket. I'd like to be at home in bed, but it's Monday morning and I'm at the office. But there's one piece of news that's brightening my otherwise dreary day. Today, for the first time ever, I am ranked at #100 among Amazon.com's nearly 9 million reviewers. Beneath my name, there is a little badge that says "Top 100 Reviewer."

It's a stupid thing. When I wrote my first review about five and a half years ago, I'm sure I didn't even realize that Amazon reviewers were ranked. But as you start moving up in the rankings, it's hard not to notice or care at least a little. Getting to #100 has been a goal for a while. It was hard work. I'll probably slip back out of the top 100 by tomorrow, but then I'll get back in. I don't know how hard I'll try to stay in the top 100. But for today I'm in and I feel proud.

Thanks for every "helpful" vote that helped me on my way!

33 years later, it’s still inconceivable

2011-11-18T16:18:00.000-08:00

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown
by Julia Scheeres

On November 18, 1978, the day of the Jonestown massacre, I was nine years old. I vaguely remember the news stories, but I’ve always wanted a more adult understanding of these inconceivable and tragic events. I don’t read a whole lot of non-fiction, but Julia Scheeres’ A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Faith, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown seemed like exactly what I had been looking for.

The book takes its title from an eerie 1975 Jones quote, “I love socialism, and I’m willing to die to bring it about, but if I did, I’d take a thousand with me.” And it delivers on what it promises in the title, starting with “hope.” Scheeres describes Jones’s early life in Indiana, and the way he was drawn to the church from childhood. By the time he was a teenager, he was preaching on street corners. And he was preaching a fairly radical (for the times) message of inclusion, integration, and racial tolerance. This was the philosophy on which he founded his first church in Indiana in 1954. Reverend Jones’s attitudes about race were ahead of his time, and he quickly built up a devoted, multicultural flock.

Alas, it didn’t take long for “deception” to enter the picture. Jones was a practitioner of faith healings. While some may claim to have been genuinely helped by the man, his trickery in bringing about his so-called miracles is well established. In addition to simple cons, Jones was a master manipulator. He utilized all kind of tactics—from inducing paranoia to actually drugging people without their knowledge—all the while increasing his sway over his church-goers. A few years after the Indiana church was established, he convinced a healthy percentage of them to pick up and relocate to rural Northern California to avoid a predicted nuclear explosion in Chicago. The relocated People’s Temple thrived in Redwood Valley, California, before it eventually relocated yet again to San Francisco.

Scheeres reduces the epic tragedy to a human scale by introducing the reader to several individual church followers. Dating all the way back to the Indiana church were sisters Hyacinth Thrash and Zipporah Edwards. In Redwood Valley, grief led the entire Bogue family to the church. In San Francisco, juvenile delinquent Stanley Clayton stayed on the straight and narrow because of the church community. And Edith Roller, a well-educated, 61-year-old “opinionated loner” came to the church as an agent of social change.

Scheeres writes, “The world seemed to be imploding in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and his message struck a nerve. The headlines were saturated with death: Vietnam, nuclear war, murdered civil rights leaders, and student protestors. Americans of every stripe were angry, insecure, afraid. Gone was the Leave It to Beaver complacency. The establishment fissured along with its enabler—mainstream religion—and people turned for solace to alternative sources of supposed wisdom, including gurus, spiritualism, astrology, and self-help. The time was ripe for a self-appointed prophet like Jim Jones.”

Scheeres details the events that led inexorably to the Temple’s final move to Guyana and the shocking tragedy that occurred there. She is assisted in this effort by new information in the form of thousands of pages of FBI documents that have recently been declassified. The full perversity of what went on with Jones for years, and the crimes he perpetrated against his followers, is staggeringly difficult to believe: the sex, the drugs, the madness, and the abuse of power. It’s a terrible, terrible story, and yet the book is a quick read—in part because the last 40-some pages of the book are made up of end-notes than can be easily skipped.

I think that Scheeres has done a reasonable job of relating the history in as impartial a manner as anyone could. Following specific Temple members closely and watching their eventual fates unfold was an effective way to tell the story. Where I felt let down was in trying to understand with any real depth the psychology of those involved. I especially hungered for more information on what was going on inside Jones’s head, but that may be something we will never know.

You couldn’t sell this story as fiction; it’s simply too unbelievable. Looking back seems worthwhile, but in the end, I’m not sure what we’re supposed to have learned.

Mailbox Monday: The thankfully short edition!

2011-11-14T12:47:00.000-08:00

Yes, it's my favorite thing--a short Mailbox Monday post! I've hardly acquired any books this week, and one is a leftover I forgot to list last week. But that's okay; I don't think I'm going to run out of literature any time soon.

So, as you can see, I did get to the Peter Orner event last week, but didn't make it to Gregory Maguire over the weekend. I had plans all set up, but I was visiting with a sick friend, and she needed me more than Mr. Maguire did. I don't think there will be any other lit events of note before December at this point, or at least there aren't any currently on my radar.

Things are going to be a little hit or miss on my end for the next few weeks as well. I'm leaving on a brief business trip this afternoon, and I'll be back on Wednesday night. I'm in town for a week, and then I'm flying to the east coast to spend Thanksgiving (and the week following it) with my family and friends back home. I've always got the best of intentions of keeping up my blogging while I travel, but my track record is abysmal. So, if posting is kind of erratic for the next few weeks, you know what that's about.

Right now, I'm in search of a feel-good, happy book, or my head is going to explode. I tossed aside the hateful Umberto Eco novel to read the awesome Stephen King novel in two days, but then I found myself doing anything to avoid finishing the cursed book. I read David Benioff's excellent and horrifically disturbing and depressing City of Thieves--which was also chock-full of anti-Semitism, I might add. Then, to lighten things up, I read a non-fiction book about the Jonestown massacre, A Thousand Lives by Julia Scheeres. Finally, I just bit the bullet and plowed my way through the The Prague Cemetery. Seriously, it was torturous--and not because it was a bad book, either. You'll see a review soon. The point is, I need to read something light and cheery. I am open to suggestions!

Mudbound
by Hillary Jordan
Release date: March 4, 2008
Source: Purchased at Books, Inc.

I probably won't get around to this in the immediate future, but maybe in 2012?

11/22/63
by Stephen King
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Purchased with Audible.com credit

Yeah, yeah, this is old news already. Does anyone else wonder why they didn't release this book two weeks later on 11/22/11?

From the Memoirs of a Non-Enemy Combatant
by Alex Gilvarry
Release date: January 5, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

The tagline for this satire is: High fashion and homeland security clash in a masterful debut. That sounds worth checking out to me. My friend Nicole is going to have a quandary, however. Gilvarry is being compared to Gary Shteyngart and Junot Diaz--one of her most favorite and one of her least favorite authors. What to do?

City of Thieves
by David Benioff
Release date: May 15, 2008
Source: Library

I remember all the buzz this novel had when it was published a few years ago, but it was my book group member Rachel who convinced me to read it. It is as good as she said it was, but rather more disturbing than I expected.

Books finished this week:

11/22/63 by Stephen King
City of Thieves by David Benioff
A Thousand Lives: The Untold story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown by Julia Scheeres
The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

Currently reading:

I don't read anymore.

Okay, what awesome books did you acquire this week? What have you been reading? Please let us know in the comments!

Peter Orner gets launched San Francisco style

2011-11-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I spoke of heading over to the Booksmith on Haight Street because novelist Peter Orner had a Wednesday night reading there. You don't exactly have to twist my arm to get me over to the Booksmith, where everybody knows your name, and you're greeted like Norm every time you walk in the door. (Do my references date me?) And independent of my own interest, my BFF Jon called and said, "Have you heard about a reading by Peter Orner..." So, it was decided.

I left work a little earlier than usual, and arrived at the bookstore about half an hour before the event. The first person I saw upon entering the store was the charming and delightful Andrew Sean Greer. I said "hi" to Andy, and we chatted for a moment before another gentleman approached him and I drifted off. The staff were still setting up chairs--a lot of chairs--and then setting up setting up tables with beer and wine and food and sweets. I hadn't realized until then that the event I was attending was the official launch party for Love and Shame and Love, and the Booksmith was really making an event of it.

Jon arrived as they were setting the final chairs, and we grabbed seats front and center in the first row. I was enjoying chatting with Jon and the store staff and owners. One of them, Christin, introduced me to the gentleman who had been talking to Andy Greer earlier. His name is Evan Karp of the excellent Litseen website (along with several other media outlets in the city). He was super friendly, and it was a pleasure to meet him. I'm only shocked that we'd never met before.

There's one thing I'll say about the San Francisco literary scene--they support their own. It seemed like every writer in the city attended Peter's book launch. The place was packed! As always, it was fun people-watching. I haven't read the novel yet--though that may be rectified over the weekend--but it's getting raves everywhere. Nor had I ever met Peter Orner or heard him speak before, but both Jon and I found him delightful. His personality comes right through on the video below, and he's kind of adorable.

After the reading and Q & A, Jon and I snarfed some food, and chatted with people we knew and people we didn't. I found myself talking yet again to the ubiquitous Danny Handler (AKA Lemony Snicket). When I commented that he's at the Booksmith every time I come there, he made jokes about being held hostage. He said, "They treat me very well." So, the Stockholm syndrome has kicked in. Jon bought a gift book for a friend, and I finally got into the lengthy signing line. I had a really pleasant chat with Peter when I got to the front of the line. I apologized for sticking a Flipcam in his face as he was reading, and handed him my blogger card, explaining that I would post the video on Friday. Peter said very kind things about the role of book bloggers in this day and age, and when he signed my copy of the book, he wrote, "With thanks for the work that you do!" What a mensch.

The first segment below is a warm introduction from novelist Tom Barbash. As Mr. Barbash points out, Love and Shame and Love has been awarded the trifecta of starred reviews from Publisher's Weekly, Kirkus, and Booklist. And guess what? If you want a signed, first edition of this novel, I know a great independent bookseller where you can get one. Other than that, I'm just delighted to share footage from a really enjoyable evening with you...

The past is obdurate

2011-11-10T12:15:00.000-08:00

11/22/63
by Stephen King

Stephen King started publishing books around roughly the same time I started reading them. It was the mid 70s, and I was a precocious young thing. I was fearless, and man I loved what he was writing! I haven’t read nearly all of his novels in the decades since, but enough to have a pretty good familiarity with the universe that his works share. Now entering my more fearful middle age, I can tell you there is, oddly, something deeply comforting about submerging myself again in his rich, folksy world where heroes are heroic, all stories come full circle, and pretty much all nagging questions are eventually put to rest.

The hero of 11/22/63 is Jake Epping, and early on in this novel he is presented with something inconceivable, a sort of wormhole in time. It leads from 2011 Maine to September 9, 1958. You can visit the past for as long as you like—years—but when you return to the present it’s always exactly two minutes later. Every subsequent visit is a “reset.” You can change the past (and consequently the present), but as Jake learns, “the past is obdurate.” It resists.

There’s more to the set-up, of course, but that’s all you really need to know. Because with this portal to the past, Jake is set on a mission that would probably be the goal of most every person of a certain age—to stop the Kennedy assassination. I don’t think it resonates quite so strongly with those of us who weren’t around to remember Camelot, but, sure, 11/22/63 was one of the most pivotal days in this nation’s history. It’s a day that surely scarred the psyche of every American alive who remembers it.

For long-time readers like myself, there are some wonderful Easter eggs to be found in 11/22/63, tying back to past novels, and probably to future ones as well. It’s amazing how King does that. Characters I haven’t seen for decades make cameo appearances and gosh it’s great to see them. If Mr. King has one skill above all, it’s the ability to breathe life into his characters. No wonder they live on long after their stories end. And it’s not just the characters that feel like old friends, it’s merely inhabiting the King-verse with its familiar town names, attitudes, and themes. Like I said, comforting.

So, if it’s not obvious already, I loved this novel from start to finish. Heck, I read 849 pages in less than 48 hours. But Mr. King might have written this one just for me. I have a thing for time travel stories. In fact, 11/22/63 has several similarities with an old favorite I recently re-read: Replay, by Ken Grimwood. The ideas of this novel are pretty compelling, and it’s not surprising that others have explored them. Reading the two so close together made for an interesting counterpoint, and did disservice to neither novel.

One more thing… In recent years I’ve read enough Amazon reviews to see readers of more right-wing political ideologies decry Mr. King for letting his somewhat more left-wing politics and social agenda bleed into his work. If that’s the sort of thing likely to bother you, be forewarned. The man’s a bleeding heart (and I’ve got no problem with that).

Thirty-seven years and several dozen novels after his first, Stephen King is still finding fresh stories to tell in inventive ways. Yes, those familiar echoes are there, but somehow Mr. King is keeping his prolific output fresh. 11/22/63 is a blast from the past. I’m glad I got to travel there with a dear old friend.

NOTE: I am not averse to shilling. If anyone feels inclined to give this review a "helpful" vote on Amazon.com, I will gratefully accept it HERE. Thanks!

The Science of Science Fiction

2011-11-09T12:57:00.000-08:00

San Francisco's Mission District, it seems, has become addicted to "crawls." Just a few weeks ago they hosted the huge Lit Crawl that ends the LitQuake Festival, and this past Friday night they hosted a Science Crawl. What are they going to think of next?

My final stop on the Science Crawl was essentially the same as my final stop of the Lit Crawl, except this time I stopped a the bookstore side of Borderlands Books and Cafe. Regular readers of this blog have heard me sing the praises of this independent specialty bookstore many times, but I won't let that stop me from doing it again. Let me just say, if you have any interest in fantasy, science fiction, or horror, this store or their website should be destination shopping for you. I'm not even especially fond of any of those genres, and I still consider it one of my very favorite spots in all of San Francisco.

