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The Capitol Book Newsletter
Today's Contents
1. Level of literary discourse rises
2. Blog
3. Two
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Exeunt
A few of you have asked, and the
answer is yes, our newspaper column has been discontinued. We almost made 10
years, we published about 250 columns, and almost 175,000 words, and the
newspaper folks thought that was about enough, or at least it was all they were
going to pay for. We'll miss it, but it turns out that here in the 21st century
there are other ways to reach folks, including.......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Our blog
A blog is like this
newsletter, except it does not arrive in your email inbox along with all
the email you'd just as soon not get. You only get a blog if you subscribe to
the blog, which if you can't figure out how to do it, ask a kid. Or do this: go
to our blog (http://capitolbook.blogspot.com/),
and once there you can click on the "Posts" button over there on the
right where it says "Subscribe to Capitol Book's Blog." Then you'll
get a few choices, then you'll probably get confused, then you should call a
kid. But it's worth the trouble....you'll find all sorts of blogs on subjects
that interest you, and you can subscribe to as many of them as you like, all
free. Then every day you can check your blogs, knowing that everything you get
is something you asked to get....NO SPAM. It's very cool.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A couple of old favorites
Here are two books we always sell
as many of as we can get, and now we've gotten a few more..........you can
order directly from this email, or you can
visit our Sale Books page (where there are lots more
books to choose from), or you can just call us or email us if you want either
of these.
Lost Worlds in
Ancient Life and Landscapes
by Jim Lacefield
and don’t expect any more
until the new edition is published, and author Jim Lacefield is not promising
that event any
time soon. So get one now! Excellent for
school science projects! $26.95 paperback, limited supply.
Frank Stitt's
Southern Table: Recipes and Gracious Traditions
from Highlands Bar
and Grill
By Frank Stitt
His Southern peers find the cooking of Frank Stitt--chef and
owner of Highlands Bar & Grill and Chez
Fonfon--rustic and homey yet sophisticated in method. Now,
long-awaited cookbook that features over
150 of his enticing, Provencal-influenced Southern recipes.
Was $40, now $19.95
The Capitol Book Newsletter
A whole
slew of
Better than candy or flowers for Valentine's Day!
Also a nice treat for your own self!
Here's what we got:
All Aunt Hagar's Children: Stories
By Edward P. Jones
In fourteen sweeping and sublime stories, five of which have been published in "The New Yorker," the bestselling and Pulitzer Prize-winning author of "The Known World" shows that his grasp of the human condition is firmer than ever. Hardcover, was $25.95, now $8.99.
Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell
By Susannah Clarke
The entrancing international bestseller and TIME #1 Book of
the Year. Sophisticated, witty, and ingeniously convincing, Clarke's
magisterial novel--the story of the rise of two very different
magicians--weaves magic into a flawlessly detailed vision of 19th-century
Let Me Finish
By Roger Angell
Intimate, funny, and moving portraits form this book's centerpiece as Angell remembers his eccentric relatives, his childhood love of baseball in the time of Ruth and Gehrig and DiMaggio, and his vivid colleagues during his long career as a "New Yorker" writer and editor. Angell is one of those people who can write about all the rich, famous, important people he has known and still sound like a regular guy. Wonderful book. Hardcover, was $25, now $7.99.
La Belle Saison: Living Off the Land in Rural
By Patricia Atkinson
You may not want to move to
The Spellman Files
By Lisa Lutz
Critics loved this one, first of a series. Meet Izzy Spellman, a 28-year-old private eye working for her family’s investigative business--a family that puts the fun in dysfunctional--in this irresistible, laugh-out-loud debut novel. Hardcover, was $25, now $7.99.
The Splendid Table
By Lynne Rossetto Kasper
Just when you thought you knew the best
The King of Lies
By John Hart
A literary thriller that is as suspenseful as it is
poignant, a riveting murder mystery layered beneath the southern drawl of a
humble
The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
By C.S.Lewis
What begins as a simple game of hide-and-seek quickly turns
into the adventure of a lifetime when Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy walk
through the wardrobe and into the
Abundance, a Novel of Marie Antoinette
By Sena Jeter Naslund
Once again,
The Trojan War: A New History
By Barry Strauss
Based on the latest archeological research and written by a leading expert on ancient military history, the true story of the most famous battle in history is every bit as compelling as Homer's epic account, and confirms many of its details. Hardcover, was $26, now $7.99.
Have Mercy on Us All
By Fred Vargas
This was the first of the best selling French writer’s Chief Inspector Adamsberg Mysteries to be translated into English, and now we are hooked. More! More! Paper, was $14, now $6.99.
S'Mores: Gourmet Treats for Every Occasion
By Lisa Adams
Thinks there’s only one way to make the classic campfire treat? Wrong! How about with raspberries and figs? Why not substitute chocolate chip cookies for the graham cracker? Fruit for the chocolate? Pound cake? Croissants? All easy, yummy confections. Hardcover, was $16.95, now $7.99.
Great Books: My Adventures with Homer, Rousseau, Woolf, and Other Indestructible Writers of the Western World by David Denby
At the age of forty-eight, writer and film critic David
Denby returned to
Still Life
By Louise Penny
Here’s what a few of her peers said about Louise Penny;’s first book:
"Louise Penny's "Still Life" is a gem of a
debut novel---clever, charming, with perceptively realized characters, a setting
to die for, and the enormously appealing Chief Inspector Armand Gamache. I
can't wait for the next installment."---Deborah Crombie,
"An excellent, subtle plot full of understanding of the deeper places in
human nature, and many wise observations that will enrich the reader long after
the pages are closed."---Anne Perry
"A cast of fascinating and beautifully sketched characters, deep insight
into human motives and relationships . . . Georges Simenon kept Maigret going
for over a hundred books. It will be a delight for all of us who love detective
fiction if Louise Penny can stay around long enough to do the same for
Gamache."---Reginald Hill
""Still Life" is a masterpiece of a traditional drawing room mystery.... Louise Penny is a storytelling artist." ---Julia Spencer-Fleming
"What a joy it is to discover a detective like Armand Gamache, strong, calm and charismatic and at work on a good mystery in a believable setting."---Peter Lovesey,
…Oh, and we thought it was great! Hardcover, was $22.95, now $7.99.
The City of Falling Angels
By John Berendt
Berendt captures
Creole Thrift: Premium Southern Living Without Spending a Mint
By Angele Parlange
Southern tradition blends with modern whimsy in this first
offering from famed
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind
By Ann B. Ross
This was the very first book in the now long-running series of books about a woman whose life is abruptly turned upside down. Very Southern, very funny, very charming. Paper, was $13.95, now $6.99.
