Wishlist Wednesday

I've been meaning to read Patchett's Bel Canto for a long time now and have never found the time. A recent trip to Hey Lady! has given me a sense of new found urgency. Her newest, State of Wonder, sounds equal parts amazing and gruesome, full of conflicting situations and interesting questions. I really have to get a move on!

State of Wonder
by Ann Patchett

Dr. Marina Singh, a research scientist with a Minnesota pharmaceutical company, is sent to the Amazon to find her former mentor, Dr. Annick Swenson, who seems to have disappeared while working on a new drug. No one knows where Dr. Swenson is, and the last person sent to find her died before completing his mission. Plagued by trepidation, Marina embarks on an odyssey in hopes of finding answers.

Now in her seventies, the uncompromising Dr. Swenson dominates her research team and the natives with the force of an imperial ruler. But while she is as threatening as anything the jungle has to offer, the greatest sacrifices are those Dr. Swenson asks of herself, and will ultimately ask of Marina, who finds she is still unable to live up to her teacher’s expectations.

Replete with poison arrows, devouring snakes, and cannibals, State of Wonder is a tale that leads you into the very heart of darkness, and then shows what lies on the other side.

Bel Canto
by Ann Patchett

Somewhere in South America, at the home of the country's vice president, a lavish birthday party is being held in honor of the powerful businessman Mr. Hosokawa. Roxanne Coss, opera's most revered soprano, has mesmerized the international guests with her singing. It is a perfect evening — until a band of gunwielding terrorists takes the entire party hostage. But what begins as a panicked, life-threatening scenario slowly evolves into something quite different, a moment of great beauty, as terrorists and hostages forge unexpected bonds and people from different continents become compatriots, intimate friends, and lovers.

Wishlist Wednesday

First my mother-in-law and then a good friend were surprised when I said I'd never read a'one of Miss Mary, Queen of Suspense's novels. I can't say why--I just have never been interested. So here I am, ready to repent with two of their recommendations. They do look delectable, I must say!

Loves Music, Loves to Dance
by Mary Higgins Clark

New York's trendy magazines are a source of peril when a killer enacts a bizarre dance of death, using the personal ads to lure his victims . . .

After college, best friends Erin Kelley and Darcy Scott move to the city to pursue exciting careers; Erin is a promising jewelry designer, Darcy finds success as a decorator. On a lark, Darcy persuades Erin to help their TV producer friend research the kinds of people who place personal ads. It seems like innocent fun . . . until Erin disappears.

Erin's body is found on an abandoned Manhattan pier -- on one foot is her own shoe, on the other, a high-heeled dancing slipper. Soon after, startling communiques from the killer reveal that Erin is not the first victim of this "dancing shoe murderer." And, if the killer has his way, she won't be his last. Next on his death list is Darcy.

+/-

On the Street Where You Live
by Mary Higgins Clark

In the gripping new novel from the Queen of Suspense, a woman is haunted by two grisly murders separated by more than a century, yet somehow, inextricably linked . . .

Following a nasty divorce and the trauma of being stalked, criminal defense attorney Emily Graham leaves Albany to work in Manhattan. Craving roots, she buys her ancestral home, a Victorian house in the seaside resort town of Spring Lake, New Jersey. Her family sold the house in 1892, after one of Emily's forebears, Madeline Shapley, then a young girl, disappeared.

As the house is renovated and a pool dug, a skeleton is found and identified as Martha Lawrence, a young Spring Lake woman who vanished several years ago. Within her hand is the finger bone of another woman, with a ring--a Shapley family heirloom--still on it. Determined to find the connection between the two murders, Emily becomes a threat to a seductive killer . . . who chooses her as the next victim.

Wishlist Wednesday

During my recent trip to the downtown library, I mentioned how Austen-centered many of the displays were. I was delighted to find that the librarians also put out a list of "Austen Adoration Works Inspired by Jane Austen and the Austen Universe." (Great title, don't you think?)


I was so thrilled and have already been checking off ones I'd like to try! Check out some of these titles based on Jane Austen works.

The Lost Memiors of Jane Austen
by Syrie James

Many rumors abound about a mysterious gentleman said to be the love of Jane's life—finally, the truth may have been found. . . .

