BEA 2015 - Books to Check Out

This year Book Expo America has a TON of books that look interesting.

This is just a few of the many good books coming out this Fall.

1. Armada by Ernest Cline

2. Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart

3. City on Fire by Garth Risk Hallberg

4. Cleopatra's Shadows by Emily Holleman

5. You're Never Weird on the Internet (Almost) by Felicia Day

6. The Lost Landscape by Joyce Carol Oates

7. The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock

8. Listful Thinking by Paula Rizzo

9. Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling

10. Purity by Jonathan Franzen

11. Seveneves by Neal Stephenson

12. 100 Years of the Best American Short Stories by Lorrie Moore & Heidi Pitlor


Are you coming to BEA? Maybe we'll bump into you! What books are you looking forward to grabbing?

Jackaby (Review by AmberBug)

Jackaby William Ritter 4 / 5	Published September 16, 2014 First Sentence "It was late January, and New England wore a fresh coat of snow as I stepped along the gangplank to the shore."
Publisher's Description: “Miss Rook, I am not an occultist,” Jackaby said. “I have a gift that allows me to see truth where others see the illusion--and there are many illusions. All the world’s a stage, as they say, and I seem to have the only seat in the house with a view behind the curtain.” Newly arrived in New Fiddleham, New England, 1892, and in need of a job, Abigail Rook meets R. F. Jackaby, an investigator of the unexplained with a keen eye for the extraordinary--including the ability to see supernatural beings. Abigail has a gift for noticing ordinary but important details, which makes her perfect for the position of Jackaby’s assistant. On her first day, Abigail finds herself in the midst of a thrilling case: A serial killer is on the loose. The police are convinced it’s an ordinary villain, but Jackaby is certain it’s a nonhuman creature, whose existence the police--with the exception of a handsome young detective named Charlie Cane--deny. Doctor Who meets Sherlock in William Ritter’s debut novel, which features a detective of the paranormal as seen through the eyes of his adventurous and intelligent assistant in a tale brimming with cheeky humor and a dose of the macabre.
Dear Reader, Two words for this book... Delightful & Charming! I would definitely agree that this was a cross between "Dr. Who" and "Sherlock Holmes", which will probably make it a joy to read for any fans of either. One of the main characters, Jackaby, reminds me of the last Dr. Who actor (Matt Smith), he has this tendency to say inappropriate or insensitive things to others without knowing it. Jackaby is awkward and very literal, making many of his interactions quite comical. The humor is perfectly adorable and will likely make anyone giggle or laugh a few times (if not throughout the entire book). As amazing as Jackaby is, it's his side-kick Abigail Rook that I related to the most. She is the non-traditional tomboy growing up in those times where any girl not prim and proper was scoffed at. She leaves home to follow her dreams of adventure, which wind up throwing her into Jackaby's lap, where adventure is abound. I have to admit, I'm not that smitten with detective mystery novels, especially ones in a series... but Jackaby has me gushing to everyone, "You have to check this out!". When a book does that, job well done. It's such a fun read, I know so many people whose taste will fit this book perfectly. Just so you don't get the wrong idea, this book isn't going to blow you away with profound life altering outlooks. This book is just plain but excellent entertainment and who doesn't love that every now and then? It's almost like when you go to that fancy restaurant for the creme brulee but end up craving cotton candy instead. THAT is this book. Can we talk about the cover now? Pretty great, right?! The font is amazing, I fell in love with it at Book Expo America when we came across it, and to my surprise the font is used throughout the book for the chapter titles. This was a great pick from the Expo and I'm so happy Arianna read it as well, I know this is something that she would like... so now I don't have to gush and gush until she picks it up... she already did! I loved the Author's bio too, he talks about how he came up with the concept for the story while his newborn was at home waking and crying during the night. He obviously had his hands full but still found the time to think up a dream world where fascinating things happen. Maybe his half awake mind helped create this creative idea, the most magical come from dreams, right? This book is a great diversion from all the seriousness I've been reading lately and I can't wait for the next title in the series. If it wasn't for the characters likable traits, I might skip the next one... but I think I'm hooked.  Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Evil Librarian

