Best Book Bets - 11/20/2012

Don't be a Turkey!

48 hours until turkey time, 72 hours until the real turkey time when people shake off the residual effects of Tryptophan and the warmth of family and friends to throttle their fellow man for this year's Furby (which despite the manufacturer's efforts WILL NOT be the Furby.) My solution, resist the Siren's call of the commercial holiday season and curl up with a good book. Maybe if none of us shop this weekend, retail employees will be given time off to be with their families next year. Sounds like the start of a really good book! I can dream, can't I? In fact, isn't that the reason we read, to get away for awhile?

 Heck, when you do attack your holiday gift list why not make each of your presents a book. Support your local bookseller who can advise you as well as the Literary Bookie and reward them with your continued patronage.  

The Bookie will be giving you a shopping list soon so make sure to get your email alerts. But not this weekend, now is the time for, food, family, football and fiction (or non-fiction if you insist.)

(Little/Brown)

Back To Blood 

by Tom Wolfe

CLOTH. With Wolfe its always been a love/hate relationship as a reader. I find the depth of his characters bordering on stereotype. Similar to Hitchcock's actors, they are just chess pieces on a board. What is important is the game being played. What makes his books crack is his capturing of time and place. Is there really a better snapshot of '80s self-indulgance and narcissism that Bonfire of the Vanities? Here he is at his best/worse capturing the pressure cooker of culture shock and vitriol in Miami. The moral dilemmas brought about by the city's racial tension is never addressed despite how fertile the subject matter would be. Wolfe is more interested in what excesses are spawned in such an environment and how they in turn continue to perpetuate the downfall of the people living in it. The result reads like an episode of CSI Miami produced for adult cable. His descriptions are written oft times tongue in cheek as he documents all the city's excesses. In his world everyone gets what they deserve and in Wolfe's Miami, that's squat. 

(Viking)

Fairy Tales from the Brothers Grimm 

by Philip Pullman

CLOTH. With the latest re-imaging of the world of Grimm on television and on film this redux is sorely needed. Pullman, the author of the stellar IR fantasy epic The Dark Materials handles the brother's work with the reverence it deserves. It's hard to think that it was only 200 years ago that these grisly moral tales were unleashed on unsuspecting children. Here he takes  50 tales, some all too well known (am I the only one ODing on Snow White interpretations?) to the more obscure but equally jarring forgotten gems (Doesn't even the title,The Girl with No Hands give you a chill?) Pullman, a master storyteller in his own right, stays pretty straightforward, just tweaking the tales to make them pop for more contemporary readers. His research is insightful but never overly academic. This book is a treasure for anyone who holds the power of story as paramount and for any parent who needs to put the fear of God into their children.

(Pegasus Crime)

Stonemouth 

by Iain Banks

CLOTH. The most refreshing part of Bank's Stewart Gilmour mysteries are their locale, Scotland. Forget the muted desolation of Larsson's Iceland. Scotland makes for a great location. It becomes a driving part of the story as his characters plod through foggy streaks each looking out for themselves. Even a bridge over the Stoun River has meaning. Is it where lost souls go to die, where two timer's lives are cut short, or where one faces the demons of their past. The town of Stonemouth is gritty, its inhabitants working class and desparate, living in the shadows of battling crime families. The story isn't all doom and gloom however. Bank's is fascinated with his characters and presents them rich in detail and quirks. In the end what bonds them is surviving the mean streets long enough to tell their tales, morn past acts, and forge forward.

(Grand Central)

You Came Back 
by Christopher Coake

CLOTH. One of the strongest coping mechanisims for people working their way through the grieving process is their belief in a hereafter, of a place where they can finally reconnect with loved ones. What if this elemental heaven was here on earth and the lost need to connect with us so that we can both move on. This is the world young father Mark Fife finds himself in as he puts his son's tragic death behind him and starts to get along with his life. A new house, a new wife, a new start. That is until the owner of his old house contacts him to tell him that it is haunted by the ghost of his lost son. His ex-wife believes, he is skeptical, fearful that to pursue the phenomena would just open old wounds.Still, something like the tapping of a branch on a windowpane, keeps at him. If it is his son how can he help him this second-time around? A touching vision of the bounds of shared grief and parental love.

