Ante Up!
With thousands of books published each year and much attention paid to the works of bestselling and well-known authors, it is inevitable that some titles worthy of praise and discussion may not get the attention we think they deserve. Thus throughout 2010, we will continue to spotlight books that immediately struck a chord with us and made us say “just read this.” As we did in 2009, we will alert our readers about these titles as soon as they’re released so you can discover them for yourselves and recommend them to your family and friends.
Here are our latest featured titles, with more to come in the weeks ahead:
SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT by Beth Hoffman
There are characters and voices in books that just stay with us. For me, Cecilia Rose Honeycutt, who is nicknamed CeeCee, is one who does just that. As the book opens we meet CeeCee, a 12-year-old girl from Ohio who is being whisked away to live with her Aunt Tootie in Savannah after the death of her mom; her dad already has created a new life for himself, and she does not fit in. As her aunt drives up to the house that they will share, CeeCee sees a beautiful well-manicured home, the kind of place of a little girl’s dreams. Making a new home there, she is surrounded by strong women, including the aforementioned Aunt Tootie and Tootie's cook, Oletta, who love her and guide her and whose own strong values will shape her. There are other “southern” characters, including a wicked gossip named Violene Hobbs and the very wild Thelma Rae Goodpepper --- as well as Gertrude Odell, a kindly nurturing neighbor from Ohio --- who round out the story and strengthen its voice with their voices.
Set in the Deep South during the ’60s as the racial tensions are unfolding, SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT will be looked on by those who loved THE SECRET LIFE OF BEES, THE HELP and Steel Magnolias, and authors like Fannie Flagg and Rebecca Wells, as a real treat. Great characters with terrific voices, strong plotting and a story that just hangs together well make this one a Bets On for me.
- Click here to read a review of SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT.
- Click here to read an excerpt from SAVING CEECEE HONEYCUTT.
- Click here to read our interview with Beth Hoffman.
ALICE I HAVE BEEN by Melanie Benjamin
A confession here. In my literary memories, I had forgotten that Lewis Carroll was a pseudonym for Charles Dodgson, and it also had slipped my mind that the Alice in ALICE’S ADVENTURES IN WONDERLAND had been fashioned after a real little girl named Alice. I say this since I approached ALICE I HAVE BEEN with my own sense of wonderment as I read it --- and I loved it. Melanie Benjamin has written a book that is so rich in back story and historical references that I found myself feeling like I was plunged into Alice’s world. It made me want to read more about Dodgson and re-read the classic tale. For the way it transported me and did that, this book is a Bets On for me. It was a treat.
In ALICE I HAVE BEEN, Benjamin imagines 80-year-old Alice looking back on her life and her role in the story of Alice. At one point she says, “But oh my dear, I am tired of being Alice in Wonderland. Does that sound ungrateful?” The story opens with lush descriptions of Alice’s early years living in Oxford in a pampered privileged world where keeping one’s dress clean and white consumed her days. This is where she met Dodgson. We then see Alice fall in love, not with the man who would be her husband, but rather a man who is a prince. And finally we see her marrying, raising a family and looking back. All the while we are seeing not just her life, but rather her life as the girl in that fairy tale. While Alice fell through the looking glass, readers here will be turning the pages to see the story unfold.
- Click here to read a review of ALICE I HAVE BEEN.
- Click here to read an excerpt from ALICE I HAVE BEEN.
- Click here to read an interview with Melanie Benjamin.
Previous Titles
31 HOURS by Masha Hamilton
In 31 HOURS, Masha Hamilton delivers a novel that is powerful and profound. It’s the story of a young American man who has joined a group of terrorists plotting to blow up parts of the subway system in New York. How did Jonas come to this mission? His story is told not only with his thoughts as he prepares for his role, but also by his family and friends who worry about him, each reaching out to him or wondering about him a tad too late. As the story builds, readers will feel the tension ratchet up as each person’s story builds upon the other. The conclusion will leave you thinking about it for a very long time.
As a journalist, Masha brings that sensibility to her fiction writing. She also has spent time in Afghanistan and thus brings knowledge of the atmosphere in the Middle East to infuse it as well. I echo our reviewer Joe Hartlaub’s comments when he says, “A thriller in every sense of the word, it is also a work of literary fiction, a cautionary tale for the times taking place somewhere at this moment and for the foreseeable future.” It’s just an excellent book, and one I do not want you to miss.
