Getting back into the swing... Friday Finds!

I relapsed into some bad habits, namely not blogging (not even feebly attempting to do so), so I'll include both last week's and this week's finds in this post.

I think what locks me down, at least some of the time, is that I get hung up on trying to cover everything I've been reading. In the last few weeks, I've had the great luck to read some incredible books, of varying genres and styles, but when I go to actually write about these books (whether in a formal or informal review), I realize there's a whole bunch of things I haven't caught up on as of late, and then I become convinced that I should write about this before that, devote time to this book before moving onto the next good read... etc. Excuses, all of it, but honest excuses.

In case I don't get to them in future posts - I fully intend to, but it seems that my intentions don't always play out the way they should - here are the following books that readers should take notice of:

- Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins - The riveting and surprising follow-up to last Fall's The Hunger Games. This series is going to catch on even bigger now, so get to it before the hype wears you out.

- Candor by Pam Bachorz - Egmont USA's first title, and it's a doozy - A Stepford Wives-esque tale revolving around a small, affluent Florida community that is brainwashing its youth. Bachorz offers some small, but vital twists to her authoritarian nightmare, and the book doesn't quite take you where you think it's going to. Oscar, the son of the town's founder/chief manipulator, is an unlikely hero, a boy saving others for the benefits they bring to him (money, sex, favors...) until he meets the new girl in town... A quick, unsettling, and immensely satisfying read.

- Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman - This strange YA title is going to halt a lot of readers in their tracks by the first chapter. Plow through the extended references and intellectual musings on occult history and practice from the protagonist, and you'll end up falling in deep for the story of awkward and anti-social Andromeda Klein as she navigates mysterious occurrences following the death of her best friend, Daisy, the disappearance of her secret older boyfriend, and the sudden seizure of a collection of valuable and rare occult titles by the "Friends of the Library." It's hard to be very original when it comes to YA lit, but Portman has shown he has the ability to pull off one of the most difficult of voices - teenage girl - and make it sound not only convincing, but original and true.

- When You Reach Me Rebecca Stead - Random House is kicking butt going into Fall, but perhaps no title has had as much publicity impact as this one, a coming of age story masking a subtle fantasy involving a sixth grader, 1970's New York City, mystery notes, and time travel, all loosely wrapped around A Wrinkle in Time. One of those books that you fly through, only to re-read again and again, finding more clues and ties each time around. Stead has done a beautiful job melding two difficult genres - intermediate-level coming of age story and fantasy - and working it well into its background era. I really can't say enough good stuff about this book, partially because of how good it was, and partially because to elaborate thoroughly would give too much away.

- Shiver Maggie Stiefvater - With paranormal romance being all the rage in teen literature, it's hard to find a truly captivating tale amongst the rip-offs. Maybe it's just because I've never been into the vampire thing, but I find werewolves infinitely more interesting. Grace has watched for the wolf with the golden eyes since she was a child. Sam lives two lives, a human in the warm months, a wolf in the cold, but each half is wholly concerned with the girl whose life he saved years ago. I'm not really a crier with books, but this one left me with tears running down my face. It's not perfect - there are a few plot holes and a few moments that are a little too cute to match the tone - but it's definitely well written and offers a neat twist to the already well-tread mythology of werewolves.

Okay, that's a lot of YA, but I swear, I read adult books too! Three that I can absolutely stand by:
- The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery - A concierge masks her intellectualism with bland mediocrity, but cannot hide from the precocious girl living in the building, nor the sharply observing new resident who instantly senses a kindred spirit in the lonely middle-aged lady. A surprisingly affecting tale and perfect afternoon reading. The prose is clean but lovely, but most remarkably, Barbery doesn't write intellectualism as cold and aloof. Rather, her characters, in embracing those intellectual pursuits that they hide in public, become warmer, more gracious, more open selves.

- A Gate at the Stairs by Lorrie Moore - I could go on and on about how brilliant Lorrie Moore is, but if you even slightly care, you are probably well aware of how brilliant she is. It's been eleven years since she's published anything, eleven really long years, and now she gifts us with a novel of a college-aged woman, coming to terms with the changing terms of relationships amongst a country in crisis post 9/11. I feel weirdly attached to this book. Told from the distinct position of a Mid-Westerner, I could not relate with the stoic Tassie, who relates a period of heartbrokeness in a calm, controlled manner, with the detachment of an observer rather than the person suffering. If you're not familiar with Moore's work, start with Birds of America - this novel is not for the uninitiated, but it's a great follow-up for someone looking to further their Loorie Moore addiction. It certainly fed mine.

-The Magicians Lev Grossman - Holy crap. The worlds of JK Rowling and CS Lewis meet Jay McInerney. Quentin Coldwater is a Brooklyn teenager constantly fleeing real life for the fictional world of Fillory. Mysterious circumstances bring him to Brakebills, a college for the study of magic. Now Quentin can live out his fantasies... except that no reality is perfect, not even one where magic is real... Grossman divides his book into four distinct parts, each a perfect compliment to the other, and in some ways, more riveting than the last. It's cliche, but this is a magical literary fiction for adults. Any adult who enjoys indulging in the occasional children's fantasy read should pick this book up now.

As for the Friday Finds, I bought a ton of bargain books at work, so many that I can't remember all of them. Those I can remember:
- The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison
- Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
- We Tell Ourselves Stories... by Joan Didion (Score!)
- Carried Away: Stories by Alice Munro (Woot!)
- On Chesil Beach by Ian McEwan
And probably at least three or four other titles that I can't recall because I accumulate books at an inhuman level.

Also "found" the last two weeks:

The Magicians by Lev Grossman - Checked this out from work for the week, and I'm having trouble deciding if I want to buy it or just wait for the paperback. I loved it, but I don't know if I require the hardback now that I've read it through...

