What DID Susan read in 2013?

I promised to post the complete list of books I read this year.  Here, without further ado, it is.  Oh, and for those who assume I'm some kind of speed reader--I'm really not.  While I read faster than average, mostly, I just spend a lot of time reading.  As many books as I read, I still wish there were time for more!

Lit List 2013:

1.      The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells—Andrew Sean Greer ★★★★★

2.      Frances and Bernard—Carlene Bauer★★★★★

3.      Vampires in the Lemon Grove—Karen Russell★★★★★

4.      Frozen Solid—James Tabor★★★★

5.      Delirium—Lauren Oliver★★★

6.      Sailor Twain: Or, The Mermaid in the Hudson—Mark Siegel★★★★

7.      The Fifth Assassin—Brad Meltzer★★★★

8.      14—Peter Clines★★★★★

9.      Buzz Books 2013

10.  Jujitsu Rabbi and the Godless Blonde— Rebecca Dana★★★

11.  The Devotion of Suspect X—Keigo Higashino★★★★★

12.  Garden of Stones—Sophie Littlefield★★★★

13.  Truth in Advertising—John Kenney★★★★

14.  The Cloud—Matt Richtel★★★★★

15.  We Live in Water—Jess Walter★★★★★

16.  The Sliver Star—Jeannette Walls★★★

17.  Big Girl Panties—Stephanie Evanovich★★★★

18.  Weird Life: The Search for Life that is Very, Very Different than Our Own—David Toomey★★★★★

19.  The Demonologist—Andrew Pyper★★★★

20.  Ghostman—Roger Hodgeson★★★★★

21.  Between Man and Beast: An Unlikely Explorer, The Evolution Debates, and the African Adventure that Took the Victorian World by Storm—Monte Reel★★★★★

