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Books Taken to BEA
Submitted by Barbara on Sun, 05/23/2010 - 10:59
Off to BEA (NYC) via Acela Express train from Baltimore Washington Airport Station to Penn Station. On the train up, I am finishing up My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Olivera. Great reading group pick -- American Civil War, the horrors of war, medical history, nursing, women's lives, a little romance.
Then, onto Damaged: A Maggie O'Dell Mystery by Alex Kava (July, 2010) Here a summary supplied by the publisher.
On Pensacola Beach, the Coast Guard prepares for a Category 5 hurricane that has entered the Gulf of Mexico. When the air crew patrols the waterways, they spot a huge fishing cooler about a mile offshore. Drug traffickers have been known to dump coolers with smuggled product to avoid detection and pay fishermen to retrieve them. But when the crew open this cooler, they’re shocked by what they find: body parts tightly wrapped in plastic.
Though she is putting herself in the projected path of the hurricane, Special Agent Maggie O’Dell is sent to investigate. Eventually, she’s able to trace the torso in the cooler back to a man who mysteriously disappeared weeks earlier after a hurricane hit Port St. Lucie, Florida. Only Port St. Lucie is on the Atlantic side. How did his body end up six hundred miles away in the Gulf of Mexico?
Cliffhanger chapters, behind-the-scenes forensic details, colorful characters, and satisfying twists have become the trademarks of Kava’s psychological thrillers. In Damaged, she ratchets up the suspense a notch by sending Maggie into the eye of an impending monster hurricane to track down a killer.
Shiver by Maggie Stiefvater is the bed-time read in NYC, if I'm not too tired from the BEA activities.
Publisher summary: For years, Grace has watched the wolves in the woods behind her house. One yellow-eyed wolf--her wolf--is a chilling presence she can't seem to live without. Meanwhile, Sam has lived two lives: In winter, the frozen woods, the protection of the pack, and the silent company of a fearless girl. In summer, a few precious months of being human . . . until the cold makes him shift back again.
Now, Grace meets a yellow-eyed boy whose familiarity takes her breath away. It's her wolf. It has to be. But as winter nears, Sam must fight to stay human--or risk losing himself, and Grace, forever.
On my trip back on Saturday, the Pulitzer Prize-winning, Tinkers by Paul Harding.
Quite an eclectic assortment!
Or any one of great titles publishers have given me to read to share with you to pick as your selections for next year book discussion. Yey.
Book Expo America and Book Blogger Convention
Submitted by Barbara on Sat, 05/22/2010 - 10:32
I'm packing to go to New York City for my annual trip to Book Expo America (BEA) -- leaving tomorrow. I discuss with publishers and authors their reading group picks for the new year. It is plenty of work but great fun -- seeing old friends and meeting new. Throughout the summer, I will let you know some of the interesting gems I picked up.
This year, there is something new and I'm really thrilled about it. Some of the many great book bloggers have organized a Book Blogger Convention the day after BEA. These bloggers are the best around and come from all over the nation expressing their joy of reading. I'm excited to meet them and learn from them.
So, next week will be a week of literature and litizens! Lots of bossip going on. (book gossip). What fun.
Moon Tiger by Penelope Lively; Excellent Book Group Pick
Submitted by Barbara on Sat, 05/22/2010 - 09:56
I always like Penelope Lively's work. The Photograph, Making It Up, Family Album, Consequences, and her over 20 other fiction and nonfiction titles. She is a great children's books writer, as well, -- over 25 titles. But my favorite is Moon Tiger, winner of the Booker Prize, first released in 1987. Great characters and many lively topics to discuss in a reading group.
Brief publisher summary.
Claudia Hampton, a beautiful, famous writer, lies dying in hospital. But, as the nurses tend to her with quiet condescension, she is plotting her greatest work: ‘a history of the world … and in the process, my own’.
Gradually she re-creates the rich mosaic of her life and times, conjuring up those she has known. There is Gordon, her adored brother; Jasper, the charming, untrustworthy lover and father of Lisa, her cool, conventional daughter; and Tom, her one great love, both found and lost in wartime Egypt.
Penelope Lively’s Booker Prize-winning novel weaves an exquisite mesh of memories, flashbacks and shifting voices, in a haunting story of loss and desire.
Moon Tiger was selected as The Guardian May Book Club. Interesting 4-part series includedes John Mullan discussion of book and reader's comments Great series!
There are plenty of editions of Moon Tiger with, of course, plenty of varied covers. My favorite is the edition Grove Press released in 1997 -- seen left.
Try Moon Tiger as one of your reading group selections -- you won't be sorry!
Around the Bend: Such A Pretty Face by Cathy Lamb
Submitted by Barbara on Sat, 05/22/2010 - 00:05
Around the Bend is an On the Bookcase Feature bringing attention to upcoming reading group-appropriate titles.
