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  

The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives

Every now and again we decide to take our Flip camera on a field trip.  Our latest brought us to the 5th floor, where we interviewed Tavia Kowalchuk, Senior Marketing Director of William Morrow, about what she's reading now.  The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wivesis a fresh, debut novel that takes place in modern-day Nigeria.  Author Lola Shoneyin tackles polygamy, deception, and love in a story about one man and his four, very different wives.  She recently penned a piece for The Guardian which discusses many of the same issues from The Secret Lives of Baba Segi's Wives, which hits shelves next month.  If you can't wait til then, we're happy to be giving away 15 galleys of the book (first-come, first-served).  Just email us at librarylovefest at harpercollins dot com.  And now, without further ado, take it away, Tavia!

The Legs Are The Last to Go!

We at HarperCollins were thrilled to publish The Legs Are The Last to Go: Aging, Acting, Marrying and Other Things I Learned the Hard Way by the legendary Diahann Carroll.  Some of you may have had the opportunity to see her at the Closing Session of the 2008 ALA Annual Conference in Anaheim, California.  In her book, she gives us a candid look at her life and everything she has had to overcome to be the success that she still remains today…a true inspiration for us all!  The buzz on Ms. Carroll (what I like to call her) continues!  Make sure you tune in tomorrow (November 13) to The Wendy Williams Show for Wendy's interview with Diahann Carroll.  Please check your local listings for time and channel.  This is definitely something you will not want to miss!

Enjoy!

-Bobby

Manhood for Amateurs

A couple of weeks ago, I was determined to see Michael Chabon during the New York leg of his book tour for Manhood for Amateurs.  (As you can see here and here, I'm a huge fan of The Mysteries of Pittsburgh.)  So it wasn't a big deal for me to hop on the 2/3 and make the hour-long trek into the deep reaches of Brooklyn.  Chabon gave a wonderful talk on non-fiction writing, reading a few essays from Manhood for Amateurs, which manages to be insightful, wonderfully written, and truly poignant.  He took questions from the audience at the tail-end of the event, and even mentioned an idea he has for a book based on the life of Queen's Freddie Mercury.  (Fingers crossed!)

The talk is part of a Brooklyn Public Library series curated by editor Matt Weiland on the Art of Non-Fiction.  The next event, this Thursday night, features Padgett Powell, author of The Interrogative Mood.  For more info on the series, click here.  And while you're at it, be sure to browse inside Manhood for Amateurs.  You can also read one of the essays here courtesy of the New York Review of Books. 

-Kayleigh  

Barack and Michelle

I am so excited about this new book that I had to share it with everyone.  Barack and Michelle: Portrait of an American Marriage, by Christopher Andersen is a fascinating book into the lives of "America's First Couple".

Barack and Michelle, (on sale now) gives us an inside look into their marriage and how they are making it a successful one.  Given everything they have to handle, whether it is trying to "save the country", raising a family or facing the reality of public scrutiny, they carry themselves with their heads held high, while never forgetting the love they have for one another.  Barack and Michelle also takes us back to their respective lives before they met and how despite the odds, progressed into very successful individuals.

In today's society where couples are getting divorced faster than we can blink, it is so refreshing to see an example of a marriage that does work.  Barack and Michelle gives those of us that are single hope that a marriage can survive the trials, tribulations and successes of life.  It also serves as a benchmark for married couples to remind them of why they got married and hopefully how they can stay that way.

Enjoy!

-Bobby

Nancy Pearl interviews author Mike Perry

The beloved author of Population: 485 and Truck: A Love Story moves to the country (with pigs, chickens, and a baby on the way). Read all about it in Coop: A Year of Poultry, Pigs and Parenting, a humorous, heartfelt memoir that revisits his offbeat childhood as a farm boy raised in an obscure religious sect.  Check out the full interview and be sure to visit Nancy Pearl's new blog.

-Virginia

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

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