I’ve finished the final pages of MOCKINGJAY, and feel the need to extend my foray into children’s literature.  While anxiously awaiting the galley of THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES by Carrie Ryan, and having already read REVOLUTION by Jennifer Donnelly, I am now in need of guidance.

I’ve consulted 1001 CHILDREN’S BOOK YOU MUST READ BEFORE YOU GROW UP and made an exciting discovery.  I’ve never read EMILY OF NEW MOON by Lucy Maud Montgomery!  So I turn to the classics for the moment.  But what should come next?

What are your favorite, must-read books in children’s literature?

-Erica

It may be widely accepted that the movie is never as good as the book but I’m excited for this one!  Author David Ebershoff recently visited the Calgary, Canada set of the forthcoming Lifetime TV original movie based on his novel, The 19th Wife. The book and film center around Ann Eliza Young, the 19th wife of Mormon Church leader Brigham Young. From left to right in the photo are the film’s cast, Matt Czuchry, Chyler Leigh and Jeff Hepner. Mr. Ebershoff is pictured on the far right. We don’t have to wait too long for the movie. It will premeire on Lifetime on September 20th.

If you haven’t yet read The 19th Wife, you’d better get on it. Historical fiction fans will especially love it! Read my review of the book in a past issue of our Random Revelations newsletter here.

-Marie

Last night, during the spin cycle at my neighborhood laundromat, I plopped myself down on the stoop outside to enjoy the summer evening air and finished David Nicholl’s acclaimed novel, One Day. The story of the friendship of Dexter Mayhew and Emma Morley (”Dex and Em, Em and Dex”) the book provides snapshots of them from the late 1980’s to 2000’s on July 15th of each year. In alternating perspective, the reader is able to be a fly on the wall as the pair navigate their twenties and thirties, the highs and the lows, both together and apart.

The dialogue is witty (at times hilarious) and sharp, the characterization pitch-perfect and the plot all-too-familiar as Nicholls addresses the idea that life is fluid – full of ever-changing currents that ebb and flow within friendship, career, romance and everything inbetween. Sorry for the bad generalization there. Simply put, this book is a delightful yet simultaneously moving read and the British pop culture references captured this Anglophile’s heart. Thank you, Mr. Nicholls, for including many references to rocket. You made me feel so cultured and “in-the-know.”

Random House loved this book so much they gave all of us two copies – one to keep and one to share. I would love to share my extra copy with one of you. Comment below for your chance to win!

-Marie

So I just finished two weeks of grand jury duty where I spent my workdays sitting in a room with 22 other people hearing mutliple cases and voting on whether to indict the defendants. A case would come, we’d vote, and then we’d wait for another. Sometimes the wait time was 20 minutes and sometimes it was two hours. This means I had a lot of time to read so of course I flew through some wonderful books!

I started by finishing the last few chapters of Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly. Out in October from Random House Children’s this engrossing historical read combines the story of a troubled teen growing up in contemporary Brooklyn with that of a rebellious young woman living during the French Reniassance.

Next came Dracula in Love, a staff favorite and an alternate take on Bram Stoker’s classic from the point of view of his love interest, Mina Murray. It has been heralded as Twilight for grown-ups and I agree!

After Dracula I tried a non-Random House title, Matched, which is the newest in dystopian YA fiction and would definitely appeal to fans of The Hunger Games.

From there I did a little more cheating and buried my nose in two titles I’d been told to read for a while now: The Shadow of the Wind and The Help. Both were excellent reads.

Now it is back to the grind and while I find I very much enjoyed all my reading time, I’m glad to be back amongst my wonderful colleagues. What have you all been reading lately?

-Marie

As everyone knows who has said more than ‘hello’ to me for the last six months – I LOVE Aimee Bender’s THE PARTICULAR SADNESS OF LEMON CAKE. I’ve shared this love with many of you and now you are sharing it back! I am thrilled to report that Aimee debuts on the NYT bestseller list at #15 on the list dated 7/18! WooHoo!

