Perhaps I’m a bit late to the party but I just finished reading Lisa See’s Shanghai Girls last week. I admit I wasn’t too sure about it because the cover, while gorgeous, was so pretty I figured it was going to be a “too pretty”. I should have known better. See wonderfully illuminates the plight of the Chinese American immigrant in 1930’s through the story of May and Pearl, two sisters. And their story reads so realistically at points you can almost see the Angel Island Immigration offices, the streets of Shanghai and the palm trees of Los Angeles.
If you have yet to pick this one up, take a look at the video below and then don’t stress about your tardiness. Paperbacks are sometimes better anyway, right?
I don’t know how many of you will have noticed this already, but Library Journal has begun a new column on their website and in their e-newsletter, BookSmack!, called “Book Cheer.”
The idea is that the heads of Library Marketing at 12 different publishers in the AAP are sending books to each other to be reviewed. The latest installment is by Macmillan’s Talia Sherer, and although she didn’t choose it overall, she mentions Henning Mankell’s THE MAN FROM BEIJING in a positive note. Check back to LJ.com and search “book cheer” for the latest picks from corporately unfaithful directors.
Curious about what we’ve all been reading these days? Here’s a department-wide update:
Jen – Major Pettigrew’s Last Stand by Helen Simonson
A charming, heart-warming story of two widowers with very different backgrounds, but a shared love of Kipling. One of those books that just makes you smile as you read it. Perfect for Book Groups.
Erica - The Irresistible Henry House by Lisa Grunwald
I picked this up in preparation for meeting Lisa Grunwald at the PLA conference in March. It is the unconventional coming of age story of Henry, who was raised by six mothers as part a college home economics course in the 1950s. It follows him through the conformist ‘50s and the psychedelic ‘60s, with cameos by Benjamin Spock, Walt Disney, Julie Andrews, and The Beatles.
Marcia - The Man from Beijing by Henning Mankell A twisty thriller the author of the Kurt Wallander mysteries that crosses two centuries and two continents and thoroughly explores the notion of revenge.
Marie: Beatrice and Virgil by Yann Martel So much to talk about in just under 200 pages. Wow! A taxidermist and a novelist working together on a play about a howler monkey and a donkey? I will definitely be talking about this one for a while so stay tuned!
Be sure to check our Staff Picks page for more of our recent favorites.
This past weekend Erica, our RHAcademic co-worker Lani, and I flew to Atlanta for the National Council for Social Studies conference. Aside from the great perks of traveling (my personal fave is not having to make my own bed!) one wonderful thing about conferences is that it gives me a chance to discover or rediscover books that somehow missed my radar. This was the case with I am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced.
I picked up a galley copy of this slim book as I was drawn to the image of a beautiful little girl on the cover. Then I noticed the title. 10 years old and divorced?! I was immediately intrigued. Nujood, a Yemeni girl, had no record of the exact date or year of her birth but it was around age ten that she was married, without her consent, to a man three times her senior. She endured life as a wife, forbidden to play or do other childlike things, until one day she decided to get out. She slipped away to a courthouse where she asked to see a judge and demanded a divorce. Her request was granted and Nujood became the first child bride in Yemen to divorce her husband, setting precendence for so many others.
She writes, “I am a simple village girl whose family had to move to the capital, and I have always obeyed the orders of the men in my family. Since forever, I have learned to say yes to everything. Today, I have decided to say no.” Nujood’s story is written in her voice and its childlike simplicity is exactly what makes it so powerful. Actions are alluded to, feelings are described, and the reader experiences it all with Nujood, from her family struggles to tasting “bizza” and “bebsi” for the first time.
While reading, I often found myself imagining what it would have been like to read this book as a young adult. It is a perfect addition to your Young Adult collection, great for parent/teen reading groups and school assignments. I have no doubt readers of all ages will be inspired and humbled by Nujood’s experience.
I am Nujood will be published in March 2010. Be sure to add it to your lists!
My absolute favorite thing about working in publishing is meeting the authors. And yesterday, we got to meet Kris Radish! She was just as fabulous as I had imagined and sent us away with goodies to raffle off to libraries!
Share with us your favorite novel from Radish and we’ll pick one lucky librarian to receive a signed copy of The Shortest Distance Between Two Women, a Radish women’s visor, and more!
And keep an eye on your holds lists and get those preorders ready! Kris’s lastest novel, Hearts on a String, will be out in May!
I’d like to thank the many librarians who were able to join us for the first AAP Librarian Book Buzz Presentation last week! It was exciting to have so many publishers in one room, dedicated to the library marketplace.
Just because you’re not local to NYC doesn’t mean that you should be left out! Below are the titles I presented and buzzed about – staff favorites, book you MUST have and the important mid-list books you don’t want to miss! With only 12 minutes to present, I could only touch upon some highlights. There are many more where these came from, so be on the lookout for more from our department.
So the long awaited day has come and gone and the race has begun.