Death Comes for the Fat Man
By Reginald Hill
This is number 22 in the best mystery series ever written,
featuring his popular
Soup of the Day: 150 Sustaining Recipes for Soup and
Accompaniments to Make a Meal by Lydie
Who doesn't love a fragrant, steaming bowl of soup when cold winds howl outside?
Now the beloved cooking teacher in
The Grave Tattoo
By Val McDermid
Suspense master McDermid spins a psychological thriller in
which a present-day murder has its roots in the eighteenth century and the
mutiny on the "H.M.S. Bounty". After torrential summer rains uncover
a bizarrely tattooed body on a
Golden Treasures of
By Herve Duchene
A German businessman-turned-archaeologist, Heinrich
Schliemann (1822-1890) had a lifelong dream: to find the world of Homer--the
mythical cities of
The Modern Townhouse: The Latest in Urban and Suburban Designs
By James Grayson Trulove
A townhouse is a residence that many find combines the best amenities of a single-family home and a condominium. By definition, a townhouse is a home that is attached to adjacent houses, which sits upon land that you own. THE MODERN TOWNHOUSE will look at three types of town house projects that are increasingly popular in urban areas and close-in suburbia: 1) Renovation of existing town houses. 2) Vacant lots, primarily in the inner cities, but also in close-in suburban neighborhoods. This activity is in response to the increasing demand for urban housing where high land prices mandate multifamily housing solutions. 3) New, one-off townhouses that are found primarily in wealthier neighborhoods where the high land cost can be recovered with a single, luxury town home. Includes floor plans, exteriors and interiors. Hardcover, was $35, now $11.99.
Fossils: Evidence of vanished Worlds
By Yvette Gayrard-Valy
A historical look at how the discoveries of fossils throughout time have impacted the world. Complete with color photos and interesting details of various discoveries, fossils, and extinct species with original historical documents. Paper, was $12.95, now $5.99.
A Fountain Filled With Blood
To Darkness and to Death
Out of the Deep I Cry
All Mortal Flesh
All four by Julia Spencer-Fleming
You could say that Julia Spencer Fleming is one of out favorite writers; you could say that she is one of our best-selling writers, you could say we can’t recommend her highly enough, and you could say we can’t wait until the next one comes out in June. You would be correct in every case. All in hardcover, were $23.95, $22.95, now $7.99.
The Tenderness of Wolves
By Stef Penney
The year is 1867. Winter has just tightened its grip on
Four Seasons in
By Anthiny Doerr
Anthony Doerr won the Rome Prize, a
prestigious awards from the
Words in a French Life: Lessons in Love and Language
from the South of
By Kristin Espinasse
This one is based on the popular blog
(french-word-a-day.com) and newsletter with thousands of subscribers -- a
heart-winning collection from an American woman raising two very French
children with her French husband in
The Rainaldi Quartet
By Paul Adam
"From the first stirring theme to the last fading chord, mystery fans and music lovers alike will be captivated by British author Adam' s excellent contemporary thriller. ... Adam has constructed this tale with all the care and craftsmanship that Stradivari put into his instruments, filling it to the brim with deliciously caustic commentary on Italian city life and fascinating historical detail." - Publishers Weekly (starred review) Hardcover, was $23.95, now $7.99.
Southern Crossword
Complied by Al Dixon
52b challenging crossword puzzles, 1500 clues and answers. “The North isn’t a place, it’s just a direction out of the South.”—Roy Blount, Jr. Paper, was $12, now $4.99.
How Did I Get to Be 40 & Other Atrocities
Forever Fifty and Other Negotiations
I'm Too Young to Be Seventy and Other Delusions
All three by Judith Viorst
The beloved bestselling author has tackled the ins and outs of each decade of a woman’s life with her usual wry good humor. Though Viorst acknowledges she is definitely not a good sport about the fact that she is mortal, her poems are full of the pleasures of life right now, helping us come to terms with the passage of time, encouraging us to keep trying to fix the world, and inviting us to consider "drinking wine, making love, laughing hard, caring hard, and learning a new trick or two as part of our job description." Hardcover, were $16 and $17, now $4.99.
The Book of Air and Shadows
By Michael Gruber
“In this ingenious literary thriller
, the lives of two men are changed forever by William Shakespeare and
the letters of Richard Bracegirdle, a 16th-century English spy and soldier.
Jake Mishkin, a
By Jennifer Haigh
First Drop
By Zoe Sharp
Dubbed today’s best action heroine by Lee Child, British Army veteran Charlie Fox, now a bodyguard-for-hire, only has to baby-sit the gawky 15-year-old son of a rich computer programmer. The last thing she or anyone expects is that the kid’s father and entourage will disappear. We took Lee Child’s advice, read it, and now we recommend you do the same. Hardcover, was $23.95, now $6.99.
The Sins of the Brother
By Mike Stewart
It's been six months since Tom McInnes opted out of the
billable-hours marathon at a tony
Art: A New History
By Paul Johnson
The suthor turns his great gifts as a world historian to a
subject that has enthralled him all his life: the history of art. This
narrative account, from the earliest cave paintings up to the present day, has
new things to say about almost every period of art. He is a passionate lover of
beauty who finds creativity in many places. With 300 colour illustrations, this
book is vivid, evocative and immensely readable. Hardcover,
was $39.95, now $14.99.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
The Capitol Book Newsletter
Your Favorite Reads!
First of all - yes, a few of you received this huge report, or at least a link to it, in your inbox yesterday. That's because you have asked to receive an email copy of our bi-weekly newspaper column in addition to this regular newsletter. Sorry for the duplication. On the other hand, if you had no idea you could get the newspaper column by email, and wish to, now you know, and all you need do to subscribe to the newspaper column is CLICK HERE, and let us know.
And second of all, this is a huge report. If you print it out, it'll take about 30 pages. If you want to refer to it in the future, it will be on our website. Just CLICK HERE to find it.
And third of all, THANK YOU to everybody who took the time, and spent the effort, to report. This whole thing started out back in 2000 as a way for us to get out of writing one newspaper column a year. This year, for the first time, we received enough reports to fill every one of our 2008 columns! Amazing.
So, here it is...........
Do they have to be from
this year? If not, here goes:
I read McCarthy’s “The Road” and enjoyed its nihilistic
sparseness. Still, I believe “All the Pretty Horses” and
“Blood Meridian” are both better.
David Mitchell’s “Cloud Atlas” has been out for a few years,
but I finally got around to reading it. It is like nothing I’ve ever
read, and though loose ends might not be tied up at the end, it’s an
enthralling read, part sci-fi, part thriller, all weird in a good way.