(SoftSkull/PGW)

Keyhole Factory 
by William Gillespie

TRADE PAPERBACK.  With some many post apocalypse novels being cranked out recently (a reflection or our times? It always is) it is refreshing to read authors who break convention and allow the words to weave meaning between the letters. This is kaoes theory writing. Here we have a conceptual collection of short stories dressed up as a singular work (I think of collections like Bradbury's Dandelion Wine, which up front is a selection of stories but when seen as a whole becomes something mystically one) The thread that binds these tale is the end of days, a Supervirus hits us, game over. Each of Gillespie's fascinating yet obscure characters veer off in opposing tangents yet cling to one unifying compulsion; to find meaning in a world devoid of it. 

(Little, Brown)

My Ideal Bookshelf 

edited by Thessaly La Force, 

illus. Jane Mount

NONFICTION/CLOTH. Black Friday Alert: Stay Home! If you don't heed my advise (that would be my best pick of the week however) and you have a book lover on your list I might suggest this coffee table book. If you are an avid reader, the books you cherish define you. Here we have author and celebrities picks for there favorites, the spines illuatrated in novel (sic) style by Jane Mount. From Malcolm Gladwell to Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers to Chuck Klosterman, Judd Apatow to Patti Smith, all spectrums of the book world present their choices, explain their importance in their creative life and possibly most importantly make the reader poise what spines their drawing of favorites would reveal. There you go, one name off the list, now on to get that iPhone and a $5 toaster!

(Crown)

Buddy: How a Rooster Made Me a Family Man by Brian McGroryNONFICTION, CLOTH. Marley with feathers, enough said! Boston Globe journalist McGrory needed a fowl to teach him the meaning of life and with a whit on par with John Grogan (another newspaper writer who turned to memior) he tells us how a chicken changed his life. . He was always the alpha, the top dog, bonded only with man's best friend that he related to on a canine to canine basis. After his dog passed, Brian found he needed more in his life. Enter love interest, his dog's vet, Pam. Who would have thought, right? So as quick as you can say Green Acres he has to contend with a petting zoo of dogs, cats, kids and a rooster named Buddy who has a chip on its shoulder as large as his own. Big stretch for a big-city boy about town. As his relationship with Pam becomes stronger he has to come to terms with Buddy. At first he dispises him, then becomes jealous of him, and eventually, emulates him.

 Young Adult Hot Picks of the Week!

(Entangled Teen)

Gravity 
by Melissa West

YOUNG ADULT, CLOTH. I knew it! Aliens are monitoring our every move and are just waiting for us to be conscious of their existence to break into an all out war against us! Well our protagonist, Ari, sees one in her bedroom and he just happens to be the boss man on campus. I suppose you could find worse things hanging from your ceiling. Bad choice to be seen by because she's like the girl in Run, Lola Run, trained for the eventual alien war by her Dad. Yeah, but she likes Jackson the hunkie alien boy but canoodling with him, even admitting to seeing him, could veer her world into obliteration. What's a girl to do? Sounds a bit hackneyed I know but West has her pulse on what young adult fantasy romance lovers crave, star-crossed lovers and action and more action. And you guessed it, its a series. Just keep reading and don't look up, Scully, they're out there.

                            

(Carolrhoda)

Four Secrets 

by Margaret Willey YOUNG ADULT/CLOTH. This past year has been the year of bully awareness (like every one who has been bullied through the years could ever forget.) Its almost systems overload. Teens and there parents start to tune out the societal sinkhole bullying can be. Its a perfect time for this novel. Like Wilhelm's The Revealers, four girls decide to take revenge on king bully at thier school into their own hands since the school administration are incapable of reigning him in.  They make a pact, bound by the secrets they keep and the larger one that must never be revealed, they were the ones responsible for the bully's kidnapping. Secrets are fragile things, hard to keep and promises even easier to break. As the bullied become the bully each girl's friendship with the other is tested in this honest story of the complexity of emotions and the repercussions of one's actions. This is one book that addresses bullying without the reader feeling that they are being preached at.

(HarperCollins)

The Vengekeep Prophecies 

by Brian Farrey, illus. by Brett Helquist

INDEPENDENT READER, CLOTH. Like the Goblin Secrets that just recieved the National Book Award, this book is so filled with imaginative twists and turns that even adults will be swept away in its vast landscape of magic and danger. Jaxter, raised by a family of thieves lives in a world of logic. All magic is flim flam. When his family steals a tapestry his land uses to see into the future with a forgery. With the fake as a catalyst a disastrous future unfolds. Enter the monsters. I guess there is some magic that is true. Jaxter goes off on a quest to restore the original tapestry, destroy the cursed knockoff and save the future of Vengekeep. Sharp writing, believable characters and illustrations that make you feel that this tale has been on bookshelves for hundreds of years.
 

