“I know it sounds crazy.”

Insane City
by Dave Barry

I’ve been a fan of Mr. Barry’s for decades. He has elicited from me embarrassing snorts of laughter on too many occasions to count. Therefore, and new novel is always an occasion to be looked forward to.

The insane city of the novel’s title is Miami, Florida, soon to be the site of the Weinstein-Clark wedding. At the heart of the tale is groom Seth Weinstein, and the novel’s first few chapters could be the opening of The Hangover III. It’s bachelor party night, and while amusing, I did think to myself, “If this is 300 pages of Boys Behaving Badly, I’m not sure I can take it.” Happily, that is not the case. Well, there is a lot of bad behavior from boys, girls, and, uh, various other creatures, but the bachelor hijinks soon pave the way for a far more absurd and entertaining tale. It’s goofy as all get out, but has both substance and heart at its very core. I could try to summarize the novel’s plot, but I think it would be a lot more fun to share a few brief quotes:

“This isn’t what it looks like.”

“So, you’re not bleeding from the head and hanging out with a Beyoncé look-alike and a Jerry Springer bouncer carrying a large snake?”

“He had to stop being an idiot.”

“Wait, he shot a Jet Ski? Even in Miami, that has to be against the law.”

“I know it sounds crazy.”

“Eventually these people decided that this was just another one of those strange things that seem to happen in Miami.”

“Nothing I hate more than an orangutan shooter.”

“If you’re just joining us this morning, we’re following one of those weird stories that makes you shake your head and say, ‘Only in Miami.’”

“It’s complicated.”

“Even by Miami standards, this was a weird group making its way through the Bayside crowd.”

“Any man fleeing from the police with three women, two children, and an orangutan is a friend of mine.”

Oh, yes, it’s novels like this that make me wonder why I’m considering relocating to Miami. Dave Barry can still make me laugh out loud after all these years. And while no one will ever mistake his work for literary fiction, he did once win a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary. He knows how to write a proper sentence. Furthermore, he did a nice job of creating characters who, over the course of the novel, manage to reveal their true natures.

Don’t come to this one looking for sophistication or subtlety, but if you’ve had a bad day and are seeking a little screwball comedy, look no further. Insane City is guaranteed to lift your spirits.

Mailbox Monday: BEA boxes edition

Sorry all, I meant to have this up last night, but my computer froze up shortly before I was about to post it.  Anyway, as promised, here is the full inventory of the boxes I shipped by from BookExpo America in NY.  It's roughly 100 books which weighed 121 pounds and cost a lot to ship back to California.  And of course, add to the cost of these "free" books my travel and other expenses for the trip to NY and you'll see that that aren't so free after all.  But that's okay, I've done this before.  I know the costs involved.

If you're wondering why I grabbed duplicate copies of so many books, well, they're for you, of course.  I'll read and review as many of them as I'm able, and I have reason to believe that will be a fair number of titles.  But in addition to a copies for my own reviewing purposes, I'll share these books with blog readers in the Humpday Giveaways on Wednesday.  If you see a book that you're especially interested in having a chance to win,  please feel free to speak up in the comments section below.  I may be able to schedule it for giveaway sooner, rather than later, and it may also keep me from giving it away to my face-to-face book club.  (I bring a good stack of books to share with them each month, too.

Here's the list:

AUDIOBOOKS:

Dead End in Norvelt by Jack Gantos (2 copies)
The Island by Elin Hilderbrand

MASS MARKET PAPERBACKS:

Claim of Innocence by Laura Caldwell (signed)
In Desperation by Rick Mofina (signed)
Before Cain Strikes by Joshua Corin (signed)

HARDBACKS:

* In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larsson (5 copies)
Dead Reckoning by Charlaine Harris (5 copies)
The Whisper by Carla Neggers (signed)

The Girl Who Disappeared Twice by Andrea Kane (signed)
Children and Fire by Ursula Hegi (2 copies)
The Linen Queen by Patricia Falvey (signed)
Phantom Evil by Heather Graham (signed)
Feathers: The Evolution of a Natural Miracle by Thor Hanson (2 copies)
Dogfish Memory by Joseph A. Dane
Darkest Mercy by Melissa Marr (signed)

