My Massive “No BEA? Books Anyway!” Haul

May 302009

So a few days ago, some other bloggers and I decided we need to recreate the book portion of BEA. This idea transformed into “No BEA? Books Anyway!” The idea is to take some of the money we’re saving by NOT being at BEA and take it to support authors, publishers, and booksellers, as well as promoting some books we’re very excited about. I got REALLY into the spirit of the event today. I went to Half Price Books, Barnes & Nobles, and Borders, since I had giftcards to all 3 stores. I ended up spending my giftcards plus some (although at HPB I only went $1.04 over my giftcard amount). I ended up buying way more than I planned, because Borders was having a bargain blow-out sale, all books with blue stickers were $1.00. Barnes and Nobles had some good books on super sale too. I didn’t buy books just for myself, though, I bought them for the whole family, including our little baby who is coming any day now.

For starters, the books I bought for hubby:

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That would be:
There Are No Children Here by Alex Kotlowitz
The Tipping Point by Malcom Gladwell
Einstein by Walter Isaacson

He’s been looking at “Einstein” since it came out and it was $10 in hardback! He has also been wanting “The Tipping Point” recently and since he’s not a huge reader, I jump to buy books that he wants, because that means he’ll read them.

Then there are the books for/because of baby:

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What we have here:
Ruth and Naomi by Jean Marzollo
Daniel and the Lions’ Den by Jean Marzollo
Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and Tom Lichtenheld
The Mixed-Up Chameleon by Eric Carle
Spot Goes to School by Eric Hill
Where’s Spot by Eric Hill
The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
On Noah’s Ark by Jan Brett
Baby Nose to Baby Toes by Vicky Ceelen
Super Baby Food by Ruth Yaron

Finally, the way too many books I bought for myself. You’ll notice that I have “Einstein” in this pile too, that’s because a) I wasn’t paying attention, and b) I want to read it too.

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So other than “Einstein,” what we have here is:

Left pile:
The Book of Air and Shadows by Michael Gruber
In the Company of Courtesans by Sarah Dunant
Abraham by Bruce Feiler
1421: The Year China Discovered America by Gavin Menzies
Sex With Kings by Eleanor Herman

Right pile:
Roanoke by Margarent Lawrence
The World Before Her by Deborah Weisgall
Speak by Laurie Halse Andersen
Sala’s Gift by Ann Kirschner
The Worst Hard Time by Timothy Egan
Mistress of the Art of Death by Arianna Franklin
Forever Lily by Beth Nonte Russell
Rome 1960 by David Maraniss
A Voyage Long and Strange by Tony Horowitz
Burnt Shadows by Kamila Shamsie

Here are the books about which I’m most excited. Both of them have gotten a lot of buzz:

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Did you buy anything for “No BEA? Books Anyway!”? If so, go and leave your link in the Mr. Linky on the original post. If buying books isn’t in the cards this weekend, you can still participate by highlighting some of the books you are most excited about right now.

This Week’s Links

May 302009

This is a short one this week, because people have been busy getting ready for BEA. Speaking of BEA, if you aren’t there, please join us for the “No BEA? Books Anyway!” festivities.

Book Reviews

Nari over at The Novel World reviewed “Uglies” a few days ago. I think she wrote a REALLY great review (see if you can figure out why).

At Write for a Reader, Shelly reviewed Julianne Moore’s new book “Freckleface Strawberry and the Dodgeball Bully.” This sounds like a very cute book about a very serious topic.

Other Bookish News and Discussions

Are you debating between the Sony E-Reader and the Kindle? Sandy gives her opinion on which is the better e-reader, complete with facts from Consumer Reports.

Let’s be honest, we ALL judge books by their cover, at least somewhat. In her Cover Art post, Nari talks about the relationship between a book and its cover, and lets us judge a couple different covers for ourselves.

Are you new to blogging? Jessica wants to help you out, she’s listed 5 Ways to Get Review Copies. Good advice, there.

Library Loot – May 29, 2009

May 292009

Library Loot is a weekly event co-hosted by Eva and Alessandra that encourages bloggers to share the books they’ve checked out from the library.

Last night I returned some books to the library, and took some more out. The really sad thing is that 3 of the 4 books I returned went back unread, so now they’re back on my ‘get from the library’ list again.

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So sad! Those poor books just look so unloved going back into the slot with my hold sheets still in them. Quite a pity. Maybe the baby will be a little late so I have a week or so to sit at home and read after I stop working. I was pretty good this week, though. In fact, I actually took out the same number of books that I returned!

