[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Fiction A to Z June 2009
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 15 Jun 2009 09:34:41 -0400
Fiction A to Z June 2009
"A lake carries you into recesses of feeling otherwise impenetrable."
~ William Wordsworth (1770-1850), English poet
New and Recently Released!
The Walking People - by Mary Beth Keane
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/20/2009
ISBN-13: 9780547126524
ISBN-10: 0547126522
In their dying Irish village, Johanna and Greta Cahill are as different as two
sisters could be--the older Johanna is self-assured and confident, while
little Greta is shy and awkward. In 1956, they befriend 11-year-old Michael
Ward, the son of itinerant tinkers, and when Johanna decides to immigrate to
America several years later, both Greta and Michael come along. In America, the
sisters find their roles reversing, as Greta begins to succeed at work
and in love, while Johanna struggles with depression. Spanning 50 years, this
family drama is by turns heart-breaking and hopeful.
The Family Man - by Elinor Lipman
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/05/2009
ISBN-13: 9780618644667
ISBN-10: 0618644660
After nearly 25 years of mild self-imposed social isolation, retired Manhattan
lawyer Henry Archer is thrust back into the land of the living when a request
for legal help from his ex-wife Denise leads to a reunion with his
ex-stepdaughter, Thalia. Soon, Thalia has moved in (she's an aspiring actress
whose
current role is to play the real-life girlfriend of a bad-boy actor) so that
Henry can keep an eye on her, while Denise has set him up on a blind date
with the handsome Todd (who hasn't yet told his mother that he's gay). Both
light-hearted and moving, this charming tale will delight readers looking for
a modern-day comedy of manners.
The Great Perhaps: A Novel - by Joe Meno
Publisher: W.W. Norton & Company
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/11/2009
ISBN-13: 9780393067965
ISBN-10: 0393067963
In this new novel by post-modern writer Joe Meno (Hairstyles of the Damned),
the Casper family is falling apart. Dad Jonathan, an absent-minded
paleontologist
whose epilepsy takes the form of seizures at the sight of clouds, has just seen
his life's work disappear in smoke while his wife, Madeline, is at her
wits' end thanks to frustrations at work and at home. Their two teenaged
daughters are looking for meaning in their lives (one's discovered communism,
the other, God), while their grandfather is coming to terms with the end of
his. The story of the family's trials and tribulations is "fresh and inviting,"
says Publishers Weekly.
Into the Beautiful North - by Luis Alberto Urrea
Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/19/2009
ISBN-13: 9780316025270
ISBN-10: 0316025275
In recent years, the tiny Mexican village of Tres Camarones has been losing its
men to the lure of good jobs in the U.S. Inspired by the film The Magnificent
Seven, beautiful 19-year-old Nayeli decides to leave her home for "el Norte,"
where she plans to find and ultimately bring home seven men to repopulate
and protect Tres Camarones. With encouragement from the women left behind and
accompanied by three friends, Nayeli marches north (making it across the
border on the second attempt), where she finds far more than she'd been looking
for...
Sag Harbor: A Novel - by Colson Whitehead
Publisher: Doubleday
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 04/28/2009
ISBN-13: 9780385527651
ISBN-10: 0385527659
Fifteen-year-old Benji Cooper, one of only a few black kids at an elite prep
school in Manhattan, has for years spent his summers in Sag Harbor, an
African-American
enclave on Long Island. The beginning of each summer marks a time when Benji
can cast aside his prep-school identity and re-enter a more familiar black
culture, but the summer of 1985 may prove to be different as he and his brother
start to build separate identities for themselves. Author Colson Whitehead
refers to Sag Harbor as his "autobiographical 4th novel," and while there are
similarities between Benji and Whitehead, this is not a fictionalized memoir;
rather, it is a funny coming-of-age novel that explores racial and class
identity in the 1980s--complete with references to 80s pop icons like New Coke
and freestyle artist Lisa Lisa.
