Library Love Fest

The Heroine's Bookshelf

Check out this great post about the Heroine's Bookshelf by Lesa Holstine, Library Manager from Arizona.  If you haven't picked up the Heroine's Bookshelf, please add it to your reading list today!

Thanks Lesa!

Enjoy,

-Bobby

Women Power!

90 years ago today women got the right to vote.

When election time rolls around, nothing gets my Irish up like an indifferent person – especially a woman - who doesn’t exercise her right to vote.

It took a lot of moxie, smarts and guts for women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to stand up for their rights – which are now our rights.

We get to pull the lever, punch a card, raise a hand, have our say because of the bravery and fortitude of these women.

Worth remembering today.

-Virginia

http://www.dontknowmuch.com/2010/08/dont-know-much-about%C2%AE-the-19th-amendment/

Secret Daughter

We are so excited about this amazing new book.  First time novelist Shilpi Somaya Gowda has a true hit on her hands with Secret Daughter, an emotional story that explores motherhood, loss, acceptance and belonging.  The reviews are outstanding!  Here are just a few of them:

"Secret Daughter is an engaging read, with its quick shifts between characters and rapid movement through 20 years of familial narrative...Gowda resolutely refuses to tie up all her loose ends, keeping the novel from settling into banality."
-Boston Globe

"Some of the best contemporary novels about families and what it means to be American are bring written by Indian - or Pakistani-Americans, many of them women.  I've read and admired a lot of them lately, and Secret Daughter, Californian Shilpi Somaya Gowda's debut, is my favorite...her novel is captivating and ultimately very wise...This novel travels far in the world, and deep into the human heart."
-Minneapolis Star Tribune

I had the pleasure of meeting Shilpi Somaya Gowda as she signed copies of Secret Daughter at the Texas Library Association Conference held in San Antonio earlier this month.  She was warm, engaging, and a true hit among the librarians there!

Secret Daughter should be a part of your reading list.  You WILL NOT regret it!

Enjoy!

-Bobby 

More Praise for Wench!

Last month, I blogged about a book entitled, Wench, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.  Wench is the story of three female slave mistresses and the friendship they built despite living in a period of oppression.   Check out my article.

We have gotten such a great response for this book...and the praise keeps coming!  USA Today just gave Wench an awesome review.  Read it right here!

If you haven't read Wench yet, please add this to your reading list.  You will NOT be disappointed!

Enjoy!

-Bobby 

Wench

Last month, I blogged about a book entitled, Wench, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez.  Wench is the story of three female slave mistresses and the friendship they built despite living in a period of oppression.   Check out my article.

We received a great review from Jennifer M. Winberry, Principal Librarian, Extension Services, Acquisitions and Programming for the Hunterdon County Library.  Here it is:

Set in the decade prior to the American Civil War, Wench tells the story of Lizzie and three other slave women who are brought to Tawawa Resort in Ohio each summer by their masters who have taken these women as their mistresses.  Lizzie, from all appearances, and in her own mind, is treated very well, is considered a favored slave on her plantation, and Drayle shows a considerable amount of affection toward her and toward the two children she bore for him.  Over the years, Lizzie, Reenie and Sweet have formed a strong summer friendship and are mostly accepting of their roles in life until the summer a fourth woman, Mawu comes into their midst and says the word aloud that until now the others only dared say to themselves:  freedom. Dangerous and determined to escape, Mawu sets off a chain of events that brings tragedy to each woman, but that also offers a chance for each woman to change the course of her own destiny, whatever may come. The women will slowly work their way into your mind and heart, especially Lizzie who grows so much over the course of the book, as each searches for her own freedom and the strength to live with her decisions.

-Jennifer M. Winberry
Hunterdon County Library

Many thanks to Jennifer and everyone at the Hunterdon County Library! I hope you add Wench to your reading list.

Enjoy!

-Bobby

Happy Friday!

When I was on vacation recently, I had the opportunity to read a fascinating and eye-opening book.  Wench, by Dolen Perkins-Valdez (on sale in January 2010) is the story of three female slave mistresses and the friendship they built despite living in a period of oppression.  Every summer, slaveholders would take their slave mistresses to a place called “Tawawa House”, a resort in Ohio that had a main building and several cottages where the slave master and slave mistress would co-exist as a couple.  It was very well known, yet a very well kept secret.