22.  Double Feature—Owen King★★★★

23.  The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards—Kristopher Jansma ★★★★★

24.  Life After Life—Kate Atkinson★★★★

25.  Lexicon—Max Barry★★★★★

26.  Indiscretion—Charles Dubow★★★★

27.  Someday, Someday Maybe—Lauren Graham★★★★★

28.  The Mermaid of Brooklyn—Amy Shearn★★★★★

29.  The House at the End of Hope Street—Menna van Praag★★

30.  Code White—Scott Britz-Cunningham★★★★

31.  The Hit—David Baldacci★★★★

32.  The Golem and the Jinni—Helene Wecker ★★★★★

33.  Strangelets—Michelle Gagnon★★★★

34.  Maya’s Notebook—Isabel Allende★★★★

35.  Soon I Will Be Invincible—Austin Grossman★★★★★

36.  You—Austin Grossman★★★

37.  The Rosie Project—Graeme Simsion★★★★

38.  Bad Monkey—Carl Hiaasen★★★★

39.  The Loch Ness Legacy—Boyd Morrison★★★★★

40.  Radium Baby—St. John Karp★★★★

41.  Insane City—Dave Barry★★★★

42.  Tenth of December—George Saunders ★★★★★

43.  Flimsy Little Plastic Miracles—Ron Currie★★★

44.  Labyrinth—Mark Sullivan★★

45.  Love in the Afternoon—Alison Packard★★

46.  The Princess Bride—William Goldman★★★★★

47.  Big Fish—Daniel Wallace★★★★★

48.  The Perks of Being a Wallflower—Stephen Chbosky★★★

49.  Nemesis—Philip Roth★★★★★

50.  The Tin Horse—Janice Steinberg★★★

51.  Suddenly a Knock at the Door—Edgar Keret★★★★★

52.  The Rock Star in Seat 3A—Jill Kargman★★★★

53.  A Hole in Texas—Herman Wouk★★★★★

54.  The Fun Parts—Sam Lipsyte★★★

55.  Pandemonium—Warren Fahy★★★★★

56.  What the Family Needed—Steven Amsterdam★★★

57.  Island 731—Jeremy Robinson★★★★

58.  The Last Policeman—Ben H. Winters★★★★★

59.  Prophet of Bones—Ted Kosmatka★★★★

60.  Syrup—Max Barry★★★★

61.  NOS4A2—Joe Hill★★★★

62.  The Interestings—Meg Wolitzer ★★★★★

63.  The Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window and Disappeared—Jonas Jonasson★★★

64.  Woke Up Lonely—Fiona Maazel★★★

65.  Marathon Man—William Goldman★★★★

66.  The Kings and Queens of Roam—Daniel Wallace★★★★

67.  The Great Gatsby—F. Scott Fitzgerald★★★★★

68.  Gorgeous—Paul Rudnick★★★★

69.  Murder as a Fine Art—David Morrell★★★★

70.  Scatter, Adapt, and Remember: How Humans Will Survive a Mass Extinction—Annalee Newitz★★★★

71.  Eye of God—James Rollins★★★★★

72.  The Order of Odd-Fish—James Kennedy★★★★★

73.  Inferno—Dan Brown★★★

74.  Borrower of the Night—Elizabeth Peters★★★

75.  Oryx & Crake—Margaret Atwood★★★★★

76.  The Year of the Flood—Margaret Atwood★★★★★

77.  MaddAddam—Margaret Atwood ★★★★★

78.  Chose the Wrong Guy, Gave Him the Wrong Finger—Beth Harbison★★★

79.  The Book of Secrets—Elizabeth Arnold★★★

80.  The Last Dragonslayer—Jasper Fforde★★★★★

81.  The Song of the Quarkbeast—Jasper Fforde★★★★★

82.  Stay Up With Me—Tom Barbash★★★★★

83.  Japantown—Barry Lancet★★★★

84.  Suspect—Robert Crais★★★★

85.  Equal Rites—Terry Pratchett★★★

86.  Fiction River Anthology: Time Streams★★★

87.  Doctor Sleep—Stephen King★★★★

88.  The Return—Michael Gruber★★★★

89.  The Eyre Affair—Jasper Fforde★★★★★

90.  Fool—Christopher Moore★★★★★

91.  The Serpent of Venice—Christopher Moore ★★★★★

92.  Lightning—Dean Koontz★★★★

93.  Terminal Freeze—Lincoln Child★★★

94.  The Sensory Deception—Ransom Stephens★★★★

95.  Redshirts—John Scalzi★★★★★

96.  The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie—Alan Bradley★★★★

97.  The Knife of Never Letting Go—Patrick Ness★★★★★

98.  The New Yorkers—Cathleen Schine★★★★★

99.  Grave Peril—Jim Butcher★★★

100.  The Lincoln Lawyer—Michael Connelly★★★★

101.  The Accidental Time Machine—Joe Haldeman★★★

102.  The Roots of the Olive Tree—Courtney Miller Santos★★

103.  Subterranean—James Rollins★★★★★

104.  Relic—Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child★★★★★

105.  The Last Girlfriend on Earth—Simon Rich★★★★★

106.  Six Years—Harlan Coben★★★★★

107.  Code Name Verity—Elizabeth Wein★★★★

108.  The Truth—Michael Palin★★★★

109.  The Long War—Terry Pratchett & Stephen Baxter★★

110.  Countdown City—Ben H. Winters★★★★★

111.  Pines—Blake Crouch★★★★★

112.  Big Egos—S.G. Browne★★★★

113.  Amy Falls Down—Jincy Willett★★★★

114.  Interrupt—Jeff Carlson★★

115.  Full Ratchett—Mike Cooper★★★★

116.  World War Z—Max Brooks★★★★★

117.  Under the Dome—Stephen King★★★★★

118.  Joyland—Stephen King★★★★★

119.  The Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls—Anton DiSclafani★★★★

120.  A Hundred Summers—Beatriz Williams★★★★

121.  Blind Goddess—Anne Holt★★★★

122.  Insurgent—Veronica Roth★★★★★

123.  Crimson—Cosmo Fischer (AKA Warren Fahy) ★★★

124.  The Humans—Matt Haig★★★

125.  Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead—Sheryl Sandburg★★★★★

