1. Guernica, by Washington author Dave Boling, is being released tomorrow, September 2nd. I'm about 65 pages from the end, which is close enough to say that if you're looking for a book with humor, depth, and a fascinating story with realistic (and some real) characters--buy this book. I'll be posting my review next week, but there's an interesting article in The Tacoma News-Tribune about the book, and it's been reviewed on other blogs already, including Devourer of Books, who loved it as much as I do, and Muse Book Reviews, who didn't.
2. Christina Katz, at The Writer Mama Riffs, is having a back to school giveaway extravaganza for the month of September. Every day a different item is up for grabs for anyone who posts a comment answering her question of the day. Many, but not all, of the prizes are writer-oriented. Today's prize was a cookbook, a culinary trivia book, and an apron.3. Other books coming out tomorrow include:
Nick Harkaway's The Gone-Away World, described as quirky, speculative fiction--very different from my usual read but something drew me to it. Book Geeks gives it 5 stars, as did the majority of Amazon's reviewers. I'm looking forward to reading it as soon as I finish Guernica.
An English translation of Agnes Humbert's memoir Resistance: A Frenchwoman's Journal of the War. I haven't been inspired to write a review of this book because, while it wasn't a bad book, it just wasn't for me. A few years ago I spent a summer reading a dozen or more memoirs of World War Two, mostly written by victims of the Holocaust. Agnes Humbert was part of the Resistance during the Nazi occupation of France, and this book tells of her part in the resistance and subsequent imprisonment. Maybe I filled my brain's capacity for that era, maybe those other books were better, maybe I just wasn't in the right mood this August--who knows why books strike us the way they do? In any case, I put it down 150 pages into it: bored. Medieval Bookworm recommends it, though, as do several other readers on Library Thing.
4. Book cover quiz winners are Alessandra, Book Zombie, and Karen! The first cover has yet to be guessed, so here are two huge hints: The author: a Spokane/Coeur d'Alene Native American who grew up on a reservation about 50 miles from Spokane, Washington. The book: his first Young Adult novel. Anyone? Anyone?
Got it. It's Sherman Alexie's The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian.
ReplyDeleteI need to read a YA book for library night in a couple of weeks, and my library doesn't stock anything by Christine Fletcher. I may ask them for an interlibrary loan, but for now, I've put something on hold from Chris Crutcher. I got onto him when I was trying to come up with Alexie's name which was on the tip of my tongue!
Karen
Yes, I swear I am the only person so far who hasn't loved Guernica... thanks for the link, though.
ReplyDeleteAnd just a note: though the cover/promotional material of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian declares the book is Alexie's first YA novel, his book Flight (also YA) was released three or four months earlier. This has been confusing me for a year. What dictates which is "first"?
ReplyDeleteDarn, I just lost my post!
ReplyDeletewell, anyhoo, I was going to say that for some reason i can't just get into The Gone Away World at the moment.
I was going to start Guernica, but maybe I will just to back to the pile...
Wow, Karen, you got 2 out of the 4. I think I'll send you a prize! (But, you know me and the post office: expect it sometime next year).
ReplyDeleteJena, Flight might appeal to a young adult audience (I haven't read it) but a quick double-check of Alexie's website indicates that it wasn't marketed as a YA novel.
Caite, I'm enjoying Gone-Away World for the most part, but the language is more dense than I expected. It's very British--which isn't a bad thing, but sometimes I have to read a sentence twice before I get it. That definitely makes it harder to dive in to a new book!
Hey - I'm your interview partner for weekly geeks so contact me at lenoreva AT hotmail DOT com since I can't find your e-mail anywhere. This is my first WG but I just couldn't pass it up this week it sounds so fun!
ReplyDelete