February 2015

March is Maisie Dobbs month, and to celebrate the upcoming publication of the latest mystery in her New York Times bestselling series, A Dangerous Place, Jacqueline Winspear is hosting multiple author chats to satiate all your Maisie needs.  You can click on the image above to be taken to Maisie's March events homepage, or click on the separate events below to bookmark where you'll need to be.

• March 3 at 12pm PST / 3pm EST: Maisie Dobbs Facebook Q&A 
• March 13 at 12pm PST / 3pm EST: Goodreads "Ask the Author" Discussion
• March 25 at 3pm PST / 6pm EST: Book Club Girl On Air Radio Show

Mark your calendars!  And don't forget to grab an egalley from Edelweiss here.

-Amanda

Tess is back!  Hush Hush by Laura Lippman is the twelfth novel following the adventures of private detective Tess Monaghan, and it marks a huge change in the sleuth's life: Tess is now a mother, and while she's learning to deal with those unique struggles, she's also pulled into a disturbing case involving murder and a manipulative mother.

Hush Hush garnered excellent reviews in the months leading up to publication: Marilyn Stasio of the New York Times Book Review says, "Lippman knows her stuff and introduces some clever plot twists and turns (not to mention a murder). But her character studies, largely drawn from the way people feel about having children, are exceptional," and it received starred reviews from Library Journal, Kirkus, and Publishers Weekly.

And now it's finally on sale!  Happy Book Birthday, Laura and Tess!  Make sure you check out Tess's latest absorbing mystery today.

-Amanda

You'll remember Finding Jake from our previous post and when it was chosen as the #6 LibraryReads pick for February.  Now, to celebrate his book's birthday, author Bryan Reardon has stopped by to share a few words.

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Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon tells the story of Jake Connolly and his father Simon. After a shooting at the local high school, seventeen-year-old Jake is missing. Worse, the authorities have identified him as a possible suspect. Simon embarks on a journey not only to find his son, but to find out who his son really is. Although not included in the book, this school paper, written by Jake in the seventh grade, may hold a clue:

If I Was an Animal

By Jake Connolly

It's funny. If I think about it, I can guess which animal most everyone else in class will write about. I know who the lions are. I think there will be one or two cheetahs. Everyone knows a certain class president will probably pick the eagle. But after hours of thinking about it, I still can't decide which I am.

When I try to think of something, I keep remembering this one book I read in the fifth grade. I had to do a report so I went down to the school library. While I was wandering around, probably looking all confused, Mrs. Thomas came over. She was our librarian all through elementary school. She had this way of picking very specific books out for each kid.

"Hi Jake."

Before I said anything, she nodded, like she'd just figured something out.

"Come here. I think I have a book that you'd really like to read."

Mrs. Thomas gave me Watership Down that day. I saw the rabbit on the cover and didn't love it right away.

"It's a great book, Jake. You have to be a strong reader to handle this. The language can be a little tricky. But the story… you'll love it. I'm sure."

Looking back, I think that was a challenge. I took that book and, no matter how hard it got sometimes, I finished every word and it stuck with me. Now I know why. See there was this rabbit, Fiver, who was always worried. He kept warning all the other rabbits, but some of them got annoyed and wouldn't listen. It drove him crazy, because he cared about the other rabbits so much, and he knew they were in danger. It totally reminded me of my dad. I used to think he worried about me all the time. It used to annoy me. But I get it now. See, it's just that his worry is his love for me and my sister.

So, my dad would be a rabbit. The problem is that's not what I'm supposed to be writing about. I'm sure I'll get a bad grade for this since I'm not really answering the question. But if my dad is a rabbit, and I figured that out by reading a book, then maybe I'm just a bookworm. 

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Thank you, Bryan and Jake!  To learn more about Jake and his father's story, you can check out an excerpt of Finding Jake here.  And when that's not enough (worry not!), Finding Jake is on sale today!

-Amanda

If you or anyone you know is a single 30 year old looking for love in an urban environment, doing the whole online dating thing or trolling bars or gallery openings, and wondering where their person might be THEN GIVE THEM THIS BOOK.

A few years ago this pretty much summed up me and everyone I knew, and I wish I had had Read Bottom Up to laugh (or cry) over. It's told via emails and texts between a man and woman and their respective best friends.

Man and woman meet, there is endless back and forth about what did he/she mean by this email, does she like me, why hasn't he called yet. It's so funny and spot-on echoes endless conversations I've had with friends (either as the woman or the best friend). 

It's a fun and quick read, so get your egalley now!

– Annie

Imagine this: you're looking for a little light reading before bed, so you pick up the novel sitting on your nightstand and decide to give it a try.  You didn't put it there, but maybe your husband left it for you.  The first thing you notice when you open the book is that the disclaimer at the very beginning—the one that says the characters in the story are not meant to resemble real people in any way—is marked out in red pen.  And as you continue to read, you recognize a horrible moment in your life, a moment you thought no one living knew about.

Welcome to the creepy thriller Disclaimer by Renée Knight.  If you like unreliable narrators, conflicting accounts of events, and ferreting out the truth, you'll love this debut novel.  It's told from two points of view: Catherine, the woman who finds the book, and the author of the book itself.  Throughout the entire novel, you're wondering how the author even knew about that incident in Catherine's life, why he's telling her story through the book, and if what he knows is even the truth.  You won't know who to trust until the very end when all of Catherine's secrets are revealed.

Definitely grab an egalley here if you liked Before I Go to Sleep, Reconstructing Amelia, or any other novels about uncovering the truth of past events.