I also enjoyed Logan Ward’s “See You in a Hundred Years.”
Nice little tale about how living the simple life ain’t that simple.
-Monte Burke
How entertaining could it
be to read about someone's angst-ridden divorce? That's what I thought
"Eat, Pray, Love" was going to be about, and I didn't believe my
friend Melissa when she said she couldn't wait for every hour of sit-down with
this book.
Melissa was right, though.
"Eat, Pray, Love" is so much more than a chronicle of author Liz
Gilbert's relationship woes. It's a rare glimpse into the emotional and
spiritual growth of a brilliant, quirky, funny 30-something women.
Following her messy divorce, Liz blocks out a year to learn how to really eat, pray and love. She
eats her way through Italy, prays and meditates endlessly in an Indian ashram,
and falls in love with the most unexpected of men in the most unexpected of
places. Through it all, she ruminates on the history and culture of her
surroundings, as well as the strange and wonderful people she meets. Her
writing is deceptively easy to read, considering the breadth of information and
wisdom it conveys.
P.S. For those of us who
love to write, Gilbert's website includes some interesting thoughts on writing.
You can read these, and more about "Eat, Pray, Love" at
http://www.elizabethgilbert.com/writing.htm.
- Melanie LeMay
I am particularly
interested in historical literature or novels whose settings incorporate exotic
cultures. For this reason my favorite reads of 2007 are The
Inheritance of Loss by Kiran Desai, A Thousand Splendid Suns by
Khalid Hosseni, The Blood of Flowers by Anita Amirezvani, Mozart’s
Sister by Rita Charbonnier, The Other Boleyn Girl by Phillipa
Gregory, and The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Other favorites of
this year include Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro, Hard Boiled
Wonderland and the End of the World by Haruki Murakami, Water for
Elephants by Sara Gruen, Dreaming Water by Gail Tsukiyama, The
Ha-Ha by Dave King, The Monsters of Templeton by Lauren Groff, Sister
Mine by Tawni O’Dell, A Garden of Earthly Delights by Joyce
Carol Oates, The End of the Alphabet by C. S. Richardson, and Bridge
of Sighs by Richard Russo.
The Inheritance of
Loss describes a life away from
modernity. An orphaned girl lives with her retired grandfather and his
cook in the Himalayas, and they experience conflict with the insurgents.
I like how instead of perceiving political upheavals only through viewing the
news, readers get a first hand view of how an average person’s every day
life is affected. Another good book juxtaposing undeveloped areas with
our technological society and revolutionaries with the uninvolved is Saving
Fish from Drowning by Amy Tan. The kidnapping of a tour group in
Myanmar is narrated by the tour guide who, strangely enough, died before the
tour even began. I read this in December of last year, or I would have
included it in my list.
A Thousand Splendid
Suns gives readers a glimpse of
two women’s lives, married to the same abusive man, in Afghanistan.
Again, the struggles take on a more personal meaning when perceived from an
individual’s point of view instead of hearing about it through
documentaries.
In The Blood of
Flowers, we get a beautiful portrait of the daily life of Ancient
Persia. A strong female narrator, although she remains nameless,
personifies the unjust treatment of women in this time and place, and gives us
background information on the making of Persian rugs.
Mozart’s Sister tells the story of Nan, the equally talented
sister of Mozart whose skill was used by her father to fund Mozart’s
music tours. Instead of being allowed to tour alongside Mozart, she was
forbidden by her father to compose or play any instrument except the piano, and
that only for teaching, which brought in the necessary funds for Mozart’s
travel. The Other Boleyn Girl brings us the point of view of Anne
Boleyn’s sister, who was ordered by her family to seduce the king and who
even bore the king children, until her sister Anne took over to persuade the
king to marry her in order to further their family’s status. It is
so interesting to read about these remote time periods and historical
characters.
The Book Thief is about a girl who finds a way to bring books to
her family and neighbors and manages to distract them by reading to them while
they often gathered in basements during bomb raids during World War II.
The girl and her adopted parents illustrate their humanity when they attempt to
hide a Jewish man to save him from the Nazis. The point of view of poorer
Germans during the Holocaust is unique because during this time of war they
were victims, too, but that is rarely considered. Another unique element
is that the narrator is Death. A strange concept, but very well
done.
I just realized that all
the favorites I portrayed here have females as main characters who were
persecuted in some way. I guess that is because I am inspired by reading
about the strength and goodness of women who are capable of overcoming any
adversity.
Thank you for giving me
an opportunity to write about some of my favorite books. When I read this
report last year, I started a list of every book I’ve read this
year. It has been very helpful. I’ve read 55 books so far
this year! If this is published and someone who knows me is reading this
and wondering what to get me for Christmas, you can’t go wrong with a
gift certificate to Capitol Book!
-Stephanie Chance
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak:
Such marvelous writing and different way of telling a sad, yet wondrous,
tale.
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen: It has depth and substance and is
informative and entertaining.
Without Fail by Lee Child:
My favorite suspense author. So far, in my opinion, Lee Child has
yet to deliver anything less than a riveting book.
War By Other Means by David Crouse:
I picked this book because the author is from Auburn and I could hardly
put it down. Fast-paced
thriller.
My Cat Spit McGee by Willie Morris: Just a fast, enjoyable read for
anyone who has known and loved a cat (and maybe even for those that
haven’t).
Moloka'i by Alan Brennert: A smooth story about the early
1900’s in
The Falls by Joyce Carol Oates: This book has a magnetic
effect from page one.
Saints at the River by Ron Rash: Environment vs. emotion and, for me, as I read this story I kept asking
myself whose side I would be on, and just when I thought my mind was made up,
the other side made a very good point.
-Joyce Franz
I
should have taken your warning to heart. You know, the one about never
reading a book with the picture of a dog on its cover. Well, the photo of
the golden retriever on the cover of the book was so appealing that I read Merle's
Door by Ted Kerasote, anyway. Of course, it does have a sad ending,
but the journey there is joyous most of the way. It's a lovely
book. To offset the sadness, I read Sonny Brewer's Cormac: The Tale of
a Dog Gone Missing. I heartily recommend both.
-June
Zimmerman
Hi, Cheryl, Thomas or
Eleanor....don’t know who does this
The hard part is always
remembering what I read.
Clearly, the best read of the year for me for A Thousand Splendid Suns. I
really enjoyed The Tipping Point. I’m glad I read American
Prometheus and Animals in Translation.
-Phyllis Kennedy
My favorite read n 2007
was Eat, Pray, Love.