Evil Librarian Michelle Knudsen 4/5	Expected Publication: Sept. 9th 2014 First Sentence "Italian class."
Publisher's Description: He’s young. He’s hot. He’s also evil. He’s . . . the librarian. When Cynthia Rothschild’s best friend, Annie, falls head over heels for the new high-school librarian, Cyn can totally see why. He’s really young and super cute and thinks Annie would make an excellent library monitor. But after meeting Mr. Gabriel, Cyn realizes something isn’t quite right. Maybe it’s the creepy look in the librarian’s eyes, or the weird feeling Cyn gets whenever she’s around him. Before long Cyn realizes that Mr. Gabriel is, in fact . . . a demon. Now, in addition to saving the school musical from technical disaster and trying not to make a fool of herself with her own hopeless crush, Cyn has to save her best friend from the clutches of the evil librarian, who also seems to be slowly sucking the life force out of the entire student body! From best-selling author Michelle Knudsen, here is the perfect novel for teens who like their horror served up with a bit of romance, plenty of humor, and some pretty hot guys (of both the good and evil variety).
Dear Reader, We were given this book as an advance reading copy from Candlewick Press before interviewing the Author, Michelle Knudsen at Book Expo America The wonderful Armchair BEA set me up with the publisher and I'm so grateful they did because we loved it. For those of you who don't know, Armchair BEA is a wonderful program run by volunteers who post/publish all book and blogging related posts coinciding at the same time as Book Expo America. So, if you can't attend the event, you can participate with Armchair at home in YOUR armchair. Wonderful, isn't it? Thanks to Armchair BEA, I got to meet Michelle Knudsen to talk about her book "Evil Librarian". You can find that interview here (on Armchair BEA's website). After I read the first chapter, the first thing that popped into my head was that Michelle Knudsen HAS to be a Buffy The Vampire Slayer fan. Many things in the book referenced this and the style of it (comical, goofy but also a little dark) made me jump with excitement. Not that this can replace Buffy in any way, it has different merits and I think will stand on it's own quite well. The Author makes mention that they wanted it to be a "Buffy meets Glee" feeling and I think she has managed to do that very well. The musical she selected for the book was perfect, it had a nice mirroring of the characters. Cyn's best friend falling in love with the demon, while Cyn gushes all over Ryan who plays the "demon barber" in the play. I loved the quirkiness of the book. It also reads like a rollercoaster, at one moment you think everything has peaked and will end soon, but you come down just to go back up that giant hill again. I loved that, you didn't know what to expect next. I can't wait to see they hype build around this book, with all the PR they pushed at BookExpo (devil horns were handed out, pure genius!), this book will no doubt be at the front of everyones radars. Hopefully, we can get Joss Whedon to pick up the book and possibly turn it into a musical, that would be amazing. So anyone with those connections, help make this happen! Michelle set up the book nicely to create a trilogy, but when asked about it... she states that it wasn't planned that way. We do, however, get a hint as to what the next book will include... I think I'll force you to read the interview for that insider info!! Enjoy this book, you can't go wrong reading a fun book like this and I'll go on the record for saying anyone can read this, you'll enjoy the quirks at any age! Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Hold the Dark