- Click here to read a review of 31 HOURS.
- Click here to read our interview with Masha Hamilton on the ReadingGroupGuides.com Blog.
RAINWATER by Sandra Brown
On the last day of my vacation in September, I sat by the pool and read an advance copy of RAINWATER by Sandra Brown, her first historical novel. Set during the Great Depression in Gilead, Texas, it’s a beautifully and tightly written story of love and hope in a world torn with economic and racial strife. Sandra firmly plants the reader in this world, where farms are barren wastelands in the Dust Bowl and the only help for farmers is FDR’s Drought Relief Program --- which comes at quite a cost.
Readers are at the table in Ella Barton’s boardinghouse as she cares for her disabled son and copes with the short hand in life that she has been dealt. She sees her world for what it is; there is no longing for something else. But when Mr. David Rainwater comes into the house as a boarder, Ella’s life goes from gray and brown to sparkles of color. As she begins to feel love and caring, the reader sees what has been suppressed inside Ella, and it’s a metaphor for what’s happening in the country at that time. Sandra writes emotion well here. It’s not cloying or forced; it just rolls with an ease. Courage, inner-core moral values and the rally to do what is right infuse the love story that runs through the prose. Our reviewer likened it to THE GRAPES OF WRATH, which is an apt comparison.
Since I closed RAINWATER, I have thought about it again and again as it was a really satisfying read. It’s short, it’s tight with no spare words, and it feels like the kind of story you would have heard shared over the table from someone who knew those days --- a real telling of an oral history without hype or rhetoric. Thus, it’s a “Bets On” for me, even though Sandra already is a household name. I just don’t want you to miss it.
- Click here to read a review of RAINWATER.
- Click here to read an excerpt from RAINWATER.
- Click here to read our interview with Sandra Brown.
- Click here to see the reading group guide for RAINWATER.
THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf
As I flew back from San Diego earlier this week, I started reading THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE by Heather Gudenkauf, and from the first page this debut author grabbed me. Why? She dropped me right into the story in the Prologue, and from there the characters drew me through a plot that had me inside their lives and their heads bouncing from one perspective to the next. Though I was jetlagged and worn out when I got home, I could not stop reading and I didn’t until I closed the book at 11:30 that night. So what is the story?
Seven-year-old Calli Clark is a little girl with a story locked inside her. She suffers from select mutism, which means that she has elected not to speak though she is able to. Her silence began when a tragedy struck her family in her toddler years. Her friend Petra Gregory understands Calli and often speaks for her --- and fights for her with others who elect to have less compassion for this obviously wounded child. Then one night both girls are found missing from their homes. And the search for them will bring together two families who both have secrets that haunt them --- and many truths will be told.
The chapters are told from various character perspectives, including Calli, Petra, their parents, Calli’s brother, a police officer who has a past with Calli’s mother, and another deputy. Each will leave you with a piece of the story that has told you just enough to get you to turn the page to see where it goes next. It’s the kind of storytelling that is tough to do as each character in each chapter needs to fit just right to keep it moving --- and thus it is even more admirable to see how Gudenkauf pulls it off in a debut. The power of her writing and the tension in the story is very reminiscent to me of another book that I found equally as compelling when I read it years ago, ME & EMMA by Elizabeth Flock. Oh, and THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE is a trade paperback original, making it a very affordable Bets On selection.
- Click here to read a review of THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE.
- Click here to read an excerpt from THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE.
- Click here to read an interview with Heather Gudenkauf.
- Click here to see the reading group guide for THE WEIGHT OF SILENCE.
- Click here to read a blog post by Heather Gudenkauf
HOW SHALL I TELL THE DOG?: And Other Final Musings, by Miles Kington
HOW SHALL I TELL THE DOG?: And Other Final Musings, by Miles Kington, is snappy, witty and thought-provoking. Kington was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and in this memoir writes about the thoughts that come to him along the way as he muses his exit from this world. It's written as letters to his longtime agent, Gill Coleridge, who shared her thoughts on both Miles and his writing the book in a blog post for us here. It's not somber, but rather uplifting. Kington does not cling to false hope, but rather seems ready to exit the world thinking of life with humor, on his own terms. I have long held a theory of making every day matter as I lost a good friend when I was in my 30s who made me look long and hard at what matters in life. This book affirmed my commitment to that with a lot of nods and smiles.