You don’t have to
have your life completely fall apart like the authors did to appreciate and
greatly benefit from this book. There are so many wise, sage and
helpful nuggets in it which stick with the reader long after they’ve
finished it. The world we live in today is difficult and chaotic in certain
ways, and her wisdom cuts right through a lot of it and can truly
be beneficial to all who read it. Plus it’s highly entertaining
and humorous at the same time.
And it is NOT a self-help
book which I run from.
-Amy Nachman
Fiction-- The Cunning Man, by Robertson Davies; Magic Time,
by Doug Marlette,
Non-fiction -- The King's English: Adventures of an
Independent Bookseller, by Betsy Burton
-
The yearly challenge is
to narrow down to my favorite book in the past
twelve months. There were so many good reads this year that it was hard to
choose, but I would have to say that the book with the most lasting impact
was The Yiddish Policemen’s
social commentary, and love story in one thought-provoking package. A
classic "what if" tale that turns history on its head, it
nevertheless is
rooted in current political realities and is a damning look at all
religious fundamentalism. I can't stop thinking about it! Other favorites
this year include Eat, Pray, Love; Run by Ann Patchett; Bridge of Sighs by
Richard Russo; Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver; Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows; Ines of My Soul by Isabelle Allende
(wonderful); and The Road by Cormac McCarthy.
-Alice Hart Wertheim
Whoops, I almost forgot
...
Mr. Sebastian and the Negro Magician by
Daniel Wallace. Is the magic real or not? You'll never know until the
breathtaking final page. Henry's giddy journey through a life lived on the
confusing border of what is either delusion or illusion reads like a cross
between James Thurber and Ray Bradbury--wicked fun.
The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan.
The ghosts of three teenagers killed in a car wreck haunt their survivors on
the one-year anniversary of their deaths (Halloween, naturally). O'Nan reveals
the truth behind the accident with painstaking perfection; the final moments
are stunning--one of the best endings I've read in years.
Happy holidays, guys!
-Jim Gilbert
Thanks for asking about
my favorite (and least favorite) books this year. Since mid-May I've read
61 books I've read and listened to 19 audiobooks. Of those 80, here's my
response:
Favorite books of 2007
(in no particular order):
Speak (Laurie Halse Anderson) - young adult
Talk Talk (T.C. Boyle) - fiction
Everyman (Philip Roth) - fiction
Then We Came to the
End (Joshua Ferris) - fiction
Five Roundabouts to
Heaven (John Bingham) - fiction
Imperial Life in the
The Worst Hard Time (Timothy Egan) - non-fiction
Favorite audiobooks of
2007:
Beowulf (Seamus Heaney) - he read his translation
magnificently
Restless (William
Boyd) - interesting story, well read
His Dark Materials:
The Golden Compass (Philip
Pullman) - he was exactly the right reader for his work
Least Favorite (I didn't
even finish them):
The Piano Turner (Daniel Mason)
The Sunday Philosophy
Club (Alexander McCall Smith)
An Innocent Man (John Grisham)
The Testament (John Grisham)(audio book)
-Jean Tucker
My favorite book of '07
was Wrapped in Rain. Everyone I recommended it to loved it!!! -Julie
Shashy
I
sent you about a billion for last year’s book roundup and certainly read
some good books in 2007. I read A Thousand Splendid Suns last
week- good, but not the surprise that The Kite Runner was.
However, the one I
BTW
– the Beatles book I bought from you for my daughter was a huge
hit! Apparently she’d been wanting that exact book (I had no idea)
and this particular one had Ringo (her favorite) on the cover. Thanks for
helping me (unwittingly) give a nearly perfect gift.
-Diane
L. Christy
Dear Tom, Cheryl and
Eleanor,
My favorite read in 2007 was The Poet of Tolstoy Park by Sonny
Brewer. This novel is based on the life of Henry Stuart, a retired,
rather eccentric professor, who in the 1920s was diagnosed with
tuberculosis. He was told by his doctor that his condition was
terminal, but that his quality of life during what remained of his
life would be enhanced if he moved to warmer climates.
As a result, Stuart decided -- sight unseen -- to move to Fairhope.
Through the mail, he contracted with a business agent in Fairhope to
purchase 10-acres of land in Montrose. And, then, he begins his journey.
I hate to reveal much more than this because the book is so rich and
full of surprises. It is a beautifully written account about a man's
journey, his philosophy of death, his love of literature --
especially anything written by Tolstoy -- and what he thinks will
become his final project before he dies.
This book is well worth the read, and if will most likely inspire
readers to dust off one of their old Tolstoy novels, or -- better yet
-- purchase the new translation of War and Peace.
-Cathy Gassenheimer
My favorite was ATONEMENT
by Ian McEwan. I've also read SATURDAY and ON CHESIL BEACH by McEwan and
enjoyed both of them, but ATONEMENT, in my opinion, is really a
masterpiece--gorgeous writing, captivating characters, and an intriguing
plot.
-Betty Burgess
My favorite book was WOLF
OF THE DEEP by Stephen Fox. The personal story of Raphael Semmes, a
transplanted
It was a stay-awake all
night book!
-Dot
These were my favorite
reads for 2007:
Illuminated by Matt Bronleewe. This book is a cross between
"The DaVinci Code" and "National Treasure." In it,
the hero is an archeobibliologist who is forced to help a criminal discover clues
to an ancient secret hidden in illuminations in the Gutenberg bible (hence the
name). The secret the hero of the story finds threatens the very
foundation of Christianity. This book is both thrilling (I couldn't put
it down!) and interesting. The secret societies and other historical
events in the book actually happened. This book was published by Nelson
and is Christian fiction but I do warn that it is a thriller and not for the
timid.
The Oath by Frank Peretti. I had been intending to read this book
for a long time and just recently got around to it during the Christmas
holidays. This story is another Christian thriller like Illuminated.
However, unlike Illuminated, Peretti's experience as a story-teller
shines through. I felt Peretti did a better job of character development
than Bronleewe. As the story developed, I felt like I knew the characters
and I was anxious to see how they faired. In The Oath, a town is
ruled with an iron fist by the descendant of one of its founding fathers.
Anyone who crosses him or breaks "the oath" mysteriously
disappears. The title refers to an oath taken by the founding fathers not
to reveal a shocking secret having to do with the founding of the
town. It also refers to an oath not to reveal the reason by the
mysterious disappearances. This was another book I couldn't put
down. In my opinion, Peretti is just as good a storyteller as Stephen
King.
I read another novel by Peretti in 2007, Monster. Peretti's novels
typically deal with good vs. evil in more of a spiritual sense. Monster
was more of a cross between "King Kong" and "Frankenstein"
in the sense that the monster was a result of man's tinkering around where he
shouldn't be. Another book that was hard to put down and, like the other
two, I highly recommend it.