Wench focuses on three women, Lizzie, Reenie and Sweet, who each year along with their slave masters would reside in Tawawa House.  These women built a lasting bond and always looked forward to seeing each other.  They were content and enjoyed their time at Tawawa House…they were in short, “happy”…or so they thought.   Along comes a fourth slave mistress named Mawu, who rocks their standard way of living and thinking.  She also plants the idea of something very forbidden…escape to freedom.  When a tragedy strikes the resort, the lives of Lizzie, Reenie and Sweet are never quite the same.

What I appreciated about Wench is the way in which the author really captured the lives and thoughts of these women.  Dolen Perkins-Valdez removes their masks and taps into their very soul.  It made you see that (in their minds) they confused little liberties with being truly happy and free.  While they may have had the ability to read (a skill that slaves were not allowed to have) or didn’t have to do as many chores as the other slaves on the plantation, they were still dehumanized and degraded.  In addition, this book really made you feel like you were there in that period of our country’s history, experiencing the highs and many lows in their lives.  I could not put this book down. 

I am SO excited about this book that I would love to hear your comments.  I will send free copies of Wench to the 12 lucky people who send us a comment or an email at librarylovefest at harpercollins dot com.  If you would be so kind as to send a brief review of the book, I would greatly appreciate it!  I hope you find Wench as revealing and heartbreaking as I have.

Enjoy!

-Bobby

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

Elizabeth Beckwith: Readers Advisory Book/Review Swap

Sometimes funny people write books that are meant to be funny but aren’t.  Elizabeth Beckwith is as funny on the page as she is on the stage.  Check out this great review in Booklist. Then check out the book itself.  Free copies to 25 lucky people who promise to send in a review – and tell all their friends about this funny writer.  Just shoot us an email at librarylovefest at harpercollins.com.
-Virginia

Beckwith, Elizabeth. Raising the Perfect Child Through Guilt and Manipulation. HarperCollins. Oct. 2009. 256p. ISBN 978-0-06-175957-4. pap. $14.99. HUMOR
Comedian and actress Beckwith here takes a saucy tongue-in-cheek approach to parenting advice, complete with laugh-out-loud funny chapter summaries, discussion questions, and pseudo letters from readers. Via chapters titled à la "How To Scare the Crap Out of Your Child (in a Positive Way)," readers relive much of Beckwith’s youth in her Italian Catholic family and will chortle at many of her experiences. Covering such topics as raising a nerd, Beckwith advises, "Instead of being cranky that your son didn’t make the football team, breathe a sigh of relief that he is now less likely to be involved in an ill-conceived gang-bang." Touché, Beckwith; well done!

Tune-in to Author Claire Cook on the Today Show! (New date and time)

Previously, I posted about author Claire Cook and her new book, The Wildwater Walking Club.  For those who may have missed it, here’s the link to the article:

http://tinyurl.com/qnsuea

Claire Cook's segment on NBC-TV's "Today" Show, has been re-scheduled for Monday, September 7th in the 8 o'clock hour. This is definitely something you wont want to miss!

Enjoy!

-Bobby

Kaylie Jones Finds Her Voice

My grandmother used to say “in order to really know someone, you have to walk in their shoes”.  Sometimes what a person projects on the outside is really not what is going on inside.  To some, novelist Kaylie Jones lived the perfect life with a beautiful mother and a famous father.  However, in Lies My Mother Never Told Me, we learn that everything that glitters is not always gold.

Lies My Mother Never Told Me,on sale August 25, 2009 is a fascinating memoir by Kaylie Jones.  In this book, Kaylie Jones recalls her relationship with her mother, particularly in the aftermath of the death of her father, prize-winning novelist James Jones.  

Check out this wonderful video where Kaylie Jones gives you a glimpse of her life and why she wrote this amazing book:

I applaud Kaylie Jones for being so open and honest.  I also commend Kaylie for her bravery in sharing something so personal.  I wonder how many of us could share a personal story in the same manner. I hope Lies My Mother Never Told Me helps readers who are going through any kind of personal struggle find their voice and a sense of inner peace, just as Kaylie Jones has.

Enjoy

-Bobby