126.  & Sons—David Gilbert ★★★★★

127.  Covet—Tracey Garvis Graves★★★★

128.  Dissident Gardens—Jonathan Lethem★★★

129.  Songs of Willow Frost—Jamie Ford★★★★

130.  Enon—Paul Harding★★★★

131.  Night Film—Marisha Pessl★★★★★

132.  A Guide for the Perplexed—Dara Horn★★★★

133.  The Crane Wife—Patrick Ness★★★★★

134.  Never Go Back—Lee Child★★★★

135.  The Bookstore—Deborah Meyler★★★★

136.  Dangerous Curves Ahead—Sugar Jamison★★

137.  The Returned—Jason Mott★★★★★

138.  The Song of Spider-Man—Glen Berger★★★★★

139.  A Bad Day for Romance—Sophie Littlefield★★★★★

140.  The Cure—Douglas Richards★★

141.  Don’t Look Now—Michelle Gagnon★★★★

142.  Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock—Matthew Quick★★★★

143.  Cain’s Blood—Geoffrey Girard★★★★★

144.  The Bone Season—Samantha Shannon★ – Could not finish

145.  Wayward—Blake Crouch★★★★★

146.  Strong Rain Falling—Jon Land★★★

147.  The People in the Trees—Hanya Yanagihara★★★★★

148.  Bait—J. Kent Messum★★★★

149.  Sea Creatures—Susannah Daniels★★★★★

150.  The Execution of Noa P. Singleton—Elizabeth L. Silver★★★★

151.  Starglass—Phoebe North★★★★

152.  Speak of the Devil—Allison Leotta★★★★★

153.  Chimera—David Wellington★★★★

154.  Help for the Haunted—John Searles★★★★★

155.  The Curiosity—Stephan Kiernan★★★

156.  Parasite—Mira Grant★★★★

157.  Sisterland—Curtis Sittenfield★★★★

158.  The Universe Versus Alex Woods—Gavin Extence★★★

159.  Death of the Demon—Anne Holt★★★★

160.  Killer Ambition—Marcia Clark★★★★★

161.  The Tower—Simon Toyne★★★★

162.  Paranoia—Joseph Finder★★★★★

163.  Bellman & Black—Diane Setterfield★★★

164.  The October List—Jeffrey Deaver★★★★

165.  The Ocean at the End of the Lane—Neil Gaiman★★★★★

166.  Fortunately, the Milk—Neil Gaiman★★★★★

167.  The Signature of All Things—Elizabeth Gilbert★★★★★

168.  The Days of Anna Madrigal—Armisted Maupin★★★★★

169.  Below—Ryan Lockwood★★★★

170.  The Circle—Dave Eggers ★★★★★

171.  The President’s Hat—Antoine Laurain★★★★

172.  We Need New Names—NoViolet Bulawayo★★★★★

173.  The Testament of Mary—Colm Toibin★★★★

174.  The Lowland—Jhumpa Lahiri★★★★

175.  Harvest—Jim Crace★★★★

176.  A Tale for the Time Being—Ruth Ozeki★★★★★

177.  Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy—Helen Fielding★★★★

178.  We Are Water—Wally Lamb★★★★

179.  The Goldfinch—Donna Tartt★★★★★

180.  Allegiant—Veronica Roth★★★

181.  Sycamore Row—John Grisham★★★★★

182.  Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life—J. Craig Venter★★★★

183.  The Fault in Our Stars—John Green★★★★★

184.  White Fire—Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child★★★★

185.  The Abominable—Dan Simmons★★★★

186.  Runner—Patrick Lee★★★★

187.  Lighthouse Island—Paulette Jiles★★★★

188.  This is the Story of a Happy Marriage—Ann Patchett★★★★★

189.  The Game—Anders de la Motte★★★★

190.    The Cuckoo’s Calling—Robert Galbraith (AKA J.K. Rowling) ★★★★★

191.  And the Mountains Echoed—Khaled Hosseini★★★

192.  Get the Guy: Learn Secrets of the Male Mind to Find the Man You Want and the Love You Deserve—Matthew Hussey★★★★

193.  Schroder—Amity Gaige★★★★★

194.  Fluke, Or I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings—Christopher Moore★★★★★

195.  Someone Else’s Love Story—Joshilyn Jackson★★★★

196.  The Adversary—Reece Hirsch            ★★★★★

197.  The Luminaries--Eleanor  Catton★★★★

198.  Dark Rising: Alex Hunter, Book 2--Greig Beck★★★

199.  Shadows of the Midnight Sun—Graham Brown★★★

200.  Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal--Mary Roach★★★★

 