-Susan Tudor
Montgomery,
Cheryl and Thomas -
Here is my list:
The Places in Between by Rory Stewart - Just a
tremendous book, combining travel, adventure, and
sociology. Very informative. I have given copies to
all my friends who are deploying to
Fiasco: The American Military Adventure in
Thomas Ricks - Good book that captured the initial
stages of Operation Iraqi Freedom, both the
failures (not enough ground forces) and the great
heroism of our soldiers. I went back and read it
again this year after the surge and it was interesting
to compare
The Foreigner's Gift: The Americans, the Arabs, and
the Iraqis in
all year! Great story and insight from a leading Arab
scholar. For anyone who wants to understand the
religious (and therefore political) landscape in
this is an absolute must.
The Creek War of 1813 and 1814 by H. S. Halbert, T. H.
Ball, and Frank L. Owsley - I actually took this book
on our trip to
ended up reading it completely. Halbert and Ball
actually wrote this book in 1895, but Owsley has done
a tremendous job in adding later notes. I was
astounded by Halbert and Ball's insight into the
origins of this war, especially considering it was
written in 1895.
Pickett's History of Alabama: And Incidentally of
Albert J. Pickett - I have read this book once a year
since college graduation in 1991. Written in 1852, it
is a great companion book to
they are an informative and entertaining compendium of
Manhunt: The 12 Day Search for
James L. Swanson - For those who are interested in
history, conspiracies, or just want to get an idea
what our country was like in the immediate post-mortem
period of the Confederacy. Also, if you're familiar
with
on how much the Capitol Region has changed in the 143
years since the assassination.
America Alone by Mark Steyn - Steyn writes about how
population and immigration patterns in the
will change
Hope this helps. I tried to keep it a 'best' list.
-David
Dear Tom and Cheryl,
This is such a great
thing that you do. I only wish there was the time to read all of the books that
are on the list you put together.
Some of these are first reads
and some are re-visits during 2007:
DISGRACE by J.M Coetzee.
A disturbing book in the best sense. Stark and lyrical at the same time.
ON BEAUTY by Zadie Smith.
Terrific and smart. She writes of a literate and honest family.
DISTRICT
INTO THE WILD by Jonathan
Krakauer. A re-visit of a harrowingly true story.
MOY
THE DIVING BELL
THE PROFESSOR
SHAKESPEARE'S ENGLISH
KINGS by Peter Saccio. I have read this a few times but was pleased to re-visit
it while we did THE WARS OF THE ROSES
at
Thanks and my very best
to you in this New Year.
-Greg Thornton
Cheryl, Tom, a short list
of a few of my favorites for '07:
Masters of the Air by
Donald Miller - A superb WWII account of Eighth Air Force .... extremely well
written and researched ... a real page turner.
Soldier's Heart by
Elizabeth Samet - Very interesting view of teaching literature at
SOG by John Plaster -
Excellent book that details special operations in
Einstein
by Walter Issacson - Terrific bio.
Interesting life! Tough to get the mind around some of the
physics but fun trying.
Lone Survivor by Marcus
Lattrell - Great read about a true American Hero!
The Doolittle Raid by
Carroll Glines - Very enlightening account of the infamous raid on
The Rescue of BAT 21 by
Darrel Whitcomb - First class account of one of the more heroic search and
rescue efforts in
The Rescue of Streetcar
304 by Kenny Fields - Very well told story of the shootdown, escape and
evasion, and rescue of a Navy Fighter Pilot.
Happy New Year - Keep
smiling.
-Joe Panza
I
recently picked up a couple of copies of “Things I Want My Daughters to
Know: A Small Book About the Big Issues in Life” by Alexandra Stoddard
for Christmas gifts for my girls. It’s a very good read that really
makes you stop and think about what’s really important.
I
also re-read “The Book of Virtues: A Treasury of Great Moral
Stories” by William Bennett. As the grandmother of 10, I need all
the examples and help I can get in working with them.
“Manhunt:
The 12-day Chase for
“Playing
for Pizza” by John Grisham started off a little slow but by the time it
was over, I was involved with the players and cheering for them to win.
-Sandra
Porter
Children (including those
of the 60s) have a real treat in Puff
the Magic Dragon, which includes a terrific CD with a beautifully
illustrated book. My 4 yr. old granddaughter was transfixed by the book &
the CD, & older members of the family joined her in singing along but also
talking above her enthusiasm about the songs, the 60s, & the
“settings” for many Peter, Paul & Mary creations that
characterized our generation and entrance us still.
-Mary Morgan
I spent an afternoon
visiting with old friends of Capitol Book and News in August. We were all
celebrating George Browning’s birthday. George has lived a very
interesting life and it is one of his contemporaries that introduce to you
here. Patrick Leigh Fermor is a little older than George and like George
he is still around to grace us with wonderful stories. Fermor was
knighted by the Queen a couple of years ago at the age of 92. At the age of 18
in 1933 Fermor began a hike across
The Everyman’s
Library edition of History of My Life
by Giacomo Casanova was exceptional. The eleven volumes have been
abridged and serve the modern reader well. What you may think of Casanova
should be placed in a brown bag and put out on the edge of the street with the
trash. Here is a sensational history of the workings of European
society. Casanova was indeed a lover but he was also much more.
Diplomat, priest, flim flam man, politician, gambler, investor, prisoner,
escape artist, tutor, father, and lover, Giacomo was not more scandalous than
most young and talented men in
Lieut.
Henry Timberlake’s Memoirs 1756-1765 by Henry Timberlake is a detailed account of one American-British
officer’s time spent among the Cherokee Indians in
Lost
Son by M. Allen Cunningham is this
novelist second book and one of my favorite novels for 2007. A fictional
memoir of Rainer Maria Rilke, this novel could certainly pass as a memoir save
for the first person narrative. The conversations
between Cunningham’s Rilke and Auguste Rodin is worth the price of
this one, but please don’t try to read this on the Delta flight 58 from
Boone
A Biography by Robert Morgan
breathes new life into the dusty relic of myth we call Daniel Boone. Here
is a satisfying biography that gives us the real man. Boone preferred
words to bullets and his gift for gab saves his and many others scalps.
Morgan’s bio is just the perfect follow up to Richard Rhodes biography of
John James Audubon, John James Audubon
The Making of an American. Two great adventures in a wilderness
lost to us. Read Boone with a Fess Parker Pinot Noir and forget the coon
skinned cap, Boone never wore one.
