[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Fiction A to Z March 2009
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 16 Mar 2009 09:25:47 -0400
"Fiction is like a spider's web, attached ever so slightly perhaps, but still
attached to life at all four corners."
~ Virginia Woolf (1881-1941), British novelist
New and Recently Released!
Delicate Edible Birds and Other Stories - by Lauren Groff
Publisher: Hyperion
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/27/2009
ISBN: 9781401340865
ISBN-10: 1401340865
These nine stories (one of which is a Pushcart Prize winner) address themes of
love and loss in the lives of ordinary women, from a war correspondent in
France to a teenager saddled with the secrets of her hometown. The tales take
place during World War II and in the present day, in Europe and in the town
of Templeton, NY (the setting of the author's debut, The Monsters of
Templeton), but despite the variety in settings, time periods, and characters,
they
are all "richly conceived, finely detailed stories" (Booklist) that will
captivate your attention and your imagination.
The Music Teacher: A Novel - by Barbara Hall
Publisher: Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/10/2009
ISBN: 9781565124639
ISBN-10: 1565124634
Not quite good enough to play professionally, Pearl Swain fulfills her passion
for the violin by teaching lessons at an offbeat L.A. music store. One of
her students, a young girl named Hallie, can only afford lessons thanks to a
grant, but she is talented enough that Pearl feels sure that she can shape
her into the musician that Pearl herself was never able to be. Pearl is also
increasingly drawn into Hallie's life at home, perhaps because she sees her
own childhood in Hallie's sad circumstances, but her misguided intentions will
have devastating repercussions. In addition to containing a compelling story,
this book uses music as a way to explore the characters and their lives.
Addition - by Toni Jordan
Publisher: William Morrow
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/1/2009
ISBN: 9780061582578
ISBN-10: 0061582573
Grace Lisa Vandenberg brings order to her world through obsessive counting: she
brushes her hair 100 times, buys items in multiples of ten, and bases the
number of bites she takes to eat a piece of cake on the number of poppy seeds
it contains. Although she realizes how limiting this can be, it's her way
of dealing with what scares her about life. But one day, when she steals a
banana from another shopper's cart (she can't buy just nine) and ends up letting
him into her life, she is forced to ask herself what she really wants from
life. If you enjoyed Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the
Night-Time
or Steve Martin's The Pleasure of My Company for their often humorous
portrayals of similarly challenged people, you should give Addition a try.
Irreplaceable - by Stephen Lovely
Publisher: Voice/Hyperion
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/3/2009
ISBN: 9781401322823
ISBN-10: 1401322824
One year ago, Alex Voorman's wife was killed in an accident; she was an organ
donor, and with Alex's conflicted consent her heart was transplanted into
Janet Corcoran, a mother of two. Alex and his mother-in-law, Bernice, are still
dealing with their grief and guilt when Janet contacts them to share her
gratitude. They have very different reactions: Bernice, grateful to know that
in a way her daughter lives on, pushes Alex to meet with Janet, but Alex,
angry and resentful that Janet's life came at the expense of his wife's,
refuses. As an exploration of the aftermath of personal disasters, this debut
novel stands out.
Random Acts of Heroic Love - by Danny Scheinmann
Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/20/2009
ISBN: 9780312538330
ISBN-10: 0312538332
This intriguing debut is composed of two seemingly unrelated tales that connect
only near the end of the novel. The first centers on heartbroken Leo Deakin,
who in 1992 loses his girlfriend in a fatal bus accident in Ecuador. Upon
returning to his doctoral work in England, he is unable to concentrate on
anything
but his loss. The second story takes place during World War I, when a Polish
Jew named Moritz Daniecki falls in love with the beautiful Lotte. Swept up
by the war, years later he escapes from a Siberian POW camp to search for his
first love, without knowing what he will find. Based on real events from
his own family history, this moving novel by first-time author Danny Scheinmann
will appeal to fans of historical fiction.
The Help - by Kathryn Stockett
Publisher: Amy Einhorn Books/G.P. Putnam's Sons
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 2/10/2009
ISBN: 9780399155345
ISBN-10: 0399155341
It's 1962 and Miss Skeeter has just graduated from college, more interested in
becoming a writer than in landing a man. She's returned to segregated Jackson,
Mississippi, and eventually sets her mind to writing a book about the
experiences of the black maids employed by wealthy white families. Naturally,
there
are issues of trust, for anything the women say could easily be used against
them, and Skeeter herself is rather naive of how deeply racism is ingrained
in her town's social fabric. Told from the perspectives of an older black maid,
her smart-mouthed--and therefore chronically unemployed--friend, and Skeeter
herself, this complex story shows how three courageous women face down bigotry
in the hope of changing a town.