What if, hidden in an old attic chest, Jane Austen's memoirs were discovered after hundreds of years? What if those pages revealed the untold story of a life-changing love affair? That's the premise behind this spellbinding novel, which delves into the secrets of Jane Austen's life, giving us untold insights into her mind and heart.

Jane Austen has given up her writing when, on a fateful trip to Lyme, she meets the well-read and charming Mr. Ashford, a man who is her equal in intellect and temperament. Inspired by the people and places around her, and encouraged by his faith in her, Jane begins revising Sense and Sensibility, a book she began years earlier, hoping to be published at last.

Deft and witty, written in a style that echoes Austen's own, this unforgettable novel offers a delightfully possible scenario for the inspiration behind this beloved author's romantic tales. It's a remarkable book, irresistible to anyone who loves Jane Austen—and to anyone who loves a great story.

+/-

Jane Austen Mystery series
by Stephanie Barron

For everyone who loves Jane Austen...a marvelously entertaining new series that turns the incomparable author into an extraordinary sleuth!

On a visit to the estate of her friend, the young and beautiful Isobel Payne, Countess of Scargrave, Jane bears witness to a tragedy. Isobel's husband--a gentleman of mature years--is felled by a mysterious and agonizing ailment. The Earl's death seems a cruel blow of fate for the newly married Isobel. Yet the bereaved widow soon finds that it's only the beginning of her misfortune...as she receives a sinister missive accusing her and the Earl's nephew of adultery--and murder.

Desperately afraid that the letter will expose her to the worst sort of scandal, Isobel begs Jane for help. And Jane finds herself embroiled in a perilous investigation that will soon have her following a trail of clues that leads all the way to Newgate Prison and the House of Lords--a trail that may well place Jane's own person in the gravest jeopardy.

The Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy
by Mary Street

Originally published in the U.K., Mary Street's ingenious retelling of Jane Austen's classic story now makes its U.S. debut-to the delight of the fans of Austen's comic masterpiece of divine romance. In Fitzwilliam Darcy, Austen created the ultimate romantic hero. Yet Pride and Prejudice reveals little of Darcy's innermost thoughts. Here, Street unveils the true motives and mysteries of Elizabeth Bennet's enigmatic suitor. Through Darcy's eyes we discover the reality of his relationships with his sister Georgiana, his cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam, the dastardly Wickham, his friend Bingley, and his formidable aunt, Lady Catherine. And of course, all his memorable encounters with Elizabeth, from that first view of her fine eyes to his disastrous proposal, and then to a pride and arrogance tempered by an unquenchable love.

Some others to try:

Austenland by Shannon Hale
Jane Austen Ruined My Life by Margaret Sullivan
Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife by Linda Berdoll
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies by Seth Grahame-Smith

Wishlist Wednesday: Christmas

I've been on the prowl for some good Christmas books this week. There's nothing better to get you in the Christmas spirit then reading a cute and decadent holiday book. But, I haven't always had the best of luck fitting that bill--although I give holiday books some leeway, they still have to come up to a certain level for me. These all looked enticing; I hope I'll have the time to read at least one. Here's hoping!

A Coventry Christmas
by Becky Cochrane

With a scrooge of a boss, her family thousands of miles away, and the only male in her life a hamster, Keelie Cannon is anticipating her worst Christmas ever when her friend Ivy convinces her to spend the holidays with her in the small Texas town of Coventry. Once Keelie arrives, her feelings about Christmas start to change as she not only rediscovers the joys of the holiday season but also of another chance at romance. Cochrane deftly flavors her quirky, character-rich contemporary romance with a surfeit of Christmas charm and sharp humor.

+/-

There's Something About Christmas
by Debbie Macomber

A smalltown Washington reporter learns to love fruitcake in Macomber's chick-lit take on A Christmas Carol. Emma Collins ("kinda cute in an uptight sort of way") hopes that writing obituaries and selling ads for the Puyallup Examiner will lead to a journalism career. Instead, her first plum assignment—interviewing three finalists in a national fruitcake recipe contest—lands her in the cockpit of devil-may-care pilot Oliver Hamilton, whose good looks and charm remind her of her shiftless father.