As a side note, Kington had always wanted to write a bestseller, and he got his wish posthumously when this book hit the charts in the UK shortly after publication. Also, Kington never told his employer, The Independent, that he was ill, and in fact turned in a column on the day he died. It's truly inspirational.
- Click here to read a review of HOW SHALL I TELL THE DOG?
- Click here to read a blog post from Gill Coleridge, Miles Kington’s literary agent and friend.
CRAZY FOR THE STORM: A Memoir of Survival, by Norman Ollestad
CRAZY FOR THE STORM is the story of Norman Ollestad’s relationship with his dad, who cultivated a daredevil survival streak in him that he credits with saving his life when he was in a charter plane crash on a mountain at age 11 that killed his dad, his dad’s girlfriend and the pilot. As he walked down the snowy icy mountain alone, he says he felt confident he would be okay, and he never gave up. Parents often wonder what their children learn from them --- Norman’s takeaway from his 11 years with his dad infused him with a spirit of "never give up" that has carried him through his life.
- Click here to read a review of CRAZY FOR THE STORM.
- Click here to read an excerpt from CRAZY FOR THE STORM.
- Click here to read our interview with Norman Ollestad.
- Click here to watch a video in which Norman Ollestad discusses CRAZY FOR THE STORM.
THE PHOTOGRAPHER: Into War-Torn Afghanistan with Doctors Without Borders, by Emmanuel Guibert, Didier Lefèvre and Frederic Lemercier
THE PHOTOGRAPHER is a stunningly original work that tells the story of Didier Lefèvre’s 1986 journey with Doctors Without Borders into Afghanistan through photos and graphic panels. Written and drawn by Emmanuel Guibert and designed by Frederic Lemercier, the dramatic and personal story of Lefèvre’s journey will both inform and haunt you. Lefèvre’s photos are dramatic essays unto themselves, but set as they are to punctuate the drawings and story, readers will feel they are in the story, not merely watching from the sidelines. Guibert’s work portrays both Lefèvre’s triumphs and anguishes, and he paces the book wonderfully.
Beyond telling Lefèvre’s story of this trip, one of seven that he made into Afghanistan, readers will get to know more about the missions of Doctors Without Borders. I had not been aware of the physically stressful aspect of these missions as the doctors trekked long distances from Pakistan to get to their outposts. Reading about the U.S.’s position in Afghanistan in the ’80s will inform and maybe even surprise readers. We were aiding the fight with the Russians, giving pause as one reflects on what is going on in this part of the world today.
A great personal story first, a political story second, THE PHOTOGRAPHER is a book that is perfect to introduce to readers who previously might have overlooked graphic novels, as well as one to be savored as a milestone work by those who already enjoy the format.
- Click here to read a review of THE PHOTOGRAPHER.
- Click here to look inside THE PHOTOGRAPHER.
ROOFTOPS OF TEHRAN by Mahbod Seraji
Set in Tehran in 1973, ROOFTOPS OF TEHRAN drops you into the world of Pasha and Ahmed, who while away their summer hours on the roof. They are in that in-between year --- not still a child, but not quite an adult --- where they are feeling their way to the next thing. They play games, mull the future --- and think about girls. Pasha has a secret crush on Zari, the fiancé of a local boy named Doctor, who is older. But beyond this world on the roof, Tehran is explosive with the SAVAK running around the city looking for those who are outspoken against the Shah and the government. One night on the roof, a look from Pasha turns their world upside down --- and the fallout will change everyone’s lives.
This story of friendship reminded me of THE KITE RUNNER, as did the vivid descriptions of the time and place. The pacing is wonderful, the characters are vivid, and the entire book will take you somewhere that you will think about long after you leave it. It’s a book you will long to talk about after it’s been read.
- Click here to read a review of ROOFTOPS OF TEHRAN.
