[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Fiction A to Z July 2008
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 21 Jul 2008 06:26:16 -0400
summer afternoon, summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most
beautiful words in the English language."
~ Henry James (1843-1916), American-born British author
New and Recently Released!
The Sister - by Poppy Adams
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/17/2008
ISBN: 9780307268167
ISBN-10: 0307268160
In this atmospheric tale, two long-estranged sisters reunite (after nearly 50
years apart) in the crumbling ancestral home they grew up in. One sister,
Vivien, fled the family's eccentricities for the normalcy of London as a
teenager; her elder sister, Ginny, never left, and has spent her years in the
gloomy mansion researching moths and obsessing over passing time. But Vivien's
sudden reappearance dredges up family secrets that Ginny would rather not
face--and leaves the reader wondering about Ginny's grasp on reality. Fans of
Diane Setterfield's The Thirteenth Tale will relish the gothic turns that
this suspenseful debut takes.
First Chapter
Finding Nouf - by Zoë Ferraris
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/20/2008
ISBN: 9780618873883
ISBN-10: 0618873880
Just days before her marriage, 16-year-old Nouf ash-Shrawi disappeared into the
Saudi Arabian desert; her wealthy family has hired Palestinian desert guide
Nayir al-Sharqi to find her. After the girl's body is found, Nayir feels
compelled to find out what happened to her, but to do so, the religiously
conservative
outsider must navigate the separate worlds inhabited by Saudi men and women. In
the process, he is aided by a female lab worker who forces him to reevaluate
his thoughts on women. The telling details of Islamic culture make this
literary mystery an excellent choice for readers looking to learn more about an
unfamiliar world.
First Chapter
The Other - by David Guterson
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/3/2008
ISBN: 9780307263155
ISBN-10: 0307263150
As teenagers, Neil Countryman and John William Barry came from two entirely
different worlds, but their love for the outdoors bound them together. Neil,
a working-class public school attendee, grew up to be an English teacher;
privileged heir to a Seattle fortune John William became a recluse who carved
out a cave in the wilderness in his effort to shun the "hamburger world." The
decisions that Neil makes on behalf of his possibly unstable friend form
the center of this story by the author of Snow Falling on Cedars. Kirkus
Reviews calls The Other "philosophically provocative and psychologically
astute."
First Chapter
Table of Contents
Chasing Harry Winston - by Lauren Weisberger
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 5/27/2008
ISBN: 9780743290111
ISBN-10: 0743290119
Stylish Manahattanites Emmy, Leigh, and Adriana have made a pact to find
happiness by changing some very important aspects of their lives: serial
monogamist
Emmy will date multiple men at once, Brazilian man-eater Adriana will enter a
committed relationship with just one man, and Leigh will...well, Leigh's
life is perfect, so she's excused from the deal. As they work toward attaining
their goals, each girl (even Leigh) manages to find something that truly
makes her happy. Chick-lit readers who enjoyed author Lauren Weisberger's
previous books (The Devil Wears Prada and Everyone Worth Knowing) are sure to
enjoy this lighthearted romp through the Big Apple.
First Chapter
Breath - by Tim Winton
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 5/27/2008
ISBN: 9780374116347
ISBN-10: 0374116342
As a teenager growing up in Western Australia, Brucie Pike was a thrill-seeker
who, along with a friend, fell under the spell of an enigmatic extreme-sports
surfer named Sando. As the two boys competed for Sando's attention, Brucie also
fell for Sando's woman, a boundary-crossing thrill-seeker in her own right
who introduced him to the dangerous sport of erotic auto-asphyxiation. Now
Bruce is an adult, a paramedic compelled to recall his adolescence when he comes
across the suspicious death of a teen. His story, by Australian author Tim
Minton, "packs an emotional wallop" (Publishers Weekly).
The Story of Edgar Sawtelle - by David Wroblewski
Publisher: Ecco
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/1/2008
ISBN: 9780061374227
ISBN-10: 0061374229
Fourteen-year-old Edgar Sawtelle is mute, but has formed close ties with the
intuitive dogs that his family raises in the Wisconsin backwoods. Soon after
Edgar's charming, disreputable uncle arrives on the farm, Edgar's father, Gar,
dies unexpectedly; Edgar suspects his uncle of murder, and goes on the run
with three loyal young dogs. This highly praised tale (The New York Times calls
it "the most enchanting debut novel of the summer") calls to mind elements
of Shakespeare's Hamlet, but the heart-breaking story of Edgar's search for
safety, told sometimes from a dog's point of view, will appeal not just to
dog lovers or Shakespeare's fans but to those seeking fine story-telling.