I’m am talking about The Lost Symbol race of course. I approached the starting line last night as the wash cycle switched to rinse at my neighborhood laundromat. As I settled into the plastic chair and cracked the spine a woman commented, “That’s the new one, isn’t it?” Seemed to me she’ll be joining the race soon as well.
In the course of my brief (so far) career in publishing this is the first “big” book I’ve been around for — and with a massive print run it is the company’s biggest. This morning Jen, Erica, Dave and I compared page numbers. It seems I am winning so far (page 89 – waiting on laundry will do that to a girl) but Dave is swiftly gaining on me (page 86) with Jen at an impressive 62 and Erica, clearly with better things to do, has made a good start at 24. The contenders, ever eager about their performance, had this to say:
While I want to win The Lost Symbol race, I’m having so much fun reading the book, I don’t want it to end! (Jen)
I had just finished Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michelle Moran yesterday morning and so was perfectly timed to open my crisp new copy of The Lost Symbol on my commute home last night. I already can’t put it down! And that’s a good thing since I have to immediately passit along to my mother when I’m finished. I’m trying to get it to her before her reserve copy at the library is available! (Erica)
Insomnia inciting. (Dave)
(For the record Dave also has better things to do than respond to my repeated harassment for a quote. Journalism is rough, folks.)
But there you have it. The race is well under way and the competitors seem to be enjoying themselves so far. While I am personally impressed by all of my 89 pages I’m sure there is someone out there, some die-hard Robert Langdon fan, who has me beat. Anyone?
Maybe we can get Dan Brown to preside over the medal ceremony.
So who else out there in cyberland is ready for summer? Summer means vacations, hotdog barbecues, beaches and pools and, best of all, summer reading! Last week I polled my fellow RH Library team members to find out what they recommend you bring with you on vacation this year…
Marcia:
Narrow Dog to Indian River by Terry Darlington
The sequel to Narrow Dog to Carcassonne in which a delightful English couple (Terry and Monica) decide to take their English narrow (canal) boat, the Phyllis May, across the English Channel and through the waters of France. The narrow dog is their Whippet, Jim, described as “cowardly, thieving, and disrespectful, and he hates boating.” The adventures continue down the east coast of the U.S. from the Chesapeake Bay to Florida and are utterly engaging, and absolutely hilarious. Once found, friends forever. After reading (NOT on public transportation, much more suitable on a beach or in a porch swing!) view photos on their website.
Jen:
Cleopatra’s Daughter by Michele Moran
For fans of the HBO series ROME, this book begins right where the show left off. Exotic, suspenseful, with a hint of romance. Perfect reading for the beach, but you’ll have to wait for September, when it is published. In the meantime, toss one of Moran’s previous titles into your beach bag—Nefertiti and The Heretic Queen!
Erica:
The Sugar Queen by Sarah Addison Allen
An enchanting ugly duckling tale, I was constantly delighted by this second novel from Sarah Addison Allen. I had to force myself to slow down near the end, to better savor how engagingly charming each of her characters was and the story she wove for them.
Dave:
The Last Days of the Lacuna Cabal by Sean Dixon
I think this pretty much says it all about this offbeat novel about a ladies’ book group at an epic crossroads: “”An intellectual, sexual, logorrheic, bibliophilic, cryptological, political, and archaeological rant of the first order. It’ll change your idea of what ‘written in stone’ means, and it’ll blow your mind too.”–Michael Redhill, author of Consolation
Marie:
Swimming by Nicola Keegan
Just the cover itself makes me want to jump into the closest body of water on a hot summer day. Philomena (or Pip as she is often called, though she hates it) is an Olympic champion swimmer who gets through all the perils and heartaches of her upside down life one stroke at a time. This wonderfully character-driven novel follows her throughout her adolescence in Glenwood, Kansas into her early adulthood as she goes for gold. Nicola Keegan’s clear voice, fluid style and incredibly quotable narrative make this debut novel impossible to put down. Pip is a star. I loved it.
RH Library has expanded its digital world once again!
my ‘read’ shelf:
We are now on GoodReads!
If you are too, “friend us” by adding rhlibrary. We are constantly adding new books, staff picks and reviews, and more! See what each of us likes to read, get great new ideas for book groups, and stay tuned for more categories that will help you hone in on specific genres, award winners, etc.
If you aren’t familier with GoodReads, check it out! It is like MySpace or Facebook, only better… it’s for book people.
One of the most fun things about my job is getting to embrace my inner book reviewer for our Random Revelations newsletter. My most recent staff pick, The Invisible Mountain, appealed to me especially because it is right up my alley. I have loved books steeped in rich oral tradition and Latin American culture since first reading Isabel Allende’s The House of the Spirits in high school. To this day, it is still my all-time favorite book. Of course, then came Gabriel Garcia Marquez and any time I see something in a similar “magical realism” vein, I jump on it.
Be sure to check out our Library Marketing Team’s Staff Picks if you haven’t already and as a special bonus, I will send my ARC of Invisible Mountain to one lucky commentor who answers this question:
What is your all-time favorite book?
Happy Friday!
Marie
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