In addition to the friendly setting and the interesting subject matter, there was another compelling draw to this particular event. The three panelists were awesome! I'd actually heard Scott Sigler speak very entertainingly at another Science Fest event earlier in the week. The popular Porchlight Storytelling Series had half-a-dozen story-tellers (including a physicist, a neurologist, and a mathematician) speak on the subject of "epic fail." Scott had told a story that wasn't science- or science fiction-related, but it was an epic fail. (And if you're really curious about those stories, you may view them on my You Tube channel here.)

Now, I had the pleasure of hearing Mira Grant read at the Lit Crawl, where she definitely piqued my interest in her work. So much so that I've already read and very much enjoyed Countdown, the novella that's the prequel to the series she's speaking about in the videos to follow. It's only a matter of time before I break down and read Feed. (And, yes, for a woman who claims not to be interested in zombies, I do read an awful lot of zombie books.)

Finally, there's Jeff Carlson, the author of one of the best opening lines of all time: "They ate Jorgensen first." I ask you, how do you read that opening sentence and not want to read on? Oh, you may not want to admit you want to read on, but you do. Incidentally, that is the opening line to Plague Year, the first novel of a kinda fabulous nanotech trilogy. As it happens, nanotech thrillers are one of my favorite things, and I went to a signing--at Borderlands Books, in fact--of Plague Year several years ago. At that first signing, Jeff and I hit it off famously. We discovered that we had several friends in common, and we have stayed chummy (mostly over email) ever since. I have always been shocked that a guy who writes such sick, sick stuff is such a very, very nice guy. Jeff and I hadn't had a chance to catch up face-to-face in literally years, so it was especially nice to see him. (Sorry we went on and on, Mira!)

BTW, you'll be seeing more about Jeff on the blog in the near future. I've got some books I'm looking forward to reading and reviewing shortly, and I also have an excellent story to share in a separate blog post. It will be entitled: How I tricked Jeff Carlson into killing me. Look for it soon.

But enough about me and my murderous friends. Let's get to the good stuff! This was an awesome panel discussion! Truly, it was the perfect way to end my Science Fest week. I was so very happy to have a front row seat for this fascinating discussion among peers, and I'm so happy to be able to share the event with you. These three writers are being billed as science fiction authors, but I think you could make a case that they're thriller authors and horror authors and probably many more classifications. And if you're not interested in science fiction, thrillers, or horror, I'd recommend watching the first couple of minutes of this video just to see Frost, the coolest bookstore cat ever. (When the video wobbles a little in the first section, it's because Frost is climbing up my shawl.) Enjoy!

Starts with a whimper, but ends with a bang

2011-11-08T18:45:00.000-08:00

The Time In Between
by Maria Dueñas

I have to admit that Simon and Schuster piqued my curiosity about this title simply because they promoted it so heavily prior to its publication. In my mind, that’s a huge vote of confidence from the publishing house. And, apparently it has been a bestseller in Europe, where it was originally published. Alas, my own response to The Time in Between was mixed. It got off to a rocky start, but ended much stronger—which is a better situation than had it been the other way ‘round.

With regard to the “rocky start,” the first-person narrator of this 600-page epic is Sira Quiroga, a young seamstress from Madrid with a modest background. Unfortunately, she makes a terrible initial impression. Virtually the first thing we learn about her is that she is an inconstant woman. She behaves deplorably towards a man she’s supposed to love, and then runs off to Morocco with a man slicker than Teflon. On many, many levels, her behavior is unforgivably stupid. Truthfully, I wanted to slap her. (Note to Authors: Having your protagonist repent and/or wise-up eventually does not justify making us hate her in the beginning.) And this whole opening drama takes up about the first hundred pages of the novel.

Which leads us to issue number two… God, I felt like it took forever for this story to really get going! No way did this novel need to be over 600 hundred pages long. I would have written a far more positive review had it been condensed by a good 200 pages. The overly drawn out introduction (that made me sort of hate the heroine) could have been condensed so that we could get to the meat of this story so much sooner. As it is, the plot described in the jacket copy of this novel doesn’t even come into play until well past the half-way point of the novel.

And that plot involves Sira working on behalf of the British Resistance in the early days of WWII. But, given that that doesn’t even get broached until page 355 of my galley, there’s a whole lot that goes on before the excitement kicks in. And I don’t mean to imply that it’s all bad or boring. I think that Ms. Dueñas is going for a picaresque quality to Sira’s story, with a series of episodic adventures. Some parts were more successful than others for me, but stuff does happen. I wouldn’t call it fast-paced. What I liked much, much more than the drawn out plot were the many supporting characters that bring life and interest to the story. They’re an excellent and entertaining supporting cast.

And as the novel goes on, the pace does pick up, the main plot kicks in, and from there on out it’s a different book. There is romance, excitement, suspense—all the things I would have enjoyed seeing more of in the first half of the novel. So, The Time In Between ends on a high note. Heck, the door is even open for a sequel. By the end, Sira is a far more appealing protagonist. The prose throughout the novel is acceptable, but not what I’d consider a selling point. The North African setting of much of the tale, however, is unusual and adds its own level of interest.

I would recommend this debut to readers who are fans of long novels, and who are willing to have a little patience. I would also recommend it to fans of these types of stories—of the time, the place, the war. If the flaws I described sound like deal-breakers, you’re probably better off skipping The Time In Between.

Get out the vote! Tomorrow is Election Day!

2011-11-07T17:05:00.000-08:00

Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates, from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain
by Jim Lehrer

40-Some years of water cooler moments

While as a Washingtonian I have always considered myself a political person, this is not a subject I have ever chosen to read about in books. It was hearing Jim Lehrer speak about Tension City at a conference, I think, that got me to pick it up. That, and the unintimidating page count. Still, I’m almost surprised by how much I enjoyed the book.

One of the things that worked for me is how personal the subject matter is to journalist Lehrer. This isn’t just a book about famous moments (and their aftermaths) in the last 40-some years of political debates; it’s about Lehrer’s personal experiences as moderator of 11 presidential or vice-presidential debates since 1988. To that extent, Tension City has elements of memoir, and a strong undercurrent of journalism within the subject matter. Lehrer reflects on the highs and lows of his performances and those of his colleagues over the years. I now have a far greater appreciation of the role of a debate moderator, and doubt I will watch future presidential debates with the same eyes.

Still, it’s the politics and history that were most riveting, because these debates did change history. Had he answered one question differently, might Michael Dukakis have had a shot at the White House? We can never know, but there is room for speculation. I so clearly remember so many of the moments that Lehrer singles out over the past several decades. They were the water cooler moments that the entire nation was talking about the next day. But here we have the added perspective of time as we look at these famous exchanges. Plus, Lehrer has the prestige and the relationships to get the major players to speak frankly about events of the past. So, for example, Lloyd Bentsen and Dan Quayle share recollections of “Senator, you’re no Jack Kennedy.”

This is the history of my lifetime. I was fascinated. Tension City is a brief book, and many serious political and history junkies will be looking for something more in-depth. For them, this book might work as a light companion volume. But for this reader, Mr. Lehrer’s book was the perfect introduction to uncharted literary territory.

Mailbox Monday: I can't think of an edition edition

2011-11-07T13:49:00.000-08:00

So, last week was chock full of excitement between the Bay Area Festival of Science and the literary events. Man, I was busy! My two loves converged at the end of the week with a completely awesome panel discussion entitled The Science in Science Fiction held at the completely awesome Borderlands Books. The panelists were Scott Sigler, Mira Grant, and Jeff Carlson. I could try to describe to you at length, just how awesome these three were, but why don't I just post video of the whole thing later this week? And folks, I got good video for once.

So, I haven't had a chance to write up my dead mules in Southern Literature follow up yet, but I did receive nice notes from both Hillary Jordan and Bookseller Bob from Books, Inc. subsequent to my post about our evening together last week. Very, very nice.

There are a couple of cool lit events going on here in SF this week that I might try to hit. Local author Peter Orner is at The Booksmith on Wednesday. I just acquired a copy of his novel Love and Shame and Love that I'm looking forward to reading, so it would be great to hear him speak. Also, Gregory Maguire is going to be at The Booksmith on Saturday night. Perhaps it'll be less of a mob scene because it's a Saturday? Anyway, we'll see if I make it to either event. I've been pretty run down lately and really need to pace myself. Tonight I will go straight home after work like a good girl.

You may have noticed that I'm trying to catch up on the book reviews I've been slacking off on for the past few months. So, expect more of them this week. In addition to the backlog, I did read The Time in Between, which goes on sale tomorrow and which Simon & Schuster has been promoting so heavily. I wanted to jump right into Eco's The Prague Cemetery right after, but I was defeated on my first attempt by the staggering outpouring of pure hatred in the opening pages of the novel. The character actually articulates the philosophy, "I hate, therefore I am." It's funny, but very tough to take. So I set it aside and got distracted by I YA novel which is the funniest thing I've read since I don't know when! It was Libba Bray's Beauty Queens. What a pleasure over a dreary weekend at home. Of course, I finished it in a day, and launched back into the Eco. God, it's tough going! Will this man defeat me again? I've never made it through one of his novels. I've about a quarter of the way through The Prague Cemetery, and I've already read each page at least twice. And on that note...

Out of Oz
by Gregory Maguire
Release date: November 1, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

As noted previously, I have only read the first book in this series. I'm not sure yet if I'm prepared to catch up on the intervening books. Perhaps going to hear Maguire speak will help me decide.

Hard Target
by Howard Gordon
Release date: January 3, 2011
Source: Paper galley from publisher

Howard Gordon has all sorts of television writing/producing cred, and this is his second novel, a follow-up to Gideon's War. I have a galley of that one, too, but the book descriptions sound a little macho for my tastes.

The Time in Between
by Maria Duenas
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

Yes, another copy. Meanwhile, I read this last week and had a mixed response. It's been a big bestseller in Europe. It will be interesting to see if S&S can duplicate that success here.

Beauty Queens
by Libba Bray
Release date: May 24, 2011
Source: Audiobook from Library

First, best cover ever, am I right? This is an over-the-top high-concept comic novel about a planeload of teen beauty queens who crash onto a mysterious island. I won't guarantee that this book is for everyone (humor is so subjective), but I had a blast listening to this! I also noticed this morning that PW named it one of the top books of 2011. Take that, Umberto Eco!

Ashes to Dust
by Yrsa Sigurdardottir
Release date: March 27, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

Wow, you don't see a name like that on a book cover every day. I think I'll have a Guess How to Pronounce it Contest in my face-to-face book group, with a winner chosen by our Swedish member. Anyway, I do not even remember what this novel is about, but I know that I was quite interested in reading it.

The Odds
by Stewart O'Nan
Release date: January 19, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

O'Nan is one of those authors that I hear nothing but good things about. I know that he is a real favorite of my BFF, Jon. This will be the first work of his that I've read, and I'm really looking forward to it!

Besides the titles above, there were about 125 books from the NCIBA show. I haven't organized a list of them yet.

Books finished this week:

Why Read Moby Dick by Nathaniel Philbrick
The Time in Between by Maria Duenas
Beauty Queens by Libba Bray

Currently reading:

The Prague Cemetery by Umberto Eco

So, what books have you acquired this week? What exciting (or not so exciting) books are you reading? Have you successfully read an Eco novel? Please let us know in the comments!

My evening with Hillary Jordan, or sometimes it's worth making a little effort

2011-11-04T15:08:00.000-07:00

Last night did not go the way that I expected. I took a break from the science festival because after reading her novel, When She Woke, I was really interested in hearing author Hillary Jordan speak. It’s a meaty, substantive book worthy of discussion. So, not only was I looking forward to hearing from the author, but also to hearing the responses of other readers.

Anyway, my thought was, This is going to be a popular reading; I better get over to Books, Inc. as fast as I can! I arrived almost half an hour early for the 7:00pm event, and was somewhat surprised to see that I was the very first person there. Fine by me. I browsed for a few minutes, but I really wanted to keep my excellent seat, so I plopped myself down with my Kindle and read my book. I saw Hillary escorted to the backroom by the bookseller, Bob, and I could hear the two of them chatting quietly back there. 7:00pm came and went, but still I was the only person sitting in the seats. There were plenty of browsers in the store. I wondered if perhaps they were there to hear Hillary, and were waiting for the event to start. They gave no indication if that were the case. Eventually Bob came and told me that they’d wait just a bit longer and see who showed.

Well, by 7:30pm, it was still just me. I felt kind of bad. I mean, I was really happy to be there, but that’s tough for an author on tour. Clearly, you can’t put on the whole dog and pony show for one person. So, Hillary pulled up a chair and sat down across from me. Bookseller Bob and his associate (whose name I failed to catch) also pulled up chairs. And Hillary and I just began chatting, like real people. It was lovely! I didn’t tape or record our conversation in any way. It wasn’t an interview. It’s hard to be present in a conversation with a person if you’re trying to take notes, but I’ll share what I remember.

(NOTE: I don’t believe there are any plot spoilers for the novel below, but we do talk some about the world she has created. If you’d prefer not to know anything going into the book, you’ll probably want to save this until after you’ve read it.)

I told Hillary all the things I’ve told you guys: how much the book scared me, how it really pushed the buttons of my personal fears. Then I got to ask her the question that I’ve been wondering ever since I read When She Woke. I said, “I only remember one reference to any religion other than Christianity. It was a fleeting reference to a Mormon spree killer. What happened to the rest of America? Where are all the Jews? The Hindus? The rest of the melting pot?”