(Feiffel&Friends)

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There 

by Catherynne M. Valente, illus. by Ana Juan

INDEPENDENT READER, CLOTH. From the fertile imagination of novelist and long title lover Vallente comes another chapter from the history of her darkly magical world. Trust me, this isn't a fantasy world inhabited by Tinkerbells. This novel takes off where her previous installment (take a deep breath) The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making left off. Little September returns to fairyland to face her dark side, her shadow, who now rules the nether world, kind of an opposites-day version of Fairyland. September is a great, complex heroine that will appeal to adults as well as children as she explores the ramifications of her decisions and the difficulty in knowing what is right and wrong. There is a fulling fleshed out history of the different realms, their population, landscape and trials that is never too much information, just enough for the reader to be there with September as she fights for right. Juan's wickedly drawn artwork adds to Valente's vision.

 

Best Book Bets - 10/13/2012

World Kindness Day = Pass a Good Book Forward!

Like we need a day to remind us. I started thinking how people say that e-books are conservation savvy, that is until you upgrade and all the old models go into the funeral pier of technological obsolesce. Would I sacrifice communing with the pages of a hard copy of a book for the sake of the planet? Then I thought, like yard sales and donation drives, making a habit of passing forward a good book to someone who would like it would be world kind. Kind of a year-round All Hallow's Read but the books don't necessarily have to be scary. Now, as far as the glut of remainders aka bargain books, direct digital press will take care of those (we already see shorter runs, print-on-demand, heck, even a major publisher's warehouse is closing.) The paper books are being printed on has become increasingly green. So, you're welcome world!

Less books being printed means its all the more important to buy new releases to let the industry know you appreciate the quality of their limited output. That said, here's today's Best Book Buys starting with a scary one (sorry, my heads still in Halloween) Buy a book and don't  feel guilty, the world smiles on a literate mind.

(St.Martins/Dunne)

The Colony  by A.J. Colucci

CLOTH. Sure it sounds like an atomic era shlockfest premise or the Syfy movie-of-the-week but Colucci does for ants when Benchley did for sharks. Like Jaws it is armed with enough ant lore and research to makes the unfolding infestation seem entirely plausible. How many times have you read about deadly fire ants and went what if? Well this is how it would go down and it isn't pretty. They sweep the high population of New York City. Now you add a Michael Crighton angle where these are not just ordinary killer ants but may have been genetically modified, twice the normal size and pissed off. Soon an estimated trillion miniscule land sharks roam the streets. Scientist Paul O'Keefe wants to nuke them back to hell while his ex-wife Kendra wants to use the scientific approach and isolate the queen. Does New York fall do to nuclear fallout and our own panic or by its inhabitants being eaten one by one from the inside out? OK, it does sound a bit like drive-in fare but in the novel's defense the ants aren't the size of houses and it, as long as you keep reading, you believe it could happen. Pass the popcorn.

(Simon&Schuster)

The Lawgiver  by Herman Wouk

CLOTH. You're kidding? At 97, 22 years since his last novel, the author of such brillient but stodgy works such as Winds of War, War and Remembrance, and The Caine Mutiny cranks out a work of contemporary fiction that rings so true to our times that one would assume it was written by a talented writer one quarter his age? Well, it seems the answer is yes. That's what the real pros are capable of. For the better part of his life Woulk wanted to tackle the tale of Moses but it wasn't until we entered the age of Twitter and Skype that he found the vehicle to bring the story home. Using modern communication as his new lexicon he tells us the tale of Margo Solovei, a protege filmmaker, an Orson Welles for our times, who has one of the 1% fund a film about the life of Moses as long as the script meets his approval. Enter a parade of media types, including Woulk himself, who are brought in to make the film project worthy of completion. Ambition, faith, love, devotion; all are shone in a new light in this unlikely classic for our modern world. Take that young literary whippersnappers!