TRADE PAPERBACKS & GALLEYS:

Queen of America by Luis Alberto Urrea (2 copies, 1 signed)
The United States of Banana by Giannina Braschi
* The Dovekeepers by Alice Hoffman (3 copies, 1 signed)
Blood Wounds by Susan Beth Pfeffer
Temporary Perfections by Gianrico Carofiglio (2 copies)
Tension City: Inside the Presidential Debates from Kennedy-Nixon to Obama-McCain by Jim Lehrer (3 copies)
Crossed by Ally Condie (signed)

Hot Water by Erin Brockovitch with C.J. Lyons (2 copies)
Aftertime by Sophie Littlefield (signed)
Dove Season by Johnny Shaw (signed)
* The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh (2 copies, signed)
The Restorer by Amanda Stevens (signed)
* Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler (signed)
American Dervish by Ayad Akhtar (2 copies)
Wahoo Rhapsody by Shaun Morey (signed)
Girls in White Dresses by Jennifer Close (2 copies, signed)
The Pluto Files by Neil DeGrasse Tyson
The Maid by Kimberly Cutter (2 copies)
Great House by Nicole Krauss
Beneath the Lion’s Gaze by Maaza Mengiste

The Lost Angel by Javier Sierra (2 copies)
The Shallows by Nicholas Carr
Enthralled by Melissa Marr (signed)
The Swerve: How the World Became Modern by Stephen Greenblatt (2 copies)
The Inquisitor’s Apprentice by Chris Moriarty
The Soldier’s Wife by Margaret Leroy
Spontaneous Happiness by Andrew Weil, MD (2 copies)
* The Revisionists by Thomas Mullen
Defending Jacob by William Landay (2 copies)
The Emperor of Lies by Steve Sem-Sandberg (2 copies)
Fallen by Karin Slaughter (signed)
* Birds of Paradise by Diana Abu-Jaber (2 copies)
Mindfulness by Mark Williams and Danny Penman

The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach (2 copies, 1 signed)
Operation Napoleon by Arnaldur Indridason
* The Magician King by Lev Grossman (2 copies, 1 signed)
The Taker by Alma Katsu
* The Submission by Amy Waldman (signed)
Next to Love by Ellen Feldman (2 copies, signed)
Calling Mr. King by Ronald De Feo
Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan (signed)
Au Revoir, Crazy European Chick by Joe Schreiber (3 copies)
Wisdom’s Kiss by Catherine Gilbert Murdock
Domestic Violets by Matthew Norman (signed)
* The Bridge to Neverland by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson (signed)
The Hangman’s Daughter by Oliver Potzsch

Emory’s Gift by W. Bruce Cameron (2 copies)
How to Rock Braces and Glasses by Meg Haston
Neon Panic by Charles Philipp Martin
* The Forgotten Waltz by Anne Enright (4 copies)
Daughter of Smoke and Bone by Laini Taylor (signed)

This list doesn't include the handful of books I carried back in my luggage, but the books with the asterisk are the ten titles I'm most excited about.  The Chuck Klosterman novel I hand carried back would have bumped something above.  So, are you excited about any of these books?  What are your top picks?

Oh, as for my normal Mailbox Monday influx, let's just put those books off for next week.  This is enough.  I did finish Ann Patchett's State of Wonder since I posted yesterday.  I loved it!  What are you reading right now?  Picked up any good books in the past week?

Mailbox Monday: April at last! edition

So, this will shock you...  Lots of books in this week.  Happily, I'm also back on track with my reading.  :-)

The Frozen Sky
by Jeff Carlson
Release date:  1/15/2010
Source:  Purchased via Kindle

Jeff Carlson is awesome.  Who else could get away with an opening sentence like, "They ate Jorgensen first."  Best. First. Sentence. Ever.  (It opens his debut novel Plague Year.)  Never mind the fact that he wrote me in as a character in the sequel and nuked me off the planet.  (Bastard!  Why are authors always doing this to me?)  At 99 cents, this is a bargain.  I can't wait to read.