Epitaph Road by David Patneaude - Upcoming Egmont USA title, about a virus that wipes out virtually all males on the planet. I love the series Y: The Last Man, and the premise for this YA is similar, so I'm happy to give it a go.

Pop: The Genius of Andy Warhol by Tony Scherman and David Dalton - I'm not a worshiper of the Warhol altar, but I'm always game to read about the Factory scene and the debauched fabulousness of it all. I'm hoping that this book will be more dishy than its exterior presents, but even if it is, this one's probably one I'm going to pick up and put down a whole lot.

Cooking for Friends by Gordon Ramsay - Of the several Ramsay reality shows, the only one I've watched enjoyably is the British Kitchen Nightmares where Ramsay scolds, swears, and browbeats restauranteurs into improving their failing, mediocre (or worse) businesses. This hardback was left on my desk by my generous general manager. It marks a change from my normal cookbook of choice - inexpensive, black and white, utility cookbooks with little flash or pictures. This is a cookbook of a variety I don't bother buying, but would love to own - pretty, hardback, nice quality, beautifully photographed, and filled with recipes that probably aren't immensely challenging but still look a bit sophisticated for my rice and peanut butter sandwich self. Though the point is to cook this for friends, so...

Re-Post: Galley Talk

Okay, so this appeared in last week's "Children's Bookshelf," a children's literature email newsletter by the friendly and invaluable folks at Publishers Weekly. I have made no edits to increase the slickness or better the language of this review. This is exactly what was published:

Emily Fear, manager of children’s books, Joseph-Beth Booksellers in Pittsburgh, Pa., talks about a fall favorite, Candor by Pam Bachorz.

Candor by Pam Bachorz (Egmont USA, Sept.) is a Stepford Wives-esque tale—the galley even references that novel. But instead of a novel about the brainwashing of wives, this is about brainwashing an entire community, especially its teenagers. The founder of the town of Candor tries to shape what he believes should be model teens—down to what they should eat and how they should dress. He plants subliminal messages into audio CDs that play nearly constantly throughout the town. Everyone becomes addicted to the CDs and has to keep listening to them—otherwise they’ll go insane.

The novel doesn’t pull any of the punches you might expect from a YA thriller. You might expect a tidy ending or a hero whose motives are unquestionable and who has noble intentions. But this novel’s protagonist is very flawed. He’s the son of the town’s founder and runs a secret business selling teens CDs to counteract the brainwashing. But actually he’s also brainwashing them—and doing it for profit. There’s a totally unexpected ending that defies the reader’s expectations of what this character is capable of.

I’d recommend this book to customers for a number of reasons. This is a very intelligent teenage thriller, and a spooky one. The novel offers a dark twist on society’s expectations of teens, revealing an exaggerated form of parental authority. I think teens will respond to the notion of what it would be like to have the pressures on them magnified like this. The plot’s pacing is really well done and the action is creepy without being violent. Well, there’s a tiny bit of violence, but nothing very graphic. The gleefully misanthropic protagonist is very likable despite his flaws. And the relationships between the characters are really dynamic.

It’s an incredible first novel, and the fact that the author wrote it while living in Celebration, Florida, the planned community developed by Disney, makes it all the creepier. It’s a great crossover book, especially since so many adults have read or seen the film version of Stepford Wives.

Friday Finds

Another slow week of finds.

- The Knife of Never Letting Go by Patrick Ness - I picked this up when it came out in paperback on Tuesday. I received The Ask and the Answer (the second book in the Chaos Walking trilogy), so I needed to read the first book. I'm about done, and it's pretty great: suspenseful, scary at points, with a really interesting protagonist, and a mystery that is only now being somewhat unfolded. The way Ness is using the constant stream of telepathy is very clever, and it's a premise that is working in ways I wouldn't have immediately thought.

- Candor by Pam Bachorz - Upcoming release from Egmont USA's fall line-up. I'm very excited about Egmont USA, especially after receiving their catalog of fall releases yesterday. Candor is a Stepford Wives-esque tale about a boy living in a small community in Florida who runs a profitable business providing anti-brainwashing CDs to his fellow teenagers. Trouble - having already began with the whole brainwashing business in the first place - continues with the arrival a new girl in town and the obvious complications falling for her presents. After reading the review in Shelf Awareness, I was eager to get my hands on this title - the West Coast rep for Random House was nice enough to send a copy over to my store.

Hey! There's a book trailer for Candor:


Not totally sure how I feel about book trailers. Mostly silly stuff, to be honest. Most book trailers I've seen have been foolish attempts to capture a market that is way more invested in already produced sight and sound, then whatever they can attempt to create in their own imaginations while reading. It's not a bad gimmick, but I haven't seen it used to its best effects yet.

The best attempt I've seen of late is Quirk Book's trailer for the upcoming Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters. Very cute:


Hmm... that was it for the week. A box of upcoming Random House titles should be coming any day, however, so I'll have a lot of finds in the near future.

I haven't been keeping up on my book buying, for one because I just moved and I'm trying to get all the books I already own sorted out, and two, because I'm trying to save a little money for the things that a new apartment requires, and three... well, I'm should catch up a bit before overloading myself again. Fall ARC season is coming, and I know I can't resist the impossible lure of books that are free for the taking. But it's cut down a whole lot on my used book buying, and buying the occasional full price gem at my store or any random other book store.

Still, there's a bargain bookstore in my new neighborhood that I have been meaning to try out. I haven't heard very positive things, but they did have an original Mysteries of Pittsburgh paperback (with the old cover, of course) in the window for a time, so they can't be completely devoid of interesting finds.