(Seven Stories)

LoveStar by Andri Snaer Magnason

CLOTH.  I often wonder if having books translated to English from another language gives their sentence structure a certain gravitas. Case and point the work of Magnason which is translated from Icelandic by Victoria Cribb. The author of Dreamland, a self-proclaimed self-help manual for a frightened nation, delivers another work of speculative fiction. In this brave new world people have been freed from their gadgets because the world that they live in, run by REGRET is, in essence, one gigantic app inself. Instead of giving blood those down on their luck can be hired as viral marketers howling affaffirmations to citizens who consume the correct products. Death becomes literally fireworks and the fate of our civilization is in the hands of a dying overlord called LoveStar who wants to free people from the oppression of freedom. The few, like star-crossed lovers Indridi and Sigrid, who buck the system find themselves at odds with convention. Orwellian allegory, Vonnegut's clever turn of phrase, and Douglas Adams fearless wackiness combine into the weaving of this chilling future. You will never look at your iPhone the same way again. Press Like.

(Scribner)

The Testament of Mary  by Colm Yoibin

CLOTH. I know what you're thinking, "Whoa, hands off, blasphemer." and I will admit that for Christians who cling to a literalistic depiction of the Bible one may be taken back. Still Tibin's portrait of Mary comes from a place of reverence and of compassion. This novel explores the post-crucifixion Mary, an older mortal woman struggling to understand her son's sacrifice and the rise of the Gospel writers. She has no time for them, nor they for her. She is a mother who lost a son and no painting of pearly gates makes that any better. She pians herself for leaving her son's side as he died and she freely focuses that anger on others who try to glorify the event. Here is Mary in all her humanity, accessible and relate-able, less a deity and more flesh and blood. This deftly written portrayal brings out a sad beauty any mother can relate to without any ill intent. Another emotion driven classic by the man who brought us Brooklyn and The Master.

(Free Press)

Brain On Fire by Susannah Cahalan

NONFICTION/CLOTH. It hasn't been until just recently that studies of the brain could explain away the grips of demonic possession and voodoo as anything more than mass hypnosis and incurable insanity. What if such conditions were treatable, like a virus? Well the science of such a cure and the horror of the inflicted are both delivered in Cahalan's memoir of surviving a ravenous autoimmune disease that manifests itself with psychosis and violence. One day she is balancing relationships and her fast track to a career in journalism and the next she is strapped to a gurney unable to move or speak. Enter Dr. Souhel Najjer, a brillent neaurosurgeon in league with television's Dr. House. Starting with a sketch drawn by the author a cure is hunted down. Cahalan's writing style makes her memoir read like a thriller. She puts you down on the bed experiencing her fear, her madness, and eventually, her wonder as the medical team prods in the dark for her cure.

(FaithWords)

Help, Thanks, Wow: Three Essential Survival Prayers
by Anne Lamott
NONFICTION, CLOTH. It seems aptly appropriate that the same week Cross Roads by William Paul Young (The author of the uber-successful and, admit it, uber-depressing christian fiction novel, The Shack) is released that the ever inspirational New York Times-bestselling author Anne Lamott would release a new book about the three simple prayers essential to coming through tough times, difficult days and the hardships of daily life.  She is responsible for some religious main stays such as Plan B and Grace, Eventually as well as the inspirational Bird by Bird, a guide for aspiring writers on how to write in order to discover truth. She always has a knack at using humorous insight to show us the religious significance of the around us. Until Young, she does that without dragging you through hell and brimstone to get there. Now she gives us faith in a nutshell; three prayers to see us through. Her own personal revelations is what gives this book life and this is sure to be a bed table favorite.

 Young Adult Hot Picks of the Week!

(Dutton)

Reached by Ally Condie

YOUNG ADULT, CLOTH. Finally, the conclusion of her Matched trilogy and, third time around,  Condie delivers. After a lack-luster sophomore effort she is now free to tie up the loose ends. The series paints a future of predetermined destiny akin to The Uglies series with our heroine Cassia having left Society in search of The Rising, the revolution. To topple the evil regeim she must again leave her love Ky and return to Society to battle them from within. And yes, of course there is a romantic triangle with Xander, like freeing the world isn't enough. If you are already a fan this will be a winner. If there is a downside its that she has written some characters you really care about which makes reaching the final page bitter sweet. In an age of cookie cutter young adult novels that's no small feat. 

                            

(Hyperion)

Break My Heart a 1000 Times   by  Daniel Waters
 CLOTH. What if ghosts weren't just see through flashbacks of the past but life forces that want to regain control of the world they lost? This premise fuels Water's tale of distopia of life after the Event.  Ghosts now are part of the everyday. Many like Veronica wish them gone and with her friend Kirk she tries to understand this new evolution. It seems that not everybody comes bacl. Why? To find the answer would Veronica have to die herself to enter their realm? What do the ghost beings really want? The answers will creep you out and keep you up nights in this inventive variation on hauntings and the afterlife, a far cry from Water's previous cookie cutter novels of the series Generation Dead. New ghosts for a new millennium!

