July 15, 2014

Last we checked in, we were about to celebrate America’s birthday. It was glorious for both of us. There were beaches, BBQ, roadtrippin’ tunes, delayed fireworks, plenty of Vine videos, booze and good books by the dozen. Suffice it to say, we’re already planning our next long weekend. Labor Day, here we come.

Speaking of holidays, yesterday was Bastille Day. For those of you who may not know, Bastille Day is French National Day, the commemoration of “the first anniversary of the Storming of the Bastille and the unity of the French Nation during the French Revolution.”** So in the spirit of independence and list-making, here is a mid-length-ish roundup of all the French-Americanized things we love. After all, we share the same country colors.

• French fries
• Macarons
• French kisses
• French manicures
• Poodles
• Small bits of coffee
• Baguettes
• Striped shirts
• Charlotte Gainsbourg, Marion Cotillard, Audrey Tautou, Vincent Cassel
• French bulldogs
• French electronica (EDM)
• Champagne
• Topless sunbathing
• Ooh la la! tied with Voilà!
• l’amour
• Marcel Proust and all of his other french fries [sic]
• Madeleines
• RSVP (répondez s'il vous plaît)
• French vanilla
• Discothèque
• French Montana
• Beauty and the Beast
• French World Cup team (too soon?)
• Blue is the Warmest Color
• Garance Doré
• Pepé Le Pew

Of course, we can’t forget our favorite French literary friends and cohorts: Voltaire, Marquis de Sade, Simone de Beauvoir, Gustave Flaubert, Jules Verne, Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus, Émile Zola, Colette, Michel Houellebecq, Muriel Barbery, Honoré de Balzac and Grégoire Bouillier, to name a few.

Speaking of literary cohorts, together we attended Emily Gould’s NYC author event last Thursday night for her debut novel, FRIENDSHIP. In it, Gould traces the evolution of a friendship through 30-year-old best friends Bev Tunney and Amy Schein. Bev is a Midwesterner stuck in a rut of temping, cohabitating and drowning in student-loan debt. East Coast princess Amy is beginning to learn that her luck and charm cannot get her through the rest of her life, despite her previous successes. And now down-on-her-luck Bev is pregnant. As the two are forcefully dragged into adulthood, they find that, despite their best attempts, their friendship may not reach the same maturity. Sound familiar? (We can’t stop asking ourselves who’s Bev and who’s Amy.) Reviewer Donna Smallwood has much praise for the book, calling it “a complex novel filled with a mixture of love, loyalty and even resentment, but it is also a story of strength and the promise that both 'old' and 'new' friendships are golden."

As for the event, the bottom floor of McNally Jackson was packed like a can of sardines as other 20Somethings and 30Somethings alike attentively listened as Gould passionately read a passage from her new novel. The crowd was simultaneously pleased with and intrigued by her clear passion for her ongoing role as writer aficionado. Anyone who can write so eloquently about the pressing issues of our generation, namely Vitamin D, is A-OK in our book (zing!).

Gould’s not the only thing that the internet is abuzz about right now. The recently released full-length trailer for the book-to-screen adaptation of Gillian Flynn’s Gone Girl hit the Twitter airwaves to everyone’s excitement. Besides the many GIFs of B. Affleck’s confused face and Rosamund Pike looking lost, Neil Patrick Harris (NPH) finally made an appearance. We’re big fans of director David Fincher (Fight Club, The Social Network, Se7en +++ the music videos for Madonna’s “Express Yourself” AND “Vogue”), so we know we’re in good hands. We also want to *excitedly* point out that Trent Reznor of Nine Inch Nails (NIN) is composing the score. We’re definitely holding our breath for this one. Le sigh.

There are so many books coming out these days, it’s hard to decide what we want to read first! Here are three good reads sure to please. The first is LANDLINE, Rainbow Rowell’s first foray into adult fiction and the world of crumbling marriages. Two days before they’re supposed to visit family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie McCool tells her husband, Neal, that she has to stay in LA because something has come up on the TV show for which she writes. She knows Neal will be upset, and she wonders if she’s ruined their already troubled relationship. That night, Georgie finds a way to talk to Neal in the past. Is she supposed to fix their marriage before it starts?

Of course, this has us asking ourselves what we should think about fixing before we get married. But alas we are getting a bit ahead here. Two dates in a row is where our focus is at for the moment.

We’re also reading great things about Lisa Scottoline and daughter Francesca Serritella’s hilarious essay collection, HAVE A NICE GUILT TRIP. For our 20Something readers, Francesca's stories of navigating New York City with her dog Pip and her musician boyfriend ring so true. Contrast these stories with those from her mom, Lisa, holding down the fort in the suburbs, and Mother Mary (her grandmother) making frequent and always entertaining appearances, there are plenty of opportunities for family-induced guilt, fighting, laughter and love that we all can relate to.

Last but not least is Edan Lepucki’s post-apocalyptic CALIFORNIA. It’s the 2050s, and Cal and Frida, married refugees from a California devastated by earthquakes, live in a shack in the northwest US. When their neighbors are poisoned and the couple learns that Frida is pregnant, Cal and Frida venture toward a nearby settlement run by “Spike People,” a collective that has secured its borders with tall metal spikes, in the hope that the group will protect them from pirates that ravage the countryside. It sounds very Mad Max to us, and that makes it cool by default.

5 Things We’re Obsessed With at This Very Moment, in no particular order:

1) #OnTheRun tour, cause we saw J + B live on Friday and we’re speechless. Er, ***flawless. Surfbort.
2) Boyhood, the Richard Linklater movie that was 12 years in the making
3) Sippin’ rosé
4) Sex Tape, starring a shockingly svelte Jason Segel...and Cameron Diaz
5) Emmy nominations!

**Wikipedia.org

Nicole Sherman ([email protected]) + Emily Hoenig ([email protected])

The way we see it, it wouldn't be summer without sun, surf and great reading. You supply the beach chair, and we'll provide the fantastic fiction in our Third Annual Beach Bag of Books Feature and Contest. From now through Friday, July 25th at noon ET, five lucky readers will win a selection of the featured books.

Our featured Beach Bag of Books titles include:

• BRUTAL YOUTH by Anthony Breznican
• CATCH A FALLING STAR by Kim Culbertson
• THE HERE AND NOW by Ann Brashares
• THE LOST by Sarah Beth Durst
• THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF NATHANIEL P. by Adelle Waldman
• ON THE FENCE by Kasie West
• SAY WHAT YOU WILL by Cammie McGovern
• SINNER (Companion book to the Shiver Trilogy series) by Maggie Stiefvater
• WE WERE LIARS by E. Lockhart

Click here to enter the contest NOW!

Award-winning author Sarah Beth Durst has been praised for her captivating novels that merge the darkly imagined with very real themes of self-discovery and destiny. In THE LOST, we'll discover just what it means to lose one's way….

Against the backdrop of this desolate and mystical town, THE LOST is an arresting, fantastical novel of one woman's impossible journey…and her quest to find her fate.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here to read the review.
- Click here for an excerpt.
- Click here to read an interview with the author.

Every day in July, we have a new blog post dedicated to some element of the Harry Potter universe, be it a glossary of terms, some information on a beloved character, a recipe for a classic Harry Potter treat or a guest post from a famous children's author about why he or she loves the series. If you, like us, read and loved this series, then join us for a trip down memory lane. If you missed these books the first time around, it's time to get on board.

We'll be giving away FIVE complete sets of the books --- along with posters and bookmarks --- in our Harry Potter contest, and we know they'll look great on your bookshelf...or will make a perfect gift for a young reader who you want to share them with. Talk about GREAT summer reading!

Click here to see our Harry Potter feature, updated every day this July!
Click here to enter the Harry Potter contest.

For our fifth "REAL TALK Publishing" feature, we chatted with Annie Philbrick. When Annie was telling the story of Bank Square Books at a panel on store succession, a fellow panelist exclaimed, "To buy a bookstore never having owned one before --- and never having worked in one before! That’s crazy!” Her response? "Yeah!"

Crazy or not, Annie has owned the legendary Mystic, Connecticut bookstore since 2006, and since then has made it even more of a community institution: she's expanded the space, hosted some unforgettable events and made sure her cocker spaniel makes customers feel at home.

In Part 1, Annie talks about the initial challenges of buying the store, a memorable customer interaction and how she chooses which books to sell! Make sure to check the site this coming Wednesday, July 16th for Part 2!

A Little Bit More About the REAL TALK Publishing Feature...

Over the next few months, we'll sit down with book editors, librarians, booksellers, children's literature professors, book cover designers, publicists, professional reviewers and more, giving you insight behind the books. Through interviews, guest posts and sometimes sneak peeks inside their offices, you'll get to learn more about the book industry and all the work that goes into creating some of the world's best written word.

CONVERSION by Katherine Howe (Fiction)
It’s senior year at St. Joan’s Academy, and school is a pressure cooker. College applications, the battle for valedictorian and deciphering boys’ texts. Through it all, Colleen Rowley and her friends are expected to keep it together. Until they can’t. Reviewed by Corinne Fox.

STRANGE FRUIT, Volume I: Uncelebrated Narratives from Black History by Joel Christian Gill (History, Youth Interest)
Strange Fruit, Volume I is a collection of stories from African American history that exemplifies success in the face of great adversity. This unique graphic anthology offers historical and cultural commentary on nine uncelebrated heroes whose stories are not often found in history books. Reviewed by Anita Lock.

THE VANISHING SEASON by Jodi Lynn Anderson (Fiction)
For Maggie Larsen, the town of Gill Creek is only a stopgap before college and freedom. Until she meets Pauline and Liam. What starts as an uneventful year suddenly changes. Someone is killing teenaged girls, and the town reels from the tragedy. As Maggie's and Pauline's worlds collide and change around them, they will both experience love and loss. And by the end of the book, only one of them will survive. Reviewed by Corinne Fox.

ACT OF WAR by Brad Thor (Thriller)
After a CIA agent mysteriously dies overseas, his top asset surfaces with a terrifying claim, but no one knows if she can be trusted. When six exchange students go missing, two airplane passengers trade places, and an asylum seeker is arrested, a deadly chain of events is set in motion. America’s new president must turn to counterterrorism operative Scot Harvath to carry out two operations that, if discovered, will constitute an act of war. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

BLISS HOUSE by Laura Benedict (Mystery/Horror)
Rainey Bliss Adams desperately needed a new start when she and her daughter, Ariel, settled into the house where the Bliss family had lived for over a century. It isn’t long before Ariel sees haunting visions: the ghost of her father, and the ghost of a woman being pushed to her death. And then there is a death the night of the housewarming party. Who is the murderer in the midst of this small town? And who killed the woman in Ariel's visions? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

CALIFORNIA by Edan Lepucki (Post-Apocalyptic Fiction)
It’s the 2050s, and Cal and Frida, married refugees from a California devastated by earthquakes, live in a shack in the northwest US. When their neighbors are poisoned and the couple learns that Frida is pregnant, Cal and Frida venture toward a nearby settlement run by “Spike People,” a collective that has secured its borders with tall metal spikes, in the hope that the group will protect them from pirates that ravage the countryside. Reviewed by Michael Magras.

THE CITY by Dean Koontz (Fiction)
Here is the riveting, soul-stirring story of Jonah Kirk, a musical prodigy beginning to explore his own gifts when he crosses a group of extremely dangerous people, with shattering consequences. Set in a more innocent time not so long ago, THE CITY encompasses a lifetime but unfolds over three extraordinary, heart-racing years of tribulation and triumph, in which Jonah first grasps the electrifying power of music and art, of enduring friendship, of everyday heroes. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

CLOSE YOUR EYES, HOLD HANDS by Chris Bohjalian (Fiction)
When Emily Shepard’s parents are killed in a nuclear plant meltdown that may have been her father’s fault, she leaves her home in Vermont’s Northeast Kingdom rather than face the danger of being the daughter of the most hated man in America. She takes off for Burlington, where she creates an identity inspired by Emily Dickinson. When she befriends a homeless boy named Cameron, she protects him with a ferocity she didn’t know she had. But she still can’t outrun her past or escape her grief forever. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

THE DEAD WILL TELL: A Kate Burkholder Novel by Linda Castillo (Mystery)
All of Painters Mill knows the Hochstetler farm is haunted, but only a handful remember the terrible secrets lost in time. When Chief of Police Kate Burkholder investigates an apparent suicide, evidence quickly points to murder, and Kate follows an elusive trail toward a tragedy from long ago. Meanwhile, Kate has moved in with state agent John Tomasetti, who is drawn into his own haunted past when a man responsible for the murder of his family is found not guilty. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

EYES ON YOU by Kate White (Psychological Suspense)
After losing her on-air job two years ago, television host Robin Trainer has fought her way back. But suddenly, things begin to go wrong. The incidents are small at first: a nasty note left in her purse; her photo shredded. However, the obnoxious quickly becomes threatening when the foundation the makeup artist uses burns Robin’s face. An adversary with a dark agenda wants to hurt Robin, and the clues point to someone she works with every day. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

THE FEVER by Megan Abbott (Psychological Thriller)
The Nash family is close-knit. However, their seeming stability is thrown into chaos when Deenie's best friend is struck by a terrifying, unexplained seizure in class. Rumors of a hazardous outbreak spread through the family, school and community. As hysteria and contagion swell, a series of tightly held secrets emerges, threatening to unravel friendships, families and the town's fragile idea of security. Reviewed by Terry Miller Shannon.

FRIENDSHIP by Emily Gould (Fiction)
Bev Tunney and Amy Schein have been best friends for years; now, at 30, they’re at a crossroads. Bev is stuck in circumstances that would have barely passed for bohemian in her mid-20s: temping, living with roommates, drowning in student-loan debt. Amy is still riding the tailwinds of her early success, but her habit of burning bridges is finally catching up to her. And now Bev is pregnant. As Bev and Amy are dragged into real adulthood, they have to face the possibility that growing up might mean growing apart. Reviewed by Donna Smallwood.

HAVE A NICE GUILT TRIP by Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella (Humor/Essays)
Once again, the mother-daughter writing duo of Lisa Scottoline and Francesca Serritella provide a uniquely frank and often humorous look at life. With twenty-something Francesca navigating New York City, Lisa holding down the fort in the suburbs, and Mother Mary making frequent and always entertaining appearances, there are plenty of opportunities for family-induced guilt, fighting, laughter and love. Reviewed by Carole Turner.

INDEFENSIBLE by Lee Goodman (Legal Thriller)
When birdwatcher Cassandra Randall stumbles upon two men digging what appears to be a grave in a state park, she immediately reports it to the authorities. Federal prosecutor Nick Davis is initially incredulous about her claims but agrees to investigate. To his surprise, the far-fetched account turns up a body, and Nick is drawn into a case that will shake both his morals and his personal life to their very core. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

LANDLINE by Rainbow Rowell (Fiction)
Two days before they’re supposed to visit family in Omaha for Christmas, Georgie McCool tells her husband, Neal, that she has to stay in LA. Something has come up on the TV show for which she writes. She knows Neal will be upset, but doesn’t expect him to pack up the kids and go without her. She wonders if she’s ruined their already troubled relationship. That night, Georgie finds a way to talk to Neal in the past. Is she supposed to fix their marriage before it starts? Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE LONG MARS by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Science Fiction)
In the years after the cataclysmic Yellowstone eruption, there is massive economic dislocation as populations flee Datum Earth to myriad Long Earth worlds. Sally, Joshua and Lobsang are all involved in this perilous rescue work when Sally is contacted by her long-vanished father. He tells her he is planning a fantastic voyage across the Long Mars and wants her to accompany him. But Sally soon learns that he has an ulterior motive for his request. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