And the best novel I have
read in years, Any Human Heart
by William Boyd is lush and timeless this novel smacks of a young Somerset
Maugham. You can drink this one now or let it age and it will still be
full bodied. This is the story of Logan Mountstuart beginning in
Montevideo, Uruguay, then to Oxford in the 1920’s and on into the
world. Mountstuart is everywhere you would want to be with the charm and
accent every woman would want in a man, but not everyone becomes wise and
reserved in their later years. This novel is as good as Of Human Bondage and will leave you
wanting more. The first 5 chapters will read well with a Guinness while
the rest of book is best capped off with scotch. Here’s to 2008.
-Steven Wallace
Here are a few from my list in no
particular order.
Sufficient Grace by Darnell Arnoult--A good Southern story of the
lives of two families and the effect Gracie's illness has on their lives.
Balzac and the Little Chinese
Seamstress by Dai Sijie
On Agate Hill by Lee Smith--Lee Smith is at her best when she
uses the diary of her main character to reveal herself.
The Innocent Man by John Grisham--Shocking nonfiction--reminded me
of In Cold Blood
Mockingbird: A Portrait of Harper Lee
--I have loved any tidbit of
information about Miss Lee for about 40 years since I read To Kill a
Mockingbird.
Home to Big Stone Gap by Adriana Trigiani--Enjoyed the series and
catching up with Ave Maria.
The Memory Keeper's Daughter--Heartbreaking about the choices we make and
their consequences. My daughter recommended this after her book club read
it.
Alabama Moon by Watt Key--Loved this little book and Moon
Blake. What a character he is.
The Bean Trees and Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver--Good books and I learned a
lot about nature. Interesting connections between the characters and
their particular love of nature.
Death in Equality by Lucinda Ebersole
Letter from Point Clear by Dennis McFarland
Since I have my first grandchild, Stella
and I have also enjoyed selections from
Read to Me Grandma
Collected Nursery Rhymes
So Big
Merry Christmas, Mouse
Stella and I have found many seasonal
books to enjoy except for Thanksgiving. Someone needs to write some
Thanksgiving books for all ages.
Thanks,
-Lou Fuller
My favorite reads of 2007
included both the Alex Cross and Women's Murder Club series by James Patterson.
All of them were outstanding reads. One of my favorite authors is Homer Hickam
and I loved The Coalwood Way , a continuation of
his brilliant The Rocket Boys. Covering the same
period as Rocket Boys, it covers other humorous and moving stories of
Homer's high school days in the
-John Brown
Because they are the most
recent reads, and I remember them and can put
my hands on them on the bookshelf...
in no particular order:
The Seasons of Rome, by Paul Hofmann
Read this one on the plane to Rome; great way to enjoy the rhythms and
nuances of the Eternal City in preparation for landing.
The Genius in the Design: Bernini, Borromini and the Rivalry That
Transformed Rome, by Jake Morrissey
A terrific way to get a dose of architectural history in context with
the power and politics that have shaped Rome since the beginning, so its
fun even if you're not interested in architecture. A true life
thriller.
A Valley in Italy, The Many Seasons of a Villa in Umbria, by Lisa St
Aubin de Teran
I had read and enjoyed Palladian Days by Sally Gable and this one
really ups the ante on the crazy, wacky lovable characters, and they're
not only the Italians ! This family adventure is a delight, and I would
be jealous if I weren't so spoiled by the comforts of indoor plumbing.
The City of
Another page turner, and a delightful look behind the crumbling, shored
up facades of that fabled city,
characters who are actually real people, it has wonderful descriptions
of life outside the tourist routes that cross the many and venerable
bridges of this city in a lagoon. Go figure.
Are you detecting a theme here?
The Lost Painting, by Jonathan Harr
What can I say? Yet another fantastic book that brings real people and
places to vivid light and life. What passion and intrigue! Let's head
off to track down all the Caravaggio's we can find.
Satyr Square, A Year, A Life in Rome, by Leonard Barkan
A little more complex to follow, but an interesting and honest
exploration of finding oneself in finding a new place. I did seek out the
Square in order to see the stair, and discovered some other gems in the
city that I had heard about before but not yet found.
Michael Graves: Images of a Grand Tour, by Brian M. Ambroziak
A picture book, full of glorious drawings and paintings and sketches by
a noted architect,
Professor of mine in college. This has been a very inspirational tome.
Roman Builders: A Study in Architectural Process, by Rabun Taylor
Fascinating and detailed account, well illustrated, showing the
development of Roman building form and process. OK, OK, so it’s another
book about architecture, and Roman at that. But one cannot discuss the
buildings a culture creates without discussing something about the
culture.
Ditto for
The Pantheon: Design, Meaning and Progeny, by William L. McDonald
Great story of a great building.
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis, by Giorgio Bassani
I had always wanted to read this book (and see the film), and a trip to
the Gardens at Ninfa, which inspired the author, finally caused me to
achieve that goal; the movie is next on my list, or somewhere on my
list.
I've started a couple of cheezy prep school-private school novels,
Prep, Academy X, The Upper Class, but they didn't hold my interest long
enough to finish, and summer was coming to a close.
I also started The World Is Flat, by Thomas Friedman, but I haven't yet
gotten into the rhythms of his writing; I will probably start again
sometime soon.
The Big House, by George Howe Colt, allowed me to luxuriate in the
fantasy of a rambling shingled summer house, as I sat in the living room
of my mother's charming wee cottage on
green light of a too brief summer stay.
Frank Lloyd Wright's Rosenbaum House, by Barbara K. Broach, Donald
Lambert and Milton Bagby
Thoughtful and articulate and loving account of the restoration of a
Wright treasure in Florence (there's the connection to the theme, see
!?)
discussion, as well as another really interesting glimpse into the life
and times of the PEOPLE who built the house, nit just the structure.
You can never have the architecture without the story of those who
built it, what the times were like, and what legacy they hoped to leave.
I am pleased to say that almost all (but not quite) of these books were
purchased (at some point in time) at CAPITOL BOOK & NEWS COMPANY.
Enough. There were some other texts, too. Stop,
Scott. Leave these
poor people alone.
Grazie mille
-Scott Finn
DISTRICT
-Greg Thornton
My
book club reads a lot of different kinds of books and sometimes I can't
remember when exactly that I read them but here goes my closest guess as to my favorites
for 2007: first I believe One Thousand White Women:
the journals of May Dodd by Jim Fergus was probably the most
favorite. It is an historical fiction but we all kept questioning whether it
really happened or not Fergus had just enough facts mixed in to keep you
believing this was actual history plus the story was wonderful you laughed, you
cried, and you were angry all the emotional roller coaster.