Hold the Dark William Giraldi 3.5/5	Published September 2014 First Sentence "The wolves came down from the hills and took the children of Keelut."
Publisher's Description: At the start of another pitiless winter, the wolves have come for the children of Keelut. Three children have been taken from this isolated Alaskan village, including the six-year-old boy of Medora and Vernon Slone. Stumbled by grief and seeking consolation, Medora contacts nature writer and wolf expert Russell Core. Sixty years old, ailing in both body and spirit, and estranged from his daughter and wife, Core arrives in Keelut to investigate the killings. Immersing himself in this settlement at the end of the world, he discovers the horrifying darkness at the heart of Medora Slone and learns of an unholy truth harbored by this village. When Vernon Slone returns from a desert war to discover his son dead and his wife missing, he begins a methodical pursuit across this frozen landscape. Aided by his boyhood companion, the taciturn and deadly Cheeon, and pursued by the stalwart detective Donald Marium, Slone is without mercy, cutting a bloody swath through the wilderness of his homeland. As Russell Core attempts to rescue Medora from her husband s vengeance, he comes face to face with an unspeakable secret at the furthermost reaches of American soil a secret about the unkillable bonds of family, and the untamed animal in the soul of every human being. An Alaskan Oresteia, an epic woven of both blood and myth, Hold the Dark recalls the hyperborean climate and tribalism of Daniel Woodrell's Winter's Bone and the primeval violence of James Dickey's Deliverance."
Dear Reader, Hold the Dark is an ARC (advanced reading copy) I picked up at Book Expo America. I knew NOTHING about this book but the cover looked pretty awesome. After reading the back copy, I figured it would be very Cormac McCarthy-esque, which came pretty close to the truth. This might not be very "western" but it follows the small-town, remote village, strange culture, back-woods that McCarthy likes to write. Hold the Dark is set in a very small village in the Alaskan wilderness. This should be very appealing to all those folks who are REALLY into Alaska right now, have you noticed the increase of reality shows on the Nature/Discovery channels that feature Alaska? It's like the "hip" place to be. This little village though, isn't that, in actuality, you'd probably be very creeped out by the unwelcoming villagers you'd encounter. William Giraldi is very descriptive and he does a great job of thoroughly giving you the heebie jeebies. As wonderful as Giraldi writes, this story started off at a snails pace. I had a few moments when I thought maybe I should move along and pick a different book from my insanely high stack of "to-reads". But just before I finished that thought, something would pique my interest and I would keep trucking along, still enjoying the prose but wondering where the story was going. I wouldn't call it a mystery but at the same time, I think the few hints along the way made it feel that way. It's almost like this slow reveal is the biggest book tease ever, and I admit... I got caught up in it. I have a feeling this is a book that many might pass on before the clear picture comes into view, and I can understand if they do... since I was almost there myself. However, this book is considerably short (for books nowadays) and I don't give up on a book unless I'm not connecting with it, but I kinda was. Hold the Dark is such a beautiful title for this, it's exactly how I felt this Alaskan Wilderness would feel, a dark suppression. This unusual tale will be a favorite among those who love the style of Cormac McCarthy or William Gaddis. I can only hope that we get to see more of Giraldi, he has a specialness to his writing that can be entrancing. Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Left: Hardcover - Right: E-Book
  

Guest Blog: Desiree Zamorano

Guest Blog by Desiree Zamorano Author of "The Amado Women"

Shelf Notes was lucky to meet Desiree Zamorano at Book Expo America during her signing of "The Amado Women". We reviewed the book Sunday, here. We even got to interview her yesterday, here. Desiree also graciously has offered to send a free ebook (Modern Cons or Human Cargo), your pick. All you need to do is head on over to her website and add yourself to her e-mail list. http://www.desireezamorano.com/

As I puzzled over The Amado Women I knew I wanted to write about wildly divergent women committed to staying with each other, providing a vivid, conflict-driven story. Where could I find this? The answer is probably obvious to you, thoughtful reader, but it took me some time to arrive at. I was thinking too hard. I was immersed in it, and like the air we breathe it was invisible to me. Where could I find it? In a family, of course.

Years ago when I began working on my writing all the short stories I read, by very prominent names, had narrators whose parents in particular were absent, invisible, or irrelevant. I found that puzzling, and did not, at that time, have the skill to label my misgivings about that. The fact for me was that as an adult I had equal amounts of catering to and reacting against the people who loved me most in the world. My family, perhaps like yours, specializes in over-identifying with each other, with an expectation of taking on a family member’s issue as if it were our own. This can be gratifying or embarrassing, but a response to this enmeshment is also to hide parts of ourselves from each other, in a simple way to avoid further complications or conflicts or drama. Sometimes simply asking for the truth, or telling the truth can be as challenging as flinging down a gauntlet. Fun, right? But in any case, the rich and wonderful stuff for a great story.

