Library Love Fest

Stiltsville - Guest Review

We are so happy about the huge response we received for Stiltsville, by Susanna Daniel.  The love for Stiltsville continues! 

We received a great review from Lisa Steckhahn, Reference Librarian from the West Allis Public Library in Wisconsin.  Here is Lisa's review of Stiltsville:

This book is a look at the lifespan of a marriage and a friendship starting at the beginning and checking in at all of the major milestones along the way.  Frances meets Dennis and Marse at the same time.  Marse likes Dennis but he ends up falling for Frances.  Even with this rocky start Marse and Frances become best friends.  This is a testament to the author’s ability to create characters that are likeable but still fully realized with authentic flaws and strengths.  Susanna Daniel manages to avoid clichés and craft a believable story filled with a marriage’s mistakes and triumphs.  The Miami setting is another character in the book that lends an unforgettable setting.  It would be a great book to return to during the coldest days of winter. 

-Lisa Steckhahn
Reference Librarian
West Allis Public Library

Many thanks to Lisa and everyone at the West Allis Public Library.  If you have not added Stiltsville to your reading list, what are you waiting for? I believe you will love Stiltsville as much as we do!

Enjoy,

-Bobby

The New York Times Reviews Furious Love!

You might remember my preternatural attachment to Richard Burton from earlier posts...in case you don't, here's my first review of Furious Love, the dual-biography of the Burtons by Nancy Schoenberger and Sam Kashner.  The New York Times recently ran a stellar write-up of Furious Love, calling it "an indulgent, plenty-of-fun book about Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s traveling circus of money, booze and mutual obsession." I couldn't agree more.  Reviewer Ada Calhoun writes, "There’s a lesson here for couples: marriage doesn’t have to be a partnership of equals. It can be a bodice-ripping, booze-soaked, jewel-bedecked brawl that survives even death. It’s a tough way to live, but it makes for a good beach book." If that doesn't make you want to stuff Furious Love inside your beach-bag, I don't know what will.  Browse inside the book, and click here for the full review!   

-Kayleigh

Furious Love

If you attended our title presentation at ALA Midwinter in January, you may recall that I confessed to having an intense teenage crush on Richard Burton.  If you missed it, here's some auditory blackmail. 

Furious Love hits shelves on June 15th and there's a reason I'm ridiculously excited: for years, I haven't had anyone to talk to about Richard Burton and Liz Taylor.  Now, suddenly, there are stories in Vanity Fair and Time Magazine, coverage on Good Morning America, blog posts...it's the best excuse for my inner granny to come out at full force.  So what did I, a die-hard Taylor/Burton fan, think of Furious Love? 

Reader, I loved it.  Biography buffs, tabloid addicts, cinephiles, jewelry collectors, romantics...will all find something to sink their teeth into in this compulsively readable dual biography.  Burton's love letters to Taylor, many of which are excerpted, are incredibly intimate--I was visibly choked up by the end of the book, and wandered from cubicle to cubicle, telling anyone who would listen how sad it was, how tragic, that two people who loved each other so well could end up apart in the end.  But Furious Love isn't all tragedy--rather, it is the story of a flawed but timeless passion that began on a movie-set and changed the face of American culture forever.  Take a peek inside the book, check out some of the quoted love letters in Time, and know that summer flings--quite simply--pale in comparison.

-Kayleigh  

HarperCollins Author Sheramy Bundrick gets a Starred Review!

Congratulations to HarperCollins author Sheramy Bundrick!  Sheramy’s forthcoming debut novel, Sunflowers just received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.  Check out this fabulous review:

Download Sunflowers - PW 8.17.09

Sunflowers,on sale in October of 2009, is a hauntingly beautiful and fascinating novel about Vincent van Gogh and his relationship with a mysterious young woman named Rachel and the passion they shared. Sheramy Bundrick’s background as an art historian helps craft the perfect novel: real historical figures, passion, romance and drama.  A true winner!

-Bobby

Perfection

We've just recently blogged about the memoir, Perfection, by Julie Metz.  For a better look at Julie's new life, as well as the events she discusses in her memoir, don't miss this incredible profile from Wednesday's New York Times.  Happy Friday!