(Candlewick)

Bartholomew Biddle and the Very Big Wind   
by Gary Ross, illus. by Matthew Myers

INDEPENDENT READER, CLOTH. From the director of The Hunger Games (less said about that the better) comes an inventive tale of an unbridled soul that goes on a classic series of adventures. Of all things a bedsheet transports Bartholomew out of his hum drum life and soars him away to a swashbuckling world of hedonist pirates. Suddenly, like Peter Pan without his shadow, he finds himself caught in a world where the wind doesn't blow, making it impossible for him to return home. Myers illustrations add to the retro storybook feel of this collection. Some things work better on the page than they ever will on the screen. A big nod to Ross for knowing the difference.

The Girl Who Fell Beneath Fairyland and Led the Revels There   
by Catherynne M. Valente, illus. by Ana Juan 

INDEPENDENT READER, CLOTH. From the fertile imagination of novelist and long title lover Vallente comes another chapter from the history of her darkly magical world. Trust me, this isn't a fantasy world inhabited by Tinkerbells. This novel takes off where her previous installment (take a deep breath) The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making left off. Little September returns to fairyland to face her dark side, her shadow, who now rules the nether world, kind of an opposites-day version of Fairyland. September is a great, complex heroine that will appeal to adults as well as children as she explores the ramifications of her decisions and the difficulty in knowing what is right and wrong. There is a fulling fleshed out history of the different realms, their population, landscape and trials that is never too much information, just enough for the reader to be there with September as she fights for right. Juan's wickedly drawn artwork adds to Valente's vision.

 

Best Book Bets - 11/6/2012

Fall Back = More Time To Read!

Leaves are falling and thermostats are rising in the land of literary prognosticators. No better time to pick up a good book, save for on the beach, or in the throws of Winter, or in the return of warmth in the Spring... O.K. There is NO bad time to crack the spine of your next read. Here's some help to make your reading time even better.

(HarperCollins)

Flight Behavior  by Barbara Kingsolver

CLOTH. Here's another one of those literary heavyweights whose titles drop in time for giftgiving season. The case with Kingsolver is that she delivers classics (brillient fiction like Poisonwood Bible or even her nonfiction work on the benefits of eating and living locally, Animal Vegetable, Miracle)that are accessible to the average reader. That is simply because they are so deeply entrenched in the emotional outcome of there protagonist that anyone can relate. Set in Feathertown, Tennessee, we have young Dellarobia. While struggling with life and love in her rural squalor she comes upon a forest where a silent red fire smolders. The revallation of her discovery to the world would surely ostracize her from the world but it could also free her from the isolation of her life. A great portrait of person struggles and the bravery it takes to break free fueled only on faith.

(IG)

The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets  by Diana Wagman 

CLOTH. There is something about abduction stories that really get under my skin. Even when they are thoroughly original like Room, I can't help throw them in with torture porn. That said this story of now-single mom Winnie's kidnapping by a deranged man who's obsession is his pet iguana proved an acceptation. Winnie is smart and resorceful and rather than constantly trying to escape she tries to get under the skin of her captor. It is this psychological chess game that ratchets up the suspense more than the kidnapper's ulterior motives. Dark humor, reptile miscellany, and a keen sense of how crime has been elevated to celebrity status makes this a must read for people who aren't freaked out by such things. Moral? Don't mess with a mama bear!

(W W Norton)

Magnificence: A Novel by Lydia Millet

CLOTH.  Here's another tale that uses the window dresssing to help set the thematic tone of the novel. Lydia Millet inherits a mansion complete with all of its baggage. Included is a vast array of taxidermy decorating the Pasadena palace in the past and stuffed death. As she begins to reconstruct her own life she commits to the care and mending of the artifacts. What follows is a cast of equalling damaged characters coming to reside in the estate who need similar tending. Other family members of course she this as nothing short of crazy. Lydia and her new found acquaintances must fight for there survival. Not only is the mansion an all encompassing metaphor, his is a labaryinth of widing halls, secrets and revelations for both the reader and the characters to discover. Truely transcendent writing from a modern master.

