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October 5, 2012

20SomethingReads.com Newsletter October 5, 2012
Nostalgia City: Books, Music and TV Shows From Our Childhood
Still Ongoing on 20SomethingReads.com
What's NEW on 20SomethingReads.com?
What's Coming Up on 20SomethingReads.com?
This Week's Reviews
Vote in our Poll!
Nostalgia City: Books, Music and TV Shows From Our Childhood

Happy October! It's a month filled with cooler temperatures and scary movies, so what better way to celebrate than to talk about our favorite horror novels?

This month we have a special treat for our readers with our "King" of Horrors bookshelf, featuring 20 of Stephen King's spookiest reads. From CARRIE, the book that started it all, to King's most popular thrillers like THE STAND, this bookshelf will keep you on the edge of your seat all month long. Don't blame us for any nightmares; you are warned!

On sale this week is SON by Lois Lowry, a thrilling conclusion to Lowry's bestselling series which includes THE GIVER, GATHERING BLUE and MESSENGER. (The entire series is referred to as a quartet, one book bigger than the trilogies we are used to seeing.) If you grew up in the U.S. chances are you had to read THE GIVER for school, so it's definitely worth checking out the final book in the series and maybe even re-reading the books to refresh your memory. I considered THE GIVER to be my school's apology to me for forcing me to read JOHNNY TREMAIN, which is and always will be the most painful reading experience of my life. And in SON you will meet up with characters you came to know in the other books. Nice to check in with them like that.

Other new books to make a note of are PHANTOM by international sensation Jo Nesbo, and ROGUE by Mark Sullivan. Both are high-energy thrillers, in which the main characters are thrust back into the lives they thought they left behind.

J. K. Rowling, released her first novel for adults, THE CASUAL VACANCY and it had a pretty solid opening week, though not on par with Harry Potter sales. I haven't read it yet --- my roommate said I was not allowed to bring it into the apartment --- but I'm planning to read it soon. Perhaps when I'm visting family this weekend I can smuggle a copy back to New York without my roommate noticing.

In our next newsletter we'll have a review of I SHOULDNT BE TELLING YOU THIS by Kate White, bestselling author and former editor of Cosmopolitan magazine. It 's a great advice book for anyone just starting out in their careers. Even if you've been working for awhile, the book has some great insights about how to reinvent yourself and stay engaged in your work.

These past few weeks have been very nostalgic for me, as the bands of my youth are all staging comebacks with new albums: No Doubt, Green Day, Pink, Matchbox Twenty, The Wallflowers. Also, TLC is planning a reunion tour with a "hologram" of my third grade idol, Lisa "Left-Eye" Lopes.

Just when I thought this 90s revival couldn't get better I discovered that Full House reruns are on Nick-at-Nite every night at 9pm. Uncle Jessie has not aged a day, and I still want to be the Olsen twins (sigh).

Here's to those who grew up in the 90s, and to those who wish they had. For anyone who just doesn't understand the 90s nostalgia, I refer you to this fabulous meme from Funny Or Die featuring James Van Der Beek as Dawson Leery doing the man-cry over all of the hardships us millennials faced back in the day. These 21st Century kids have it so easy. Enjoy!

---Maureen Linehan ([email protected])

 

Still Ongoing on 20SomethingReads.com

Special Feature: BECAUSE IT IS MY BLOOD by Gabrielle Zevin
Recently released from the Liberty Children's Facility, Anya Balanchine is determined to change her life for the better. Her old friends have all moved on, advancing in school and dating new people, but when old friends return to collect on previous debts, Anya is forced back into the criminal world that she thought she left behind for good. As she embarks on this new journey, she is thrown into situations that will test her like never before.

Bookshelf: Fall 2012 Books On Screen - Featuring 20 upcoming movie adaptations of your favorite books; consider this a heads up on what you want to start reading (or re-reading) now.

Bookshelf: Stand-Alone Fantasy Titles - These 20 Stand-Alone Fantasy Titles will keep you entertained while dreaming of far off magical lands brought to you by our contributor, Steve Hubbard. This is a companion bookshelf to our collection of 20 Must-Read Fantasy Series from June. Whether you are a true fan of this genre --- or just know it a bit (after all, if you read Harry Potter you've read fantasy) --- Steve has a list worth noting.

What's NEW on 20SomethingReads.com?

Bookshelf: King of Horrors - If you've ever had trouble sleeping at night after reading a chilling book, chances are Stephen King may have had something to do with it. The legendary author's career began in the 1970s, and from the very first scream-filled horror that was CARRIE, King has continued terrifying readers for decades. In honor of Halloween, we decided to compile a bookshelf dedicated to the "King of Horrors," showcasing the author's best horror novels to keep you horrifically satisfied this October. Readers beware!

What's Coming Up on 20SomethingReads.com?

Special Feature: CREWEL by Gennifer Albin (October)

Author Interview: Danny Wallace, author of CHARLOTTE STREET (October)

New Bookshelf: 20 Fantasy Novels by Women (October)

Review: I SHOULDN'T BE TELLING YOU THIS by Kate White

Books On Screen: Anna Karenina, Lincoln, Breaking Dawn, Life of Pi, Silver Linings Playbook (November)

New Bookshelf: Downton Abbey-Themed Bookshelf (December)

This Week's Reviews
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING SEVEN: A 44 Scotland Street Novel by Alexander McCall Smith (Fiction)
After seven years and five books, Bertie is --- finally! --- about to turn seven. But one afternoon he mislays his meddling mother Irene, and learns a valuable lesson: wish-fulfillment can be a dangerous business. Angus and Domenica contemplate whether to give in to romance on holiday in Italy, and even usually down-to-earth Big Lou is overheard discussing cosmetic surgery. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

THE VANISHING ACT by Mette Jakobsen (Fiction)
On a small snow-covered island lives 12-year-old Minou, her philosopher Papa, Boxman the magician, and a clever dog called No-Name. A year earlier, Minou's mother left the house wearing her best shoes and carrying a large black umbrella. She never returned. One morning, Minou finds a dead boy washed up on the beach. Her father decides to lay him in the room that once belonged to her mother. Can her mother’s disappearance be explained by the boy? Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

THE PEOPLE OF FOREVER ARE NOT AFRAID by Shani Boianjiu (Fiction)
Yael, Avishag and Lea grow up together in a tiny, dusty Israeli village, attending a high school made up of caravan classrooms, passing notes to each other to alleviate the universal boredom of teenage life. When they are conscripted into the army, their lives change in unpredictable ways, influencing the women they become and the friendship that they struggle to sustain. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.
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