201. The Colony--F.G. Cottam★★★★

202.  Agent to the Stars--John Scalzi★★★★

203.  The Reason I Jump: The Inner Voice of a Thirteen-Year-Old Boy with Autism--Naoki Higashida & David Mitchell★★★

204.   Burial Rites--Hannah Kent★★★★

205.  Mount Dragon--Douglas Preston & Lincoln Child★★★★

206.  Binary--John Lange (AKA Michael Crichton) ★★★★

207.  The Second Opinion--Michael Palmer★★★★

208.  Flamethrowers--Rachel Kushner★★★★

209.  Stardust--Neil Gaiman★★★★★

210.  Innocence--Dean Koontz★★★

211.  Out of Her Depth--Brenda Hiatt★★★

212.  The First Bird--Greig Beck★★★★

213.  Americanah--Chimamanda Adichie★★★★

214.  Breakthrough--Michael C. Grumley ★★★

215. Making Toast--Roger Rosenblatt★★★★

216.  Last Car Over the Sagamore Bridge--Peter Orner★★★★

217.  Submergence--J. M. Ledgard★★★★★

218.  Five Days at Memorial: Life and Death at a Storm-Ravaged Hospital--Sheri Fink★★★★★

219.  Eleanor and Park--Rainbow Rowell★★★★★

220.  The Son--Philip Meyer ★★★★★

221.  Brainrush--Richard Bard ★★★

222.  A Constellation of Vital Phenomena--Anthony Marra ★★★★★

223.  The Man in the Window--Jon Cohen★★★★

224.  Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief--Lawrence Wright★★★★

225.  The Shining Girls--Lauren Beukes★★★★

 

 

Top 10 Books of 2013

Happy New Year, readers!  It's a fresh year, so I'm making a resolution to get back on the blogging bandwagon.  So, what can I tell you about 2013? Well, I read 225 books in total. Yes,

that's a record. Yes, that's ridiculous.  I will be sharing the full list in my next post, for those who are curious.  I can tell you that roughly 158 of them were published in 2013, 42 of them were debut novels, 20 were re-reads, 18 were YA titles, 14 were non-fiction, 14 were trashy underwater fiction, and 9 were short story collections. But who's counting.

Again roughly, my star rankings were as follows: (1) one star, (8) two stars, (36) three stars, (92) four stars, and (87) five stars. (I'm aware that's one short. One book was not rated.)  It was a superlative reading year, obviously. Here, for the purposes of this discussion are my top ten books of the year.  The first two are tied for first place, the rest are in completely random order.  In the cases that I've written a review, I've linked it here.  Other's will hopefully appear on the blog in the weeks to come.



1. The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells - Andrew Sean Greer

1. The Golem and the Jinni - Helene Wecker

Tenth of December - George Saunders

The Interestings - Meg Wolitzer

Maddaddam - Margaret Atwood

The Serpent of Venice - Christopher Moore

& Sons - David Gilbert

The People in the Trees - Hanya Yanagihara

The Circle - Dave Eggers

A Constellation of Vital Phenomena - Anthony Marra


A few additional notes... I generally try to pick books published in the year ended for my top 10

list. I made an exception for Christopher Moore's The Serpent of Venice, which will be released on April 22, 2014. It's as good as anything he's ever written. And I thought I was bad last year, with three Bay Area authors making my top 10 list. This year there are five Bay Area writers! I'm sorry, we just have some wicked talented people in this part of the world.  It's also worth noting that three of the above are debut novels.  Wow.

Winnowing a list of 225 books down to just 10 is pretty awful. I flat out loved all the books above. I loved the 10 honorable mentions below almost as much, and they might have just as easily made the top 10 list were the competition not so brutal.