(Reagan Arthur)

The Snow Child  by Eowin Ivey 

TRADE PAPER. First released back in February this had become one of the Bookie's favorite books of the year and I'm not alone. Talk to anyone who's read it and the gush over the emotional ride it takes you on. Its Alaska in the 1920s. A brutal land to live off of, especially for the childless Jack and Mabel. Their love has grown as desolate as the landscape. One day, perhaps a vain attempt to recapture their spark, they build a small child out of the season's first snowfall.  The next day, the sculpture is gone but they see a blonde girl and a fox running between the trees. The girl Faina is both a confounding mystery and a potential miracle. The couple wrestle with the girl's existence, seduced by witnessing their dreams come true but cognizant that they live in a world where prayer's are often denied. You will be as mesmorized as the couple from page one.

(Akashic)

Boston Noire 2: The Classics  edited by Dennis Lehane

CLOTH. Local mystery writing hero edits yet another collection of tales filled with New England flavor and draped in the shadows of Boston's back streets. There are 14 tales including David Foster Wallace, Linda Barnes, and even Lehane himself who proved with his collection, Coronado, that he's no slouch when it comes to short stories. Where New York is a backdrop of cold grey hussel and busseling and Los Angles, a bleached stucco of soullessness, Boston gives us an old school back drop of brownstones, cold shores and colonial decay, Boston Sepia if not Noir. These are some strong standards, a great companion to the original collection, for lovers of Denis' work and for mystery lovers in general.

(Knopf)

Elsewhere by Richard Russo

NONFICTION/CLOTH. Russo is the kind of writer that I am so jealous of, like Anne Tyler, he is able to make subtle dramatic arches out of the every day and make the reader commit to his characters and hang on their every seemingly trivial action. With a grace similar to his Emire Falls Russo makes a narrative out of his own life experience without imbedding them in fictional characters. He grows up in the 50s in a community that lived of of (and died because of) the leather business he learned early that life could be cruel and not always fair. With his mother instilling him with dreams of a life beyond his hometown, the two of them chart a new future realizing that there are parts of home that you can never shake off. Funny, sad, and moving, this book would be another one of his great novels if it wasn't a memoir.

(Knopf)

Hallucinations by Oliver Sacks
NONFICTION, CLOTH. At one point in time everyone will admit that they had seen something that really wasn't there. Some call them ghosts, UFOs, religious epiphanies or what have you but for that moment they were as real as the hand on their face. Welcome to the word of hallucinations. As Andrew T. Weil alluded to in From Chocolate to Morphine man constantly hungers for transcendent experiences. What if they can be explained as away by science? Once considered a phenomena reserved for the clinically insane, Sacks, a thought provoking archivist of new science ( The Man who Mistook his Wife for a Hat, Musicophilia) presents the facts of hallucinations alongside historical antidotes questioning their paranormal other-worldliness and even our very perception of our reality. This is a good trip!

 Young Adult Hot Picks of the Week!

(Razorbill)

Colin Fischer by Ashley Edward Miller and Zach Stentz

YOUNG ADULT, CLOTH. Like Mark Haddon’s The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, we have a autistic narrator unraveling the clues to a crime. HIs life experience, seeing our world as an outsider is perfect for the task. Colin Fischer's condition manifests itself with an inability to be touched, disdain for anything blue and an inability to read facial expressions. What he is very attuned to however is details which he notes and connects with miraculous detail. A gun is found in school, a bully is fingered and  his only chance of proving his innoscence comes from one of his victims, Colin. Together they teach each other about growing up and chancing on friendship (and how to be an unlikely crime fighting team.) The writing team are action screenwriters are they know how to move a plot along  to keep young hands turning pages.

(Little, Brown)

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

YOUNG ADULT, CLOTH. If you have already read the first book in this series, Daughter of Smoke and Bone, there is no need in me recommending this. If not, the first book should simultaneously come out in trade paperback (read; cheaper!) so run to the bookstore now. Karou, our lead character and heroine, is plagued by her fate, to make monsters and collecting teeth for Brimstone to fight a war that can only lead to more darkness. Now an orphan she goes it alone. On the other side of this war of the gods is her star crossed lover Akiva. Two lovers on opposite sides, each not believing in their causes. Will they have what it takes to usurp the regeimes and reunite? And what about the poor Chimeras? There is so much original, punk mythos coming at you from Taylor's creative mind your mind will spin. The end will leaving you hanging for the forthcoming finale but what do you expect in the era of paranormal trilogies.