Well, first, she quite rightly reminded me that Mormons are Christians, too. D’uh. I forget. I’m just a Jewish girl, what do I know? But then she also clarified that while the boundary between church and state had been broken in her novel, the entire US hadn’t become fundamentalists. Her character Kayla was a good illustration of that. And she reminded me that abortion was not illegal in all the states in her novel, a fact that I had noted when reading it. So, when I jokingly asked again where all the Jews were, she smiled and said, “New York and California.” And that really is it. In her fictional future, things are just that much more polarized than they are today. It’s the same gulf between San Francisco and Amarillo, but multiplied many times over.

Hillary spoke of how this country is always swinging back and forth on the issues brought up in her book. Right now, things are pretty conservative, but there is reason for optimism. Marriage equality is gaining ground. Don't Ask, Don't Tell was defeated. Hillary reminded me that despite McCarthyism, Jim Crow laws, and other episodes in our past, the country always seems to do the right thing eventually. It was nice to see that despite her dark subject matter, she's an optimist at heart.

At one point, I said something about the comparisons her novel is getting to The Handmaid’s Tale and she rolled her eyes. I called her on it and asked what that’s about. Clearly, it wasn’t disrespect for Margaret Atwood. So, Hillary listed a few similarities between the two books (which you can discover for yourself), but then she noted several significant thematic differences. She had a point, and I can certainly see how hearing the same comments over and over again—which is exactly what happens on book tours—can get pretty old.

Around this time, another woman showed up. She was a former colleague and friend of Hillary’s from 20-some years ago. Apparently the parking situation was brutal that night. Hillary’s friend hadn’t finished the book yet, but she joined in the conversation, and shortly thereafter Hillary’s cousin Robert arrived, followed later by her media escort and two more cousins. Each person had the same issue, parking. Made my modest bus ride feel downright brilliant. Anyway, as each new arrival joined in, our circle discussion became a little bigger, but still very casual. I was the only person there without a personal tie to her, and I didn’t want to drag things out too long to keep her from her social time. I’ll mention only a few more things we wound up discussing.

I commented on the fact of criminality being depicted by skin color, and the racial overtones inherent in the idea. “You think?” said Hillary, with a hint of snark in her voice. I asked if there had been much discussion of this among the readers as she toured. Some, but not too much. She told us that she’d actually had conversations with doctors and geneticists about whether you could dye a person’s skin like she’d proposed. Apparently, it wouldn’t be that hard, and you could probably do it, if not today, then in the very near future. This didn’t surprise me at all, and I commented that if you could transfer the bioluminescent qualities of a jellyfish to a pussycat to make it glow in the dark (It’s been done.), then dyeing a human red shouldn’t be a problem.

Hillary reminded me that her first novel, Mudbound, was all about race. I said, “Yes, I haven’t read it, but my online friends have been raving about it. (You know who you are, PBTers.) I asked Hillary to sell it to me. (‘Cause clearly given the circumstances, I wasn’t going to walk out of there without purchasing a book. Why? Because we love our independent booksellers, right? And we also like nice lady authors who take the time to chat with you one-on-one.)

So, Hillary gives me a nice description of Mudbound, during which, oddly, she highlights that it features a dead mule. Perhaps I or others looked perplexed, because she then told us that she had read an article, years ago, in The New Yorker or some other publication, about all Southern literature featuring a dead mule. She said that she’d love to read it again, but she’s never been able to find it. Someone asked if she’s Googled it, and people started suggesting search parameters. Hillary said, “Am I an idiot? Of course, I Googled. It wasn’t there.” And this will segue to a whole follow-up post, because this one is already far too long. Suffice it to say, Hillary told me if I could find the article, please drop her a note. So, of course, I was going to look into it.

Someone asked if a film of When She Woke had been optioned. Not yet. Producers can be skittish about financing films about abortion--The Cider House Rules, excepted. What she did share was an idea of creating a television series set in the world she'd created. It wouldn't have to feature Hannah, it could be about all sorts of different people in her dystopia. She suggested calling it "Chromeville." You know, it's a pretty awesome idea. How amazing would a series like that from HBO or AMC be?

I don’t even know how long we’d been chatting, but by this time, there were nine people in the circle. Hillary’s girlfriend said, “Hey, are you going to read?” and so at that point, Hillary read the first chapter of When She Woke, and with her permission I recorded her. Once the camera was off, she recited from memory something very funny. She’d referenced earlier a very successful speech she’d made to a large crowd in Austin. (We’d been discussing how the book had been received in Texas. Fine, apparently.) She said there’d been one part that brought the house down, and after she read her opening chapter, she performed a self-parodying version in which Hannah doesn’t find her hands covered in blood, but in bloody Mary, and then the horror of discovering that it’s virgin Mary. In the nature of nightmares, this one segued into a scene in Hooters involving Rick Perry and several other Republican leaders. You’ll thank me for not describing it further, but I can assure you that it was as big a hit in San Francisco as it was in Texas. It was the perfect note to end our evening on.

I asked Hillary to sign my galley of When She Woke and my new copy of Mudbound, which I’m looking forward to reading. She nicely inscribed both copies, and I left her to her friends and family. Hillary and I had exchanged cards earlier in the evening, so our follow-up contact will involve me seeing a lady about a mule…

A final note, if you have not yet read When She Woke, I highly recommend the novel. And guess what? They have signed copies at Books, Inc! You should totally order a copy from them, right now.

Masada did not need the Alice Hoffman treatment

2011-11-03T16:55:00.000-07:00

The Dovekeepers
by Alice Hoffman

Let me start by saying that Alice Hoffman is a tremendously gifted writer. I love the magic and magical realism of her stories, and I think she has a good sense of people and emotions. At what she does, there are none better.

Still, when I grabbed a galley of The Dovekeepers at BEA, it definitely seemed like a departure from her typical work. In fact, the jacket copy made it seem as though The Dovekeepers was a passion project, “over five years in the writing.” I have no doubt that Ms. Hoffman’s heart was in the right place, but this reader is left with the thought that Masada didn’t need the Alice Hoffman treatment.

Set in 70 C.E., this is the story of the Roman siege of the Jewish settlement at Masada, a mountain stronghold. Ms. Hoffman has humanized the historic events by telling the story in four parts through the first-person narration of four very different women. I went into this novel with the highest of expectations, but my ultimate response was quite negative.

I had several issues with the book, but probably the biggest was this—the tragedy at Masada is one of the most dramatic tales in all of history. There was no need to add witchcraft and fantastic elements. It's clear that Ms. Hoffman did a ton of research, and I don't expect that ancient Jews were just like contemporary ones, but I didn't even recognize the people she was writing about as Jews. They were like some kind of weird, superstitious pagans. And this is coming from a woman with absolutely no religious faith—but apparently I have strong feelings of connection to my Jewish history. And I felt she took tremendous liberties with a story that shouldn't have been altered out of respect. I was kind of offended.

For instance, the Jewish faith doesn't tend to dwell on any kind of afterlife. It's a vague concept at best. We focus on this life. However, Hoffman uses the phrase "world-to-come" 44 times in this novel! These people are obsessed with the afterlife. And there are plentiful references to ghosts, demons, magic, spells, witches, etc. I realize there is mysticism in Judaism—real Kabbalah, not the nonsense practiced by Christian celebrities—but it's a tiny part of the religion. And yet it seems to be all Alice Hoffman is able to write about.

Obviously, a lot of the issues above have more to do with me and my Jewish identity than the quality of the novel, strictly speaking. Beyond all that, the novel still has some problems. As noted above, the story is told through the voices and experiences of four different female narrators. I found the first narrator to be unlikable and unsympathetic in the extreme. I understand that redemption was a major theme of the novel, but it made getting into the story challenging. In general, I had a lot of trouble connecting to these women.

Finally, OMG, I can't believe how badly the endless exposition was handled! Truly dreadful. I could give you any number of examples, but here are a few:

"The settlement had been destroyed by the Romans. It was intended to be a paradise built by the Yahad, a group of believers from the Essene sect, Jews who practiced strict codes with fixed hours of prayer. It was said that our people had been cut into four quarters, each with their own philosophy, and then cut up four more times for good measure. Truly righteous, the Essenes has indeed cut themselves off from all others."

"My father came up to me and asked if it was my desire to be a zonah. I felt that he had slapped me. He compared me to the prostitutes who lived at the edge of Jerusalem and were willing to pull off their cloaks for anyone who would pay them, even Roman soldiers."

"Shirah was a practitioner of keshaphim, initiated into the secrets of magic. Our people believed that any item with a sun and a moon upon it must be taken to the Salt Sea and thrown into the water, but several women claimed to have seen such figures worn at the witch's throat."

I don’t know that any other reader would respond to this novel the way that I have. (In fact, I welcome comments from other readers about the points I raised.) I see that, in general, The Dovekeepers has gotten extremely positive reviews. I’d much rather praise than criticize, but I just can’t join the majority on this one. I will look forward to Ms. Hoffman’s next effort. I am confident that it will be more to my liking.

“If you can’t understand it without an explanation, you can’t understand it with an explanation.”

2011-11-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

1Q84
by Haruki Murakami

If you strip away everything else, at its heart, 1Q84 is a love story. But there’s quite a lot to the “everything else.” Haruki Murakami’s epic novel is the story of Aomame and Tengo, and the first two-thirds of the novel are told in chapters alternating between the viewpoints of the two. (In the last third, a new character and POV are added to the mix.)

Aomame narrates first. She’s a young professional stuck in the back of a cab. She’s hopelessly mired in traffic and concerned about being late for a meeting. Her driver proposes a way she could make it that might be a little “extreme.” Aomame follows his suggestion, and before she departs the cab, he reminds her, “things are not what they seem.” Aomame does not know it yet, but she has just gone down the rabbit hole.

In the second chapter, we are introduced to Tengo. Tengo teaches math by day.

“What do I like about math? Math is like water. It has a lot of difficult theories, of course, but its basic logic is very simple. Just as water flows from high to low over the shortest possible distance, figures can only flow in one direction. You just have to keep your eye on them for the route to reveal itself. That’s all it takes. You don’t have to do a thing. Just concentrate your attention and keep your eyes open, and the figures make everything clear to you. In this whole, wide world, the only thing that treats me so kindly is math.”

That’s Tengo in a nutshell. He’s a straight forward, honest guy. As we meet him, he’s discussing literary fraud, because by night he writes fiction. Fraud is the sort of thing Tengo would prefer to avoid, but he’s just received an offer he can’t refuse. He doesn’t know it yet, but he’s just gone down the rabbit hole.

In the third chapter, we learn more about Aomame’s “meeting” and discover that everything we thought we knew about her is wrong. It’s the first of many times that author Murakami shows who’s really holding the cards in this unfolding story. Now clearly, I can’t summarize nearly 1,000 pages of complex, strange, fantastic fiction. Gradually, both Aomame and Tengo realize that their world has altered, although they are not sure how many other people have noticed. Aomame believes she has left her present in 1984 and entered the world of 1Q84. She posits, “At some point in time, the world I knew either vanished or withdrew, and another world came to take its place. Like the switching of a track.” Later on, Tengo adds, “The boundary between the real world and the imaginary one has grown obscure.” It seems a fictional world that he helped create has become their reality.

1Q84 has been called an homage to Orwell’s 1984, and there are several references to the work:

“George Orwell introduced the dictator Big Brother in his novel 1984, as I’m sure you know. The book was an allegorical treatment of Stalinism, of course. And ever since then, the term ‘Big Brother’ has functioned as a social icon. That was Orwell’s great accomplishment. But now in the real year 1984, Big Brother is all too famous and all too obvious. If Big Brother were to appear before us now, we’d point to him and say, ‘Watch out! He’s Big Brother!’ There’s no longer a place for a Big Brother in this real world of ours. Instead, these so-called Little People have come on the scene. Interesting verbal contrast, don’t you think?”

Who those Little People are, you’ll have to discover for yourself. They are one of the many, many mysteries of this dense novel. There is so much going on within these pages on so many levels. Despite its length, the novel is quite accessible. The plot is engaging, suspenseful, and emotionally satisfying. It’ll keep you turning the pages. The characters are… They are so many things: idiosyncratic, erudite, isolated, intriguing. The language is gorgeous. I quoted heavily from the novel in this review for the simple pleasure of sharing Murakami’s words. They’re a joy to read. (Although, there were a few instances of textual redundancy that seemed slightly strange to me, and I wonder if it is an artifact of the novel having been published in three separate volumes in Japan?)

Having read this novel in a marathon week-long session, I have a great appreciation for Murakami’s achievement. And yet, I feel that having now gotten the complete picture, I would be well-served starting over at the beginning. There’s more to be discovered. And I wonder if I wouldn’t feel that way after any number of readings. There is beauty and fantasy and all kinds of social commentary, but in the end I return to where I began. It’s a romance. And as Aomame says, “I did have one person I fell in love with. It happened when I was ten. I held his hand.”

Read about dystopia so that we don’t have to live it

2011-11-01T14:21:00.000-07:00

When She Woke
by Hillary Jordan

This novel scared the hell out of me. I don’t know if it scared me more as a woman or a Jew, but suffice it to say that Hillary Jordan’s update of The Scarlet Letter set in a near-future when the United States is a fundamentalist Christian theocracy touched on my deepest fears.

In Jordan’s novel, our Hester Prynne is Hannah Payne. Hannah doesn’t have to wear a scarlet A, it is her skin itself that announces her crime—not just adultery, but murder. She has aborted her unborn fetus, and for that she has been sentenced to live as a “red” for the next 16 years. She is behind bars for only a month, but her skin is dyed a vivid, artificial red for all to see. And the life of a “chrome” out in society is both hard and dangerous. Those fine Christian citizens often take matters of social justice into their own hands.