Despite Emma's fear of flying, Oliver takes her to Yakima, Colville, and the San Juan islands to meet three women who all figure that when life gives you lemons (or anything else), make fruitcake. Emma tastes the thrice-married barmaid's liquor-laden concoction, the tender-hearted widow's chocoholic dreamand the struggling young mother's no-bake graham-cracker confection. While she tries to capture in print lessons learned from the three cooks, Oliver's plane is grounded by a snowstorm.

It all adds up to another tale of romance in the lives of ordinary people, with a message that life is like a fruitcake: full of unexpected delights.

A Redbird Christmas
by Fannie Flagg

With the same incomparable style and warm, inviting voice that have made her beloved by millions of readers far and wide, New York Times bestselling author Fannie Flagg has written an enchanting Christmas story of faith and hope for all ages that is sure to become a classic.

Deep in the southernmost part of Alabama, along the banks of a lazy winding river, lies the sleepy little community known as Lost River, a place that time itself seems to have forgotten. After a startling diagnosis from his doctor, Oswald T. Campbell leaves behind the cold and damp of the oncoming Chicago winter to spend what he believes will be his last Christmas in the warm and welcoming town of Lost River. There he meets the postman who delivers mail by boat, the store owner who nurses a broken heart, the ladies of the Mystic Order of the Royal Polka Dots Secret Society, who do clandestine good works. And he meets a little redbird named Jack, who is at the center of this tale of a magical Christmas when something so amazing happened that those who witnessed it have never forgotten it.

Wishlist Wednesday

This week's wish comes from a friend's goodreads profile. I've only ever read one short story by Doris Lessing (A Woman on a Roof), and I've always been interested in reading more of her work and never gotten around to it. This book seems like a good place to start!

The Grandmothers
by Doris Lessing

The subtitle of this collection of stories—"Four Short Novels"—announces their ambition: each unfolds over decades, tracking with dispassionate precision how youthful notions come to define, and even defeat, a life. Two women seal their friendship by seducing each other's teen-age son; an aged counsellor recounts the decay of a mysterious ancient civilization ruled by a handsome but foolish despot; an impoverished black girl bears the child of a middle-class white boy, and is welcomed by his self-consciously liberal family. Lessing's scathing intelligence ranges widely, but her tales tend to wobble under the weight of her ideas.

She is at her best in the final story, which extends from England to the outposts of empire in South Africa and India during the Second World War. James Reid, a young conscript, puts ashore in South Africa in the course of this nightmare voyage and embarks on a liaison that transforms the rest of his life. The detail and almost hallucinatory power with which an era and an ethos are recaptured are Lessing at her best, comparable to Ian McEwan's amazing war scenes in Atonement. The other stories are on a much lower level. Still, the prize piece here is well worth the price.

Wishlist Wednesday

I heard about this book while I was looking for something new to nominate for my book club. Books on the Nightstand always has good recommendations, and I'd gotten behind on their podcasts, so when I listened to Michael describe Sweeping Up Glass by Carolyn Wall, I was intrigued. I ended up nominating something else, but this one is definitely going on my to-be-read stack. Wall's novel has been compared to Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird. Can't get much better.

Sweeping Up Glass
by Carolyn Wall

Destined to be a classic, Sweeping Up Glass is a tough and tender novel of love, race, and justice, and a ferocious, unflinching look at the power of family.

Olivia Harker Cross owns a strip of mountain in Pope County, Kentucky, a land where whites and blacks eke out a living in separate, tattered kingdoms and where silver-faced wolves howl in the night. But someone is killing the wolves of Big Foley Mountain—and Olivia is beginning to realize how much of her own bitter history she’s never understood: Her mother’s madness, building toward a fiery crescendo. Her daughter’s flight to California, leaving her to raise Will’m, her beloved grandson. And most of all, her town’s fear, for Olivia has real and dangerous enemies.

Now this proud, lonely woman will face her mother and daughter, her neighbors and the wolf hunters of Big Foley Mountain. And when she does, she’ll ignite a conflict that will embroil an entire community—and change her own life in the most astonishing of ways.