(Philomel)

Curse of the Thirteenth Fey; The True Tale of Sleeping Beauty   
by Jane Yolan

INDEPENDENT READER, CLOTH. Forget Stephen King, Yolan has written over 300 books from The Devil's Arithmetic to How Do Dinosaurs Say Good Night? (one an essential summer read title, the other an adorable storybook.) In this foray into the paranomal young adult market she reimagines the fairytale of Sleeping Beauty. In lesser hands this could have been just another in a long line of contemporary re-tellings but in Yolan's masterful hands we get a tale knee deep in mythology. Fated with following rules or bursting into stars young Gorse does everything to stay on the straight and narrow. Her youthful, bumbling nature finds her weaving a spell that will curse families, kingdoms , and herself. All fairytales aside, this is the true, authoritative account of the incident, rife with back stories and boundless imagination. Smart, funny, and from what I'm told, true!

Best Book Bets - 10/30/2012

All Hallow's Read Eve!

If Sandy taught us one thing its that there is nothing scarier than real life. That, and of course, dropping your hard earned moolah on an unrecommended book. The Bookie's got you covered. This week we have some late Halloween picks and some transcendent works of fiction.

NOTE: Until midnight on Halloween night you can upload a free copy of S.E. Toon's latest short story, Got Your Nose, created to celebrate this year's All Hallow's Read. Learn more about the new holiday tradition by clicking the tab above.

(Earthling)

Motherless Child  by Glen Hirshberg

CLOTH. This is not an easy book to find but it is worth the search. In celebration of Halloween this book is released by Earthling Publications. It is a welcome addition to the onslaught of vampire fiction. Nobody sparkles here. We have evil, dark and old in the form of The Whistler who take two mothers of young children and transform them into blood suckers. Now begins an intense battle between maternity and monster, friendship and fiend as the mothers battle with their fate. They set out to protect their children even as they long to be reunited. meanwhile The Whistler has designs on one of them infatuated by her lingering human drive. The writing is top notch and the exploration of the characters pathos makes this one horror novel you can sink your teeth into.

(Deckle Edge)

The Elephant Keeper's Children by Peter Hoeg

CLOTH.  Hoeg's bestselling novel, Smilla’s Sense of Snow ushered the reader into a surreal world of the protagonist's mind, to see the world through there eyes. He has created another fascinating take on the selectivity of reality. He has created a fictional island world for his characters to inhabit. As Hans, his teen narrator, Hoeg tells us the story of a land run by the mysterious governing body, the Grand Synod and the mystical elephant keepers. He takes the time to flesh out the world and the pressure it puts on Peter and the other youth. The children are the sane one here and they persevere in spite of a carnival of odd adults to save his parents. It is a challenging read filled with humor and insight, a meditation on how faith and family loyalty drives the best of us.

(Little, Brown)

Ask the Passengers  by A.S. King 

CLOTH. Like The Age of Miracles, this novel could fit just as well in the young adult section as it does in literature. Similar to the aforementioned novel King uses an otherworldly device to illustrate the coming of age. Astrid Jones finds herself falling in love with a girl but feels that she can't tell her family, or anyone. She makes a habit of lying in her backyard and watching airplanes fly overhead, each filled with people going, away, as she wishes she could. It is with these faceless unknowns she finds a safe place to confide her secrets. This becomes the stepping off point for this young girl as she confronts societal pressures and conflicting feelings of self worth and guilt. It is more than a rite of passage, its a transcendent tale of not just coming out, but coming through puberty realizing one's relevance in the world. This book not only captures the struggle and intense loneliness of the bullied and the ostracized it gives the other people in their lives a sense of just how it feels to confront their undeniable feelings.

(Simon Schuster)

The Secret Keeper  by Kate Morten

CLOTH. "I just can't put this down.Its just what you hope a novel will be," a trusted avid reader told the Bookie so we took a peak. It certainly has a good pedigree, Morton was responsible  for The Secret Garden which was a bestseller and won her many a loyal reader. Here she has another generational tale starts in  England in 1959. A farm girl yearns for more than the hum drum of her life. She then witnesses a crime and gets her first glimpse of the darker side of the world that lies beyond the farmlands. Switch to present day, the girl is a revered actress and returns to the farm of her youth only to gets caught up in the mystery behind the crime from long ago and its connection to her mother. Flashing back and forward the pieces start to connect in a satisfying mix of character and plot. "I didn't want the novel to end," I was told and what better recommend can you get? Morten has proven time and again that she has a unique talents at intertwining family secrets with character's longings. Put another log on the fire, its going to be a long night.