Hannah’s formerly sheltered world is quickly turned upside down, and there’s a compelling and fast-paced story at the center of When She Woke that had me reading deep into the night. But there’s a lot more going on within these pages than just the events of the plot. There are several levels of social commentary going on here. Obviously there’s some rather pointed discussion of religion versus secularism and personal rights. But the very fact that criminality is depicted by skin color opens the door to all kinds of racial subtext as well. And certainly there’s much to be said about the role of women in society. Here, for instance, is a quote that jumped out at me:

“’College wasn’t an option for me,’ Hannah said. There’d been no money for it. But even if she’d been able to get money for a scholarship, her parents would have opposed her going. They’d taught her that her highest purpose as a woman, the purpose to which she’d been created, was to get married, be a helpmate to her husband, and raise a family. She had grown up believing that. But sometimes she couldn’t help thinking wistfully about what it would be like to have four years to do nothing but learn.”

This novel pushed a lot of the same fear buttons in me that The Handmaid’s Tale did decades ago. I doubt this novel will become the sort of modern classic that Atwood’s has, but I applaud anyone prepared to foster discussion of difficult and painful ideas in an intelligent forum. Write about this dystopia, talk about this dystopia, so that we don’t have to live it. As Hillary Jordan has illustrated, it’s all too easy to imagine.

A stronger novel than Matched

2011-11-01T11:12:00.000-07:00

Crossed
by Ally Condie

At the risk of unpopularity, I will admit that I was not a huge fan of Matched. It was okay, but my expectations were Hunger Games high, and the book didn't meet them. There was very little tension about the eventual choice that Cassia would make, and yet I really didn't understand her decision.

That said, I thought Crossed was a far stronger novel. In it, Cassia has determined to risk everything in order to find Ky. The story is told in chapters alternating between their two viewpoints, and Crossed is far more action-packed and fast-paced than Matched was. Cassia and Ky are both challenged in ways they have not been previously, and we learn more of who they are as they rise (or fail to rise) to these challenges. Several of the characters from the first novel are off-stage in this one, but new characters are introduced. Unlikely alliances are made. Stakes are raised. Cassia and Ky are growing up fast, and their relationship is both maturing and tested in this book. And while this volume focuses primarily on Cassia and Ky, don't write off Xander. He is still very much a part of the story. I expect we'll see a lot more of him soon.

I was somewhat ambivalent about continuing on to this second book, but I am now looking forward to the conclusion of this trilogy. Condie has done a good job setting up the endgame. With luck, the third will be the best yet.

Mailbox Monday: The I'm grateful it's not snowing here edition!

2011-10-31T12:00:00.000-07:00

Major snowstorm in October--that is one of the signs of the apocalypse, right? I'm sorry, New York!

So, the past week wasn't as productive as I might have hoped in a variety of ways. The one thing I did accomplish was attending the Northern California Independent Booksellers' Association Trade Show over the weekend. I've been attending NCIBA for about a dozen years now, so none of these trade shows are really that exciting at this point. But it's still nice to see friends in the industry. I especially enjoy chatting with the publisher's reps about what they're excited about. Obviously, their job is to sell titles, but you can tell when there's a book they're genuinely excited about. And as you get to know them, they'll give you the straight dope. They're just great people to talk books with. No one works in publishing for the money. They do it for love.

Speaking of talking (and talking and talking) as the show was winding down Saturday afternoon, trade journalist Bridgette Kinsella wound up sitting down beside me, and the two of us got into the most epic conversation of all time. What a delightful lady! Seriously, the highlight of the show for me. The other highlight was grabbing a galley of Lauren Groff's forthcoming sophomore novel, Arcadia. It's the single book that I'm most excited about, but is only one of many, many galleys I grabbed. I'll post a full accounting here once I have one. Maybe next Monday?

I'm not sure how much literary stuff I have coming up this week. The Bay Area Festival of Science is going on right now, so science may trump art this week. One exception may be a midweek appearance by novelist Hillary Jordan. Her new novel, When She Woke, a near-future dystopian take on The Scarlet Letter, scared the hell out of me. In it, the US has basically become a fundamentalist Christian theocracy--literally my worst nightmare. I may have to go hear her speak.

Oh, you'll notice below that I finished 1Q84--late last night as it happens. Wow. It's an amazing (and yes, weird) achievement for Murakami. Nearly 1,000 pages of Murakami in the course of a week was a lot more challenging than 1,000 pages of Neal Stephenson over a long weekend. By the end, I was taking mental breaks with a YA novel, which worked well for me. Now I must make one of my friends who has lived in Japan read the novel so we can discuss.

And on that note, even without NCIBA, this was an awesome week for books!

Sacre Bleu
by Christopher Moore
Release date: April 3, 2011
Source: the author

I'm such a big fan of Chris's. Even though I've already read an unbound galley, I just love having a bound galley of each novel in my collection. Of course, I will purchase a first edition of the hardback as well. The finished book will be especially exciting in this case. I can't wait to see the color reproductions of all the artwork in this book!

The Mirage
by Matt Ruff
Release date: February 7, 2012
Source: Gift from Chris Moore

Chris and I have been discussing Matt Ruff's novels for years. Chris thought that I would really enjoy this thought-provoking novel. He warned me not to expect Ruff's typically comic tone. I can't wait to read it! Sewer, Gas, and Electric has been a favorite satire for years.

The Complete Works of Oscar Wilde
by Oscar Wilde
Release date: January 28, 1900
Source: my book group

I forgot to include this lovely hardback edition on last week's list. The book group that I run likes to bring books to give away and share with each other at every meeting. The lovely Valentina brought this one, I think. I've really been wanting to read The Portrait of Dorian Gray, so this is perfect!

Smut: Stories
by Alan Bennett
Release date: January 3, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

Alan Bennett is an awesome playwright, and I loved his novella "The Uncommon Reader." This slim volume is made up of two novellas entitled, "The Greening of Mrs. Donaldson" and "The Shielding of Mrs. Forbes." This is going to be a pleasure to read!

The Innocent
by Taylor Stevens
Release date: December 27, 2011
Source: Amazon Vine program

Ms. Stevens' debut was impressive, but I was left uncertain whether I liked her protagonist enough to want to read a continuing series. This is the novel that's going to help me decide. Based on her own childhood being raised in a nomadic cult, it should be fascinating regardless.

The Orphan Master's Son
by Adam Johnson
Release date: January 10, 2012
Source: LibraryThing Early Reviewers

Yes, a third copy of this galley that I still haven't read. (I'll get to it before January! I'm thinking over Thanksgiving. It'll make me thankful for my life in this country.) The good news is that I'll have a copy to give away here. I have to tell you, I heard raves about this title from a bookseller over the weekend.

In Other Worlds: SF and the Human Imagination
by Margaret Atwood
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: Paper galley from publisher

I was so delighted to see this galley show up because the book hadn't really been on my radar yet. It looks very interesting, but also kind of dense and intellectual. I will probably read it one essay at a time between other books, but I'm really looking forward to it! I love Margaret Atwood.

The Devil's Elixir
by Raymond Khoury
Release date: December 22, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

You know I love a good thriller and I've never read Khoury. This could be a pleasant holiday diversion.

The New Republic
by Lionel Shriver
Release date: March 27, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I was shocked to learn, over the weekend, that this is a satirical novel. It's not what I would expect from the author of We Need to Talk About Kevin. I think Shriver is awesome, and I look forward to seeing a different aspect of her writing. I doubt I will wait til next year before reading this.

Books finished this week:

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami (It was a marathon, not a sprint!)
Crossed by Allie Condie (I liked it a lot better than Matched, actually.)

Currently reading:

Why Read Moby Dick? by Nathaniel Philbrick

So, what have you guys been reading? What awesome books have you acquired over the past week? Please let us know in the comments!

LITQUAKE 2011: The Lit Crawl... Just in time for Halloween!

2011-10-28T15:05:00.000-07:00

Once in a very rare while, the fact that I'm continually behind writing things up for this blog winds up being serendipitous. Nearly two weeks after the fact, I am finally getting around to posting about the Litquake finale. You got it--our famous Lit Crawl! How awesome is our Crawl? So awesome that they're now holding them in New York and Austin, TX. For the uninitiated, allow me to share this quote from the New York Times about a past Crawl:

The striking thing about Lit Crawl, actually, was not the variegated writerly menu; nor was it the variety of venues—54 of them, including bookstores, bars, coffee shops, galleries and a bee-keeping supply store. Rather it was the specter of writing and literature—literature!—transforming an ordinary Saturday night in the neighborhood into a carnival of sorts. Up and down Valencia Street, crowds overflowed out of open doorways, and between readings, people hustled from one event to another or gathered on street corners clutching red Lit Crawl maps like participants in a mammoth scavenger hunt.”
—New York Times

This year, there were a whopping 77 different venue sites all over San Francisco's Mission District. Each venue had between 3 and 9 readers, or in other words, hundreds and hundreds of authors participating. And the audience is made up of more than 10,000 lit lovers. Truly, it is a thing of beauty.

I've attended many Lit Crawls in my decade in San Francisco. I enjoy being a part of the scene, but don't feel as strongly these days about trying to make it to each of the three "phases" of the Crawl. This year, as noted many times, I was still sort of weak, so after a completely delightful afternoon spend with some pub crawling writer friends, I decided to just cut to the chase. I skipped ahead to phase three, and parked myself early, so as to acertain a good seat and a good snack. And with all of the dozens and dozens of readers and venues to choose from, I simply went to my favorite bookstore cafe. You got it, Borderlands Bookstore & Cafe. I love those guys! I love the store, the staff, the events they host, and in recent years, I really love their charming cafe. So that was the deciding factor, and it turned out to be an excellent way to determine the most entertaining readings.

It's a little bit funny how much I love all things Borderlands. The store specializes in fantasy, science fiction, and horror. I dabble in these areas, but I'm not a hard-core reader of any of these genres. It's just a totally amazing store, and that's all there is to it. But given the nature of the store, it is not surprising that the following readings that I filmed are just the perfect little literary bon bons to share with you this Halloween weekend. Hence the serendipity! I promise you, the following readings are all treats.

First up (after Jude Feldman's charming introductions) is novelist Steven R. Boyett. The extent of my prior knowledge of Mr. Boyett was seeing him at lit events around town and asking who he was. While waiting for the readings to start, however, he handed out some bookmarks and postcards describing some of his works. His apocalyptic fantasy novels Ariel & Elegy Beach would probably be most up my alley. However, Steve read from his most recent work, Mortality Bridge. The subject matter and imagery in this reading is disturbing and horrific. The novel is a sort of Faust/Dante mash-up involving a musician who must travel through hell to save the woman he loves. So, this is disturbing, but very, very powerful stuff.

The other thing that I would note is that it does no justice to call this a reading. It's a performance. I have seen hundreds of authors read from their work, and some are better than others. Steve Boyett's performance from his novel is among the best I have ever seen. Video can't capture the full theatricality of the live perfomance, but I urge you to check this out:

Next up is genre-defying novelist Mira Grant. Here's what PW had to say about Feed, the novel from which she reads:

Starred Review. Urban fantasist Seanan McGuire (Rosemary and Rue) picks up a new pen name for this gripping, thrilling, and brutal depiction of a postapocalyptic 2039. Twin bloggers Georgia and Shaun Mason and their colleague Buffy are thrilled when Sen. Peter Ryman, the first presidential candidate to come of age since social media saved the world from a virus that reanimates the dead, invites them to cover his campaign. Then an event is attacked by zombies, and Ryman's daughter is killed. As the bloggers wield the newfound power of new media, they tangle with the CDC, a scheming vice presidential candidate, and mysterious conspirators who want more than the Oval Office. Shunning misogynistic horror tropes in favor of genuine drama and pure creepiness, McGuire has crafted a masterpiece of suspense with engaging, appealing characters who conduct a soul-shredding examination of what's true and what's reported.

I'd heard of both author and book at the time of this reading, but had no intention of reading it. In the two weeks since, I've purchased and listended to Countdown, the novella that's the prequel to this novel, and I suspect that I will probably read Feed and its sequels in the not too distant future. Great, just what I need, more books added to my list!

While Mira's novel is about a zombie apocalypse, it seems to be chock full of humor. Or at least this opening chapter is, and she does an excellent job of milking every laugh. It was the perfect palate cleanser after the heavy first reading. This is just plain entertaining, and as it's the first chapter of the book, there's not a thing you need to know:

At this point, I need to apologize to author Kirsten Imani Kasai who read from her novel, Tattoo. She was a great reader, and her novel is completely and totally original. (I may need a copy for the trashy underwater fiction collection!) I'm unable to share her reading with you because I only had a very few minutes of digital recording space left on the FlipCam. In fact, I thought I'd have to quit after Steve & Mira when final reader, Tim Pratt, announced that he'd be reading a series of very, very short pieces. So here are three of them for your viewing pleasure:

You know what's awesome? By visiting Tim Pratt's website in order to link it to this post, I realized the novel Blood Engines by T.A. Pratt that I have on my Kindle is his. Excellent! Clearly, I have some follow-up reading to look forward to after this successful event. If, like me, you feel compelled to explore the work of these writers further, I heartily encourage you to contact Borderlands Books. Their customer service is second to none, and I'm guessing they can get you signed copies of books by these authors.

LITQUAKE 2011: The Art of the Mystery

2011-10-27T10:29:00.000-07:00

Juliet Blackwell

Here is how it was billed:

The Art of the Mystery

October 15, 2011, 1:00 PM
Z Space
450 Florida St.

Litquake launches a new series of panels on the craft of writing, starting with thoughts on writing and suspense from four masters of the mystery. Discussion followed by a lively Q&A session.