Second not a book club selection but A
Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hoseini another one that was a
ride on the roller coaster. It is set in the present in
The rest are The Saddlemaker's Wife by
Earlene Fowler a love story mystery.
The Space Between Us by Thrity
Umrigar another foreign class system story.
Between
The Chili Queen by Sandra
Dallas a western mystery quite a surprise ending.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi
Picoult just sad but you didn't want to see either side win.
Downtown : the journal of James Aloysius Holcombe Jr. by
Ferrol Sams interesting history of a
And finally three Clare Ferguson mysteries by Julia Spencer-Fleming All Mortal Flesh, Out of the Deep I Cry, and In the Bleak Midwinter I just love
the characters of Clare and Russ the priest and the local police chief.
-Lois Keel
Hi, I sure spent a lot of
time with my nose in the books last year. But I have to say that my favorites
were Angels and Demons by Dan Brown, Memoirs
of a Geisha which is old and everybody's read but I just
read it and loved it.
Also, read Snow
Flower and the Secret Fan which is somewhat reminiscent of
Memoirs but reads quite quickly (because you cannot put it down once you
get started).
I did discover a new
author Allison Winn Scotch who wrote The Department of Lost and
Found. A very promising novel about a young girl
diagnosed with breast cancer and the effects of chemo in regards to her life,
both personal and professional.
Also, I
read The Historian .....which folks either love or hate. I loved it.
A friend suggested it to me. Along with Good in Bed
which has some personal meaning to me.
I recently finished Skipper's
Revenge, The Five Love Languages, The
Handmaid and The Carpenter,
and The Devil Wears Prada, and The
Eyre Affair.
I was really disappointed
with Shopaholic and Baby but then I never really cared for any
of these but read them because they are so quick.
Hope you all had a great
year reading!!!!
My book pile is getting
taller and taller already. And this year I will brave the Lord
of the Rings trilogy which I have
never read.
Take care....
Sit down with a good
book....
-Rachel Nanzer
I forgot to mention that
The Garden of the Finzi-Continis was
thoroughly engaging, beautiful and sad. It is one that haunted me for
quite a while, and I seemed to see the world in sepia tones for a day or
two, and felt anxious about the state of the world and the fragile
beauty of the things we have created in the world around us.
Also read The Secret Life of Bees.
Delightful, cathartic, funny and happy sad. It was one of those books
that just came at the right time into my hands, and I cried a good long
cleansing cry for the loss of my own mother.
-Scott Finn
Here is my list and thanks for publishing
your list. Each one was my favorite while I was reading it.
Servants of the
Map-Andrea Barrett
The Whole World
Over-Julia Glass
The Road- Cormac McCarthy
The Creation- E. O. Wilson
Naturalist- E. O. Wilson
The Children of Men- P.
D. James
The Curious Incident of
the Dog in the Night Time-Mark Haddon
The Ruins-Scott Smith
Everyman-Philip Roth
The Emperor’s
Children-Claire Messud
Suite Francaise-Irene
Nemirovsky
The Kite Runner-Khaled
Hosseini
March-Geraldine Brooks
The Girls-Lori Lansens
Hannable Rising-Thomas
Harris
Middlesex-Jeffrey
Eugenides
Big Bad Love-Larry Brown
Good Scent from a Strange
Mountain-Robert Olen Butler
The Bear Bryant Funeral
Train-Brad Vice
Gus Openshaw’s
Whale-Killing Journal-Keith Thomson
Brunelleschi’s
Dome-Ross King
Coming of Age at the Y-
William Cobb
The Sportswriter-Richard
Ford
Underworld-Dan Delillo
-Randy Shoults
I recently finished Mary
Morris' THE RIVER QUEEN that proves once again she is one of the finest
memoirists writing these days. Like her NOTHING TO DECLARE of a few years ago,
QUEEN is a fantastic story, telling about her journey with couple of
interesting midwestern good old boys on a small boat down the
I am currently reading an
outstanding history and autobiography, REVOLUTION OF HOPE, by Vicente Fox, the
former president of
Sena Jeter Naslund's
ABUNDANCE tells the colorful, dramatic, and explosive tragedy of Marie
Antoinette. It's a wonderful historical novel filled vibrant characters
-Wayne Greenhaw
San Miguel de Allende,
Anything by Ron Rash!!
You can tell this guy was a poet first; his
language is so great. Of course, the fact that he is from the same area
of NC as I am helps too! THE WORLD MADE STRAIGHT,
SAINTS AT THE RIVER
Agate Hill by Lee Smith -
A really unique Civil War epistolary novel
If you're looking for laughs, Carl Hiaasen's NATURE GIRL or SKINNY DIP
will keep you in stitches.
One book that I loaned out that got rave reviews (one lady even had me
order 3 for her to give as Christmas gifts!) was BEING DEAD IS NO
EXCUSE by Gayden Metcalfe. And it has great recipes!!
THE
is one of those authors who makes me look forward to
her next novel.
Katherine Valentine's series - A MIRACLE FOR ST. CECELIA'S, A GATHERING
OF ANGELS, GRACE WILL LEAD ME HOME -
are kind of a Jan Karon/Thomas Kincaid style but have their own merit.
You get involved with the people of the town as in the Karon novels but
these are set in a
WINTER BIRDS by Jamie Langston Turner. Another author
that deals with
people's lives in a small Southern town. While not as related as
Karon's or Valentine's, the story is well thought out and written.
Sharyn McCrumb returns to NASCAR with ONCE AROUND THE TRACK. I have
always enjoyed her Appalachian Ballad novels but was surprised how much
I enjoyed ST. DALE.
-Susan Graben
Thank
you for the opportunity to recommend two terrific books from 2007.
As
a resident of the
My
other recommendation is Ron McLarty's "The Memory of Running."
I picked it up in the marked-down display, read the first page, and was
captured by Smithy Ide's trek across the continent. His transformations
on the trip, physical and mental, are beautiful to witness.
Thanks
so much, hope you all have a wonderful year.
-Pat
Mayer
It
was hard to narrow it down, but I have read two books in 2007 that I really
loved and would highly recommend.
The
Queen of Bedlam, by Robert McCammon, was a wonderful follow up to his last
book, Speaks The Nightbird. The Queen Of Bedlam was so hard to put down,
full of colorful characters, and drenched in history and mystery. I look
forward to reading more about Matthew Corbett and his further adventures.
Rhett
Butler's People, by Donald McCaig, ended up being quite a surprising
read. I usually don't like it when authors "mess with the
classics", but this book is indeed an exception. The story of Rhett
Butler's childhood and all of the things he did that were not mentioned in Gone
With The Wind made for fascinating reading, I truly loved the book, and have
been recommending it to all of my friends.