I’m giving credit to librarians for ordering promptly and in nice big quantities. She has also made the PW, San Francisco Chronicle, Boston Globe and Los Angeles Times lists. Her tour was so well-attended that she may hit the road again in the fall.

She was plugged for summer reading on Good Morning America, in USA Today and bounded onto the IndieBound bestseller list. NPR called the book “a virtuoso performance” and O Magazine featured in “Our 26 Favorite Books of the Summer.” Earlyword gave it an early shoutout and People gave it four out of four stars. The Wall Street Journal featured it in its Summer Books “Great Expectations” article. And not to forget the star in Library Journal.

I had the pleasure of attending her event here in NYC held at Symphony Space which was packed by a large number of devoted book discussion members. The evening got off to a start with a tremendous ‘dramatic’ reading of the first two chapters by Lillo Way, performance reader and artist, followed by a conversation between Aimee and Heidi Julavits, founding editor of the Believer. The audience got to ask some great questions and then a huge line formed for the signing. This was the first time I met Aimee and I’m so pleased to say that she was just as lovely as I had hoped.

So congratulations to Aimee and congratulations to librarians for embracing this wonderful book which will live on in discussion groups for years to come. I can hardly wait to see what she’ll come up with next! Cake for everyone!

-Marcia Purcell

Over the weekend I was chatting with a friend about a favorite Random House Children’s YA book of mine, The Forest of Hands and Teeth by Carrie Ryan. Around this time last year, I blogged about the latest in the series, The Dead-Tossed Waves and how much I loved it so I recommended it to my friend who, like me, loved Hands and Teeth.

When I got home I had this link in my e-mail inbox. Guess who is rumored to be assuming the lead role? None other than Bella herself – Twilight movie alum Kristen Stewart. If this is true, she will certainly have established herself as the undead genre heroine of choice. I’m not so sure about this casting. What do you think?

If you have not yet read Carrie Ryan’s series, make sure you check it out!

-Marie

One of the great pleasures of working in book publishing is getting to witness and be a part of the advance buzz that crops up pre-publication. Even more exciting is when this buzz lands on our doorstep here in Library Marketing. I’m talking about the “You have to read this book! You’ll love it!” exchanges between my co-workers, the passing back and forth of galleys and morning conversations about last night’s reading.

It happened with The Passage and Cutting for Stone and now with Richard Harvell’s debut novel, The Bells. A few weeks ago Erica began raving about it so I decided to give it a go. Last week, I parked myself in her office every morning to discuss the pages I’d read the night before. Lest you overlook this great book, here are some comments from both of us!

This book is unlike any piece of historical fiction I’ve read before. Gone are the queens and other royal figures, the courtiers and painters. Moses, the son of a deaf-mute, grew up in a belfry before being cast out, found by two  monks and taken to live in the Abbey of St. Gall where he sings in the choir. He is the one that no one wants with a operetic voice so in demand it becomes his curse. Gothic in tone with gorgeous language that has an ear for sound this book will pull you into the landscape of the Swiss Alps, Mozart’s Vienna, and Moses’ world.  -Marie

 “A surprising love story of the unlikely places family is to be found, with a cast of endearing characters.  Just imagine – a romantic, love-drunk monk!  

I also found myself reacting in much the same way as when I read Sarah Dunant’s SACRED HEARTS.  Her novel sparked a brief obsession with nuns. I sought more information on young aristocratic girls forced into convents in Italy.  And with THE BELLS, I wanted to learn more about the castrati; those young boys in Italy physically assaulted and altered in order to preserve their voices.”  -Erica

-Marie

Bloomwood fans rejoice!

Becky is back… this September!

I know you all already have this one on your lists but I figured I’d pop in and let you know how much I’m enjoying Sophie Kinsella’s latest Becky adventure, Mini Shopaholic. Here’s a little teaser for you: Minnie, the bundle of joy who made her appearance at the end of Shopaholic & Baby is now a terrible two. And her favorite word, of course… “MINE!”