-Amanda

It's Book Club time! For the February Book Club we discussed:

The Orphans of Race Point by Patry Francis

Wench by Dolen Perkins-Valdez

The Illusion of Separateness by Simon Van Booy

Make sure to sign up for our newsletter to receive our monthly book club videos, excerpts, and chances to win copies of the titles for your book club!

– Annie

Geronimo Johnson is a PEN/Faulkner finalist and the critically acclaimed author of Hold it ‘Til it Hurts, and now he has written a very clever, satirical novel that is being compared to Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk and The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao. Welcome to Braggsville (on sale today!) is a dark and socially provocative comedy about four liberal UC Berkeley students who stage a mock lynching during a Civil War reenactment…in Georgia. 

Geronimo wrote up a little something for LLF to help celebrate his Book Birthday, so check it out and then go get your copy of Welcome to Braggsville.

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@librarylovefest.com @triggerwarning: may contain Peanuts

@age7 a friend and I, after much earnest deliberation, much labored debate, much spirited discussion, and several rounds of sugar straws, decided to run away.  Our parents did not understand us; church was terrifying, and school was school. Civilized life was hard in general.  What do two @age7s need to run away? A duffle bag, sweat pants, socks, flip-flops, joke books, water, and peanut butter, all of which we ineptly smuggled out of the house. The books we shoved in our belts like water pistols, though they bulged like life vests. The sweatpants we wore under our jeans. So sly. So slick we were.

…

Guest Blogger: Geronimo Johnson, author of Welcome to BraggsvilleRead More »

We here at LLF wish you a Happy Valentine's Day whether you eat chocolate in your pjs on the couch, watching Love Actually (my plan), wear black and ignore it, get all mushy with your person, or go to see this cinematic masterpiece.  

Whatever you do, be safe and stay warm (if you live in any of the parts of the country currently experiencing TUNDRA like conditions).

– Annie

PS: Want to read a fun, romance? Check out Meg Cabot's upcoming book, Royal Wedding.

 

Edgar Award-nominated author Lou Berney's The Long and Faraway Gone is a sharp, evocative crime novel that tells the story of two unsolved cold cases and the survivors, who are forced together 25 years later in order to confront a dark past and finally discover the truth.  Berney's third novel went on sale earlier this week, after garnering stellar reviews.  Check out these great starred reviews:

“Berney’s novel is most truly a thoughtful exploration of memory and what it means to be a survivor. Elegiac and wistful, it is a lyrical mystery . . . with a deep, wounded heart. Read it.” — Kirkus Reviews

“Focused, very insightfully, on love, loss, and memory . . . fully realized creations that readers won’t soon forget. A genuinely memorable novel of ideas.” — Booklist

“Will raise a lump in the throat . . . the leads’ struggles are portrayed with painful complexity, and Berney, fittingly, avoids easy answers.” — Publishers Weekly

Intrigued?  Well, you're in luck!  The first ten people to send an email mentioning the giveaway to librarylovefest@harpercollins.com will receive a finished copy!  Don't miss out!

-Amanda

Who loves Laura Lippman?? You ALL do! Don't try to pretend…I saw the clamoring for galleys at Midwinter.

Well she loves libraries right back. 

Laura's latest book, Hush Hush, is about to go on sale (2/24), and it features PI favorite, Tess Monaghan dealing with a very different kind of case. Tess has recently become a mother and must decide whether to take on a client accused of murdering her child years ago.

Laura stopped by the office to discuss her mystery and some bonus thoughts on libraries. Check it out! 

 

Just so we are clear, make sure to get your copy!

– Annie

Happy birthday, The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman!

You've probably seen us mention this brilliantly inventive dystopian novel a few times, but today it has finally gone on sale!  The Country of Ice Cream Star follows our heroine, 15-year-old Ice Cream Star, as she leads a roving band of children who must find a cure to the plague that has decimated the world’s population before their leader dies.

This morning's Shelf Awareness also celebrated the novel's birthday by sharing this great piece, in which Sandra talks about how she created the unique language in The Country of Ice Cream Star.  If you were lucky enough to catch it in galley form, you know exactly what I'm talking about.  

If you haven't yet experienced the beauty and excitement that is The Country of Ice Cream Star, join me in wishing it a happy birthday by checking it out today!

-Amanda

I'm sorry to disrupt the normally scheduled book programming for this PSA but I feel like it will benefit you greatly. If you want to feel better about your day, you MUST buy or borrow Carole King: The Legendary Demos. I have listened to this album four times today and it is so excellent!

I'm not just discovering Carole King, don't worry. I have the record of Tapestry framed and hanging on my wall, but these are such great recordings of some of her brilliant songs. 

And just so this is a bit book related, she wrote a memoir…which I might have just ordered. Details.

Ok, I'm done. Monday we will return to book postings.

– Annie

The RUSA awards were held in the middle of a blizzard and concurrent to when the Superbowl was on. It was a wild time!  Congratulations to all the winners, including:

The Enchanted by Rene Denfield: Death row inmates await escape through execution in this weirdly gorgeous tale.

Something Rich and Strange by Ron Rash: A brutal and beautiful collection of human tales set in the Carolinas.

Dark Invasion: 1915 Germany’s Secret War and the Hunt for the First Terrorist Cell in America by Howard Blum: German spies collaborate to unleash a campaign of terror in the United States at the start of World War I.

Jerry Lee Lewis: His Own Story by Rick Bragg: “Can a man play rock and roll and still go to heaven?”

– Annie