- Click here to read an excerpt from ROOFTOPS OF TEHRAN.
- Click here to see the reading group guide for ROOFTOPS OF TEHRAN.
- Click here to read an interview with Mahbod Seraji.
A RELIABLE WIFE by Robert Goolrick
A RELIABLE WIFE opens with Ralph Truitt standing on a train platform on a cold winter morning waiting for a woman who had answered his ad looking for "a reliable wife," "a simple honest woman." But Catherine Land is not the woman who she appears to be, and she, like Ralph, has secrets to hide. Thus their story takes you on a very wild ride that is neither quiet nor placid. Passion, lust and greed motivate the characters. Readers will not be able to look away until they read the final page, lured in by a plot that continually delivers and writing that is careful but never precious. Every look has meaning; every plot twist propels the story faster. It's just brilliant.
- Click here to read a review of A RELIABLE WIFE.
- Click here to read an excerpt from A RELIABLE WIFE.
THE HELP by Kathryn Stockett
Set in 1962, THE HELP is the story of three women --- two African-American maids in the Deep South and a young white woman who sees a story in the world that they live in. You hear the voices, see the houses and truly feel like a voyeur in their world. I found myself reaching for my advance reading copy of the book between present opening, dinner preparations and other holiday festivities in December. Aibileen, Minny and Skeeter are strong characters, and the stories they tell speak volumes about the time. Stockett closes the book with a piece about her family's maid, which shows why she could write this novel with such insight and honesty. No matter what your political views about our new president, reading THE HELP and seeing the world 46 years ago when the right to vote was something that was fought over, and not taken for granted, is interesting.
- Click here to read a review of THE HELP.
- Click here to read an excerpt from THE HELP.
- Click here to read an interview with Kathryn Stockett.
- Click here to see the reading group guide for THE HELP.
- Click here to listen to Kathryn Stockett discuss THE HELP, and discover the story behind the novel.
HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET by Jamie Ford
Henry Lee comes upon the Panama Hotel in Seattle, where the new owner has found a treasure trove of belongings that were left there by Japanese families who were taken to internment camps during World War II. Henry, who is of Chinese heritage, reflects back on a young Japanese woman, Keiko Okabe, with whom he had an innocent but profound love. He searches the hotel looking for anything that may remind him of Keiko's family. His reminiscences as well as his internal conflicts create a beautiful story of hope, forgiveness and the power of love.
- Click here to read a review of HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET.
- Click here to read an excerpt from HOTEL ON THE CORNER OF BITTER AND SWEET.
- Click here to read an interview with Jamie Ford.
STILL ALICE by Lisa Genova
Alice Howland, happily married with three grown children, is a celebrated Harvard professor at the height of her career when she notices a forgetfulness creeping into her life. As confusion starts to cloud her thinking and her memory begins to fail her, she receives a devastating diagnosis: early onset Alzheimer's disease. Fiercely independent, Alice struggles to maintain her lifestyle and live in the moment, even as her sense of self is being stripped away. STILL ALICE has an authentic voice and a pitch-perfect tone even as Alice loses control of her own words. This compelling debut novel has been released simultaneously in hardcover and trade paperback.
- Click here to read a review of STILL ALICE.
- Click here to read an excerpt from STILL ALICE.
- Click here to see the reading group guide for STILL ALICE.
SHELTER ME by Juliette Fay
After the sudden death of her husband, Janie LaMarche’s life sweeps her up and unwillingly marches her on with a role as a solo parent to her two small children. As she stumbles through each day overwhelmed and dazed in a haze of grief and overwhelming sadness, she finds a cast of unlikely characters who help her unravel her feelings --- and set a new course. These include a contractor who shows up ready to build the porch her husband had commissioned without her knowledge and the parish priest who is unflinchingly nice even when Janie is acerbic and biting, as well as strong-willed Aunt Jude and a cousin named Cormac, who delivers bakery creations from his shop to match every mood. Along with these well-drawn characters, strong emotion and wry humor ensure that SHELTER ME is a story to savor and love.
- Click here to read more about SHELTER ME.
- Click here to read an excerpt from SHELTER ME.
- Click here to see the reading group guide for SHELTER ME.