Juliet Blackwell, Michelle Gagnon, Seth Harwood, Sophie Littlefield
*****

Michelle Gagnon & Sophie Littlefield

After yesterday's sad story, I thought I'd post something happier--from authors who let me record them! Unfortunately, I arrived just a couple of minutes late, so that's why the first segment begins already in progress. And, as usual, I'm contending with the narrow focus range of the FlipCam. But this video isn't too bad, and the panel is more than interesting enough to overlook the technical flaws.

These authors like me a whole lot better than Jeffrey Eugenides does. I've known Sophie and Michelle for a few years now, but I only met Juliet on the day of this event--which happened to be her birthday. So after this lovely discussion, the ladies invited me out for drinks, and I joined the three of them and a couple of other girlfriends for a leisurely afternoon of girl talk, lit gossip, and deep-fried food. My lips are sealed, other than to say that Juliet has a great story about the legendary Octavio Paz, Sophie likes to stir up trouble whenever possible, and that all the lady authors were amused by the Eugenides tale, which had occurred only the night before.

Seth Harwood

And now for your viewing pleasure, I am delighted to share what turned out to be a fun and lively panel discussion from some excellent mystery/thriller/YA authors. What I like best is the casual interaction between the panelists because, as they themselves note, every one knows everyone else in this community. On top of that, each of these panelists is knowledgeable, personable, and a darn good storyteller. Between them, they have published an incredible spectrum of fiction, and I defy you to listen to them talk about their work and not be tempted to read one or more of them. (Personally, I'm salivating for Michelle's forthcoming YA trilogy!) Above, I've added links to each of their websites for your convenience. Enjoy!

LITQUAKE 2011: My Evening with Jeffrey Eugenides, or Some Days It Doesn’t Pay to Get Out of Bed

2011-10-26T14:03:00.000-07:00

There have been several allusions on the blog to some recent health woes. I’m fine now, but two weeks ago, not so much. I’d been at home in bed for days, and Friday the 14th was my first day back at the office and back on my feet. I was weak. I should not have even been considering going out after work that evening. But it was Jeffrey Eugenides! The awesome Jeffrey Eugenides, out with his first novel in eight years! And I’d already read and loved The Marriage Plot. I wanted to be there.

I knew that the bookstore would be packed, not only because Mr. Eugenides is a major literary talent, but also because the signing was part of Litquake. That means it was on the radar of thousands more people than the average bookstore event. Just thinking about the potential mob scene made me want to pass out. So, this is what I did… I called the bookstore, explained that I was recovering from a medical procedure (true), that I was very weak (true), and was it possible to have a seat reserved for the reading? I said, “I know it’s a lot to ask.” I was pretty embarrassed to be asking for special consideration. And Corry at the Books, Inc. at Opera Plaza simply could not have been kinder. His response, “It’s nothing to ask.” He was so sweet. He made me want to be a customer for life. Really, such genuine kindness.

So, I got through the most unproductive work day of all time, and got over to Books, Inc. I grabbed a copy of the book and went to pay for it at the counter. (Because supporting our local independent booksellers is super-important!) As it happens, Corry was the very first person I saw at the counter. When I told him who I was, he smiled and told me there was a slip of paper with my name holding a seat in the front row. The store was already filling up, and I was so grateful for his intervention. I had arrived early, and just having a quiet place to sit until the event started made all the difference.

I was chilling out, reading a book, when I was approached by my friend Sue. What a happy surprise! We kibitzed until start time, and then went out for food and drinks next-door afterwards. By that time, there was plenty to postmortem. As expected, the store filled to a capacity crowd, and the event started right on time. Now, you know that whenever possible, I try to grab video for the blog. My excellent seat put me in a position to do just that. I was four feet away from the man, so for once, I had fantastic footage!

Mr. Eugenides started the evening with a few introductory remarks, including him telling the crowd that he spent his first several post-college years living in San Francisco, shopping in that very store. He then further ingratiated himself with the audience by explaining that it was the worst time of his life. He told a funny story about a psycho-roommate. I think we all have a story like that. He spoke for just about five minutes before he began reading from Madeleine’s narrative at the beginning of the book. He read well, and he read for a long time—nearly 25 minutes—in one long sequence. The novel is very funny, and he got a lot of laughs along the way.

After the reading, Mr. Eugenides spent about 15 minutes answering questions, many of which were unusually good questions. One that particularly impressed me came from a woman who noted that Mr. Eugenides had published a short story years earlier with a character with a name and story very similar to one of the three main characters in The Marriage Plot. She asked about the relationship, if any, between the earlier and more recent character. Mr. Eugenides did acknowledge that the earlier Mitch was a sort of prototype of the character in the current novel’s love triangle, and further acknowledged the relationship between that character and himself.

I think the most amusing answer came from a question regarding the audiobooks of his novels, and whether he would like to read them. (Yes, but it’s not going to happen.) He then told a story about a forthcoming film being made starring—of all people—Barbara Streisand and Seth Rogen as mother and son. I guess it’s a road trip movie, and he was contacted because the screenplay had them listening to CD after CD of the audiobook of Middlesex. He was contacted for permission, and he said he wanted to see how much humor at his expense was written in to the screenplay. And this also is what forced him to listen to the audiobook for the first time. He was quite surprised by some of the choices made by actor and director. Anyway, it was an awesome story, and I wish you could hear it in its entirety, but the reason you can’t will soon be clear. (Oh, but you will hear the Middlesex audiobook in the Streisand movie.)

I do not habitually ask questions at literary events, but sometimes I do. I had a question, and I was not trying to ambush Mr. Eugenides in any way. I was certainly not trying to make him feel uncomfortable. And I did not have an agenda. I just had a question. I thought it was a legitimate question then, and I still think so now. Let me back up a moment. As noted earlier, it was likely that I was one of the few people in the room that had read the novel which had only been on sale for a few days. I had enjoyed it immensely! The Marriage Plot is beautifully written, but it bears some resemblance to (I hope you’ll forgive me for saying) literary chick lit. The rich, flawed characters are beautifully drawn, the writing is gorgeous, and the story has plenty of substance and its share of pathos. But still, at its heart, it is a comic novel about young 20-something’s in a love triangle. You see my point?

So, the trouble started before I even got my question out. I was holding the microphone in my right hand, as the left had been balancing my little FlipCam propped against my knee all evening. I opened with a comment about how much I’d loved the novel, to which Mr. Eugenides responded, “Are you filming me?” I said, “Yes. Is that a problem? I’m happy to turn it off.” The visibly uncomfortable author replied that it was fine. It was just that technology had really changed. That he’s arrived at his first book signing in a horse and buggy. (Laughter.) He noted that I was lucky that he wasn’t Stephen Sondheim, cause he’d seen the octogenarian almost “rip someone’s head off” recently for a similar offense. I admitted that I’d actually filmed him at BEA, too (laughter) and again offered to turn off the camera. Again he declined and urged me to ask my question.

This is what I asked: When Jonathan Franzen published Freedom last year, there was a brief buzz in the media about male novelists writing about traditionally female subject matter (i.e. families and relationships) getting more review attention, press, and general acclaim than their female counterparts. I said that as another acclaimed male author, did he have an opinion on this matter? I asked this question in a friendly and positive manner, not because I already knew the answer, or I was presuming that the very premise of the question was correct, but because I was genuinely curious to hear his thoughts on the subject—which, whether a true premise or not, seems to me to be a subject worthy of discussion.

At that point, Mr. Eugenides looked significantly more uncomfortable. I again offered to turn off the camera, and he again declined. He said, “That was Jodi Picoult, right?” And I answered that it was a broad-ranging public dialogue that went far beyond any comments made by Jodi Picoult. Mr. Eugenides then noted, though, that there had been one or two very best-selling female novelists that had been outspoken on the subject. (And his memory was correct. Jennifer Weiner and Jodi Picoult were much quoted.) Mr. Eugenides continued that given the number of books they sold, he really didn’t know what they had to complain about. And besides, he has plenty of female writer friends (he named Lorrie Moore and Jumpha Lahiri) who get plenty of attention when they publish. He supposed it really just depended on the writer and the quality of the work. So, he answered the question, looking incredibly uncomfortable the entire time, and noted at the very end of the evening that Jodi Picoult “would hate him now.”

Now, had I had the opportunity to respond to Mr. Eugenides’ answer to my question, I would have pointed out that by necessity the most successful and best-selling among female authors must broach these questions, because for anyone less successful to do so looks like sour grapes. So, frankly, I find that part if his response to be somewhat naive. The second part of his answer is more legitimate, because he did name two highly acclaimed female literary novelists who do make a very large splash when they publish—although, two token women do not exactly prove parity. Nor do they disprove it. Like I said, I just think it’s a subject worthy of consideration and discussion. And finally, regarding his comment that it just depended on the quality of the work, it did come off as slightly condescending in my opinion.

Well, by the time this was all over, I felt completely terrible about making someone I admire greatly feel so uncomfortable in such a public way! As luck would have it, because of my excellent seat, I was also the first person in the signing line. Great. There was a short break while everything was organized, and during which time Mr. Eugenides left the room. Once he came back, I approached him and handed him my books to sign. I apologized for putting him on the spot, told him that had not been my intention. I explained that most authors were very happy for the publicity that came with film of their events. I explained that readers outside of major cities were always excited to be able to attend vicariously. I then offered to not post the video of the Q & A to the Internet. He agreed that would probably be best. I told him I understood. I then asked if he’d like me to at least post his reading. At first he said yes to this, but a few moments later changed his mind. So, for that reason, I’m not including links to any of the footage I shot that evening. And, no, you can’t find it online either, though there is plenty of other footage from other Eugenides events. He’s correct; the technology has changed. Now all you need is an iPhone, and I’m hardly the only blogger/fan making amateur films to share. So, it’s a shame, but of course I’m keeping my word.

I waited for quite a while for my friend Sue to make her way through the long signing line. While I was waiting, several people approached me and told me that it was a good question I’d asked, including a bookstore employee. It was nice of them because I was really quite bummed out. Writers always like me. I’m a serious, appreciative reader. I think that is possibly the first and only negative encounter I’ve ever had with a novelist on tour. Lovely Sue and I went out afterwards, and she did her best to make me feel better, and life moved on.

Now nearly two weeks have passed since my uncomfortable encounter with Mr. Eugenides. Having had some time to reflect on things, and quite frankly, having had time to review the taped interaction, I’m feeling a little less badly, and a little more irked about the whole incident. Simply put, at all times I tried to do the right thing. I wasn’t attempting to trip him up or push my own agenda. It was an awkward interaction, but no harm was intended. Jeffrey Eugenides let me walk away feeling like shit. I’m sure that my feelings weren’t his highest priority, but after all I did to apologize and make the situation right, he could have thrown me a bone in the form of a smile or a conciliatory word. But he really didn’t.

So, that’s what happened between Jeffrey Eugenides and me. I’m still a huge admirer of his work, and I don’t have significantly bad feelings about the man. Book tours are brutal. I think we were both having an off night. Probably I should just keep my big mouth shut. But you know what? This is my blog, and my life. I’m allowed to write about what happens to me, and so I get to tell my story. There you have it.

“Pseudoscientific snake oil” in Lalawood

2011-10-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

L.A. Mental
by Neil McMahon

Having just finished an emotionally devastating novel, I was looking for something lighter and a lot less challenging. Literary sorbet. Well, you get what you ask for.

LA Mental opens with several news reports of bizarre incidents of Angelino’s hurting themselves or others. From there, we’re plunged into the first-person world of clinical psychologist and college professor Tom Crandall as he gets a 3:00am wake-up call from his addict brother. Wanting to keep the police out of it, Tom ascertains his brother’s whereabouts in Malibu and races to the site. He find’s Nick’s cocaine-dusted car first, and stops to confiscate the drugs. He then follows the howls to his brother. Nick is perched on the edge of a cliff and even less coherent than usual, ranting, “There. Are. Worms. Eating my brain.” Tom’s attempt to lure him away from the ledge is interrupted by a cell phone call. Nick listens a moment and then immediately attacks Tom. The brief scuffle comes to a halt, and just as suddenly, Nick throws himself over the ledge. Tom leaps after.

And so it begins. I guess it’s not a terrible start, but this is one of those novels that just kept losing stars as it went. So much of the plot felt contrived, from Tom’s youthful background as a lifeguard, to a later convenient association with a renowned physicist. He comes from a family dripping with money, be unlike the rest of them, he chooses to live a modest, unassuming life. After that opening, the bulk of the plot revolves around a film production that his other brother, Paul, got the family involved with. It’s shooting on location at one of their properties. “The head of Parallax Productions—a native Swede named Gunnar Kelso—had been a world class physicist earlier in his life.” ‘Cause that’s normal. And the film they’re shooting isn’t just a little light entertainment; it actually explicates Kelso’s insane, cult-like theories. Kelso dresses his madness up in science, but Tom thinks to himself, “pseudoscientific snake oil.” That’s an understatement. God, it just gets more and more convoluted from there, and I don’t have the heart to go on. It’s all so dumb. I think I lost several IQ points just reading it.

I’m not very forgiving of bad science (and this is beyond bad), but it might be overlooked if the writing, characters, pacing, anything were exemplary, but it was all so… meh. Tom was such a non-entity to rest a novel on. I read this book at lightning speed, but I still kept forgetting his name. None of the other characters were very likable or especially noteworthy. Dialogue was occasionally cringe-worthy. (“If something goes wrong—they’re up against the power structure that owns the bones of this city.” Ugh.) Plot points are left hanging. It’s just a hot mess.

On the plus side, LA Mental is a short, quick read. It moved at a reasonable pace. It was, as requested, not too challenging. The author managed to capture the superficiality of Los Angeles. Most of the prose was serviceable. And best of all, I see no reason for a sequel.