Summer Reads
The Lake, the River & the Other Lake - by Steve Amick
Publisher: Pantheon Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 5/3/2005
ISBN: 9780375423505
ISBN-10: 0375423508
For the year-round residents of the Michigan lake town of Weneshkeen,
summertime means an influx of summer people--and that's not necessarily a good
thing.
Sure, they spend money, but their obnoxious jet skis make Roger Drinkwater's
daily swim dangerous, and the feminine wiles of one of the younger ones have
ensnared a local teen who's thoroughly in over his head. In this entertaining
combination of a soap opera and Garrison Keillor's Lake Woebegone tales,
the laughs are plentiful, the people colorful, and the issues "bitterly comic
and suprisingly meaty" (Publishers Weekly).
First Chapter
Tara Road - by Maeve Binchy
Publisher: Bantam Dell Publishing Group
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 5/29/2007
ISBN: 9780385341813
ISBN-10: 0385341814
After nearly 20 years of marriage, Ria Lynch's husband has decided that he
wants out--out of the marriage, and out of their beautiful Dublin home on Tara
Road. Six thousand miles away, Marilyn Vine is dealing with her own loss, and
covets some time alone. The two strangers decide to swap homes for the summer,
never anticipating that a change in location could make such a difference in
their lives--or the lives they left behind. This highly praised book was made
into a 2005 movie starring Andie McDowell and Olivia Williams.
First Chapter
Farewell Summer - by Ray Bradbury
Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/1/2006
ISBN: 9780061131547
ISBN-10: 0061131547
In this sequel to Dandelion Wine (which was first published in 1957),
summer--and childhood--is winding down for 13-year-old Douglas Spaulding. He
and his
friends have no desire to grow old, and so they declare war not only on the
stuffy older men of their community, but on the building of the courthouse
clock, for there's no better marker of the passing of time than a clock. As the
"graying forces" battle against the "downy-cheeked cohorts," readers young
and old will get pulled in to the inexorable cycle of time. No matter where you
fall on life's timeline, you'll see yourself in these pages.
First Chapter
My Summer of Southern Discomfort - by Stephanie Gayle
Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 7/1/2007
ISBN: 9780061236297
ISBN-10: 0061236292
After a romance with her boss ends disastrously, Harvard Law graduate and
dyed-in-the-wool New Yorker Natalie Goldberg flees south to Macon, Georgia, to
embark on a new career as a low-paid public prosecutor. This does not please
her parents--and it mystifies her new neighbors and colleagues, who aren't
sure what to do with fast-talking, left-leaning, Yankee Natalie. And on top of
a broken heart, a dire lack of friends, a brand-new city, and a major departure
from her life plan, she is now co-counsel on a death-penalty case, which goes
against her beliefs. Natalie and her dilemmas are sure to engage in this
"finely crafted debut" (Booklist).
Freshwater Road - by Denise Nicholas
Publisher: Agate
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 8/1/2005
ISBN: 9781932841107
ISBN-10: 1932841105
In the summer of 1964, 19-year-old Celeste Tyree, a black college student,
leaves Michigan for Mississippi to take part in a campaign to register
disenfranchised
African-American voters. In the small town of Pineyville, she teaches the
children and attempts to register the adults--despite the violence thrown her
way. As much a story about a young woman coming of age as it is about
Mississippi's Freedom Summer, Freshwater Road is "rich [and] absorbing"
(Publishers
Weekly).
First Chapter
Summer Reading: A Novel - by Hilma Wolitzer
Publisher: Ballantine Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 5/22/2007
ISBN: 9780345485861
ISBN-10: 0345485866
This summer in the Hamptons, reluctant reader and intimidated
newlywed/stepmother Lissy Snyder is hosting a book club, though to be honest
she's more concerned
with impressing the local queen bee than she is with the books themselves.
Lissy's also trying to hide her insecurities, but she's not the only one with
troubles--Lissy's resentful housekeeper, Michelle Cutty, can't get her
boyfriend to commit, and Angela Graves, the retired professor guiding the book
group,
carries painful memories of a long-ago love affair. Though the women appear to
have little in common, the lessons they learn through the books they share
allows each to find their place in life.
First Chapter
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