Wishlist Wednesday

I'm not really sure who Amy Cohen is. I heard her tell a story on The Moth about founding out she had the "breast cancer gene" and then having a double mastectomy. She told it with such humor and insight, I was intrigued when I heard she'd written a book. I have no idea whether it will be good, but I decided to put it on my list. =)

The Late Bloomer's Revolution
by Amy Cohen

Amy Cohen always imagined that by age thirty she would be juggling a thriving career, a devoted English husband, and two adorable children who had shag haircuts and a room in their loft where they could play the drums. But at thirty-five, as she struggled to come to terms with the loss of her adored mother, she found herself "between jobs" (she’d been fired), "between boyfriends" (she’d been dumped), and "between apartments." She didn’t know how to cook. She didn’t even know how to ride a bicycle.

Amy felt as if her life was behind schedule . . . way behind. The more time passed, the more difficult it became for her to believe that she would ever come into her own. The only thing that made her feel hopeful -- and even determined -- was the idea that she might be a Late Bloomer. She kept telling herself that things would change, that everything would happen for her, just not in the time she expected.

As it turns out, she was right.

A sparkling and reassuring memoir, The Late Bloomer’s Revolution is funny, heartwarming, and above all, real. Filled with observations sweet, bittersweet, and laugh-out-loud funny, this delightful book will be irresistible to all who believe their greatest moments are yet to come.

Wishlist Wednesday

I feel like I've been hearing about this book everywhere. I finally got the chance to flip through it at the bookstore this last weekend, and it definitely sounds promising!

The Graveyard Book
by Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a normal boy.

He would be completely normal if he didn't live in a sprawling graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor of the dead.

There are dangers and adventures in the graveyard for a boy-an ancient Indigo Man beneath the hill, a gateway to a desert leading to an abandoned city of ghouls, the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer.

But if Bod leaves the graveyard, then he will come under attack from the man Jack—who has already killed Bod's family. . . .

Beloved master storyteller Neil Gaiman returns with a luminous new novel for the audience that embraced his New York Times bestselling modern classic Coraline. Magical, terrifying, and filled with breathtaking adventures, the graveyard book is sure to enthrall readers of all ages.

Check out the website here.

Wishlist Wednesday

This week's wishlist comes from Barnes and Noble's Blogging Booksellers page that I recently discovered. They've posted video from several different stores around the country of their employees and their recommendations. Kind of fun. =) Two books piqued my interest:

The Invention of Hugo Cabret
by Brian Selznick

Orphan, clock keeper, and thief, twelve-year-old Hugo lives in the walls of a busy Paris train station, where his survival depends on secrets and anonymity. But when his world suddenly interlocks with an eccentric girl and the owner of a small toy booth in the train station, Hugo’s undercover life, and his most precious secret, are put in jeopardy. A cryptic drawing, a treasured notebook, a stolen key, a mechanical man, and a hidden message all come together...in The Invention of Hugo Cabret.

+/-

This 526-page book is told in both words and pictures. The Invention of Hugo Cabret is not exactly a novel, and it’s not quite a picture book, and it’s not really a graphic novel, or a flip book, or a movie, but a combination of all these things. Each picture (there are nearly three hundred pages of pictures!) takes up an entire double page spread, and the story moves forward because you turn the pages to see the next moment unfold in front of you.

Check out the website here.


Silent in the Grave
by Deanna Raybourn

"Let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave." These ominous words, slashed from the pages of a book of Psalms, are the last threat that the darling of London society, Sir Edward Grey, receives from his killer. Before he can show them to Nicholas Brisbane, the private inquiry agent he has retained for his protection, Sir Edward collapses and dies at his London home, in the presence of his wife, Julia, and a roomful of dinner guests.

Prepared to accept that Edward's death was due to a longstanding physical infirmity, Julia is outraged when Brisbane visits and suggests that Sir Edward has been murdered. It is a reaction she comes to regret when she discovers the damning paper for herself, and realizes the truth.

Determined to bring her husband's murderer to justice, Julia engages the enigmatic Brisbane to help her investigate Edward's demise. Dismissing his warnings that the investigation will be difficult, if not impossible, Julia presses forward, following a trail of clues that lead her to even more unpleasant truths, and ever closer to a killer who waits expectantly for her arrival.

Visit the website here.