On the Water
Tricky Business - by Dave Barry
Publisher: Berkley Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780425192740
ISBN-10: 0425192741
Dave Barry's name "could sell a VCR manual, but he's taken the time to write a
winner, anyway," says Publishers Weekly of this slapstick adventure, which
takes place aboard the gambling ship Extravaganza of the Seas. The ship's band
is high, the gamblers include a couple of nursing home escapees, there's
a tropical storm headed their way, and on top of it all, dealers are using the
ship to smuggle drugs--which irritates the owner of the ship no end, since
he doesn't get to see a penny. So, despite the storm, tonight's the night he
plans to hijack the drugs for himself, no matter how seasick his hired thugs
may get. Hold on tight for a wild ride!
Death of a River Guide - by Richard Flanagan
Publisher: PGW
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780802138637
ISBN-10: 0802138632
As river guide Aljaz Cosini lies drowning under a waterfall in a remote
Tasmanian mountain river, he is granted visions from his own rootless life and
that
of his mother, father, and several other ancestors. His visions are
interspersed with the tale of the four-day river trip that leads to Aljaz's
final moments;
together they allow him to find his place in the violent history and Aboriginal
and European origins of Tasmania. Australian author Richard Flanagan is
widely praised for his writing, and he doesn't disappoint here, but if you're
looking for something different, try the timely (if unsettling) The Unknown
Terrorist or his unusual historical novel, Gould's Book of Fish.
First Chapter
Stern Men - by Elizabeth Gilbert
Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/24/2009
ISBN-13: 9780143114697
ISBN-10: 0143114697
Plenty of readers are familiar with author Elizabeth Gilbert's name thanks to
her wildly popular memoir/travelogue, Eat, Pray, Love, but she's a successful
novelist as well. Stern Men was her debut novel, after a collection of short
stories, and it centers squarely on Ruth Thomas, a spunky young woman born
into the middle of a feud between two factions of Maine lobstermen. Forget the
Hatfields and McCoys--we've got the hostile inhabitants of Fort Niles and
Courne Haven Islands, who have been fighting for generations over lobster
territory. Complete with lobster lore and curmudgeonly characters, this novel
also offers offbeat humor and a happy ending.
The Highest Tide: A Novel - by Jim Lynch
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 09/08/2005
ISBN-13: 9781582346052
ISBN-10: 1582346054
Thirteen-year-old Miles O'Malley has always been fascinated by marine life, and
living on Puget Sound offers him countless opportunities to ponder the life
hidden in its depths. But this summer, Miles comes across things he's never
seen before--such as a giant squid--and his sightings lead to media attention
and an unwelcome onslaught of tourists whose visits threaten the Sound itself.
And Miles' strange marine sightings mirror the upheavals in his own life,
as he copes with parents who fight constantly, his burgeoning lust for his
next-door neighbor, and the death of a close friend. If you've ever admired
tidal life, you'll love author Jim Lynch's writing, which offers a "celebratory
song of the sea" (Kirkus Reviews).
First Chapter
Life of Pi: A Novel - by Yann Martel
Publisher: Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 06/04/2002
ISBN-13: 9780151008117
ISBN-10: 0151008116
Pi Patel is 16 when his father decides to leave his zoo in Pondicherry, India,
and move the entire family to Canada. But only a few days into the trip,
the boat carrying the Patels capsizes and Pi is tossed into a life raft. The
raft, which also holds an orangutan, a hyena, a zebra, and eventually Richard
Parker--a 450 pound Bengal tiger--will be his home for the next 227 days. Pi,
nurtured by an encyclopedic knowledge of animals and a love for Islam, Hinduism,
and Christianity, must sustain himself as he and the hungry tiger struggle to
survive.
First Chapter
Fluke, or, I Know Why the Winged Whale Sings - by Christopher Moore
Publisher: Perennial
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 06/01/2004
ISBN-13: 9780060566685
ISBN-10: 006056668X
Everything you ever wanted to know about whales but were afraid to ask, and it
all starts with a humpback whale with the words "Bite Me" scrawled on its
tail. The absurd adventure that follows involves an age-old conspiracy,
sabotaged research equipment, a megalomaniac undersea overlord, underwater
mutants,
and the truth behind what whales are really singing about. You'll learn plenty
about whales (did you know that all killer whales are named Kelvin?) and
some of it might actually be true. If you're looking for more authors in a
similarly wacky vein, check out Tom Robbins or Robert Rankins--or Douglas Adams,
if you're okay with intergalactic space adventures.
First Chapter
Table of Contents
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