Mailbox Monday: Seattle Skedaddle Edition

2011-10-24T15:37:00.000-07:00

So, I've just flown in from Seattle, and boy are my arms tired. Well, all of me is tired, but what a lovely few days I had up north! The university business that took me up there was both pleasant and productive. The weather wasn't quite as dreadful as I feared it would be. I spent the most wonderful time visiting with good friends who were so kind to me! I saw an entertaining musical which may some day be on Broadway. I shopped til I dropped. And I ate my way through the entire Pike Place Market. In fact, I brought back lots of yummy stuff to San Francisco. So, in honor of all of the above, today's mailbox is--yes--a ferry boat!

There's some literary stuff on the horizon this week. I was hoping to attend a staged reading of Cory Doctorow's Little Brother, but I think I need to sleep. There will be a fully-staged production playing San Francisco in January, and I will make sure to see it. Also under the literary/theatrical overlap is the fact that I need to go see Kevin Spacey perform Richard III this week. And finally, I should be fairly busy this weekend at the Northern California Independent Booksellers' Association trade show. Hopefully I'll have a few interesting stories and/or galleys to share next week.

And speaking of sharing stories, sorry I dropped the blogging ball in Seattle. I left the laptop at home. More Litquake posts and video to come...

1Q84
by Haruki Murakami
Release date: October 25, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

My friend Nicole, who knows well my literary proclivities, has been urging me to read Murakami for years--in the strongest possible terms. And for the past year or two, I've been dabbling with the Murakami and loving his work! Assuming I finish this epic, nearly 1,000-page novel, I'll have entered the big leagues.

Why Read Moby Dick?
by Nathaniel Philbrick
Release date: October 20, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I read Moby Dick for the first time within the past ten years. I loved it! I can think of many reasons why this great American novel should be read. I'm looking forward to hearing Philbricks' undoubtedly excellent argument.

The Free World
by David Bezmozgis
Release date: March 29, 2011
Source: Audible.com sale

I've been wanting to read this novel, shortlisted for Canada's Giller Prize for a while.

The Lost Throne
by Chris Kuzneski
Release date: July 23, 2009
Source: Audible.com sale

It's been far too long since I've read my old friend Chris Kuzneski. Of all his recent Payne and Jones thrillers, the plot description of this one has grabbed me the most. And the price was right...

Countdown: A Newsflesh Novella
by Mira Grant
Release date: August 1, 2011
Source: Audible.com sale

Ever since I heard Mira Grant read from this zombie series, I've been more intrigued than I expected/wanted to be. This brief prequel was a nice way to get a taste without plunging into yet another Zombie apocalypse. It was the perfect length for a flight between Seattle and San Francisco, and I have to admit it was entertaining.

Amsterdam
by Ian McEwan
Release date: November 28, 1999
Source: Audible.com sale

This is a polarizing literary novel that I am long over-due reading. I am really looking forward to it!

Goodbye, Columbus
by Philip Roth
Release date: September 12, 1966
Source: Library

Hold on to your hats, because this may be my most shocking admission ever: I have never read a Philip Roth novel. There is no excuse. It was certainly not intentional. There are plenty of them on my shelves. I don't know what to say. I guess if I can read Moby Dick in my 30's and love it, there's still time to keep exploring and discovering classic literature.

Books finished this past week:

When She Woke - Hillary Jordan
Countdown - Mira Grant
Replay - Ken Grimwood - Talk about "replay," I first read this novel nearly 20 years ago. I remember absolutely loving it! I hardly ever re-read books. Who has time? But sometimes when I see a cheap audio book, I can't resist revisiting an old favorite in a new way. I was listening to this one as I strolled the streets of Seattle. Invariably, when I have such fond memories of a book from long ago, usually there is a degree of let-down upon revisiting. I'm happy to report that was not the case here. I still really loved this novel! It's nothing fancy, just great story-telling, but I was captivated all over again. I'm really glad I took the time to revisit.

Currently reading:

1Q84 - Haruki Murakami

So, what have you been reading? What books have you acquired this week? Please let us know in the comments!

LITQUAKE 2011: Christopher Moore in Collision: Whales, Comedy, and The Impressionists

2011-10-19T18:49:00.000-07:00

Sorry to be posting about this event ten days after it took place. What can I say? I'm a delicate flower. I was having health woes last week. The other thing is, the quality of the video below is so dreadful, part of me wonders if it's even worth the effort--but already people are already finding this blog doing Google searches looking for the video. I situated myself as best I could in the cavernous space to be close to the chairs set up in the center of the room. You know how much time they spent in those chairs? None. Instead, both Chris and Flip thought it would be a great idea to take the mike and move as far away across the space from where I was a possible. I try, people. [Note: And now that I've looked at the footage on a screen larger than two inches, it's not quite as bad as I though.]

So, what was this wacky event, you ask? This is how it was billed:

Christopher Moore in Collision: Whales, Comedy, and The Impressionists

October 10, 2011, 6:00 PM
Z Space
450 Florida St., San Francisco
With Christopher Moore and Flip Nicklin

About ten years ago, New York Times bestselling comic novelist Christopher Moore decided to find out if there was more to write about whales, other than that they were "big and wet." And that's when he encountered National Geographic photographer Flip Nicklin. Then things got weird. The result was Moore's 2004 novel Fluke: Or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings, which featured a marine biologist named Clay Demodocus inspired by Nicklin, as well as a whale with the words "BITE ME" written on its fluke.

Now bosom buddies for over a decade, Moore and Nicklin get together at Z Space to showcase Nicklin's new book Among Giants: A Life with Whales, and give Moore fans a taste of Sacré Bleu, his 2012 novel set in France and featuring Vincent Van Gogh's murder as a jumping-off point. Moore will talk about art history, with a slide show of comics created from fine art. Nicklin will provide a slide show of his astonishing photographs of whales. What do they have in common? Nicklin's photos have been described as "painting with light." And the Impressionists' artistic quest was to "capture the moment" by "capturing the light." Otherwise, it will just be a good time and a lot of fooling around between two old friends.

The funny thing is that this strange juxtuposition brings together two very big parts of my own life. Once upon a time, I was the editor of Discover Diving, a magazine for scuba divers. I dealt with underwater photographers all day, every day--including Flip's dad, Chuck, himself a renowned underwater photographer and pioneer in the field. Now, instead of photo spreads of undersea critters, I keep my editorial skills honed by dabbling with novelists. In fact, I've been doing some proof-reading for Christopher Moore for years, starting with the novel--you guessed it--Fluke. It all comes full circle.

As it happens, I have read Chris's forthcoming novel, Sacré Bleu. It's wonderful! And one of these days I'll get around to writing a review. Without question, my favorite thing about the book was the tremendous information he included about the art and the artisits. Frankly, I didn't even need the plot. I could have read about these people and their work all day long. It was fascinating; and I've been resisting jumping on a plane to Paris since putting the novel down. Here's your chance to hear about some of that straight from the author's mouth. It's an awesome art history lecture with that special Christopher Moore spin. He won't be doing this on book tour, so here it is, for better or worse, semi-preserved here for you. Enjoy!

Well, I didn’t get it either

2011-10-18T13:23:00.000-07:00

The Sense of an Ending
by Julian Barnes

At 176 pages, The Sense of an Ending, Julian Barnes Man Booker-nominated latest is barely even a novella. Yet, there’s something to be said for an author willing to tell a story in the time that is needed to tell it, and not feeling compelled to pad the narrative. Mr. Barnes has included exactly what’s needed within these pages and not a word more.

His tale is told in two parts, by everyman narrator Tony Webster. The first part, comprising approximately a third of the book, reads like a coming-of-age story. It recounts the formative relationships of Tony’s early life, both male and female, from his school days through early adulthood. We meet his closest friends, witness his earliest romances, and experience his first losses. This first section was good, but not great on its own.

The novella flowered in its second, longer part, set 40 years later. Now Tony is in his early 60’s, amicably divorced, and a generally content man. One day, he receives notification of an unexpected and frankly bewildering bequest—which is then even more bewilderingly withheld. These contemporary happenings open windows to events of the past and Mr. Barnes held me rapt with the tale.

Despite the compelling plotline, go into this novella expecting it to be character-driven rather than plot-driven. In the end, the inheritance is a MacGuffin, and not really that important after all. It’s the relationships of the characters that really tell this tale, and they are beautifully rendered.

Throughout the latter part of the story, Tony is told repeatedly (and without explanation, of course), “You just don’t understand!” Well, he thought he did, and I thought he did. But it isn’t until the very final lines of the novella that the full truth is made clear. The Sense of an Ending is brief, and it is masterful, and if it wins the Man Booker Prize in a few minutes, it will be entirely deserving.

UPDATE: He won!

Mailbox Monday: Fall Leaves Edition

2011-10-17T16:01:00.000-07:00

Is it just me, or has it been a really long week? I did have a rough week last week, and I'll do you the favor of sparing you the gory details. In addition to my medical issues, I had a truly squirm-inducing encounter with a Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist. I'll be blogging about that at some point soon. It was not the highlight of my week.

On the other hand, I did get to attend quite a few excellent Litquake events, saw many friends, and got to go drinking with a bunch of awesome lady novelists. Again, there will be follow-up blog posts, video, and more, as soon as I can get around to it. Penny, was it you who was talking to me about Mira Grant and her alter-ego in the comments recently? I shot some really great video of her reading from Feed that you can look forward to later this week. Or perhaps I should save the zombies for Halloween? I have so much fun stuff to share! And at some point, I really need to write some book reviews...

Tonight, I have to choose between working really late (henceforth to be known as "what I should do") and going to see Alice Hoffman at the JCC, or Michael Ondaatje in conversation with Michael Chabon at City Arts & Lectures. Any thoughts? Tomorrow night is the book group that I run. And after that I'm not sure what else is up for the coming week. Oh yeah, I'm flying to Seattle on Thursday, where I will be seeing novelist Boyd Morrison and his lovely wife Randi over the weekend. So, that's a full enough week.

I want to take a moment to say "hi" to all the nice folks who are visiting this blog because of the Blog Hop. Already I can see that it's another huge success. It's nice to see some fresh faces on the blog. Do come back any time. :-)

And on that note, an entirely too long and very diverse list of acquisitions this week...

The Night Eternal
by Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan
Release date: October 25, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

This was a really pleasant surprise! The first novel of this trilogy scared the hell out of me, but I couldn't put it down. I think I've been waiting for the third to come out before reading the second book in the series. This would make for a fun Halloween treat!

The Time in Between
by Maria Duenas
Release date: November 8, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

I've already got a couple of galleys of this novel that has been getting some serious promotion from Simon & Schuster. I haven't heard anything specific about the novel itself yet, but I'm looking forward to giving it a read. If the house is pushing it that hard, I want to know why. Count on a galley giveaway soon.

Eat Vegan on $4.00 a Day: A Game Plan for the Budget Conscious Cook
by Ellen Jaffe Jones
Release date: June 15, 2011
Source: Finished paperback from publicist

I'm what you might call a "flexitarian," rather than a vegetarian or vegan, but this looks like a great resource for our times. I'm looking forward to trying some of the recipes.

The Marriage Plot
by Jeffrey Eugenides
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: Purchased at awesome indy, Books, Inc.

Hmmm, I wonder what Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Susan had an unpleasant encounter with this week? All I can say is that the novel is great.

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick
Release date: March 1, 2007
Source: library

There's a film coming and he has a new book out. It was time to finally read this. Plus, kids books are just what the doctor ordered when you aren't feeling well.

Death Match
by Lincoln Child
Release date: May 4, 2004
Source: library

More comfort reading while laid up. I've had a galley since forever, but I finally read it on my Kindle.

Lightning Rods
by Helen DeWitt
Release date: October 5, 2011
Source: Kindle purchase

I've been feeling guilty for ages that I haven't got around to reading DeWitt's cult classic, The Last Samurai. So, now that her second novel has been released more than a decade after the first, I was determined to read it in a timely manner. OMG, do not buy this book! I've heard to many good things about her debut to doubt it's the truth. What happened?

Blindness
by Jose Saramago
Release date: September 28, 1998
Source: $2.99 Kindle sale

I've never read it. 'Nuff said.

The Lost Goddess
by Thom Knox
Release date: February 2, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I've never read Mr. Knox. Have any of you? This adventure thriller looks like it could be really good or really bad! I'll totally give it a try.

A Thousand Lives: The Untold Story of Hope, Deception, and Survival at Jonestown
by Julia Scheeres
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I have always been fascinated with the Jonestown tragedy, in part because of my vague memories from childhood, and in part because it's an amazing, awful story. Do you know that I live one block from the site of the old temple in San Francisco? It's a post office now.

The Demi-Monde: Winter
by Rod Rees
Release date: December 27, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I'm not sure this will be my cup of tea, but I'm curious. Becky, if you read it first, please let us know your thoughts!

The Vanishers
by Heidi Julavits
Release date: March 13, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

I'm more interested in the mother/daughter themes of this novel than the supernatural ones. We'll see...

Books finished this week:

The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Lightning Rods by Helen DeWitt
The Invention of Hugo Cabret by Brian Selznick
Death Match by Lincoln Child
The Callahan Chronicles by Spider Robinson

Currently reading:

There but for the by Ali Smith (I'd be done by now if the damn book had punctuation!)

So, what books have you acquired this week? What have you been reading? Please let us know in the comments!

BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY: Sanctus by Simon Toyne

2011-10-14T17:18:00.000-07:00

I'm so very pleased to be participating again in one of Judith's (Leeswammes) big, international blog hops! I will be giving away up to three hardback copies of Simon Toyne's excellent debut thriller, Sanctus. Regular readers of this blog will recall that I quite enjoyed this thriller. But don't take my word for it. Here's what Publisher's Weekly had to say:

In British author Toyne's stellar first in a projected trilogy, a thriller in the Dan Brown tradition, an ancient sect of monks who live in the Citadel, a church carved out of a mountain near the fictional Turkish city of Ruin, have been protecting a secret, "the Sacrament," since before the Christian era. A monk who knows the secret, Brother Samuel, escapes from the Citadel and throws himself off the mountain in full view of spectators and news crews. Later, American newspaper reporter Liv Adamsen learns that her phone number, carved into a small leather strap, has been found inside Samuel's stomach. The monk turns out to be her brother, whom she hasn't seen in years, so Liv travels to Ruin to try to solve the puzzle of his mysterious death. She and several other groups battle the deadly monks, who will stop at nothing to thwart their efforts to discover the Sacrament's secret. The truly mind-boggling revelation will leave astounded readers eager for the next installment.

I understand if a religious thriller is not your thing. (I would have said the same thing. I was pleasantly surprised by this book!) The good news is that there are over 50 book blogs all over the world participating in this blog hop! Here's a list with links to all of them:

So, you may have noticed that I said that I'd be giving away up to three shiny hardback copies of this novel. If 1-19 people enter this giveaway, I'll give away one copy. If 20-29 enter, I'll give away two copies. And if 30 people or above enter, I'll give away all three copies of the book--so the more the merrier! Other than that, the usual rules apply--including that this giveaway is open only to U.S. mailing addresses. Sorry about that! Good luck to all who enter, and I encourage everyone to hop, hop, hop!

The giveaway is open to anyone with a U.S. mailing address ('cause I'm footing the postage).
To enter, all you need to do is post a comment below through Wednesday, October 19, 2011.
At my discretion, if there are less than five respondents, I can cancel or extend the giveaway.
Winner will be chosen by me with the help of a random number generator, and will be announced in the comments section of this thread.
Please check back to see if you've won. If you have left a way to contact you, I will do so.
The winner has one week to respond to me at suetu@yahoo.com with a mailing address, or I will choose a new winner.
If a second winner fails to respond, the book automatically goes to the lovely members of my face-to-face book club.
Previous giveaway winners are welcome to enter.
Finally, if at all possible, please comment below only if you're entering the giveaway.

A quick update

2011-10-14T14:45:00.000-07:00

Hi readers,

Sorry to go AWOL this week. My week was derailed by some unexpected and unpleasant medical issues. During Litquake week, of course. Grrr.

The good news is that I did make it out to see Christopher Moore and Flip Nicklin on Monday night, and I shot some notably bad video of their talks. I'll try to post it in the near future. I also got out to hear the awesome Chuck Klosterman speak, but alas, I was too far away to even attempt video. I will tell you that the single most interesting thing I learned is that his surname is pronounced with a long "o." Klost rhymes with toast. Who knew? I've been saying it wrong for years.

I was out of commission for Wednesday and Thursday, and I'm not confident I'll make it out to hear Jeffrey Eugenides tonight. (A bookstore employee kindly offered to reserve me a seat, so we'll see.) If I don't get video tonight, I've still got his talk from BEA up my sleeve. And there are still several Litquake events tomorrow, including the final Lit Crawl. So, I'll continue my coverage next week when I'm feeling a bit stronger.

Oh, two more good things... A winner has finally been selected for The Dovekeepers giveaway. Please check the posts' comments section if you entered. Also, tonight I'll be posting a link to not only my next giveaway, but links to more than 50 other book blogs around the world hosting giveaways!

So, that's all for now. Have a great weekend, everyone!

LITQUAKE 2011: Only in San Francisco... A Tribute to Chris Adrian

2011-10-10T13:54:00.000-07:00

This is how the event was billed:

“The Great Night” in Buena Vista Park

October 9, 2011, 4:00 PM

Buena Vista Park Summit
Buena Vista Ave. at Upper Terrace
Free

Co-presented by Booksmith, Buena Vista Neighborhood Association, San Francisco Recreation & Park Department, and San Francisco Parks Alliance

You are cordially invited to a picnic party in Buena Vista Park to celebrate Chris Adrian’s novel The Great Night, with fairies, maypoles, and twinkle lights. Pack a basket, bring a blanket, and join us for magic and revelry at the summit overlooking the city below.

Featured readings and performance by Great Night author Chris Adrian, author Andrew Sean Greer, and emcee Daniel Handler, with fairy-inspired merriment provided by Booksmith’s Literary Clown Foolery troupe, and a dreamy string quartet to set the mood. Signed books will be available for sale at Booksmith, but not at the actual event.

Please note: This is a party en plein air; layered clothing and warm coats suggested.

First, do you see any warnings that great exertion will be needed to reach the location of the event? Do you see where it says, "Bring your asthma inhaler"? Yeah, me neither. All I'm saying is, it's a hike to reach the summit of Buena Vista Park, and straight up altitude-wise. No wonder I've never ascended it before. It's definitely the hardest I've ever worked to attend a reading, but of course it was totally worth it in the end, as I knew it would be.

Now, a little background... Chris Adrian is (as you surely know) a literary novelist who was last year anointed one of the "20 under 40" most talented writers by the New Yorker. In addition to being a member of that elite group, here's a snippet on Chris's education from his Wikipedia page:

Adrian completed his Bachelor's degree in English from the University of Florida in 1993. He received his M.D. from Eastern Virginia Medical School in 2001. He completed a pediatric residency at the University of California, San Francisco, was a student at Harvard Divinity School, and is currently in the pediatric hematology/oncology fellowship at UCSF. He is also a graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop.

I have a theory that people this brilliant and talented are actually a different species than the rest of us. I call them Human 2.0.

The Great Night is Chris's third novel, published this past April. Despite my best intentions, I have not read it yet. But it received rave reviews, such as this one in Library Journal:

“William Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night's Dream deals with illusion—in particular, the illusion that things can be set aright, as if by magic. This riff by New Yorker 20 Under 40 author Adrian (A Better Angel) is a whole lot darker, declaring that no magic can take away the memory of suffering and that in our self-serving scramble we disdain the pain (and indeed the goodness) of others. On the summer solstice in San Francisco, the fairies come out from under their hill in Buena Vista Park to celebrate Great Night. But this year there will be no celebration, for Oberon has vanished and Titania is thoroughly undone by the death of her Boy, one of the many changelings brought to her by Puck--no mischievous sprite but a malevolent spirit. Even as a rowdy bunch rehearse a play aimed at exposing the mayor's crimes against the homeless, three people are trapped in the park by the fairies’ madness: uptight Molly, lovesick Will, and gentle, obsessed Henry, who still misses decamped lover Bobby and whose tragic past and connections to other characters unfold tantalizingly. Verdict: Inventive and scarily beautiful, this could wipe out casual readers, but it is an extraordinary novel.”—Library Journal (starred review)

With all that said, there's very little more I can say to explain the event that follows. All I can say is that it's very San Francisco-y, and that everyone in attendance had a fantastic time! The event was MCed by the ubiquitous Daniel Handler AKA Lemony Snicket, with the assistance of my friend Andy AKA novelist Andrew Sean Greer. (Yes, they are wearing fairy wings.) Say what you will about Mr. Handler (and I've said many things about him), the man is entertaining. He made some introductory remarks, followed by a song:

Next it was Andy's turn to take center stage. What can I say? I find this man charming. I enjoyed his silliness and reminiscences. And he gave those present a very, very special treat. He read from his unpublished and highly-anticipated novel, Other Worlds. (After the event, I asked Andy when the book would be out, and he told me that he hasn't even submitted it to his editor yet, so it's still at least a year off--making this an even more special treat.) And he followed his reading with, yes, another song:

Finally, it was Chris Adrian's turn to take the stage for his own reading from The Great Night. First, his introductory comments and a set-up for his reading:

This is unforgivable, but about a minute after Chris started reading, my batteries died! Here's the very beginning:

I located and changed batteries as quickly as I was able, but there is a gap in his reading. Don't try to make sense of it, just start listing again. On the plus side, this interruption allows me to post a warning that there is adult content following. I'm not joking. It was kind of funny, seeing as how there were lots of families with little kids in attendance. I commented on it to Andy later, and I think the organizers of this event--geared towards adults--were surprised by all the kids. Only after the fact did they realize that "Lemony Snicket" is a kid magnet. In any case, the kids I saw were little, and weren't paying the slightest attention to the content of the reading. But they probably enjoyed the dog costume:

And finally, to close the proceedings, and by popular demand, a reprise of the opening fairy song:

After it was over, I told Andy that he's the bravest person I know. He replied, "Oh, I'm not ashamed of anything I've done. That I remember." He was like, "That was weird." But I assured him that everyone in attendance had an absolute blast--and we did! It was such a good, wacky, perfect San Francisco event! It's for days like this that we choose to live in this crazy city. I don't know if any of that translates through my weak video footage, but I'm happy to share this truly fun, joyful event with you.

Kudos to Litquake, the Booksmith, and most of all to Daniel Handler, Andrew Sean Greer, Chris Adrian, and the MFA students for a rousing good time!

Mailbox Monday: Litquake 2011 edition

2011-10-10T11:24:00.000-07:00

What a week it's been! After nearly a decade in San Francisco, I took a BIG step in my life as a citizen. I got a library card. My first San Francisco library card. I mean, you saw the picture from my apartment; you know why I never needed one before. But I've been inspired by technology, because now, from the comfort of my own home, I can borrow e-books for my Kindle and audiobooks for my iPod, and that is awesome. I'm still not a big fan of the concept of giving books back, but it's nice to have the option to borrow. And a big kudos to the helpful folks at my local library branch, who not only walked through the technology with me, but also gave me a choice of designs for my library card, LOL.

So, I've been talking about this for a while, but San Francisco's annual literary festival, Litquake has officially begun! I'll be attending a bunch of literary events in the next week, and wherever possible, I'll shoot video. My week got off to a great start yesterday with an event that could only happen in San Francisco! And, oh yes, I got video. It's shocking! And it's uploading as I type. With any luck, I'll be able to get it posted later today.

And, I'm off to see Christopher Moore tonight in conversation with his friend Flip Nicklin. Flip is a renowned underwater photographer and whale researcher, and the two met while Chris was researching his novel Fluke. So, I'm willing to bet this will be an interesting evening. It almost feels like two parts of my life are intersecting. I used to interact with underwater photographers (including Flip's dad) on a daily basis back in my dive magazine editor days.

On Tuesday evening, I'll be going out to hear Chuck Klosterman, who's The Visible Man I liked very much. Wednesday, I'm taking a night off from the Litquake to attend a film screening. Thursday, I'm considering attending a literary/theatrical crossover event, and on Friday, I'm thinking Jeffrey Eugenides. There are some daytime readings I may attend on Saturday, and the whole shebang ends Saturday night with the famous Lit Crawl through San Francisco's Mission District. Hundreds and authors participate in readings in every sort of venue imaginable (art galleries, bars, boutiques, coffee houses, theaters, sex shops, and yes, bookstores). You can count on at least 10,000 lit lovers flooding the neighborhood. The crowds are a pain in the ass, but how can you mind seeing that many people embracing literature?

And on that note...

The Sense of an Ending
by Julian Barnes
Release date: October 5, 2011
Source: Purchased with Audible credit

I predicted that if this novel won the Man Booker Prize that it would be released earlier than the originally scheduled date of January 21, 2012. Apparently merely being the presumed winner was enough to get the novel released two weeks ahead of the announcement. (Which comes in 8 days!) Review to come shortly.

Matched
by Ally Condie
Release date: November 30, 2010
Source: Purchased with Audible credit

I've had the highly-coveted book two of this trilogy since May. I've been meaning to read the first one for the past year. Now I have, and The Hunger Games it's not.

Sanctus
by Simon Toyne
Release date: September 6, 2011
Source: 3 Finished hardbacks from publisher

You may recall that I enjoyed this debut thriller quite a lot. The kind folks at HarperCollins have supplied me with three shiny (literally) copies that I'll be giving away in a big blog hop giveaway starting this Saturday, October 15th!

There but for the
by Ali Smith
Release date: September 13, 2011
Source: The Amazon Vine Program

I've been meaning to read Smith for years, and I love the premise of this novel! It's off to a great start.

The Stranger's Child
by Alan Hollinghurst
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: The Amazon Vine Program

This will be another first for me, reading Hollinghurst. I enjoy a good family epic. The Booker watchers were shocked when this novel failed to make the cut for the short list. Until that happened, it had been the presumed front runner.

The Judas Strain
by James Rollins
Release date: July 2, 2007
Source: $1.99 Kindle purchase

This is the novel where James "Jimbo" Rollins wrote about a nice, blonde, scuba diving lady named Susan Tunis, and proceeded to torture her for several hundred pages. How could I pass up the special discounted e-book?

The Hangman's Daughter
by Oliver Pötzsch
Release date: August 2, 2011
Source: $.99 Kindle purchase

I have a paper galley, but for less than a buck, I like having a Kindle copy as well. The novel has a lot of positive buzz.

The Shadow of the Wind
by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
Release date: April 12, 2004
Source: My first library book!

I read and very much enjoyed the second book of this quartet, but never did read this first one. It's as wonderful as everyone says. Hopefully the third book will be out soon!

Books finished this week:

Matched by Ally Condie
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Tension City by Jim Lehrer

Currently reading:

There but for the by Ali Smith
The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon

So, what have you been reading lately? What books have you acquired lately? Do let us know in the comments!

Boy + Tiger + Sea voyage = Booker nomination?

