There are almost always too many books to list when I look at what’s coming out from week to week. I managed to narrow it down- just a little bit- to the ones that caught my eye. I have the starred (*) ones on my shelf and I have even read the double starred ones (**).

Parnormal/ Dystopian

• The Demi-Monde Winter by Rod Rees**
• Cinder by Marissa Meyer**

Non-Fiction

• Gay Men Don’t Get Fat by Simon Doonan*
• 52 Small Changes Changes: One Year To A Happier, Healthier You by Brett Blumenthal
• How Many Lightbulbs Does It Take To Change A Person?:  Bright Ideas For Delightful Transformation by Rhonda Rhea*
• Be The Miracle: 50 Lessons For Making The Impossible Possible by Regina Brett
• The Serial Killer Whisperer by Pete Early

Mystery

• The Invisible Ones by Stef Penney**
• The Retribution by Val McDermid*
• The Rook by Daniel O’Malley**

Literary Fiction

• The World We Found by Thrity Umrigar
• The Last Nude by Ellis Avery (paperback release)
• Running The Rift by Naaomi Benaron
• The Night Swimmer by Matt Bondurant
• How It All Began by Penelope Lively

Historical Fiction

• The Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak
• The Crown by Nacy Bilyeau

Classics Related

• Iago by David Snoddin
• The Man Within My Head by Pico Iyer

No related posts.

I like a novel that sets readers up with mysteries about its characters and Lola, California does that right away. It is easy to tell that the friends, Lana and Rose are very close, and both seem to have deep admiration for Lana’s father Vic Mahler, a writer of some note. I started to wonder right away what would have caused such a rift between the three of them that would send them so fully away from each other and into radically different lives.

Edie Meidav gives a flavor of the themes running through the novel in her playlist for the work featured at Largehearted Boy. There are some great songs listed there! She also played along and answered some of the twenty questions that I love to pose to authors. You’ll see that here later this month.

 Read an excerpt of Lola, California, by Edie Meidav at The Outlet.

Related posts:

1. Out of Twenty: Edie Meidav, Author of Lola, California, Answers Twenty Questions

• State of Wonder by Ann Patchett – I have been waiting for her next book since Run. So excited!
• Before I Go To Sleep by S.J. Watson
• The Girl In The Garden by Kamala Nair – I chatted with the author for an episode of What’s Old Is New about being inspired by The Secret Garden.
• The Oregon Experiment by Keith Scribner – I have been lobbying for my book club to read this. Just need one more vote!

• The Little Women Letters by Gabrielle Donnelly Jen and I had a lovely chat with Gabrielle Donelly on What’s Old Is New about her new book and finding out the prejudices of our favorite authors.
• Farishta by Patricia McArdle – I am always getting pulled away from books because I have to finish a  book for an interview, but I started Farishta and it has all the making of being an absorbing thriller. Author Patricia McArdle also stopped by to write about her writing process.
• Joy For Beginners by Erica Bauermeister
• The Man In the Rockefeller Suit by Mark Seal – This is an absorbing true crime account about a man who managed to pass himself off as a Rockefeller for years. It was totally fascinating and just a crazy thing to think about. Much enjoyment for those into studying the human psyche.

• The Upside of Irrationality: The Unexpected Benefits of Defying Logic by Dan Ariely
• What Alice Forgot by Lianne Moriarty
• The Ridge by Michael Kortya – The other day at book club I had a debate with a friend about which Koryta supernatural book we liked best and why. The Cypress House has my heart, but The Ridge comes pretty close.
• Alice Bliss by Laura Harrington – I have an interview coming up soon with Laura Harrington, so watch for it, but consider picking up the book as well. The dated entries which comprise the book make for a poignant read about what happens to a family, and particularly a teenaged  girl, when dad goes off to war.

Related posts:

1. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 17 – April 30, 2011
2. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – March 27 – April 2, 2011
3. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – March 13 – March 26, 2011
4. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – February 27 – March 5, 2011
5. On My Shelves – January 2011 Book Releases

Can we say better late than never? May got away from me, but I had a few things on my shelves that are not to be missed, so I wanted to still share them with you.