The Haunting of Sherlock Holmes and Other Tales of Adventure
by Warren Fahy
Release date:  3/16/2011
Source:  Purchased via Kindle

A week without Warren Fahy is a week without sunshine.  True fact.  And as this is another 99 cent bargain, how can I resist? 

Until Tuesday : A Wounded Warrior and the Golden Retriever Who Saved Him

by Luis Carlos Montalvan
Release date:  5/3/2011
Source:  Paper galley from publisher

That is the cutest dog of all time, but I'm so not reading this book.  It's just not my cup of tea.  This might go over well withsomeone in my book group, which is where I'll give it away--unless there's a rash of comments here asking to make it a Humpday Giveaway.

The Bridge to Never Land
by Dave Barry and Ridley Pearson
Release date:  8/9/2011
Source:  Electronic galley from publisher

I've read enough of their Peter and the Starcatchers books to be comfortable (and excited about) reading this latest book that brings the tail into contemporary London.  Fun!

State of Wonder
by Ann Patchett
Release date:  6/7/2011
Source:  Paper galley via Amazon Vine program

I had not heard about this book until it was offered to me through Amazon.  The description sounds fantastic!  Like James Rollins meets... well, Ann Patchett.  I cannot wait to dive in!

Lowcountry Summer
by Dorthea Benton Frank
Release date:  6/15/10
Source:  Trade paperback from publisher

Last week's giveaway.

Crunch Time
by Diane Mott Davidson
Release date:  4/5/2011
Source:  Finished hardback from publisher

Spoiler alert... this week's giveaway.

Skinny
by Diana Spechler
Release date:  4/26/2011
Source:  Electronic galley from publisher

A book set at a weight loss camp narrated by one of the counselors.  Sounds interesting. 

The Book of Lies
by Mary Horlock
Release date:  7/19/2011
Source:  Electronic galley from publisher

Teen murders on Guernsey, with a tie to the present and a tie to the Nazi occupation.  What's not to like?

Dreams of Joy
by Lisa See
Release date:  5/31/2011
Source:  Paper galley via publisher

The sequel to Shanghai Girls, which I still have to read first.

The Peach Keeper
by Sarah Addison Allen
Release date:  3/29/2011
Source:  Purchased with Audible.com credit

It was okay, not great.  And I've already posted a review!

Skipped Parts
by Tim Sandlin
Release date:  1/22/1992
Source:  Kindle freebie

I read this novel years ago--which didn't stop me from getting sucked right back in when I foolishly opened it this evening.  I speed read it on one sitting.  If anything, it was better the second time around!  And guess what?  Fifteen years after the GroVont Trilogy ended he's got a new book, Lydia, returning to those beloved characters.  Check my review below.

13 Little Blue Envelopes
by Maureen Johnson
Release date:  8/23/2005
Source:  Kindle freebie

This YA novel got excellent reviews.  I will surely read it at some point when I am dreaming of travel--or actually traveling.

The Bond : Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them

by Wayne Pacelle
Release date:  4/5/2011
Source:  Finished hardback from publisher

Another possible giveaway for book group or here.  Anyone aching for a chance to win this book?  Let me know in the comments.

The Story of a Marriage
by Andrew Sean Greer
Release date: 4/29/2008
Source:  Purchased at Books, Inc.

I started to write the story of how Andy and I became friends, but it's too good of a story to wedge here.  I'll do a blog post this week.  The short version of this acquisition is that the nicely inscribed copy I'd acquired at BEA several years ago never made it back to SF, and I never read this book.  Seeing a lovely hardback copy remaindered at Books, Inc. last night, I had to purchase.  I love an excuse to support my local independent booksellers!  Independent booksellers are the best, and we should all support our local indies!

Books finished this week:

Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day by Winifred Watson - I was almost done this one at the beginning of the week.

The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen - It was light and short.

Skipped Parts by Tim Sandlin - This was an unplanned, speed re-read.

Guilt by Association by Marcia Clark - What else did I have to do this weekend?

Currently reading:

The Devil's Plaything by Matt Richtel (e galley - Kindle)

The Tragedy of Arthur by Arthur Phillips (paper galley)

The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls (paper galley & e galley - Kindle)


So, a bookish week, all in all!  What books have you acquired this week?  What are you reading?  Let me know in the comments!