2011-10-08T07:54:00.000-07:00

Jamrach's Menagerie
by Carol Birch

Set in the unforgiving world of 19th century England, Jamrach’s Menagerie is the story of Jaffy Brown, who claims to have been reborn at the age of eight. On that day, he’s out and about when everyone around him starts running and pressing themselves up against walls. Looking up, he sees a large tiger padding right towards him. Jaffy walks up and pats its fur—at which point the tiger takes the boy in its mouth and starts carrying him off, little bare toes dragging over the cobbles. Jaffy doesn’t struggle or fuss.

Soon enough, the boy is saved by the eponymous Jamrach, the dealer in wild and exotic animals from whom the tiger had escaped. Jamrach decides that Jaffy is “good with animals,” and fearless to boot. The eight year old is offered a job, and he spends his formative years working with the animals alongside a frenemy, one year older. As teenagers, the two boys decide to ship off to sea aboard a whaling ship with a secondary mission. They are to capture an unknown beast—a dragon—for one of Jamrach’s wealthy clients. We haven’t entered the realm of fantasy; this reader knows that what they are after is a Komodo dragon, even if the characters themselves don’t.

While this is Ms. Birch’s ninth novel, it’s her first novel-length work published in the U.S. It has also been short-listed for the Man Booker Prize this year, and I can certainly see why. Rarely have I seen more evocative prose. She has vividly captured the sights and sounds and ghastly smells of this harsh era. She has also captured the wonder of this more innocent age. Beauty and wonder are a joy to read when so evocatively rendered, but when the tale devolves into terror, madness, and a struggle to survive—as it does—the power of her prose is painful. It’s amazing how affecting mere words can be!

Jaffy Brown is a character who leads an extraordinary life, and Carol Birch takes her readers on an adventure well worth traveling!

I tend to fall in love with debut novelists…

2011-10-06T10:27:00.000-07:00

The Visible Man
by Chuck Klosterman

Lauren Groff, Glen David Gold, Audrey Niffenegger—the list goes on and on. An author writes an exceptional first novel that rockets them to the top of my favorites list. Then commences that eternal wait for the follow-up; the wait to see if it was a fluke or what.

I loved Chuck Klosterman’s debut novel, Downtown Owl. I laughed until I had tears in my eyes, and until he genuinely brought me to tears. Awesome. I’ve been awaiting his sophomore effort and hoping for more of the same. And I was fortunate—not only because I was handed an advance galley of this book by the man himself—but also because he warned me that this second novel is radically different in subject matter and tone than the first.

The Visible Man is a short novel in the form of an unpublished manuscript being submitted to Simon & Schuster, complete with cover letter and parenthetical notes to an editor. The author of the supposedly non-fiction manuscript is a therapist named Vicky Vick. The book she’s written details the therapeutic and other interactions she had with the most extraordinary patient she will ever treat. Identified only as Y___, their initial sessions occur over the telephone. Y___ is very reticent to provide personal details, including the issue that has brought him to seek treatment.

Ultimately, the story comes out; supposedly, he’s a scientist who designed, on his own, a suit that allows him to remain unseen by others. Effectively, he can become all but invisible. He has issues regarding “the sensation of guilt” brought about by actions he’s undertaken when cloaked. Namely, he’s been observing strangers alone in their homes without their knowledge. The story of both patient and therapist is relayed through her professional notes and observations, through transcripts of recorded therapy sessions, answering machine messages, and so forth.

On the one level, this is just plain, old-fashioned good story telling. You’ve got a psych patient who says he can become invisible. Is he delusional? What—if anything—that he says is the truth? Where is this story going to go? On another level, Mr. Klosterman, speaking in the voice of the enigmatic and troubling Y___, gets to engage in all sorts of interesting social and philosophical commentary, and to share the fascinating and bizarre stories of those he spies on:

“My earliest memories all involve staring at people and wondering who they actually were. Staring at my mom, for example, and wondering who she was and what she really felt, and how her mother-centric worldview compared to mine. I didn’t know the definition of the word worldview, but I still had one. My mom was a different person around my brother and a different person around my dad and a different person on the telephone—why would I be the one exception who saw the real her?”

Or, “Our world is really backward, Victoria. It’s backward. Look what society does. It takes the handful of people who know how to succeed and makes them feel terrible for being different. Everyone is supposed to be mediocre, I guess. Everyone is supposed to be dragged into the middle—either down from their success, or up from their self-imposed malfunction. These people didn’t need a support group. These people needed someone to tell them they were okay.”

This is not a comic novel as Downtown Owl was, but there is plenty of humor within the pages. (“Men who talk about the details of their sex life are not real people. I’m not a rapper. I’m not a Jewish novelist.”) I don’t think Mr. Klosterman knows how to be not funny. He does, however, know how to write. The benefit of having only the two principle characters in this story is that they become fully fleshed, even through this non-traditional narrative. Their relationship is a strange and intimate one.

Ultimately, this novel worked for me on many levels. It wasn’t the book that I was hoping for, perhaps, but kudos to Mr. Klosterman for highlighting the diversity of his talent. Sophomore novels are so very often a let-down, but Chuck Klosterman remains near the top of my must-read list.

GUEST BLOGGER POST: Welcome to Jeremy Robinson’s Great Kindle Giveaway and Blog Tour

2011-10-05T00:02:00.000-07:00

“Hurray for free Kindles!” you say, but who the hell is Jeremy Robinson? Allow me to introduce myself. I’m the author of eleven mixed genre novels, published in ten languages, including the popular fantasy YA series, THE LAST HUNTER, and the fast-paced Jack Sigler series (also known as Chess Team—not nearly as nerdy as it sounds), PULSE, INSTINCT, and THRESHOLD from Thomas Dunne Books/St. Martin’s Press. I’m the co-author of an expanding series of novellas deemed the Chesspocalypse, which take place in the Chess Team universe. If that doesn’t wet your whistle, I’m also known as Jeremy Bishop, the #1 Amazon.com horror author of THE SENTINEL and the controversial novel, TORMENT. For more about me, or my books, visit http://www.jeremyrobinsononline.com/.

I have watched for years as my fellow authors held online events called blog tours. Some would visit ten blogs. Others, as many as ninety. And every day they would bring something different, waxing eloquent about a multitude of topics. When I finally decided to have a blog tour of my own, and settled on doing each and every weekday in October, my first thought was, “This will be cool,” which was immediately followed up by, “Holy crap, I can’t think of something interesting to say twenty times in one month!” I can barely think of something worthwhile for my own blog just once a month. The solution is what follows; each blog participating in the tour could ask me ANY three questions. That means, if the subject matter bores you, I’m not to blame! Huzzah!

But fear not. There are other rewards for sloughing through the questions and answers. I’ll be giving away two Kindles to two randomly selected readers who sign up for my newsletter. Details on the giveaway can be found below. On to the Q&A!

You’ve written science fiction, fantasy, thrillers, horror, and probably a few genres I’m missing. Is there another genre you’re interested in expanding into? Do you see yourself ever writing fiction that wouldn’t be classified as “genre”? What about non-fiction?

I think I’ve hit all the genres that interest me (including non-fiction—I wrote The Screenplay Workbook). It’s possible I might go a little more straight forward thriller in the future (without monsters or crazy science) but I don’t see myself branching out into romance or medical thrillers. That said, I do plan to branch back into other formats of storytelling (video games, movies, TV series). I’ve made a lot of short films and viral videos over the years and am hoping to make my first full length horror movie in the next year.

As a diver and science geek, I am fascinated by the ocean and the creatures that live within it. Based on some of your novels, I’d guess we have this in common. What draws you to this subject matter?

I grew up two minutes from the ocean. As a kid, I spent a lot of time exploring the coast and islands off of Massachusetts North Shore. The ocean just has this kind of draw on me. I have no doubts that there are many more amazing creatures, some big, that have yet to be discovered. It’s dangerous. It’s alien. It’s everything that draws my attention, and on top of that, the sight and smell of the thing brings me peace and inspires me. Right now I live 25 minutes from the ocean and it feels too far.

You’re about as busy as a full-time author/designer/publisher can be, and yet you’ve made it a priority to give back to your community as a founder of the New Hampshire AuthorFest. Where did the idea come from, and what are your hopes and goals for the festival?

I started NH Authorfest several years ago with the manager of my local Waldenbooks (which has since been closed). We both wanted to promote literacy in my city so we threw it together and made it a yearly event. Last year, after Waldenbooks closed, the event became an official non-profit organization and things have grown quickly. But we’re still evolving. Being a non-profit imposed more restrictions than we knew and the way we promote literacy has been pigeon-holed to giving money to organizations who apply for a grant. We can’t give to anyone else. We can’t donate books. Etc. So, it’s possible we will end our non-profit status so we can give without restrictions.

Hope that was as good for you as it was for me. Now how about that kindle giveaway?

Here’s the deal: to be entered to win one of two free kindles all you have to do is visit my website—http://www.jeremyrobinsononline.com/—and sign up for the newsletter. That’s it. The first kindle will go to a randomly chosen newsletter signup on October 31. For the second kindle, there’s a catch. The second giveaway will only be triggered if one of my kindle books hits the Amazon.com bestseller list (top 100). So pick up some books (most are just $2.99 a pop) and spread the word! If one of the books squeaks up to #100 for just a single hour, the second kindle will be given away to another randomly chosen newsletter sign up on October 31.

*When you sign up for the newsletter, be sure to include the name of the blog that referred you in the field provided. I’ll be giving away two $50 Amazon.com gift certificates to the blog that refers the most sign-ups and another to the blog who referred the first kindle winner.

** I will announce winners via Twitter, Facebook, my blog, and newsletter (which you will be signed up for!) but I’ll also e-mail the winners directly—I’ll need to know where to ship those kindles!

Thanks for spending some time with me today. Hope you enjoyed the Q&A, and good luck with the kindle giveaway!

-- Jeremy Robinson

Mailbox Monday: The On Top of October Edition

2011-10-03T12:47:00.000-07:00

You know, it's getting to the point that I feel having a plain old mailbox is inexcusably boring...

So, no big literary news on this end. I think the highlight of last week was going out to see an advance screening of the remake of Footloose with a bunch of friends Friday night. Not very literary, but surprisingly enjoyable! It was like being 15 again.

I think this will also be a quiet week for lit events--until Litquake starts on Sunday with an awesome fairy picnic! Let's hope for good weather! The following week, I've got lit events that I could attend every night--depending on my energy and stamina. Sometimes even I need an evening off. But there should be some fun stuff to report in the near future. And on that note...

Reamde
by Neal Stephenson
Release date: September 20, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

I couldn't get past page three of Anathem, but this is much more up my alley. In fact, I read all 1,000+ pages in about 3 days. OMG, what a rollicking good time I had!

Wishes & Stitches
by Rachel Herron
Release date: October 11, 2011
Source: Finished trade paperback from publisher

This will go to a knitter in my life. Is this something you'd like to see given away on the blog?

Falling Together
by Marisa de los Santos
Release date: October 28, 2011
Source: Finished hardback from publisher

I recall de los Santo's debut novel, Love Walked In being pleasant enough. Truthfully, my expectations for this novel aren't super high, but not every novel needs to be brilliant. Some can be merely entertaining and pass the time. This will probably fit the bill when the mood strikes.

The Cat's Table
by Michael Ondaatje
Release date: October 4, 2011
Source: The Amazon Vine program

Ondaatje is another novelist that sadly I've not read before. Jon says his writing is gorgeous, but I have to admit the description of the novel's shipboard plot is what grabbed me.

The Technologists
by Matthew Pearl
Release date: February 21, 2012
Source: The Amazon Vine program

Pearl's debut novel has been sitting on my shelf unread for many years--not through any lack of interest on my part. And each subsequent novel has caught my eye. But it looks like I'll finally read him with this forthcoming release. Like his other novels, this is a period thriller. The description of this novel makes it sound like a science thriller solved by the members of MIT's first graduating past. That just sounds delicious.

The Good Father
by Noah Hawley
Release date: March 20, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

While not an original premise (We Need To Talk About Kevin), this is always an intriguing one to me. It's about the experience of the parent of an (adult) child who commits an unimaginable crime. In this case, this eponymous father's son is caught on video attempting a political assassination. Can't wait to read this, but given that it won't be released until spring, it probably will wait a while.

The Dressmaker
by Kate Alcott
Release date: February 21, 2012
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

There can never be too many Titanic novels. Am I right?

The Dovekeepers
by Alice Hoffman
Release date: October 4, 2011
Source: Electronic galley from publisher

Did anyone happen to notice that I'm trying to give away a free copy of this high-profile soon-to-be-best-seller? I'm thinking, "no." Putting aside my own complex response to this novel, it's getting rave reviews. For this reason, I'm going to extend the deadline on last week's giveaway. Please post a comment to the linked giveaway by Wednesday, October 12th for a chance to win. I urge you to enter, as the odds are in your favor!

Books finished in the last week:

The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen
Reamde by Neal Stephenson
The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman
The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman

This was a hefty reading week. I'd guess about 2,000 pages. That's certainly not unprecedented. I don't even know how unusual it is, but it feels more like an accomplishment when a single title is over 1,000 pages long. I'm not sure why that is.

The Visible Man by Chuck Klosterman sort of snuck up on me. It was one of the books I was most excited about acquiring at BEA, but the on-sale date was so far off that I put off reading it in lieu of books coming out sooner. Suddenly I noticed the other day that it goes on sale tomorrow. So, I had to fit it in over the weekend.

What an interesting novelist Mr. Klosterman is turning out to be! I haven't read his journalism or non-fiction, but I loved his uproarious debut novel, Downtown Owl. When I saw him at BEA, I asked if this latest would be in a similar vein. On the contrary, it's not a comic novel, but very, very interesting. I have no idea what I will write in a review...

Currently reading:

To be determined. I might just watch Terra Nova tonight, LOL.

So, what books have you guys acquired? What are you reading? Pleas let us know in the comments!