Becky and Luke are still living with Becky’s Mum and Dad and a very timely financial crisis has struck the nation and threatened to put the brakes on Becky’s little habit…

Once again, I wish I were Sophie Kinsella. It must be so fun to write these books.

-Marie

The rest of the gang is away at BEA so I thought I’d say a quick “hello” and share with you a great book I’ve recently read.

Lisa Grunwald’s new novel, The Irresistible Henry House began with a barebottomed baby.  Says Grunwald of coming across Joan’s photo: “I clicked on the photograph and read that he had been a “practice baby,” an infant supplied by a local orphanage to Cornell’s home economics ‘practice house,’ where college students learned home-making, complete with a live baby…” Turns out the first baby in the Cornell University program was Joan Domecon (for Domestic Economics) who lived in the practice house for one year in 1919.

What must it have been like for these babies? And who did they turn out to be?  These types of questions inspired Henry House, the title character who has had a way with the ladies his entire life. (I could practically see the dough eyes and gorgeous smile myself.) Brought into a university “practice house” at just a few months old, he is placed in the care of Martha Gaines, a no-nonsense expert who has been doing this for a long time thankyouverymuch. In the hey day of Dr. Spock and his childcare revolution, Martha struggles with her own maternal instincts while instructing her students not to spoil the baby. Eventually Henry becomes the one practice baby to stay.

The reader follows Henry through his odd childhood and into an adolescence filled with grim realizations and burning questions. Grunwald accurately captures the inner turmoil of resentment mixed with love and forges ahead as Henry attempts to reconcile his own complicated identity. Add to this a background that involves Disney’s California, a very Sixties New York, and the Beatles’ London and the result is a delightful mixture of fact and fiction, character and place. Grunwald seems to have hit a topical gold mine (I wanted to Google “practice baby” late into the night!) and fleshed it out with just the right amount of  psychology, history, and narrative. Bravo!

If you do not yet have this on your shelves you must get it! Be sure to point your patrons in the direction of the baby photo in the back. You’re sure to hook a few that way!

-Marie

Well, five stars if you count the one from me!  David Mitchell’s new novel, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet is epic historical fiction with a literary bent, fascinating characters, and a mesmerizing setting.  I absolutely loved it and I was not the only one.  Check out what the reviewers are saying:

“It is a rare novel that’s so captivating that the reader feels transported through time and fully immersed in an unfamiliar culture and place, and this is such a novel. . . .This painstakingly researched and original novel is hard to pin to any one genre, for it is a historical novel and cultural study with plenty of intrigue and mystery mixed in. It is intelligent and utterly readable at the same time.” – Library Journal, Starred Review

“It’s as difficult to put this novel down as it is to overestimate Mitchell’s virtually unparalleled mastery of dramatic construction, illuminating characterizations and insight into historical conflict and change. Comparisons to Tolstoy are inevitable, and right on the money.” —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Mitchell’s rightly been hailed as a virtuoso genius for his genre-bending, fiercely intelligent novels …THE THOUSAND AUTUMNS OF JACOB DE ZOET is a dense and satisfying historical with literary brawn and stylistic panache. ” —Publisher’s Weekly, starred review & Pick of the Week

“Despite the audacious scope, the focus remains intimate; each fascinating character has the opportunity to share his or her story. Everything is patched together seamlessly and interwoven with clever wordplay and enlightening historical details on feudal Japan. First-rate literary fiction and a rousing good yarn, too.” —Booklist, starred review

We’re hoping for more great feedback from you. We gave out many galleys at PLA and I hope some of you have had a chance to read it already. If so, please visit the official book site to leave a comment in the discussion forum. And if you weren’t one of the lucky ones to receive a galley at PLA, then you can start reading the book there:  www.ThousandAutumns.com.