The Firemaster’s Mistress by Christie Dickason
The Weight of Heaven by Thrity Umrigar
The Alexander Cipher by Will Adams
Wild Things by Stephen James

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If “Wild Things” looks familiar, it is because I’ve already had to return it unread once. Hopefully this time I’ll actually be able to get to it.

Frenchman’s Creek – Book Review

May 292009

Frenchman’s Creek by Daphne du Maurier

Dona St. Columb is sick of her life in Restoration London. In order to get away from the life she has led and the actions she has take – some of which do not make her very proud of herself – she takes her children and all but flees to her husband’s estate in Cornwall. Once there, she is called upon by an insufferable neighbor who requests that she summon her husband from London in order that he might help their neighbors rid themselves of a dastardly pirate who has been terrorizing the area. Dona is no shrinking violet to be scared of a little thing like a pirate. In fact, she ends up befriending – and more – the Frenchman, joining him in love and adventure before the gentlemen of the surrounding area close in upon him.

This was the first novel of du Marurier’s I have read and I must say, it was definitely enjoyable. She has quite a way with words, the language she used was simply beautiful. I particularly liked the opening of the novel, where a fisherman from the story’s future begins to feel the pull of the creek and the story of Dona and the Frenchman. It was definitely more romance-y than I really prefer, although only suggestive and not explicit. The romance aspect of the story is the one thing I really didn’t like, actually. I didn’t really get how exactly Dona and the Frenchman fell in love. It wasn’t a nice, gradual deepening of emotion, it seemed more as if they like and lusted for one another, perhaps Dona lusting most of all for something different than what she had in her life. That part just didn’t really work for me, but then I’m not a fan of romances.

Despite my slight problem with the central relationship in the book, I did like “Frenchman’s Creek.” The prose and the adventure story were enough for me to be thoroughly satisfied.

Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookseller via Indiebound.
Amazon.

Not going to BEA this weekend? Feeling left out? We say: “No BEA? Books Anyway!”

May 282009

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So there are a LOT of book bloggers going to BEA this weekend. They are going to meet up with other book bloggers and publishing people, attending (and participating in!) panels on the book industry, and finding out about great new books being published soon. I am very jealous. Don’t get me wrong, I hope that all of them have an AWESOME time, I just wish that I could be there too. I would be, too, if I weren’t 38 weeks pregnant, which makes flying to New York not very practical.

Just because we aren’t going to BEA, though, doesn’t mean that we can’t do some of the same things our book blogging friends are doing at BEA. Rebecca of The Book Lady’s Blog is already taking care of the social aspect for us with the BEA Twitty Party she is hosting on Twitter Friday evening for those not attending BEA. There’s still time to sign up, by the way, so join the party!

If you’re interested in the panels discussing the book industry, you can check out Blog Talk Radio. I’m not sure how many panels will be available on BTR, but one most definitely will be: the book blogger panel, which will air at 1pm Eastern on Saturday. Some of my favorite bloggers will be on, so I’ll definitely be checking in.

Okay, so that’s the social aspect and the panel aspect taken care of. What’s still missing? The book aspect!

Well, today we came up with a plan to solve that, we’re calling it “No BEA? Books Anyway!” We book bloggers want to do our own part to support the publishing industry, so I am encouraging each of you to go out over this BEA time, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and acquire some books. Get them from a Friends of the Library sale, a used bookstore, an indie, a big box store, order them online, whatever. After you’ve acquired your books, post about it on your blog (if you don’t have a blog, you can leave it in my comments). In your post, I’d love it if you would highlight the one book you are most excited about, and maybe even your favorite book you’ve read recently. The point of this isn’t just to go out and get more books (although that’s a definite plus), but to highlight some great books, just like there will be great books highlighted at BEA.

So go on, go out, get some books, blog them, and come back and leave your finds on Mr. Linky! Remember: No BEA? Books Anyway!!!

The Biggest Thing in Publishing Since Gutenberg?

May 282009

As I was driving into work, listening to NPR this morning, a story caught my ear. Basically, they said ‘books’ and I was suddenly enrapt.

The story was set in Blackwell’s Bookstore on Charing Cross Road in London, where they have a new EBM (Espresso Book Machine) from On Demand Books, which can print and bind the book of your choice, including your own manuscript! It is pretty fast, at about 100 pages per minute for the printing. Right now there are 1/2 a million books in the database, but they anticipate having a million within the next 3 months. The contention is that this is going to help paper books compete with the Kindle, as well as helping smaller bookstores compete with big box stores and Amazon.

On On Demand Books’ website I found a video of the EBS at work. It isn’t the most exciting video, but it is pretty interesting to see how the thing works.

What do you think? Is this the wave of the future?

For a list of all EBS locations, click here.

