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    • Archive for November, 2011

    The Starlite Drive-in by Marjorie Reynolds

    Wednesday, November 30th, 2011 Filed under:Face Out

    “We’re so pleased to see one of our favorite novels back in print after a number of years, available now in an eye-catching paperback edition. When human bones are uncovered on the grounds of the old Starlite Drive-In, Callie Anne Benton instinctively knows the victim’s identity. Remembering back 36 years to the summer of 1956, Callie Anne recalls when a drifter named Charlie Memphis arrived to help out at her family’s drive-in theater. Both she and her mother soon fall for the charming and handsome Charlie—until Charlie’s attentions and her father’s increasing jealousy threaten to tear the Benton family apart. Finally, a distastrous turn of events changes everything, and now the adult Callie Anne must unlock the secrets buried so long ago to finally put her ghosts to rest. This is a great portrait of small-town America in the 1950′s and a captivating read full of suspense. Author Marjorie Reynolds currently lives on Camano Island.”— Kristine, The Snow Goose Bookstore, Stanwood, WA. Buy The Starlite Drive-in from your local indie.

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    Junonia by Kevin Henkes

    Tuesday, November 29th, 2011 Filed under:Face Out

    “Henkes has been a favorite author of mine since I discovered his picture book Chrysanthemum. His books are always rich with language. Junonia is a lovely book of reflection about a girl as she turns 10 years of age. Alice is an only child and used to life going her way. She isn’t spoiled but is used to having adult attention to herself. Every year she spends her birthday at a cottage resort along the Florida coast. This year her special day is to be different as many of the doting adults usually present will not be able to attend and, to top it off, she is to share the attention with a difficult eight year old. Alice’s birthday wish is to find a Junonia shell to add to her extensive collection. As she is searching for the allusive shell, Alice discovers many things about herself and the effect her actions can have on people around her. While this story doesn’t have a lot of action, it is a very reflective book. It is the kind of book a young reader will want to curl up with and thoughtfully work through.”—Cynthia, Paulina Springs Books, with locations in Sisters and Redmond, OR. Buy Junonia from Paulina Springs Books.

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    My most recent favorite read was My Stroke of Insight. Though it’s been out a while, I hesitated to begin because I was frightened by the topic. (more…)

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    The Ten-Year Nap by Meg Wolitzer

    Monday, November 28th, 2011 Filed under:Face Out

    “This finely etched and sometimes tart novel about a group of four New York friends is for all those moms who decided to stay at home when their children came along. The main characters face midlife somewhat lost and somewhat flawed, yet admirable. Wolitzer has a keen ear for the inner dialogue of graduate-degree mothers on break from their careers. Where was she eavesdropping? You will smile at those very recognizable mother moments.”—Victoria, Eagle Harbor Book Company, Bainbridge Island. Buy The Ten-Year Nap from Eagle Harbor Book Company.

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    “The change of seasons always makes me take a look around my house to see what new things I can do to make my home just as festive inside as the weather and garden outside. One problem: not too much cash to make that happen. No problem! Danny Seo has all the answers on how you can give your home those new little perks without spending much (if any!) money. Who knew that painter’s tape, old leather belts, chop sticks and old lipstick cases (plus much more) could turn into such treasures?!?”—Mimi, Inklings Bookshop, Yakima. Buy Upcycling from your local indie.

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    “Say yes to Delicious Gifts! So many great edible gift ideas! Now I can make lemon curd for myself and my pals.”– Jan, University Book Store, Seattle. Buy Delicious Gifts from University Bookstore.

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    The Stranger’s Child by Alan Hollinghurst

    Friday, November 25th, 2011 Filed under:Face Out

    “It’s hard to believe that Hollinghurst is a contemporary novelist. Written with detail and breadth reminiscent of Dickens and echoes of Austen’s pre-Victorian romance, intrigue, and satire, The Stranger’s Child is the kind of novel that has become an anomaly in the post-modern literary world. It is at once both dense and juicy, filled with small gossip, illicit love affairs and long kept secrets. When Cecil Valance—an up-and-coming poet—visits George Sawles’s family and writes what will become his most famous poem in the young Miss Sawles’s autograph book, lives are forever changed, and, in a series of dramatic revelations, a truth that was hidden over decades finds its way out.”—Candra, Elliott Bay Book Company, Seattle. Buy The Stranger’s Child from Elliott Bay Book Company.

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    “An admiring biography of the minor German princess who at the age of 15 married Peter the Not So Great, the mentally incompetent teenager who was the grandson of Peter the Great and heir to the Russian throne. (Peter the Great was the subject of an earlier Pulitzer prize-winning biography by Massie.) In the decade that followed, Catherine educated herself through reading as a means of staving off her general misery, and in 1762, with the help of her lover, she deposed her husband six months after he became Emperor to assume the throne in his stead. As Empress, she ruled as an ‘enlightened’ autocrat, experimenting with an elected advisory body a decade before the Continental Congress in America, attempting (unsuccessfully) to eradicate the Russian system of serfdom, and buying up European art masterpieces, while fighting wars and pragmatically juggling political alliances. She also wrote a remarkable autobiography, and maintained a string of lovers up to forty years her junior. What a woman, what a book!”—Arlene, Watermark Book Company, Anacortes. Buy Catherine the Great from your local indie.

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    Rakha Reacts to Stopped Execution

    posted by Jamie - Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 Filed under:Regional Reprints

    Yesterday, Oregon Governor John Kitzhaber stopped the execution of two-time killer Gary Haugen. Oregon journalist and author Naseem Rakha, who has visited with Haugen on death row, reacted to the announcement on her blog.

    “In Oregon we have only executed people who have volunteered to die by giving up their appeals,” Rakha writes. “Just like the prisoner in my book, The Crying Tree. But killing people creates more victims that it helps.”

    Before Kitzhaber’s announcement, Rakha had planned to send a letter to The Oregonian protesting the execution. “I am so glad I will not have to do that,” she writes. The letter is included in her blog post. Rakha discussed Kitzhaber’s decision on Oregon Public Broadcasting’s Think Out Loud program this morning.

    Rakha’s debut novel, The Crying Tree, which won an award from the independent booksellers of the Northwest, is about the murder of a 15-year-old boy, the way his family copes with the tragedy and the secrets that are revealed as his killer’s execution date nears.

    Haugen read The Crying Tree and asked Rakha to visit him. She talks about their visit in her blog post.

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    Holiday Consumption with the Sparlings

    posted by Brian - Wednesday, November 23rd, 2011 Filed under:Regional Reprints

    Random Google image, seriously.

    Like a freight train rolling through a series of quirky small towns (he loves train metaphors), Scott Sparling‘s latest blog post has to pass through certain places to get where it’s going, but you won’t mind a pause or two in Vietnam Era Christmas Land or Uncomfortable Family Gatheringville on your way here: “So go on, go for it. On the day after Thanksgiving, go out and buy anything you want  . . . just as long as it’s a book. That’s how we’re saving Christmas this year. Forget Black Friday. It’s Book Friday now.” Read “Book Friday” in its entirety on Sparling’s Hallucinations blog, and be ready with your hat size. You’ll see.

     

     

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