Books for Book Lovers
Whether about books, book clubs, libraries, or the publishing world, the
following "books about books" are sure to appease the book lover in you!
The Book of Lost Things: A Novel - by John Connolly
Publisher: Atria Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/7/2006
ISBN: 9780743298858
ISBN-10: 0743298853
Grieving and angry over the death of his mother, 12-year-old David takes refuge
in his books, many of which are fairy tales, until one day they start speaking
to him. Then, during an air raid (David lives in the English countryside during
the early days of World War II), David finds himself actually in the fantastic
world of his books, where he must go on a quest to find the land's king and a
book that will show him the way home. Though darker than the fairy tales
that pop up within The Book of Lost Things, this intriguing novel will most
likely have you glued to your chair from start to finish.
First Chapter
Blind Submission: A Novel - by Debra Ginsberg
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 9/25/2007
ISBN: 9780307346384
ISBN-10: 0307346382
Angel Robinson works as a personal assistant to slave-driving literary agent
Lucy Fiamma, who, heartless though she is, at least appreciates Angel's talent
for finding promising manuscripts. But when an anonymous manuscript dealing
with a horrible boss and her long-suffering assistant arrives--and Lucy agrees
to represent the author--the line between fact and fiction begins to blur. The
book, emailed to Angel chapter by chapter, seems to mimic Angel's life ever
more closely--and contains thinly veiled threats. But just who is the anonymous
author? This sharp, witty, and enjoyable read absolutely skewers the publishing
world.
First Chapter
The Camel Bookmobile - by Masha Hamilton
Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 4/1/2007
ISBN: 9780061173486
ISBN-10: 0061173487
Among the isolated villages of rural Kenya, American librarian Fiona Sweeney
runs a bookmobile carried by a camel. But her efforts to bring books (and
knowledge)
to these villages prompt tensions between those who support the traveling
library and those who fear exposure to the Western world. Nowhere is it more
apparent than in tiny Mididima, where even the schoolteacher and his wife
cannot agree. Library- and literacy-lovers are sure to find the issues raised
during Fiona's travels fascinating.
First Chapter
The Historian: A Novel - by Elizabeth Kostova
Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 6/14/2005
ISBN: 9780316011778
ISBN-10: 0316011770
In 1972, a teenaged American girl becomes curious about a book in her father's
library that bears an illustration of a dragon and the name Drakulya, and
contains letters addressed only to "my dear and unfortunate successor." But
when she presses her evasive father for answers, he disappears, leading her
to discover for herself an old and obsessive quest--the search for Vlad Tepes,
also known as Vlad the Impaler, and Bram Stoker's inspiration for Dracula.
For it appears that Vlad is still living...though perhaps "undead" is a better
description, and the threat he poses is very real. Intrigued? Try this
atmospheric,
suspenseful, and bloodthirsty tale.
First Chapter
The Reading Group - by Elizabeth Noble
Publisher: Perennial
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 1/1/2005
ISBN: 9780060760441
ISBN-10: 0060760443
As in Karen Joy Fowler's The Jane Austen Book Club, the events in Elizabeth
Noble's The Reading Group center around a year in the life of a book club,
though
this one is set in England, and the members read books by authors from Ian
McEwan to Daphne du Maurier. Though books are their reason for getting together,
the five women--Harriet, Susan, Polly, Clare, and Nicole--find their
friendships strengthened as they air issues from a womanizing husband to an
unexpected
marriage proposal to dealing with infertility. This British bestseller is sure
to appeal to fans of chick lit and women's fiction.
First Chapter
Winner of the National Book Award: A Novel of Fame, Honor, and Really Bad
Weather - by Jincy Willett
Publisher: Picador
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/1/2004
ISBN: 9780312424237
ISBN-10: 031242423X
In the interest of full disclosure, this book is not actually a winner of a
National Book Award. Book lovers will enjoy it anyway, mostly for the twin
sisters
at its heart. Sharp-tongued Dorcas, who prefers the literary world to the base
needs of human life, is a librarian; promiscuous Abigail can't resist
temptation.
The sibling rivalry between the two comes to a head when misogynistic Conrad
Lowe enters their lives, seeking out first one, then the other, to torment
and victimize. What happens when he marries Abigail is the stuff of
tabloids--and eventually of the tell-all she writes, excerpts of which are
found within
this blackly humorous novel.
First Chapter
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