How Shakespeare Changed Everything by Stephen Marche
Half A Life by Darin Strauss – Picked this one up at the Random House Tea during BEA week.
Prophecy by S.J. Parris
Faith by Jennifer Haigh – I haven’t read any of Jennifer Haigh’s previous novels, but Gayle really enjoys her books, and I know that we have similar taste in literary fiction so I am ready to read this. My book club is also discussing it in October.

• The White Devil by Justin Evans - Jen and I will be chatting with the author for our What’s Old Is New podcast later this week. I loved it! Very smart literary thriller/ghost story. Totally creepy and haunting.
• The Psychopath Test by Jon Ronson – Very fun book. Informative and fascinating, it covers the criteria for psychopaths while pointing out the pitfalls of making such a diagnosis.
• Dreams of Joy by Lisa See – Picked this up at the Random House Tea during the week of BEA where Lisa See signed it for me.
• Tiny Sunbirds Far Away by Christie Watson – This was almost pick for BOOK CLUB. I think length might have been the determining factor in going with something else, but I have heard nothing but good things about it and I got a copy signed by the author at BEA. And a TSFA tote bag!

• A Drop of the Hard Stuff by Lawrence Block – My first Matthew Scudder mystery. I am all about mysteries lately.
• The Ninth Wife by Amy Stolls – For any who have read or might be interested in The Ninth Wife, Amy Stolls will be on Book Club Girl’s show tonight at 7pm.
• Jerusalem Maiden by Talia Carner – I picked this one up when I met Talia at lunch at HarperCollins.
• The Most Beautiful Walk In The World: A Pedestrian in Paris by John Baxter – I love literary walking tours. This book is all about the ones in Paris through the eyes one who gave many during a memorable year as a guide.

Vlad: The Last Confession – The Epic Novel of the Real Dracula by C.C. Humphries – The author chatted about his book on an episode of What’s Old Is New. Fascinating background on the real Dracula, Vlad Tepes. I also learned how to say his name on that show.

No related posts.

Having already read Marcia Clark‘s Guilt By Association (Mulholland Books), I can tell you that enjoyed it quite a bit. I love the characters and I want to see them back. It will be interesting to see how well Clark’s book does, being that she is somewhat of a celebrity author. Notice how her name is the biggest thing on the cover. It’s just as much a selling point as anything else, even though I think a fair number of people might not be willing to give her a shot because of that same name! Daniel Woodrell’s The Bayou Trilogy: is one that I was SO excited to get my hands on because I thought he did such a fantastic job with Winter’s Bone. I have started in on this one and I have to say that he has quite a talent for inhabiting a world and its characters. From what I have read, his work doesn’t suffer from lack of authenticity.

Rounding out the books on my shelf are three that I haven’t read but will be getting to shortly. 22 Britannia Road by Amanda Hodgkinson appealed to me since it deals with a family that is reunited after suffering separately during World War II. However, their reunion is threatened by secrets that have developed between them in the intervening years. Nosy me wants to know what those secrets are! I have heard whispers from friends that The Violets of March by Sarah Jio is a stellar read. It definitely seems to have all the elements of a good story. A woman whose had the perfect life awakes to the fact that it is all falling apart. Luckily she has a friend who lends her a cottage by the sea. She goes there to take a moment to heal and while she’s at it, finds an old diary that offers perspective for her own circumstances.

Jen (Devourer of Books) and I will be chatting with Arthur Phillips on an upcoming episode of our classic themed podcast What’s Old Is New. Phillips’s book The Tragedy of Arthur explores what happens to an already dysfunctional family when they uncover a lost play of Shakespeare and work together in an attempt to stage it, though it could be an elaborate hoax by Arthur’s con man dad. I am intrigued.

Wishlist

As usual, the wishlist far outnumbers what I have on my shelves.

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Related posts:

1. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 10 – April 16, 2011
2. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 3 – April 9, 2011
3. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – March 27 – April 2, 2011
4. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – February 27 – March 5, 2011
5. On My Shelves – January 2011 Book Releases

The Taker is out in the UK today, and was originally coming out in July in the US. The Powers That Be at Simon and Schuster pushed the release back to September 6, which is high praise and high hopes for a debut author and novel. When I consider the books I got at BEA last year, September had, by far, the biggest pile of books I have ever seen – and probably the season’s most ambitious. The Taker is now one of Simon and Schuster’s lead fall titles. Anyway, the UK book is gorgeous and one that a lucky reader will get the opportunity to win today, but the proposed US Cover is…well, accurate. In fact, I like it a lot. The Taker is haunting, and at this point in the trilogy, pretty bleak. If you want two gorgeous and minimally flawed characters for whom love conquers all, drop The Taker, and run, fast!