Rooftops of Tehran – Book Review

May 282009

Rooftops of Tehran by Mahbod Seraji

“Rooftops of Tehran” tells the story of Pasha, his best friend Ahmed and the girls they love, Zari and Faheemeh navigating the tricky process of growing up in the Shah’s Iran. For the first half or 2/3rds of the book the narration is split between a time period starting in the summer of 1973 and Pasha’s stay in a mental hospital in 1974. He knows that something traumatic and terrible has happened, but he has no recollection of what it is.

This split in action could have turned out very cheesy and sensationalistic. Instead, Seraji got me involved in his characters so that I was genuinely interested in what had happened to put Pasha in a mental hospital and had me reading every page with interest and apprehension. Although the culture in which these characters were operating is very different from my own, I found them to be very relatable and real. I also loved the peek into pre-revolutionary Iran and found the hints of the coming revolution absolutely fascinating, particularly when people speculated about who should or would lead the revolution and worried about the possible influence of mullahs.

I really enjoyed “Rooftops of Tehran,” it really pulled me into Iran in the mid-1970s in an interesting way with well-developed characters and an interesting plot.

Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookseller via Indiebound.
Amazon.

BTT: Unread

May 282009

Is there a book that you wish you could “unread”? One that you disliked so thoroughly you wish you could just forget that you ever read it?

I can’t think of any books that have been so bad that they burned my mind’s eye, that I wish I could have avoided subjecting myself to. On the other hand, there are definitely books that, after I finished them, I sincerely wished I could have back the time I just spent, if only to have read a better book! Some titles that come to mind: anything by Paulo Coelho, “Two Brothers, One North, One South,” “Adventure in Borneo.”

What books have you read and then wished you could get your time back?

Mating Rituals of the North American WASP – Book Review and Blog Tour

May 272009

Mating Rituals of the North American WASP by Laura Lipton

Waking up – thankfully fully dressed – next to a strange man is NOT what Peggy had in mind when she went to Vegas for a friend’s bachelorette party. To make things worse, Peggy isn’t even single. She has a VERY long-term boyfriend, to whom she just gave an ultimatum about marriage. Why would she do something like this? Is it stress about the ultimatum? Subconscious revenge for the time Brock cheated on her? All-in-all, Peggy’s feeling pretty crummy, and it doesn’t get better when she gets a call from a man whose name she doesn’t know. It is the guy from Vegas with bad news: while they were both drunk, they got married.

Despite the lime green with pink trimmed cover, this is not super-fluffy chick lit. Sure, the basic plot line may not be incredibly original – boy meets girl; boy marries girl drunk in Vegas; boy’s aunt offers boy and girl her multi-million dollar house in her will if they stay married for a year (and they are both having money problems, so they need it; girl must pretend to be one of the WASPS and hide her secret marriage from just about everyone she knows, including her boyfriend-cum-fiance – but it was at least spun enough not to be cliche and it was entertaining. What I really appreciated were some of the more social issues hidden in the book, such as the demise of small business, classism, and the introduction of superstores into small, bucolic towns.

I liked both Peggy and Luke and genuinely wanted to see them figure things out. I also enjoyed Peggy’s friends and thought that Luke’s Aunt Abigail was a riot. None of the main characters was one-dimensional (Tiffany, the non-WASP wife of one of Luke’s friends, didn’t have a whole lot of depth, but she wasn’t terribly central to the plot) and I felt that Peggy and Luke both grew in their understanding of themselves and other people throughout the book.

Overall, an enjoyable, not overly-fluffy chick lit novel. This would be a fun thing to read laying on a beach or by a pool.

Buy this book from:
Powell’s.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.com.

You can find a full list of participants in today’s blog tour after the break:
Continue reading »

Far Bright Star – Book Review

May 262009

Far Bright Star by Robert Olmstead

Robert Olmstead’s “Far Bright Star” is a bleak novel of the terrors of war.

Napolean is a veteran soldier who has seen action in many different places and is now stationed in Mexico in the search for Pancho Villa. When one of the men under his command commits a terrible act, Napoleon and his men learn just how terrifying war can be.

“Far Bright Star” is very well done. The language was evocative and I could see Napoleon’s surroundings in my mind’s eye, feel the alternating heat and cold of the desert. In addition, I could truly feel the hopelessness of Napoleon’s position. Much of what happened in this book made me cringe and made me dispair of war.

Honestly, this wasn’t the kind of book I really enjoy. The sparse prose isn’t really my sort of thing. However, I was able to appreciate the good story that Olmstead crafted and and the fact that this novel really was very well done. If the spare, stark style is one you enjoy, definitely consider picking up “Far Bright Star.”

Buy this book from:
Powells.
A local independent bookstore via Indiebound.
Amazon.