The Goldfinch - Donna Tartt

The Son - Philipp Meyer

Eleanor & Park - Rainbow Rowell

The Cuckoo's Calling - Robert Galbraith

This is the Story of a Happy Marriage - Ann Patchett

A Tale for the Time Being - Ruth Ozeki

We Need New Names - NoViolet Bulawayo

The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

Night Film - Marisha Pessl

The Unchangeable Spots of Leopards - Kristopher Jansma


Tell me, readers, what were your favorite books this year?  Truly, I'd love to know!

R.I.P., Michael Palmer

I remember vividly the first time I met Michael Palmer.  It was in the swimming pool of the Arizona Biltmore in July 2006.  I walked right up to him and said that thing every writer wants to hear: "I've been reading you since I was a little girl!"  Yeah, that's good for the ego.  Sort of.  And Michael could not have been more gracious and approachable. 

It was true, of course.  Starting with the paperback of his 1982 debut novel, The Sisterhood, I'd been a fan.  I can't claim to have read all of his 19 novels, but I've read a majority of them.  I'm grateful for those hours of entertainment.

That first meeting in Phoenix was at the very first Thrillerfest conference.  I continued to see Michael at T-fest regularly in years to come.  I won't even pretend that I was friends with the man, but we were friendly and would chat when we saw each other.  We had occasions of correspondence over the years.  All of my interactions with Michael were exceedingly pleasant.  I'm deeply saddened to learn of his premature death last week at the age of 71.  His obituary in the Boston Globe may be read here.

My thoughts are with his son Daniel, and the entire Palmer family.  Michael and Daniel were often together at T-fest conferences, and together, they share one of my best memories.  For years, the annual Thriller Awards dinner at T-fest has featured authors performing musical numbers, to greater or lesser success.  That first year, Michael and Daniel brought down the house with a very funny blues number they wrote called the Thriller Blues poking fun at their peers.  Here are the lyrics:

Thriller Blues

In the heat of the summer
In search of a niche
Gale Lynds and some others
Got together to bitch

They were searching for ways
To toot our own horn
And in the wee hours,
ITW was born


(Chorus)
Yeah we write thrillers
Designed to leap off bookstore shelves
Books so damn scary
Sometimes we even scare ourselves


Now we got members
From all over the place
We write rough and tumble
Or with style and grace

We meet as equals
Like sisters and brothers,
Even though we all know (as Orwell wrote)
Some are more equal here than others.


Chorus

First there's the master
The man they call Clive
Puts Dirk in grave danger
Then keeps him alive.

But Clive's a showman,
From his nose to his tail
We hear he'll write his next book
In the belly of a whale


(Chorus or break)

Then there's Morrell
the man stands alone
made up ol' Rambo
became pals with Stallone

still he's hardly a snob
he's one of the masses
even though behind our backs
he thinks we're all jack s of all trades)


(Chorus)

Michael & Daniel share the stage with Brad Parks

It's always "LesKWAH"
It's never Lescroat
Call him Lescroat
Get a fist down your thWAH . . .

But he's getting annoyed
So he has a plan
He's changing his name to
John Grisham


Let's leave out the chorus
It'll make this more terse
Then we can keep going
From bad to verse


Sandra Brown is so sweet
She could cure mankind's ills
And she sells more thrillers
Than Pfizer sells pills

She adds romance
Men and women at play.
Then with a cheerleader's smile,
She blows them all away.

(chorus or solo)
Oh yes, there's Steve Berry
Cashing in on the church
He's suddenly hot
Like he won star search

He's a raconteur
A man about town
Known far and wide
As the poor man's Dan Brown

(chorus)


We've got Preston and Child,
Tess, Dale, Brad, and Stine
With a billion books sold,
We're doing just fine

There's not enough time
To name those we left out
So stow that crushed ego
Get rid of that pout

(Chorus)

So here's the big finish
That says thanks a ton
To Dianne and CJ
And Bob Levinson

We all are winners
For having been here
And with any luck
We'll be back next year

Cause we write thrillers
Designed to leap off bookstore shelves
Books so damn scary
Sometimes we even scare ourselves

*****

And finally,  here's some footage from a joint bookstore event Michael and Daniel did a couple of years ago along the same lines...  Rest in peace, Michael.