When I finished The Taker, I literally had no words, and after a few days and I e-mailed Alma and asked her if she knew, which of course she had to know – but I was in shock, that they were saying that her novel was a romance. In the two days that I could say nothing, I thought about my notions of romance and what was romantic, and thought a lot about what I expect when people tell me that I am about to read a romance.

So…a few guidelines…

Do read The Taker if..

• You love rich, detailed and well-researched historical fiction.
• You love reading about Colonial America, particularly Massachusetts.
• You may not love, but don’t mind sex in books, not all of which will be “romantic”, heck, or even consensual.
• You love reading about bad people and their love lives flawed, morally ambiguous people and their love lives.
• You love seriously, maybe even tragically, flawed heroines.
• You love books make you question the meanings and value of love and romance.
• You love books that DON’T make you feel comfortable and that DON’T wrap up neatly in the end.

Don’t read The Taker if…

• If even one of the above statements bothers you. And I’m not kidding. Not even a little bit.

If it means anything to you: 1) I will likely re-read some or all of this book at some point because I am still trying to wrap my brain around it, and 2) I can’t wait to see what happens next for Lanny, Luke, Adair and Jonathan.

So, I have done my bit, and will reserve further thoughts about The Taker until a little closer to the US release or next week. Who knows?

Wanna see what it’s about for yourself?

Related posts:

1. The Taker, by Alma Katsu – Book Review
2. Out of Twenty: Alma Katsu, Author of The Taker, Answers Twelve Questions
3. Geraldine Brooks’ Caleb’s Crossing – Q&A + Galley Giveaway
4. The Monstrumologist & The Curse of The Wendigo – Rick Yancey Giveaway
5. Got Books Giveaway (1) – The YA Book Pack

Brooks’s novels are particularly well-researched, and her ability to infuse words with the richness of a different life has thrilled me in her books, even when I haven’t liked the characters or their circumstances. Her new novel is no exception to the others in approaching little know episodes from the past and bringing them to life.

About Caleb’s Crossing:

In 1665, a young man from Martha’s Vineyard became the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Upon this slender factual scaffold, Brooks has created a luminous tale of love and faith, magic and adventure.

The narrator of Caleb’s Crossing is Bethia Mayfield, growing up in the tiny settlement of Great Harbor amid a small band of pioneers and Puritans. Restless and curious, she yearns after an education that is closed to her by her sex. As often as she can, she slips away to explore the island’s glistening beaches and observe its native Wampanoag inhabitants. At twelve, she encounters Caleb, the young son of a chieftain, and the two forge a tentative secret friendship that draws each into the alien world of the other. Bethia’s minister father tries to convert the Wampanoag, awakening the wrath of the tribe’s shaman, against whose magic he must test his own beliefs. One of his projects becomes the education of Caleb, and a year later, Caleb is in Cambridge, studying Latin and Greek among the colonial elite. There, Bethia finds herself reluctantly indentured as a housekeeper and can closely observe Caleb’s crossing of cultures.

Brooks answered several questions is a prepared Q&A. I was most interested in how she constructs character with the tiniest wisps of information, so I have included her comments on how she went about bringing the character of Caleb to life.

Caleb Cheeshahteamauk is an extraordinary figure in Native American history. How did you first discover him? What was involved in learning more about his life?

The Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head/Aquinnah are proud custodians of their history, and it was in materials prepared by the Tribe that I first learned of its illustrious young scholar.   To find out more about him I talked with tribal members, read translations of early documents in the Wopanaak language, then delved into the archives of Harvard and the Massachusetts Bay Colony, especially the correspondence between colonial leaders and benefactors in England who donated substantial funds for the education and conversion to Christianity of Indians in the 17th century.   There are also writings by members of the Mayhew family, who were prominent missionaries and magistrates on the island, and John Cotton, Jr., who came here as a missionary and kept a detailed journal.

There is little documentation on Caleb’s actual life. What parts of his life did you imagine? Do you feel you know him better after writing this book, or is he still a mystery?

