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February 29, 2016

20SomethingReads.com Newsletter February 29, 2016
Happy FIRST Birthday to Us; We're Forever Young!
Reviews
Young Adult Reviews
Happy FIRST Birthday to Us; We're Forever Young!

Guess what? Today is 20SomethingReads.com’s VERY FIRST BIRTHDAY! The site was born on February 29, 2012, a launch date that was selected very, very carefully to keep us "forever young." Thus we’ve been patiently (actually not so patiently) waiting these last four years to celebrate.

Today we’re leaping for joy on this milestone! Because we couldn’t get out to Denmark to ask some men to marry us (and subsequently collect 12 pairs of gloves upon their refusal --- it’s a thing, look it up, we and our cold fingers are going to party hard in NYC. And by party hard we mean whip out our Mickey Mouse music mat and sway until we lose interest. Since we’ve never celebrated a birthday before, we had to consult Google.com for some suggestions. Here are some things we liked:

1. A #1 birthday candle is a must
1. Disneyland as a party destination, at least if you’re part of the Kardashian klan
1. Pop some bottles...of milk
1. Clowns
1. cakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecakecake
1. A petting zoo
1. Silly party hats
1. Confetti

What we learned: All these things are good, but better in conjunction with a casual pizza party.

To further our "one" theme, we want to celebrate things that were good solo --- whether they’re part of a set or exist in their own one-hit wonder space:

  • The first season of “True Detective”
  • "Mambo No. 5" or "Baby Got Back"
  • The Matrix (of the trilogy)
  • THE HUNGER GAMES (take or leave the rest of the trilogy)
  • Alec Baldwin (of all the Baldwin brothers)
  • Thin Mints (the only Girl Scout cookie that matters)
  • The Postal Service’s Give Up

Here’s what being one means to us: We’re still new, still fresh and we got our whole future ahead of us. We’re still young enough for Ben Affleck to give us that speech at the end of Good Will Hunting and we’re damn pumped about that. The world is our imitation oyster. Don’t think about it too hard.

Real talk: 20SomethingReads has accomplished so much in just one year! It’s been a time of tremendous growth and evolution. We’ve had so many amazing contributors to our blog; our #tbt series was a real favorite around the office and with readers, and now we have our stellar #wcw series, where we celebrate women in literature. Contests have come and gone --- our personal fave was when you shared your funniest breakup stories to win a copy of THE LOVE AFFAIRS OF NATHANIEL P. We implemented the “Coffee Break” feature in 2013, which to this day is a source of pride and joy. Lots of great bookshelves originated on the site, including “Celebrity Books 2015,” “Mafia Memories: Organized Crime on American Soil and Beyond,” “Reliable Reads from Unreliable Narrators,” and “20 Fantasy Books for the Literary-Minded Reader” to name just a few.

Not to mention a little something we like to call our newsletter. In all seriousness, we've been pounding it out for over two years now and it’s been an editorial delight. We hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy writing it. From pop culture ongoings to the latest and greatest books, we’ve shared it as we see it. We made it through not only two royal baby births, but the arrival of two Kardashian-Wests as well.

We’ve guided you on what movies to watch and which to miss, which music videos to devote your precious time to and which to wait for the DVD release. We shared life rules (*suggestions*) to help navigate all of those pesky holiday parties that seem to creep up year after year. Needless to say, it’s been super real feeding you all the most important book news and beyond. And don’t worry, Mark Z., we won’t casually ask you for 50 mil plus over the internet to promote our creative endeavors. HYFR. One gets a bad rap as the loneliest number, but so far so good. Without further ado, here’s one cheer...and a few more...to all of our future birthdays.

While they may not have been celebrating birthdays, the Oscars were a celebration of similar milestones...and the wins came as no surprise! Brie Larson scored another award for her incredible performance in Room and Leo finally secured a little golden man for his mantel for The Revenant. Mad Max: Fury Road (our personal fave) cleaned up for all of the technical awards and we aren’t complaining. Spotlight got its own spotlight, and while we admit it’s maybe the only movie of this past year we haven’t seen yet, it’s bumped up to number one on our watch list. We thoroughly enjoyed the return of Chris Rock as host (it had been a solid decade since his last), and the ultimate takeaway: absolutely no one can deny a Girl Scout cookie when given the opportunity. All in all, it’s another one for the books...so they say.

So now that we have this year's award season behind us, we've got all the time in the world for books. Here are three we highly recommend:

THE WIDOW by Fiona Barton tells the story of Jean, who hasn't said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment. Now her husband is dead, and there's no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything.

In THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT by Kate Hamer, newly single mom Beth worries that her eight-year-old daughter, Carmel, who has a tendency to wander off, will one day go missing. And then it happens: The two get separated at a local outdoor festival, and Carmel vanishes. Beth sets herself on the grim and lonely mission to find her daughter. Carmel, meanwhile, is on a strange and harrowing journey of her own --- to a totally unexpected place that requires her to live by her wits, while trying desperately to keep in her head a vision of her mother.

WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi is a heartbreaking memoir. At the age of 36, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality.

Happy reading, happy watching and happy birthday to us!

5 Things We’re Obsessed With at This Very Moment, in no particular order:
1. Judd Apatow's "Love" on Netflix
2. Yoko Ono's super on-brand list of 25 things you don't know about her
3. The trailer for The Light Between Oceans, starring M. Fassbender and A. Vikander based on the book by M.L. Stedman
4. Rihanna and Drake's hot new music video for "Work"
5. Season 4 of "House of Cards," coming via Netflix to a computer screen near you this Friday. Given the political swirl these days, this feels like fictional reality.

Thanks for celebrating with us!

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

 

Reviews

THE BITTER SEASON by Tami Hoag (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by David Colacci
Detective Sam Kovac is distracted from his troubles by an especially brutal double homicide: a prominent university professor and his wife, bludgeoned and hacked to death in their home with a ceremonial Japanese samurai sword. Detective Nikki Liska’s case --- the unsolved murder of a decorated sex crimes detective --- is less of a distraction: Twenty five years later, there is little hope of finding the killer who got away. As the trails of two crimes a quarter of a century apart twist and cross, Kovac and Liska race to find answers before a killer strikes again. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

BROTHERHOOD IN DEATH by J. D. Robb (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Susan Ericksen
Just as Dennis Mira is about to confront his cousin Edward about selling the West Village brownstone that belonged to their grandfather, he gets a shock: Edward is in front of him, bruised and bloody…and then everything goes black. When Dennis comes to, Edward is gone. Luckily Dennis’ wife is a top profiler for the NYPSD --- and a close colleague of Lieutenant Eve Dallas. Now Eve is determined to uncover the secrets of Edward Mira, but whoever is behind this disappearance, Edward is not going to be their last victim. Reviewed by Jennifer McCord.

THE CELLAR by Minette Walters (Psychological Thriller/Horror)
Audiobook available, narrated by Eyre Justine
On the day Mr. and Mrs. Songoli’s young son fails to come home from school, 14-year-old Muna’s fortunes change for the better. Until then, her bedroom was a dank windowless cellar, her activities confined to cooking and cleaning. Now that Scotland Yard has swarmed the Songoli house to investigate the disappearance of the son, Muna is given a real bedroom and clothing, yet her world remains confined. Before long, though, it becomes clear that young Muna is far more clever --- and her plans more terrifying --- than the Songolis, or anyone else, can ever imagine. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

A DOUBTER'S ALMANAC by Ethan Canin (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by David Aaron Baker
Milo Andret is born with an unusual mind. A lonely child growing up in the woods of northern Michigan, he gives little thought to his own talent. But with his acceptance at U.C. Berkeley, he realizes the extent --- and the risks --- of his singular gifts. California in the ’70s is a seduction, opening Milo’s eyes to the allure of both ambition and indulgence. The research he begins there will make him a legend; the woman he meets there --- and the rival he meets alongside her --- will haunt him for the rest of his life. For Milo’s brilliance is entwined with a dark need that soon grows to threaten his work, his family, even his existence. Reviewed by Harvey Freedenberg.

FIND HER by Lisa Gardner (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Kirsten Potter
Seven years ago, carefree college student Flora Dane was kidnapped while on spring break. For 472 days, she learned just how much one person can endure. Miraculously alive after her ordeal, she has spent the past five years reacquainting herself with the rhythms of normal life. When Boston detective D. D. Warren is called to the scene of a crime --- a dead man and the bound, naked woman who killed him --- she learns that Flora has tangled with three other suspects since her return to society. Is Flora a victim or a vigilante? Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.

FLOODGATE by Johnny Shaw (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Patrick Lawlor
After discovering explosive information that reveals corruption within the highest levels of the police department, Andy Destra is kicked off the force, framed and disgraced, left to wage a lonely one-man crusade against conspiracies he can’t prove. Andy’s investigation plunges him into a blackly comic maelstrom of one-armed gang members, slick pickpockets, criminal syndicates, hired mercenaries, escaped convicts, sewer dwellers and one sinister ice cream truck. At the same time, he must contend with a mystery closer to home: the true identity of his parents. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE GIRL IN THE RED COAT by Kate Hamer (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Antonia Beamish
Newly single mom Beth worries that her eight-year-old daughter, Carmel, who has a tendency to wander off, will one day go missing. And then it happens: The two get separated at a local outdoor festival, and Carmel vanishes. Beth sets herself on the grim and lonely mission to find her daughter. Carmel, meanwhile, is on a strange and harrowing journey of her own --- to a totally unexpected place that requires her to live by her wits, while trying desperately to keep in her head a vision of her mother. Reviewed by Megan Elliott.

THE GOOD LIAR by Nicholas Searle (Literary Suspense)
Audiobook available, narrated by Matthew Brenher
Veteran con artist Roy spots an obvious easy mark when he meets Betty, a wealthy widow, online. In no time at all, he has moved into Betty’s lovely cottage and is preparing to accompany her on a romantic trip to Europe. Betty’s grandson disapproves of their blossoming relationship, but Roy is sure this scheme will be a success. He knows what he’s doing. As this remarkable feat of storytelling weaves together Roy’s and Betty’s futures, it also unwinds their pasts. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

HONKY TONK SAMURAI: A Hap and Leonard Novel by Joe R. Lansdale (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Christopher Ryan Grant
When Hap and Leonard witness a man abusing his dog, Leonard takes matters into his own fists --- and now the bruised dog abuser wants to press charges. One week later, a woman drops by their new PI office with a proposition: find her missing granddaughter, or she'll turn in a video of Leonard beating the dog abuser. The two agree to take on the cold case and soon discover that the used car dealership where her granddaughter worked is actually a front for a prostitution ring. What began as a missing-person case becomes one of blackmail and murder. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

LIAR: A Memoir by Rob Roberge (Memoir)
Audiobook available, narrated by Rob Roberge
When Rob Roberge learns that he's likely to have developed a progressive memory-eroding disease from years of hard living and frequent concussions, he’s terrified by the prospect of becoming a walking shadow. In a desperate attempt to preserve his identity, he sets out to (somewhat faithfully) record the most formative moments of his life. But the process of trying to remember his past only exposes just how fragile the stories that lay at the heart of our self-conception really are. As LIAR twists and turns through Roberge’s life, it turns the familiar story of sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll on its head. Reviewed by Rebecca Munro.

THE LIFE OF ELVES written by Muriel Barbery, translated by Alison Anderson (Fiction)
Maria lives in a remote village in Burgundy, where she learns that she has a gift for communicating with nature. Hundreds of miles away in Italy, Clara discovers that she possesses a stunning musical genius and is sent from the countryside to Rome to develop her preternatural abilities. THE LIVES OF THE ELVES tells the story of two children whose extraordinary talents will bring them into contact with magical worlds and malevolent forces. If, against all odds, they can be brought together, their meeting may shape the course of history. Reviewed by Katherine B. Weissman.

MIDNIGHT SUN by Jo Nesbø (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Kim Gordon
He calls himself Ulf, and the only thing he’s looking for is a place where he won’t be found by Oslo’s most notorious drug lord: the Fisherman. He was once the Fisherman’s fixer, but after betraying him, Ulf is now the one his former boss needs fixed --- which may not be a problem for a man whose criminal reach is boundless. The agonizing wait for the inevitable moment when the Fisherman’s henchmen will show forces him to question if redemption is at all possible or if, as he’s always believed, “hope is a real bastard.” Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

MY FATHER, THE PORNOGRAPHER: A Memoir by Chris Offutt (Memoir)
When Andrew Offutt died, his son, Chris, inherited a desk, a rifle and 1,800 pounds of porn. Andrew had been considered the “king of 20th century smut,” a career that began as a strategy to pay for his son’s orthodontic needs and soon took on a life of its own, peaking during the ’70s when the commercial popularity of the erotic novel was at its height. Over one long summer in his hometown, helping his mother move out of the house, Chris began to examine his deceased father’s possessions and realized he finally had an opportunity to come to grips with the mercurial man he always feared but never understood. Reviewed by Barbara Bamberger Scott.

THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE by Joshilyn Jackson (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Joshilyn Jackson
A fiercely independent divorce lawyer learns the power of family and connection when she receives a cryptic message from her estranged mother in this latest novel from Joshilyn Jackson, the nationally bestselling author of SOMEONE ELSE’S LOVE STORY and GODS IN ALABAMA. THE OPPOSITE OF EVERYONE is an emotionally resonant tale about the endurance of love and the power of stories to shape and transform our lives. Reviewed by Bronwyn Miller.

PIECE OF MIND by Michelle Adelman (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Tavia Gilbert
At 27, Lucy knows everything about coffee, comic books and Gus (the polar bear at the Central Park Zoo), and she possesses a rare gift for drawing. But since she suffered a traumatic brain injury at the age of three, she has had trouble relating to most people. When unexpected circumstances force her out of the comfortable and protective Jewish home where she was raised and into a cramped studio apartment in New York City with her college-age younger brother, she must adapt to an entirely different life --- one with no safety net. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE QUALITY OF SILENCE by Rosamund Lupton (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Fiona Hardingham
THE QUALITY OF SILENCE is the story of Yasmin, a beautiful astrophysicist, and her precocious deaf daughter, Ruby, who arrive in a remote part of Alaska to be told that Ruby's father, Matt, has been the victim of a catastrophic accident. Unable to accept his death as truth, Yasmin and Ruby set out into the hostile winter of the Alaskan tundra in search of answers. But as a storm closes in, Yasmin realizes that a very human danger may be keeping pace with them. And with no one else on the road to help, they must keep moving, alone and terrified, through an endless Alaskan night. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

RIVER ROAD by Carol Goodman (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Madeleine Maby
Nan Lewis, a creative writing professor, hits a deer while driving home from a faculty holiday party. But when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is nowhere to be found. The next morning, Nan is informed that one of her students was killed in a hit-and-run the night before. And because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident. When she begins to find disturbing tokens that recall the death of her daughter, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

VIOLENT CRIMES: An Amanda Jaffe Novel by Phillip Margolin (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Therese Plummer
Dale Masterson has become wealthy and successful representing the interests of oil and coal companies. But when his colleague is found dead, his business practices are put under surveillance and a lower-level employee stands accused. The controversy surrounding the firm is magnified when Dale is found beaten to death in his mansion. His son, Brandon, confesses to killing him on behalf of all the people whose lives are being destroyed by his questionable clients. Veteran lawyer Amanda Jaffe is hired to represent Brandon, but what seems like an open-and-shut case quickly begins to unravel. Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

A VOICE FROM THE FIELD by Neal Griffin (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Rachel Fulginiti
Gunther Kane and his white supremacist group are using forced prostitution to finance the purchase of automatic weapons. Kane snatches young women off the streets and sells them to hundreds of men. When a victim is used up, she's killed and dumped. Physically recovered from being shot but struggling with PTSD, Tia Suarez almost doesn't believe her eyes when she glimpses a Hispanic teenager bound and gagged in the back of Kane's van. The look of terror on the woman's face makes Tia desperate to rescue her, and nothing will stop her. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR by Paul Kalanithi (Memoir)
Audiobook available, narrated by Sunil Malhotra and Cassandra Campbell
At the age of 36, on the verge of completing a decade’s worth of training as a neurosurgeon, Paul Kalanithi was diagnosed with stage IV lung cancer. One day he was a doctor treating the dying, and the next he was a patient struggling to live. And just like that, the future he and his wife had imagined evaporated. WHEN BREATH BECOMES AIR chronicles Kalanithi’s transformation from a naïve medical student into a neurosurgeon at Stanford working in the brain, and finally into a patient and new father confronting his own mortality. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

WHY WE CAME TO THE CITY by Kristopher Jansma (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Edoardo Ballerini
Five years after their college graduation, five devoted friends remain as inseparable as ever. Amid cheerful revelry and free-flowing champagne at a posh holiday party, they toast themselves and the new year ahead --- a year that holds many surprises in store. They must navigate ever-shifting relationships with New York City and with one another, determined to push onward in pursuit of their precarious dreams. And when a devastating blow brings their momentum to a halt, the group is forced to reexamine their aspirations and chart new paths through unexpected losses. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE WIDOW by Fiona Barton (Psychological Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by Hannah Curtis, Nicholas Guy Smith, Mandy Williams, Jayne Entwistle and Steve West
There's a lot Jean hasn't said over the years about the crime her husband was suspected of committing. She was too busy being the perfect wife, standing by her man while living with the accusing glares and the anonymous harassment. Now her husband is dead, and there's no reason to stay quiet. There are people who want to hear her story. They want to know what it was like living with that man. But the one lesson Jean has learned in the last few years is that she can make people believe anything. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE WOLVES: A John Wells Novel by Alex Berenson (Thriller)
Audiobook available, narrated by George Guidall
John Wells has just barely managed to stop an operation designed to drive the United States and Iran into war, but the instigator himself disappeared behind an impenetrable war of security. Now it’s time for him to pay, and Wells has made it his personal mission. But the White House doesn’t want anybody stirring the pot; his old CIA bosses have their own agendas; and other countries are starting to sniff around, sensing something unusual. It is when Russia and China enter the mix, however, that the whole affair is set to combust. With alarming speed, Wells is once again on his own…and the wolves are closing in. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

WRECK AND ORDER by Hannah Tennant-Moore (Fiction)
Audiobook available, narrated by Nicol Zanzarella
Elsie has a tumultuous relationship with an abusive boyfriend, a dead-end job at a newspaper, and a sharp intelligence that’s constantly at odds with her many bad decisions. When her initial attempts to improve her life go awry, Elsie decides that a dramatic change is the only solution. So she travels to Paris and Sri Lanka, hoping to accumulate experiences, create connections, and discover a new way to live. Along the way, she meets men and women who challenge and provoke her towards the change she genuinely hopes to find. But in the end, she must still come face-to-face with herself. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

 

Young Adult Reviews

FRONT LINES by Michael Grant (Fiction, Historical Fiction, Young Adult 12+)
World War II, 1942. A court decision makes women subject to the draft and eligible for service. The unproven American army is going up against the greatest fighting force ever assembled, the armed forces of Nazi Germany. Three girls sign up to fight. Rio Richlin, Frangie Marr and Rainy Schulterman are average girls, with dreams and aspirations. Each has her own reasons for volunteering: Rio fights to honor her sister, Frangie needs money for her family, and Rainy wants to kill Germans. These daring young women will play their parts in the war to defeat evil and save the human race. Reviewed by Harleen K., Teen Board member.

LITTLE WHITE LIES by Brianna Baker and F. Bowman Hastie (Youth Fiction, Friendship, Social Interests, Racism)
Seventeen-year-old honors student Coretta White’s Tumblr, Little White Lies --- her witty thoughts on pretty much…everything --- has gone viral. She’s got hundreds of thousands of followers; she’s even been offered a TV deal. But Coretta has a secret. She hasn’t been writing all her own posts. Stressed from the demands of the sudden attention, she hired an expert ghostwriter, 41-year-old Karl Ristoff, to keep the Tumblr going. Now consumed with guilt, she confesses. Almost instantly, she suffers a public humiliation. Then Karl is thrust into the limelight, only to suffer a dramatic fall himself. Together, they vow to find out who is responsible for ruining both of their lives, and why. Reviewed by Chris C., Teen Board member.

SALT TO THE SEA by Ruta Sepetys (Historical Fiction, Military, Young Adult 12+, Youth Fiction)
In 1945, World War II is drawing to a close in East Prussia, and thousands of refugees are on a desperate trek toward freedom, almost all of them with something to hide. Among them are Joana, Emilia and Florian, whose paths converge en route to the ship that promises salvation, the Wilhelm Gustloff. Forced by circumstance to unite, the three find their strength, courage and trust in each other tested with each step closer toward safety. But just when it seems freedom is within their grasp, tragedy strikes, and all ten thousand people aboard must fight for the same thing: survival. Reviewed by Maggie D.

THE SECRET LANGUAGE OF SISTERS by Luanne Rice (Fiction, Young Adult 12+)
When Ruth Ann (Roo) McCabe responds to a text message while she's driving, her life as she knows it ends. The car flips, and Roo winds up in a hospital bed, paralyzed. Silent. Everyone thinks she's in a coma, but Roo has locked-in syndrome --- she can see and hear and understand everything around her, but no one knows it. She's trapped inside her own body, screaming to be heard. Reviewed by Hafsah K., Teen Board member.

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