(U. of Washington)

Pumpkin: The Curious History of an American Icon   
by Cindy Ott

NONFICTION/CLOTH. You see it all around you, Pumpkin Mania! So you only have a day before Halloween to pick this up. You have Thanksgiving coming around the corner, another holiday that celebrates this revered gourd. We put it on a pedestal, pick favorites that we won't even eat and when we do consume them its primarily only at special holiday times where elsewhere in the world its a basic staple. We carve them, bake them, drink them, chuck them... Why? This should be more of an academic work but instead it is an insightful read on how we instil meaning in the everyday. It examines origins, traditions and how its significance has grown in our society. A Great Pumpkin indeed!

(Penguin)

A Wilderness of Error: The Trials of Jeffrey MacDonald
 by Errol Morris
NONFICTION, CLOTH. The biggest injustice ever perpetrated at The Academy Awards was when Morris' first documentary, A Thin Blue Line was not allowed to be considered for Best Documentary because it used reenactments of the featured crime that altered based on the perspective of each person interviewed. It was inspired, accurate, well-researched, and resulted in an innocent man being released from prison. He uses the same investigation chops here, understanding that using a little storytelling helps us discover the truth. Here we have the MacDonald murder case where a police officer was convicted of murdering his family in Fort Bragg. The husband always claimed his innocence and after a 20 year investigation, Morris proves it out. He shows us how the media and the judicial system can be complicit in such acts of injustice. You may never trust the news or the status que of the system again. Makes for a great book but I feel guilty wishing it was a film.

 Young Adult Hot Picks of the Week!

Dead Girl Moon by Charlie Price

YOUNG ADULT, CLOTH. What if you were a teen an stumbled upon a dead body but you knew that in your hometown the police weren't necessarily your friends. Grace a runaway does her best to cover up her discovery but her efforts fail and she is becomes a suspect. Small town corruption rules as the teens learn that the authorities are covering up for a local big wig and they would do anything to keep the deep pockets from being implied, including murder. A touch of The Outsiders realism keeps you engaged as the teens scramble to remain free and disclose the truth. Captures adolescent neurosis and brings up the age old question, "Are you paranoid if they really are all out to get you?"

Burning Blue by Paul Griffin

(Dial)

YOUNG ADULT, CLOTH. This novel brings the horror of acid burning to stateside. Nocole was born wealthy and beautiful. Suddenly Nicole's world is forever altered when she is deformed by an unknown assailant. Her life comes crashing in around her and she becomes the latest media fodder. One other teen, Jay, who sees himself as a freak himself, decides to use his geekish prowess at computer hacking to find the criminal that attacked her. What starts as a mission to avenge Nicole's tragedy turns to an act of devotion. The more Jay learns the more he has to confront his feelings for her and the real motivation behind the incident. The who and why will challenge what the reader believes about love, beauty and obsession.

(S&S/McElderry)

Goblin Secrets  by William Alexander

INDEPENDENT READER, CLOTH. This came out earlier this year before the Bookie started posting but since it just got a National Book nomination I thought I should point it out. Plus, it's almost Halloween and we have goblins here... and witches! A clockwork witch named Graba collects stray children. The youngest acquisition is Rowanie who had been searching for his actor brother. In Zombay where they live, acting is prohibited so Rowanie runs away to join a troupe of play-throwing goblins. Natch. Oh yeah, the goblins want to find him too because he may be the only person that can save the town from disaster. Trippy stuff yes, but Rowanie's passion to reunite with his brother and even the sympathetic goblins need for family and survival breathes life into this surreal adventure.

                            

(Little/Brown)

Zom-B   by  Darren Shan illust. by Cliff Nielson

 CLOTH. We only have two more days to celebrate Zombie Preparedness Month so here we go (NOTE: for YA zombie lovers, Jonathan Maberry's Flesh and Bone is now out,. Go buy, like a zom hungry for brains!!) Be it a social commentary of our times (society chooses its monsters as a reflection of the fears of the day) Zombie's are all the rage. Here is a chapter book for the kiddo who loves his reads on the dark side. Zombies attack Ireland. B (our narrator and eventual zombie)  lives with his racist fatherhen news reports start appearing of a zombie outbreak in Ireland, B's abusive and racist father has taught B to be a bit of a bully himself. His fighting skills however brings him friends when then the zombie attack his school. He shows his schoolmates how to defend themselves against the undead and each other and finds purpose in his life on the way. Comes with some gruesome illustrations and is the start of a series so there are more short, brutal adventures to come.