-Kayleigh

Mary Kay Andrews

Check out my interview on Authors on Air with New York Times bestselling author Mary Kay Andrews.  Mary Kay hit the ground running with her breezy Southern romantic fiction back in 2002 with Savannah Blues.  She followed it up with Little Bitty Lies, Hissy Fit, Savannah Breeze, Blue Christmas, and Deep Dish.  Her latest novel, The Fixer Upper, is another sure-fire hit.  It goes on sale June 23rd.  Listen to Mary Kay as she talks to fellow readers and myself about her books, the art of junking, and the state of libraries today.  Be sure to send us a comment--we'll sendyou a book! Quantities limited to the first 25 comments we receive.  Enjoy the chat--she's a lot of fun!

Earlier this year, Mary Kay Andrews stopped by the HarperCollins studio to make this promotional video for The Fixer Upper.  We hope these interviews provide some insight into the colorful cast of characters you'll find in The Fixer Upper.  Pre-order a copy today (so you don't have to stand in line), and remember, for every Fixer Upper you purchase, Mary Kay Andrews will buy you a pony.*  

   

-Virginia

*Mary Kay Andrews had her fingers crossed when she made that promise.  But we still luv huh.

Perfection

When you discover the life you were living was all a lie, how do you start over?  Graphic designer Julie Metz had to figure that all out when she was faced not only with the sudden death of her young husband but the discovery that he had been unfaithful to her during their marriage.

Perfection is a deeply honest and intelligent memoir that deals with the complexities of forgiveness and betrayal when a young widow discovers her husband's infidelities after his death.

Elizabeth Gilbert wrote this: "It's wonderful--clean, clear, honest, heartbreaking, lucid, fair and thoughtful. And it will help women whose husbands have convinced them that they're frigid or crazy or manic...it is another brick laid on the roadway toward truthfulness."

-Virginia

Oprah's Summer Reading List

We’re thrilled to have two of our titles on Oprah’s summer reading list of ‘The 25 Books You Can’t Put Down’
http://www.oprah.com/slidepopup/omagazine/200907-omag-summer-reading-list/1

They are:

EYE OF MY HEART by Barbara Graham – a compilation of 28 original essays by noted journalists, novelists, and essayists, each one a grandmother, that delves into the cracks as well as the wonder of grandmotherhood today. The contributors are a stellar group of gifted and well known writers representing a wide range of voices and experiences. The list of luminaries includes: Elizabeth Berg, Judith Viorst, Jill Nelson, Anne Roiphe, Judith Guest, Beverly Lowry, Carolyn See and Ellen Gilchrist.

A PEARL IN THE STORM by Tori Murden McClure is a riveting memoir by the first woman to row solo across the Atlantic Ocean.  This is an unforgettable story of an explorer who maps her own world with rare emotional honesty. A story of high adventure, hurricanes, and finding love.

Happy Reading!

- Virginia

Praise for The Scenic Route

The Daily Beast gave Binnie Kirshenbaum's latest novel, The Scenic Route, a hefty dose of love today.  Taylor Antrim writes: "Divorced, mid-40s New Yorker takes off to Italy, meets dashing stranger in small Tuscan village, embarks on whirlwind romance. You’ve already read this book—Under the Tuscan Sun, Summer in Tuscany, A Thousand Days in Tuscany, etc—and you probably don’t want to read it again.  Except Binnie Kirshenbaum’s clever, offbeat novel The Scenic Route is an antidote to all that soft-focus sentiment. This is indeed a woman-has-midlife-crisis-and-finds-romance-in-Italy story, but it is so resolutely unsentimental, even antisentimental, that you won’t be dialing Alitalia anytime soon. Instead of escapist fantasy, narrator Sylvia Landsman offers a reality check, sobering truths about family, regret, loss, history." Browse inside the book and be sure to check out the full review.

-Kayleigh

How Sweet It Is...

Have you ever read a story that took you on an emotional rollercoaster?  Did it take you from happy to sad all with the turn of the page?  Remember the Sweet Things is just that kind of story. It’s the true story of a woman’s twenty-year marriage where she found the love she was looking for and truly deserved.

Remember the Sweet Things, written by Ellen Greene is a touching memoir where she talks about the love she found and the love she gained for herself.  Ellen was divorced, with two children.  After her failed marriage and an ill-fated relationship, she decided to move across the country from New Mexico to Massachusetts to start a new life for herself and her children. While there, she met her future husband Marsh.  She found him to be kind, charming, and  respectful.  Since she just knew this amazing behavior wouldn’t last, she decided to write down everything he did wrong so when the relationship was over, she would be justified in getting out.  However, she couldn’t find anything negative to add to the list.  Instead, she decided to write all the good things (good deeds, jestures, and sayings) that he made.

Check out this video of Ellen Greene as she discusses Remember the Sweet Things: