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January 15, 2016

20SomethingReads.com Newsletter January 15, 2016
Oscar Who?
Reviews
Young Adult Reviews
Oscar Who?

There are so many things to love about a new year. For most of us, it means a fresh start. A new diet (we’re looking at you, Oprah) and exercise regime, renewed commitment to your skincare routine, an oath to read more books, floss twice a day. Maybe you’re finally ready to drop $55 on a personal horoscope book from Susan Miller, or maybe you’re trying to spend wiser in ‘16. Nikki resolved to not hold back her humor (IRL and on Instagram), and Emily resolved to be cooler (as if that’s even possible). Whatever the new year does or doesn’t mean to you, there’s one inescapable absolute in January: awards season.

So, in honor of the time-honored tradition of honoring things in January (holla, Oscar noms!), we’ve come up with a few of our own special little moon men to give out to willing and able recipients. We already know what movies are great, and which ones aren’t, the accents Leo is perfect at and the ones he can’t quite nail, and that SchumSchum and JLaw need just a little bit more time as friends to master their standup bit. As part of #sweet2016, we’re giving you the benefit of the doubt that you already know all of these things, too.

With that in mind, we’re looking ahead and awarding the best (and worst) of the year as we see it. Our superlatives, our rules. Don’t worry, our winners will still probably be less random than the Hollywood Foreign Press’s. Leo-level shade thrown.

Best movie publicity still ripped straight from our dreams: A. Skars’ abs in The Legend of Tarzan

Most likely to make you finally understand what your mom’s been saying about Mick Jagger: “Vinyl” on HBO

Best duo: Channing and Jenna Dewan Tatum in life and always

Best duo runner up: Channing and Beyoncé in “Lip Sync Battle”

Best future Halloween costume: Anyone from the book-to-screen adaptation Pride and Prejudice and Zombies

Celebrity memoir we can’t wait to read: NEVERTHELESS by Alec Baldwin (slated for a fall release)

Best worst tl;dr: Sean Penn’s self-important interview with El Chapo in Rolling Stone

Best second-best J.J. Abrams project: “Westworld” on HBO

Best snack: The one we’re currently eating

Best new dating standard: Woke baes

Most likely book discovery: Unpublished 1950s manuscript from a beloved high-profile author #timeandtimeagain #historyrepeatsitself

Fast food chain we want voted out of office: Chipotle #feeltheburn

Least anticipated book: E. L. James 50 SHADES OF DENIM™, as told from the perspective of Christian Grey’s Red Room jeans

Most anticipated sports rivalry (tie): Phelps/Lochte and Rousey/Holm

Best summer Tinder spot: Rio

Two million dollar book we’re most looking forward to reading: THE GIRLS by Emma Cline (June 14)

Call Taraji; cookies for everyone!

Speaking of things we love (don’t mind if we do), our favorite celebrity feminist Emma Watson (sorry, Beyoncé!) is starting a feminist book club, and we’re all invited to join! The star already has over 86,000 members signed up through her GoodReads page. Aptly, the first book is MY LIFE ON THE ROAD by Gloria Steinem, which we’ve looooooved since we saw Big Mama G talk at the Random House Open House back in December (remember 2015?). We’re super pumped to see a celebrity getting so many young millennials on board with reading important and often overlooked works. We say: Yassss Queen!

While we’re thinking about queens, and on a more somber note, we’re sad to see the passing of a true artist and trailblazer: David Bowie. Whether you were next-level obsessed with him or you were just a casual fan, there’s no doubt the world we live in is a better place because of him. He was a real-life superhero --- with killer shoes. He was also a very avid reader! We don’t know where you’re going, Bowie, but we promise it won’t be boring. Especially now that you’re there.

For the long weekend ahead, throw on a Bowie record and cuddle up with some books. Here are a few suggestions:

BOYS IN THE TREES reveals Carly Simon’s (think: "You're So Vain") remarkable life, beginning with her storied childhood as the third daughter of Richard L. Simon, the co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster. It was a childhood enriched by music and culture, but also one shrouded in secrets that eventually would tear her family apart. Simon captures moments of creative inspiration, the sparks of songs, and the stories behind writing "Anticipation" and "We Have No Secrets," among many others.

A night flight from Istanbul bound for Paris, filled with 169 holiday travelers, plummets into the Swiss Alps in AFTER THE CRASH by Michel Bussi. The sole survivor is a three-month-old girl who is thrown from the plane onto the snowy mountainside before fire rages through the aircraft. But two infants were on board. Is the miracle baby Lyse-Rose or Emilie? Both families step forward to claim the child --- one poor, one powerful, wealthy and dangerous.

In THE GEOGRAPHY OF GENIUS, acclaimed travel writer Eric Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. He explores the history of places --- like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley --- to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity. And he walks the same paths as the geniuses who flourished in these settings to see if the spirit of what inspired figures like Socrates, Michelangelo and Leonardo remains. Was Steve Jobs a genius? You have to read to find out.

Until next time, stay warm and stretch often!

5 Things We’re Obsessed With at This Very Moment, in no particular order:
1. "Making a Murderer"...still
2. Trying to return our Powerball tickets
3. Room getting tons of Oscar love (with the exception of our much-deserving imaginary son, Jacob Tremblay)
4. The "Friends" reunion in February
5. Serial going from weekly to bi-weekly #sigh

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

 

Reviews

AFTER THE CRASH by Michel Bussi (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Daniel Philpott
A night flight from Istanbul bound for Paris, filled with 169 holiday travelers, plummets into the Swiss Alps. The sole survivor is a three-month-old girl who is thrown from the plane onto the snowy mountainside before fire rages through the aircraft. But two infants were on board. Is the miracle baby Lyse-Rose or Emilie? Both families step forward to claim the child --- one poor, one powerful, wealthy and dangerous. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

ANGELS BURNING by Tawni O'Dell (Psychological Thriller/Mystery)
When a girl is beaten to death, Chief Dove Carnahan is faced with solving the worst crime of her law enforcement career. She identifies the young lady as a daughter of the Truly family, a notoriously irascible dynasty of rednecks and petty criminals. During her investigation, the man convicted of killing Dove’s mother years earlier is released from prison. Still proclaiming his innocence, he approaches Dove with a startling accusation and a chilling threat that forces her to face the parallels between her own family’s trauma and that of the Trulys. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

BLACKOUT by David Rosenfelt (Thriller)
New Jersey state police officer Doug Brock has been after infamous criminal Nicholas Bennett for years. When Bennett kills someone close to Doug, Doug's investigation --- and his life --- starts spiraling out of control. It isn’t long before Doug is found in a hotel room, shot and in critical condition. When Doug finally awakens from his coma, he has no memory of the case, or even the last several years of his life. But the pull of what he might have discovered is too strong, and he finds himself immersed in a desperate search for truth once again, regardless of the danger. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

BOYS IN THE TREES: A Memoir by Carly Simon (Memoir)
Audiobook available, narrated by Carly Simon
BOYS IN THE TREES reveals Carly Simon’s remarkable life, beginning with her storied childhood as the third daughter of Richard L. Simon, the co-founder of publishing giant Simon & Schuster. It was a childhood enriched by music and culture, but also one shrouded in secrets that eventually would tear her family apart. Simon captures moments of creative inspiration, the sparks of songs, and the stories behind writing "Anticipation" and "We Have No Secrets," among many others. Reviewed by Stephen Febick.

BRYANT & MAY AND THE BURNING MAN: A Peculiar Crimes Unit Mystery by Christopher Fowler (Mystery)
Enraged by a scandal involving a corrupt financier accused of insider trading, demonstrators are rioting outside the Findersbury Private Bank. But when someone hurls a Molotov cocktail at the bank’s front door, killing a homeless man on its steps, Bryant, May and the rest of the Peculiar Crimes Unit is called in. Is this an act of protest gone terribly wrong? Or a devious, premeditated murder? Their investigation heats up when a second victim is reported dead in similar fiery circumstances. May discovers the latest victim has ties to the troubled bank, and Bryant refuses to believe this is mere coincidence. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

DARK TIDES by Chris Ewan (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Alex Tregear
When Claire Cooper was eight years old, her mother mysteriously vanished during Hop-tu-naa, Halloween on the Isle of Man. At 14, Claire is still struggling to come to terms with her disappearance when she's befriended by a group of five teenagers who mark every Halloween by performing dares. But Claire's arrival begins to alter the group's dynamic until one year a prank goes terribly wrong, changing all their futures and tearing the friends apart. Six years later, one of the friends is killed on Halloween in an apparent accident. But Claire, now a police officer, has her doubts. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

DESPERATE MEASURES by Jo Bannister (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Jane Copland
When Gabriel Ash's wife and kids were kidnapped four years ago by Somali pirates, his life spiraled out of control. But with the help of his dog, Patience, and his friendship with young police officer Hazel Best, his focus returned. So when he discovers that his wife is still alive, Ash is once again filled with hope and fear. Hazel is deeply worried for Ash. But even she is unprepared for what Ash seems willing to do to secure the safety of his wife and children. In fact, nothing is as it seems, and loyalty, friendship and family bonds will be called into question. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

FALSE POSITIVE by Andrew Grant (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Jon Lindstrom
Alabama detective Cooper Devereaux may have met his match in fellow detective Jan Loflin, who’s fresh off a long undercover stint in Vice when they’re partnered on a case that will test them both beyond their direst nightmares. A seven-year-old boy has disappeared from his home in the Birmingham suburbs. But the more Devereaux digs into the missing child’s background, the more he discovers about his own, eventually shaking loose a series of harrowing truths --- about bloodlines, mass murder, obsession, and what two damaged detectives have in common with the innocent victim they’re so desperate to save. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE FIRST ORDER by Jeff Abbott (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Kevin T. Collins
Two brothers. One dead, executed by extremists on a grainy video. The other forged into a top undercover agent. But now, Sam Capra has reason to believe that his brother, Danny, may be alive. His desperate search for Danny leads him into a modern heart of darkness: the Russian elite inner circle, a group of ruthless ex-KGB billionaires who owe fealty to Russia's corrupt president, Morozov. One of these men wants Morozov dead. And Danny will be the one to kill him --- on American soil. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

FORTY THIEVES by Thomas Perry (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Peter Berkrot
Last spring, a body was recovered from one of Los Angeles’s overwhelmed storm sewers. The victim was identified as James Ballantine, a middle-aged African-American who worked as a research scientist for a prestigious company. But two bullets to the back of the head looked like nothing if not foul play. Now, with the case turning cold, Ballantine’s former employers bring in detectives Sid and Ronnie Abel to succeed where the police have failed. Meanwhile, assassins-for-hire Ed and Nicole Hoyt’s mysterious contractors want to make sure that the facts about Ballantine’s death stay hidden. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE GEOGRAPHY OF GENIUS: A Search for the World's Most Creative Places, from Ancient Athens to Silicon Valley by Eric Weiner (Memoir/Travel)
Audiobook available, narrated by Eric Weiner
In THE GEOGRAPHY OF GENIUS, acclaimed travel writer Eric Weiner sets out to examine the connection between our surroundings and our most innovative ideas. He explores the history of places --- like Vienna of 1900, Renaissance Florence, ancient Athens, Song Dynasty Hangzhou, and Silicon Valley --- to show how certain urban settings are conducive to ingenuity. And he walks the same paths as the geniuses who flourished in these settings to see if the spirit of what inspired figures like Socrates, Michelangelo and Leonardo remains. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

THE GUEST ROOM by Chris Bohjalian (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Mozhan Marno and Grace Experience
When Kristin Chapman agrees to let her husband, Richard, host his brother’s bachelor party, she expects a certain amount of debauchery. What she does not expect is this: bacchanalian drunkenness, her husband sharing a dangerously intimate moment in the guest room, and two women stabbing and killing their Russian bodyguards before driving off into the night. In the aftermath, Kristin and Richard’s life rapidly spirals into nightmare. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE GUN written by Fuminori Nakamura, translated from the Japanese by Allison Markin Powell (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Brian Nishii
On a nighttime walk along a Tokyo riverbank, a young man named Nishikawa stumbles on a dead body, beside which lies a gun. From the moment Nishikawa decides to take the gun, the world around him blurs. Knowing he possesses the weapon brings an intoxicating sense of purpose to his dull university life. But soon his personal entanglements become unexpectedly complicated. Through it all, he can’t stop thinking about the gun --- and the four bullets loaded in its chamber. As he spirals into obsession, his focus is consumed by one idea: that possessing the gun is no longer enough --- he must fire it. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

HOTELS OF NORTH AMERICA by Rick Moody (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Jefferson Mays
Reginald Edward Morse is one of the top reviewers on RateYourLodging.com, where his many reviews reveal more than just details of hotels around the globe --- they tell his life story. The puzzle of Reginald's life comes together through reviews that comment upon his motivational speaking career, the dissolution of his marriage, the separation from his beloved daughter, and his devotion to an amour known only as "K." But when Reginald disappears, we are left with the fragments of a life --- or at least the life he has carefully constructed --- that writer Rick Moody must make sense of. Reviewed by John Maher.

THE MAN ON THE WASHING MACHINE by Susan Cox (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Liz Pearce
When former party girl and society photographer Theophania Bogart flees to San Francisco to escape a high-profile family tragedy, a series of murders drags her unwillingly out of hiding. In no time at all, she discovers she's been providing cover for a sophisticated smuggling operation, she starts to fall for an untrustworthy stranger, and she's knocked out, tied up and imprisoned. The police are sure she's lying. The smugglers are sure she knows too much. Her friends? They aren't sure what to believe. The body count is rising, and Theo struggles to find the killer before she's the next victim or her new life is exposed as an elaborate fraud. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

MR. SPLITFOOT by Samantha Hunt (Gothic Horror)
Ruth and Nat are orphans, packed into a house full of abandoned children run by a religious fanatic. To entertain their siblings, they channel the dead. Decades later, Ruth’s niece, Cora, finds herself accidentally pregnant. After years of absence, Aunt Ruth appears, mute and full of intention. She is on a mysterious mission, leading Cora on an odyssey across the entire state of New York on foot. Where is Ruth taking them? Where has she been? And who --- or what --- has she hidden in the woods at the end of the road? Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

NINE LIVES: A Lily Dale Mystery by Wendy Corsi Staub (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Melanie Ewbank
When reluctant road trippers Bella Jordan and her son, Max, detour to Lily Dale, New York, they're planning to deliver a lost cat to its home and then move on, searching for one of their own. But the footloose feline's owner, Leona Gatto, has unexpectedly passed away, leaving behind a pregnant pet without a mistress, a busy inn without a keeper --- and a lovable circle of neighbors who chat with dead people. It's up to Bella to solve the case so that she and Max can leave town, but their new home --- like Leona's killer --- might just lurk where she least expects it. Reviewed by Carole Turner.

ONCE SHADOWS FALL by Robert Daniels (Psychological Thriller)
After years of paying her dues on the force, Beth Sturgis has earned her place as a detective for the Robbery-Homicide division of the Atlanta PD. Now, she's heading up a major manhunt for a potential serial killer who’s working his way inward from the outskirts of the city. The copycat elements in the first crime scene lead Sturgis to retired FBI agent Jack Kale, who was responsible for apprehending and nearly killing the murderer known as the Scarecrow, the same Scarecrow who appears to be this new killer's terrible inspiration. Reviewed by Lorraine W. Shanley.

SILENT CITY: A Claire Codella Mystery by Carrie Smith (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Nicol Zanzarella
NYPD Detective Claire Codella has just won a tough battle with cancer. Now she has to regain her rightful place on the force. She hasn't even been back a day when Hector Sanchez, a maverick public school principal, is found murdered. The school is on high alert. The media is howling for answers. And Codella catches the high-profile case at the worst possible time. As she races to track down the killer, she uncovers dirty politics, questionable contracts and dark secrets. Each discovery she makes brings her closer to the truth, but the truth may cost Codella her life. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE TREACHEROUS NET: An Inspector Irene Huss Investigation written by Helene Tursten, translated by Marlaine Delargy (Mystery)
Audiobook available, narrated by Suzanne Toren
The body of a teenage girl is found in the woods, followed by a mummified body bricked up in a chimney on a demolition site. Then a second young girl is found, wearing what appears to be the other half of the sexy lingerie set recovered near the first body. Fearing the two cases are linked and that the killer may strike again, Detective Inspector Irene Huss and her colleagues embark on a desperate hunt that takes them deep into a shadowy world of anonymous online predators and insecure teenage girls on a deadly quest for affirmation. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE UNDOING by Averil Dean (Psychological Thriller)
Best friends since childhood, Eric, Rory and Celia have always been inseparable. Together they've coped with broken homes and damaged families, clinging to each other as they've navigated their tenuous lives. When the trio decides to follow Celia's dream of buying and renovating the Blackbird, a dilapidated hotel that sits on the perilous cliffs of Jawbone Ridge, new jealousies arise and long-held suspicions start to unravel their relationship. Soon they find themselves pushed to the breaking point, where trust becomes doubt, longing becomes obsession, and someone will commit the ultimate betrayal. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

 

Young Adult Reviews

THE IMPOSTOR QUEEN by Sarah Fine (Young Adult Fiction, Fantasy)
Sixteen-year-old Elli was a small child when the Elders of Kupari chose her to succeed the Valtia, the queen who wields infinitely powerful ice and fire magic. Since then, Elli has lived in the temple, surrounded by luxury and tutored by priests, as she prepares for the day when the Valtia perishes and the magic finds a new home in her. Elli is destined to be the most powerful Valtia to ever rule. But when the queen dies defending the kingdom from invading warriors, the magic doesn’t enter Elli. It’s nowhere to be found. Reviewed by Kate F., Teenreads.com Teen Board member.

THIS RAGING LIGHT by Estelle Laure (Youth Fiction, Friendship, Family Issues)
Her dad went crazy. Her mom left town. She has bills to pay and a little sister to look after. Now is not the time for level-headed 17-year-old Lucille to fall in love. But love --- messy, inconvenient love --- is what she’s about to experience when she falls for Digby Jones, her best friend’s brother. Reviewed by Leanna R., Teenreads.com Teen Board member.

TRUTHWITCH: A Witchlands Novel by Susan Dennard (Youth Fiction, Fantasy, Romance, Science Fiction)
Safiya is a Truthwitch, able to discern truth from lie. Iseult, a Threadwitch, can see the invisible ties that bind and entangle the lives around her --- but she cannot see the bonds that touch her own heart. Safiya and Iseult just want to be free to live their own lives, but war is coming to the Witchlands. With the help of the cunning Prince Merik (a Windwitch and privateer) and the hindrance of a Bloodwitch bent on revenge, the friends must fight emperors, princes and mercenaries alike, who will stop at nothing to get their hands on a Truthwitch. Reviewed by Isabel C. and Carly Silver.

 

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