Such a Pretty Face by Cathy Lamb. (Kensington Books, August 2010)
In this warm, funny, thoroughly candid novel, acclaimed author Cathy Lamb introduces an unforgettable heroine who’s half the woman she used to be, and about to find herself for the first time.
Two years and 170 pounds ago, Stevie Barrett was wheeled into an operating room for surgery that most likely saved her life. Since that day, a new Stevie has emerged, one who walks without wheezing, plants a garden for self-therapy, and builds and paints fantastical wooden chairs. At thirty-five, Stevie is the one thing she never thought she’d be: thin.
But for everything that’s changed, some things remain the same. Stevie’s shyness refuses to melt away. She still can’t look her neighbors’ gorgeous great-nephew in the eye. The Portland law office where she works remains utterly dysfunctional, as does her family—the aunt, uncle, and cousins who took her in when she was a child. To top it off, her once supportive best friend clearly resents her weight loss.
By far the biggest challenge in Stevie’s new life lies in figuring out how to define her new self. Collaborating with her cousins to plan her aunt and uncle’s problematic fortieth anniversary party, Stevie starts to find some surprising answers—about who she is, who she wants to be, and how the old Stevie evolved in the first place. And with each revelation, she realizes the most important part of her transformation may not be what she’s lost, but the courage and confidence she’s gathering, day by day.
As achingly honest as it is witty, Such A Pretty Face is a richly insightful novel of one woman’s search for love, family, and acceptance, of the pain we all carry—and the wonders that can happen when we let it go at last.
First paragraph
Prologue
Ashville, Oregon -- 1980
I know when it started.
It was June 14th, two days after my tenth birthday. An eerie red-gold haze enshrouded the moon. Frothing gray and black clouds drifted across it, as if they were trying to hide its evilness, but couldn't quite overpower that glowing white light.
Cathy Lamb, the author of Julia’s Chocolates, The Last Time I Was Me, and Henry’s Sisters, lives in Oregon. She is married with three children. She writes late at night when it's just her and the moon and a few shooting stars.
Look for this in August!
Booking Through Thursday 5/20 Useful Books
Submitted by Barbara on Thu, 05/20/2010 - 10:15
Booking Through Thursday is a weekly meme about (mostly) books and reading.
Today's Questions: What’s the most useful book you’ve ever read? And, why?
I have two books that constantly "work" for me.
The Chicago Manual of Style is always open on my desk. The book (or tome!) is filled with useful little rules and regulations of grammer, spelling, punctuation, abbreviations, editing tools, and just good and correct ways of writing. I used it more when I was an editor. My style of writing today is much more relaxed and casual but I still like the book by my side.
For a more personal reason, The Physicians' Desk Reference has been a great tool. My body is a walking science project. Lots of strange and rare things going on -- my doctors love me! So, I like to know what I'm taking as medications. Lately, Google has been my friend to research medicines, medical research, and breakthroughs.
I do think cook books would be useful but I don't cook -- my husband does!
Weapon of Mass Instruction
Submitted by Barbara on Wed, 05/19/2010 - 13:21
I love bookmobiles and this one is a humdinger! The Weapon of Mass Instruction. Check it out.
Teaser Tuesday 5/18 The Blind Contessa's New Machine
Submitted by Barbara on Tue, 05/18/2010 - 01:09
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!) - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
On the day Contessa Carolina Fantoni was married, only one other living person knew that she was going blind, and he was not her groom.
This was not because she had failed to warn them.
"I am going blind," she had blurted to her mother, in the welcome dimness of the family coach, her eyes still bright with tears from the searing winter sun. By this time, her peripheral vision was already gone. Carolina could feel her mother take her hand, but she had to turn to see her face. When she did, her mother kissed her, her own eyes full of pity.
"I have been in love, too," she said, and looked away.
-- the beginning (a little more than 2 sentences!) of The Blind Contessa's New Machine by Carey Wallace (July 2010)
Publisher's summary: In the early 1800s, a young Italian contessa, Carolina Fantoni, realizes she is going blind shortly before she marries the town's most sought-after bachelor. Her parents don't believe her, nor does her fiancé.
The only one who understands is the eccentric local inventor and her longtime companion, Turri. When her eyesight dims forever, Carolina can no longer see her beloved lake or the rich hues of her own dresses. But as darkness erases her world, she discovers one place she can still see -- in her dreams. Carolina creates a vivid dreaming life, in which she can not only see, but also fly, exploring lands she had never known.
Desperate to communicate with Carolina, Turri invents a peculiar machine for her: the world's first typewriter. His gift ignites a passionate love affair that will change both of their lives forever.
Based on the true story of a nineteenth-century inventor and his innovative contraption, The Blind Contessa's New Machine is an enchanting confection of love and the triumph of the imagination.
What's your TT?
John D. MacDonald, Travis McGee, and Sunny Florida
Submitted by Barbara on Mon, 05/17/2010 - 11:57
Just got back from sunny Sarasota! We went to a wedding of our friends' son. The bride and grooming were beaming and a good time was had by all.