The facts about Caleb are sadly scant.  We know he was the son of a minor sachem from the part of the Vineyard now known as West Chop, and that he left the island to attend prep school, successfully completed the rigorous course of study at Harvard and was living with Thomas Danforth, a noted jurist and colonial leader, when disease claimed his life.  Everything else about him in my novel is imagined.  The real young man—what he thought and felt—remains an enigma.

The book isn’t out for a couple of weeks, but Viking is allowing me to giveaway two galleys to US/Canadian readers of Linus’s Blanket. This will be a quickie giveaway. I’ll select two entrants by today at 5pm EST to receive advance copies of the book.

And the winners are!

There were 9 items in your list. Here they are in random order:

1. Jill
2. Carrie
3. Jen
4. Erin
5. Hannah
6. Virginia
7. Kathy
8. Jeanne
9. Emma

Congrats to Jill and Carrie!

Related posts:

1. Odds and Ends – 8/14/11 + BOOK CLUB Giveaway
2. Some Do’s and One Don’t On Reading Alma Katsu’s The Taker & A Giveaway
3. May BOOK CLUB Giveaway – The Convert, Deborah Baker
4. April BOOK CLUB Giveaway – Galore, by Michael Crummey
5. Year of Wonders: A Novel of the Plague, by Geraldine Brooks – Book Review [TSS]

Enclave, by Ann Aguirre – I finished this one today and if you like dystopian and YA novels it is a great read.  Excellent characterizations and world building.
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie, by Wendy McClure

Wishlist

The Betrayal of Maggie Blair, by Elizabeth Laird
In the Shadow of the Lamp, by Susanne Dunlap
Finding Emilie: A Novel, by Laurel Corona
The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster’s Obsession and the Creation of An American Culture, by Joshua Kendall

Two Kisses for Maddy: A Memoir of Love and Loss, by Matthew Logelin
The Way Things Look to Me, by Roopa Farooki
Toxicology: A Novel, by Jessica Hagedorn
The Bird Sisters: A Novel, by Rebecca Rasmussen

Related posts:

1. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 17 – April 30, 2011
2. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 3 – April 9, 2011
3. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – March 27 – April 2, 2011
4. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – February 27 – March 5, 2011
5. On My Shelves – January 2011 Book Releases

The Uncoupling: A Novel, by Meg Wolitzer – I read this for an upcoming episode of What’s Old Is New where Jen and I chatted with Meg Wolitzer. An interesting look at the effect on relationships and a community when the wives decide not to have sex anymore.
Reading Lips: A Memoir of Kisses, by Claudia Sternbach
The Secret Daughter: A Novel, by Shilpa Somaya Gowda – I have been looking forward to reading this since it was out n hardcover.  Everyone says such great things about it.

The Silver Boat: A Novel, by Luanne Rice – This is the first time that  am reading anything by Luanne Rice.  Later this week I will have an interview wit her about her reading (and writing!).
A Song For My Mother, by Kat Martin

Wishlist

The Sandalwood Tree:  A Novel, by Elle Newmark
The Year We Were Famous: A Novel, by Carol Estby Dagg
There Is No Year: A Novel, by Blake Butler

Rotters, by Daniel Kraus
The Daughter’s Walk: A Novel, by Jane Kirkpatrick
Please Look After Mom: A Novel, by Kyung-Sook Shin

Malcolm X: A Life of Reinvention, by Manning Marable
Elizabeth I: A Novel, by Margaret George
The Fifth Witness, by Michael Connelly

Related posts:

1. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 17 – April 30, 2011
2. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 10 – April 16, 2011
3. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – March 27 – April 2, 2011
4. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – February 27 – March 5, 2011
5. On My Shelves – January 2011 Book Releases

• The Provence Cure For The Broken-Hearted: A Novel, by Bridget Asher
• Galore: A Novel, by Michael Crummey

Wishlist

• Blind Sight: A Novel, by Meg Howrey
• The Girl Who Would Speak For The Dead, by Paul Elwork
• Expiration Date: A Novel, by Sherril Jaffe

Related posts:

1. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 17 – April 30, 2011
2. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 10 – April 16, 2011
3. On The Shelves: New Book Releases- April 3 – April 9, 2011
4. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – March 13 – March 26, 2011
5. On My Shelves: New Book Releases – March 6 – March 12, 2011