MOVING DAY by Jonathan Stone (Thriller)
When a con man steals his houseful of possessions in a sophisticated moving-day scam, Stanley Peke is reminded of another helpless time: decades in his past, a cold and threadbare Stanislaw Shmuel Pecoskowitz eked out a desperate existence in the war-torn Polish countryside, subsisting on scraps and dodging Nazi soldiers. Now, the 72-year-old Peke must summon his original grit and determination to track down the thieves, retrieve his things, and restore the life he made for himself. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE NIGHT SEARCHERS: A Sharon McCone Mystery by Marcia Muller (Mystery)
When new clients Jay and Camilla Givens come to Sharon McCone with Camilla's stories of devil worshippers performing human sacrifices in San Francisco, the detective is skeptical, to say the least. However, when she discovers that Jay is involved with the treasure hunting group "The Night Searchers," she starts looking into what exactly he and the other participants are up to after dark. As she digs deeper into the Searchers, Sharon joins their ranks in order to find out more --- while someone is searching for her. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

ONE PLUS ONE by Jojo Moyes (Fiction)
Jess’s life is falling apart. Her husband has done a vanishing act, her teenage stepson is being bullied, and her math whiz daughter has a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that she can’t afford to pay for. But then an unexpected knight in shining armor offers to rescue them --- Geeky Ed, the obnoxious tech millionaire whose vacation home she happens to clean. Driving the dysfunctional family to the Math Olympiad feels like his first unselfish act in ages…maybe ever. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

PHANTOM INSTINCT by Meg Gardiner (Psychological Thriller)
Harper Flynn is trying to rebuild her life a year after her boyfriend was gunned down in the L.A. club where she worked. Meanwhile, the investigation into the shoot-out has been closed, as the two gunmen were killed when the building collapsed. Certain that a third gunman escaped and is targeting the survivors, Harper enlists the help of L.A. Sheriff Deputy Aiden Garrison. She soon realizes that her presence during the attack was no coincidence --- and that her only ally is unstable, mistrustful of her, and seeing the same enemy everywhere he looks. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

THE SILKWORM: A Cormoran Strike Novel by J. K. Rowling, writing as Robert Galbraith (Mystery)
When novelist Owen Quine goes missing, his wife calls in private detective Cormoran Strike. Quine has just completed a manuscript featuring poisonous pen-portraits of almost everyone he knows. If the novel were to be published, it would ruin lives. When Quine is found brutally murdered under bizarre circumstances, it becomes a race against time to understand the motivation of a ruthless killer unlike any Strike has encountered before. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE STRING DIARIES by Stephen Lloyd Jones (Horror/Thriller)
Hannah frantically drives 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? Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

SUMMER HOUSE WITH SWIMMING POOL by Herman Koch (Psychological Suspense)
When a medical procedure goes horribly wrong and famous actor Ralph Meier winds up dead, Dr. Marc Schlosser needs to come up with some answers. After all, reputation is everything in this business. Personally, he’s not exactly upset that Ralph is gone, but as a high-profile doctor to the stars, Marc can't hide from the truth forever. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

TOMORROW AND TOMORROW by Thomas Sweterlitsch (Science Fiction/Noir Mystery)
A decade has passed since the city of Pittsburgh was reduced to ash. While the rest of the world has moved on, survivor John Dominic Blaxton remains obsessed with the past. Grieving for his wife and unborn child who perished in the blast, Dominic relives his lost life by immersing in the Archive --- a fully interactive digital reconstruction of Pittsburgh, accessible to anyone who wants to visit the places they remember and the people they loved. Reviewed by L. Whitney Richardson.