Being in Sarasota reminded me of John D. MacDonald, the author of the great character, Travis McGee. I love MacDonald's Florida -- a little bit sleazy and a little bit racy storylines along with description of the gorgeous landscapes and seascapes. McGee, the salvage consultant, made his living by recovering the loot from thefts and swindles, keeping half to finance his "retirement," which he took in pieces as he went along. A latter-day capitalist Robin Hood! McGee first appeared in the 1964 novel The Deep Blue Good-by and was last seen in The Lonely Silver Rain in 1985. McGee had his trademark lodgings on his 52-foot houseboat, the Busted Flush, named for the poker hand that started the run of luck in which he won her. Wit and mystery centered in all 21-volumes of the Travis MaGee series.
I think I will read them again!
Teaser Tuesday 5/11 My Name is Mary Sutter
Submitted by Barbara on Tue, 05/11/2010 - 00:47
Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:
- Grab your current read
- Open to a random page
- Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! - Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!
My Name is Mary Sutter by Robin Oliveira (May 2010)
"Are you Mary Sutter?" Hours had passed since James Blevens had called for the midwife. All manner of shouts and tumult drifted in from the street, and so he had answered the door to his surgery rooms with some caution, but the young woman before him made an arresting sight: taller and wider than was generally considered handsome, with an unflattering hat pinned to an unruly length of curls, though an enticing brightness about the eyes. "Mary Sutter, the midwife?" he asked.
"Yes, I am Mary Sutter."
Publisher's summary: An enthralling historical novel about a young woman's struggle to become a doctor during the Civil War.
Like Charles Frazier's Cold Mountain and Robert Hicks's The Widow of the South, My Name Is Mary Sutter powerfully evokes the atmosphere of the period. Rich with historical detail (including marvelous depictions of Lincoln, Dorothea Dix, General McClellan, and John Hay among others), and full of the tragedies and challenges of wartime, My Name Is Mary Sutter is an exceptional novel. And in Mary herself, Robin Oliveira has created a truly unforgettable heroine whose unwavering determination and vulnerability will resonate with readers everywhere.
I will be starting this tonight so I thought I would tease myself and you with the beginning sentences. I like the "feel" of this description and the simple way Oliveira introduces her character. Direct and to the point -- "I am Mary Sutter" I think I will like Mary!
It's Tuesday, what is your teaser?
Julie Robinson and Literary Affairs
Submitted by Barbara on Mon, 05/10/2010 - 12:26
Meet my friend, Julie Robinson! She runs Literary Affairs, an awesome reading group resource. Literary Affairs offers meetings with authors, conversations with experts relating to books being discussed, and even nationwide and overseas tours! The tours discover the books' settings, the authors' haunts and maybe, even, the site of the inspiration of a reading group pick. Julie takes her readers in a variety of experiences to take them Beyond the Book, in ways that are both intellectually stimulating and just plain fun. Julie leads over 30 book clubs in the Los Angeles area.
Here are Julie's upcoming events.
Classic Literary Luncheon Series
The Victorian Novel
Friday, May 14: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
Thursday, June 10: Tess of the D'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
Series: $195 or Sign up for individual classes for $70 each
Includes discussions, lunch, and valet parking
Each luncheon will take place at the Beverly Hills Country Club from 11:30-1PM.
Join guest lecturer John Romano, former Assistant Professor of English at Columbia University and facilitator Julie Robinson discussed the novels.
ABOUT JOHN ROMANO
JOHN ROMANO, a writer-producer for movies and television, was an Assistant Professor of English at Columbia. He holds a Ph.D. from Yale in English and Comparative Literature, and in 1980 published Dickens and Reality (Columbia University Press), a study of the writer's relation to 19th century Europeans such as Tolstoy, Balzac, and Flaubert, as well as nearly a hundred articles and reviews. John has also published two essays in a collection, Dickens and Film (Oxford University Press). At present he is teaching a course on the Great Books of the Western Canon in Santa Monica.
In TV, he's been a writer-producer for more than a dozen shows, from “Hill Street Blues” (Emmy nomination) and “L.A. Law” to “American Dreams,” “Party of Five,” “Third Watch,” “Monk,” “The Beast,” and (currently) “In Plain Sight,” as well as creating three network series of his own. In the movies, his writing credits include “The Third Miracle,” with Ed Harris, “Nights in Rodanthe” with Richard Gere, and the Coen Brothers’ “Intolerable Cruelty,” with George Clooney, to whom he bears a startling resemblance. He has adapted Philip Roth’s “American Pastoral,” and, most recently, Michael Connelly’s “The Lincoln Lawyer.” In recent years, John Romano has lectured on the humanities in film and television at the National Endowment for the Humanities, at Princeton and MIT, as well as writing for Newsweek on the subject of violence in the media
He has two daughters, Clarissa and Juliana, and lives in Santa Monica with his wife Nancy Forbes Romano and three severely entitled dogs.
I wish I lived in Los Angeles (well, maybe, just to attend Julie's events!)