VIDEO: Donna Tartt says, "All educated Southerners have three different voices..."



Ugh.  I find myself again on the roll of bad bloggers. 

In my defense, I've been out doing--rather than in writing about it.  San Francisco has had back-to-back festivals: Litquake for literature and the Bay Area Science Festival for, uh, science.  There was some overlap.  And as literature and science are two of my favorite things, I've been running around a lot!

These two interests overlapped up in Marin County about a week ago--though not technically a part of either festival.  Now, I don't like to schlep out to the suburbs too often.  There has to be good reason, if you get my drift.  Donna Tartt, who publishes a novel about once every decade--and who consequently tours about once a decade--was a darn good reason for a road trip.  Book Passage was hosting an unusual daytime event, but I guess you take Donna Tartt when you can get her, right?  Despite the weekday timing, the bookstore was packed.  (Oh, and while Donna Tartt was plenty inducement on her own, I couldn't believe my luck when I saw that geneticist/legend J. Craig Venter was speaking at the store that night!  Look for that footage tomorrow.)

So, Donna's latest novel, The Goldfinch, has been generating buzz for months.  I didn't grab an advance copy of this one.  Actually, I purchased (Yes, I still purchase books.) a copy of the audiobook read by the wonderful stage actor David Pittu on the day of it's publication.  In paper, it's a hefty 750 pages or so, and recorded it's about 32 hours, 25 minutes, and 11 seconds--give or take.  By the time I heard Donna speak, two days later, I was just a couple of hours from the end and finished it in the gap between the two lit events.  All I can say is that the buzz was justified.  I loved this rich and gripping tale from start to finish.  I think the description "Dickensian" comes up with Ms. Tartt from time to time.  I can understand that.  It's been close to 30 years since I read Great Expectations, but for some reason I found myself thinking of Pip as I read the harrowing journey of her young protagonist.  I wholeheartedly recommend the novel, and I further recommend the audiobook, if you are so inclined.  David Pittu is simply astounding.  He brings her words and characters vividly to life.

I so enjoyed this rare opportunity to hear Ms. Tartt speak, and hope that you do as well.  And I'd like to thank Book Passage for bringing her to the Bay Area.  One great way to thank them is to eschew that lousy audiobook and order a signed first edition from Book Passage.  I know they'd be delighted to ship one right out!

VIDEO: Armisted Maupin in conversation with David Ulin

I know that I tend to go on and on about all the amazing literary events around San Francisco, but I can't help myself.  It's basically non-stop here.  And, as you've gathered, I tend to stay pretty well-informed about all this city has to offer.  Therefore, it was a bit of a shock that an amazing literary conference almost flew by completely under my radar this past weekend!  It was utterly random that I learned of it in time, but thank goodness I did!  I would have kicked myself if I'd missed it all.

The conference was held at the San Francisco Public Library on Friday and Saturday October 4-5, 2013.  It was free and open to the public.  It's a terrible shame they didn't publicize this wonderful event better because for the most part it was scarcely attended.  What was the conference?  It was called Tales from Two Cities: Writing from California.  San Francisco is obviously one of the "Two Cities," but the other is Los Angeles, and the second part of this conference will take place at the Los Angeles Public Library on February 21-22, 2014.  Angelenos, mark your calendars.  I freakin' hate LA, but gosh I'd love to attend the second half of this event!

Participants of the conference included Tobias Wolff, Robert Hass, Ellen Ullman, Phil Bronstein, Kim Stanley Robinson, and about two dozen more.  The unquestionable highlight was David Ulin's keynote interview with Armisted Maupin, filmed in its entirety above. 