All of us have multiple, conflicting identities, as Elizabeth Strout displays so beautifully in Olive Kitteridge with Olive’s complexity, longing and incompetence. Not all of these identities are family-friendly, and some of us are convinced we are in the wrong family. In one of her essays, Ann Patchett mentions Dorothy Allison, author of Bastard out of Carolina, (now there’s a sundering family drama for you) as being worried about having only one novel in her. From this Patchett realizes that it's really one story, and that Patchett's story for all of her novels is: a group of strangers meet and become a community. I thought about that, then looked into my own writing. 

What story do I tell, again and again? My stories are all about displacement: how we long to belong.

In our lives we may wonder are we in the right family? Will they accept the shameful parts of us? Can we survive with or without each other?

I hope, gentle reader, you will recognize yourself, your struggles, your successes, in at least one of these Amado Women.

The String Diaries

The String Diaries Stephen Lloyd Jones 3/5	Published July 1st, 2014 First Sentence "It was only when Hannah Wilde reached the farmhouse shortly after midnight that she discovered how much blood her husband had lost."
Publisher's Description: A family is hunted by a centuries-old monster: a man with a relentless obsession who can take on any identity. The String Diaries opens with Hannah frantically driving through the night--her daughter asleep in the back, her husband bleeding out in the seat beside her. In the trunk of the car rests a cache of diaries dating back 200 years, tied and retied with strings through generations. The diaries carry the rules for survival that have been handed down from mother to daughter since the 19th century. But how can Hannah escape an enemy with the ability to look and sound like the people she loves? Stephen Lloyd Jones's debut novel is a sweeping thriller that extends from the present day, to Oxford in the 1970s, to Hungary at the turn of the 19th century, all tracing back to a man from an ancient royal family with a consuming passion--a boy who can change his shape, insert himself into the intimate lives of his victims, and destroy them. If Hannah fails to end the chase now, her daughter is next in line. Only Hannah can decide how much she is willing to sacrifice to finally put a centuries-old curse to rest.
Dear Reader, Have you ever wondered if the person standing next you was who they really said they were? This is the basic premise for this book. There is a race of "people", originating from 19th century Hungary, who have the ability to change their shape and mimic the look and sound of someone else. Shapeshifting isn't a new concept but we don't really come across it much in novels, so this is definitely new and refreshing. I will even go as far as saying this concept was thrilling to me, but with the good comes the bad. As much as this story propelled me through the book in less than a week, I wasn't as impressed with the development of characters. Yes, I know... it's not that type of book, but I hate having to read a book over 300 pages without some great character development. I felt more connected to the villain of the book than I did the protagonist(s). This might be due to the long cast of characters. We get taken back and forth through time, getting to meet all the past generations of Hannah's family. I loved the history that was thoughtfully put into those parts of the book, and I actually related really well to those characters. Then, we get brought back to the present and I know I SHOULD care about Hannah and her family, but all we get to see is the suspense and terror of them running away. I would have loved to see a little more background on them, how they met? Why does Nate believe her story when her ancestors had a hard time explaining the same to their own betrothed? That was the biggest disappointment for me, I really wanted to care about! Remember how I said I cared more about the villain? Well, this guy is a complete jerkhead... so caring might be the wrong word. His backstory was my favorite part of the book though, his history starts in early 1900's within this secret group of supernaturals. I wanted to hear more of that background, and I'm actually hoping this book will make a comeback with a sequel that focuses mainly on that group. So I'll ask the Author, please skip the modern day nuanced story-line and stick with the historical fantasy you had me gobbling up. I'm interested to know what other people thought and if they feel the same way as I do. What do you think reader? Happy Reading, AmberBug

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Interview with Michelle Knudsen on Armchair BEA

Special LIVE from BEA
Interview with Michelle Knudsen
who wrote "Evil Librarian"