I love Armisted Maupin!  I mean, I've been reading the Tales of the City for what?  A couple of decades now?  I sort of think I live in San Francisco because of these books.  At the very least, they're a factor.  In addition to a deep affection for his fiction, I've met and interacted with Armisted and his husband Christopher around town on any number of occasions now.  They are both just lovely.  It doesn't hurt--I suppose--that I tend to read his novels before they're published, and I always have effusive raves to share before anyone else has seen the work. 

With that in mind, I used a super secret source to acquire an advance galley of Armisted's January 2014 novel, The Days of Anna Madrigal, on short notice.  (Thank you, super secret source!!)  I grabbed it the night before the conference, and I basically power read the novel on Friday morning, before I would be seeing him that afternoon.  Oh, how wonderful it was to reenter Mr. Maupin's San Francisco!  My San Francisco is pretty awesome.  His is better.  And it's populated by such dear old friends.  I so enjoy visiting them. 

I read the novel in a bit over four hours without difficulty.  It's a wonderful addition to the canon.  The only thing is...  I didn't know until hearing Armisted speak that The Days of Anna Madrigal is the very last Tales novel.  If that's the case--and he assures me that it is--then it really is the perfect end to the series.  I just wish that I had known.  I would have savored it a little more.  I will surely have to read again.  Here's a thought...start over from the beginning and read all nine novels!  It sounds crazy, I know, but I've read these books a nearly unprecedented number of times.  They make me happy. 

I'm not reviewing this novel early, and you'll notice I haven't told you a thing beyond the title, however Armisted reveals some tantalizing tidbits in the video above.  (Plus, he's awesome and candid and very, very funny.  I so urge you to watch it in its entirety.)  I was so pleased that I'd managed to read the novel before hearing him speak.  And it was so nice to be able to share my enthusiasm and praise with him afterwards.  He was, as always, absolutely lovely.

Kudos, also, to the wonderful David Ulin, whose work as a reviewer/editor I've admired for years.  He conducts a delightful, spontaneous interview.  And he also gets bonus points as one of the organizers of this conference. 

As for the conference, I may share more of my own video here later, but for those who want more, faster, better, I have great news:  FORA.tv shot the entire event professionally.  You can view the whole shebang right here. 

VIDEO: Antoine Laurain says, "As you can see, my English is very bad..."

Last week I grabbed my favorite Francophile and headed down to the Ferry Building.  Bestselling French author, Antoine Laurain was visiting Book Passage on tour for his charmer of a novel, The President's Hat.  Gallic Books describes the tale like this:

Dining alone in an elegant Parisian brasserie, accountant Daniel Mercier can hardly believe his eyes when President François Mitterrand sits down to eat at the table next to him.

Daniel’s thrill at being in such close proximity to the most powerful man in the land persists even after the presidential party has gone, which is when he discovers that Mitterrand’s black felt hat has been left behind.

After a few moments’ soul-searching, Daniel decides to keep the hat as a souvenir of an extraordinary evening. It’s a perfect fit, and as he leaves the restaurant Daniel begins to feel somehow … different.

My girlfriend wasn't the only Francophile in the house that night.  Msr. Laurain was greeted warmly by his French-loving, French-speaking, French-reading audience, some of whom had discovered The President's Hat in its original language.  As for me, my high school French wasn't going to get me far--I was grateful the gentleman stuck to English.  And despite repeated protestations, his English was more than fine.

Maybe it's just me, but Msr. Laurain seems to epitomize Gallic charm.  His accent is delicious, and my girlfriend all but melted--especially when he mentioned needing an American girlfriend to practice his English.  I got an elbow in the ribs.  His voice has a deep, slightly gravelly quality, and with the accent you have to listen to the video closely.  The conversation with the audience was informal and wide-ranging. 

I haven't had a chance to review The President's Hat yet, so stay tuned, but it's already a big hit in France and England.  The novel certainly has the potential to become a sleeper hit in the States as well, if it can find it's audience.  I could see it winning favor with fans of novels like Mrs. Queen Takes the Train.  I invite you to make the acquaintance of Antoine Laurain on his first ever book tour in the U.S.  Enjoy!





NOTE:  Book Passage will be happy to sell you a signed U.S. first edition of The President's Hat!