-Laura
W.
As we approach the 100th
anniversary of the beginning of World War I, which did so much to create the
world we live in, I've been thinking about how it is going to be commemorated.
Historians still debate what caused it. Rather than a historical tome, I would
recommend the trilogy of novels by the British author, Pat Barker: Regeneration,
The Eye in the Door, and The Ghost Road.
-Elaine Fuller
Dear Thomas,
One of my favorite books was "Loving Frank," a novel about the affair
that Frank Lloyd Wright had with a married client. I had developed a liking for
FLW's architecture only after watching my friend, Barbara Broach, work to
restore the only FLW house in the state, the Rosenbaum house in
A book I hated was "What Happened Before He Shot Her," by one of my
favorite writers, Elizabeth George. As those who follow her books about
Inspector Thomas Lynley and Detective Barbara Havers of Scotland Yard know,
Lynley's pregnant wife was gunned down in the book before this one. Thus the title of this one. It begins in the housing
projects of
(If I think of others, I'll send them along. It's amazing how hard it is to
remember what you read last January! I just read "Loving Frank" at
the end of November or first of December, so I can remember it.)
Til later,
-Sunshine Huff
Hello and Happy New Year!
In 2007 our book group at Saint Thomas Episcopal Church read Lenten Lands by
Douglas Gresham, a memoir of Gresham's growing up years with C.S.Lewis and Joy
Davidman, his step father and mother. We also read The Prize Winner of
Defiance, Ohio by Terry Ryan, the true story of a woman who kept poverty at bay
by winning contests. In the Fall we read Boo Who by Rene Gutteridge, a zany
funny book with a serious side. This book is reminiscent of a Frank Capra
comedy! As our public library sponsored a one read event in October, we
followed the library lead and read the great To Kill a Mockingbird. We finished
the year with Eat, Pray, Love a very, very popular book that our group enjoyed
a great deal. Future reads are Pride and Prejudice, another great classic,
Things Seen and Unseen by Nora Gallagher, a year in the life of Trinity
Episcopal Church in
The Friends of the Library in
I am currently reading Bookmarked to Die by Jo Deleske and Paula Deen's It
Ain't All About the Cookin'! Very different books,
but both enjoyable. I can' wait to read Julia Spencer-Fleming's next book
I Shall Not Want which is due in the Summer. I continue to recommend Margaret
Coel's mysteries, set among the Arapaho people. The most recent, The Girl with
Braided Hair, was very affecting.
Thanks for keeping us all informed about the best in reading materials! Keep up
the good work and have a great 2008!
-Sonya Boyd
Columbus,
Thanks
for providing "Favorite Reads." I always enjoy seeing what
others are reading.
This
was a good year for good books. Let me mention several that I
particularly enjoyed.
TWELVE
MIGHTY ORPHANS by Jim Dent - An inspiring and interesting David-Goliath story
about a football team of misfits. Verne Lundquist of CBS Sports
says, "This just might be the best sports book ever written."
THEY
MARCHED INTO SUNLIGHT by David Maraniss - Written several years ago, this book
paints a picture of the incredible events in the
MONEYBALL by Michael Lewis - Non-fiction book about
the incredible and largely unknown changes that have occurred in major-league
baseball.
NINETEEN
MINUTES by Jodi Picoult - A tragic event happens in a small town. This is
one of Picoult's best. I read it just around the time of the Virginia
Tech tragedy. That made it all the more pertinent.
-Don
Bouldin
I
always enjoy your column in the Montgomery Advertiser. Unfortunately I
have never visited your shop; it's off my beaten path, but I still read your
column every Sunday.
In
today's column you asked readers to e-mail favorite and least favorite reads of
2007. Here are mine.
Favorite
Read: The Religion by Tim Willocks. The frontspiece of the
dust jacket lays it right out. This book sweeps you away and sucks
the breath right out of you. An historical novel about the
seige of
This
British physician author, Tim Willocks, is new to me but The Religion is
the first book of a Trilogy, and I will find, buy, read, and treasure the
remaining two when they are published. For any student of history, this
book absolutely will blow you away.
-Cecil McElvaine
Best reads of 2007
There is an ephemeral pleasure to be felt when looking
back over a list of books read during the year and enjoying those books anew. A
similar sensation occurs when reviewing a list of movies watched or birds
observed. Perhaps we feel an ability to conceive time in a different fashion
through this activity, or perhaps it is just satisfying to remember books that
have entertained, enlightened or sustained us over the past 12 months.
Surely though, it is more than this. It is an
accomplishment, a building up of emotions and sensations and memories that adds
up to something substantial, even though it is not measurable in any
conventional sense. The memory of a good book, and all that it evokes, is one
of the great pleasures in life.
Here are some brief notes on the books I enjoyed in 2007:
“Arthur and
George” by Julian Barnes -- A historical-fiction mystery (is that a
category?) about the relationship between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and George
Edaljy, a lawyer of Pakistani descent in the end of the 19th and
beginning of the 20th centuries in
George is accused of a heinous crime, and is able to
enlist the help of Arthur. Both men have emotional difficulties and family
problems. Barnes uses an artful technique with which to unfold the tale.
“Smonk” by
Tom Franklin –
To
attempt further description of this book would overtax my limited abilities.
Read it and everything else written by Tom Franklin.
“We Were the
Mulvaneys” by Joyce Carol Oates – Oates is one of our greatest
living writers and this book is one of her best, according to many critics.
After a young girl is victimized in a despicable act, her family slowly
disintegrates in a most excruciating fashion.
Oates
unfolds the story with gentleness and great descriptive skill and lightens it
with humor and some pleasant family moments.
“How to Read a
Poem…and Start a
“On Writing”
by Stephen King – King describes his process and provides a short
“writing biography” in this fairly short book. His process is much
more workman-like and less fantastic than I had previously thought. He also
describes the experience of being struck by a vehicle while on one of his daily
walks and how it nearly killed him.
“The Amazing
Adventures of Kavalier & Clay” by Michael Chabon – This turned out,
quite unexpectedly, to be my favorite book of the year. It is large is size and
scope and tells an epic tale that includes Hitler’s persecution of the
Jews before and during World War II, the rise and glory days of comic books and
the effects of war on the individual. Chabon also covers the world of escape
artists and magicians (illusionists), family life, love, sex, horror, art and
the
It
is a 600-plus page rollicking good read that moves with great speed through
moments of elation and utter heartbreak and just about everything in between.
“The Yiddish
Policeman’s
Chess and chess history are featured prominently in this
novel, and I didn’t get all of these references, since I never played. It
is still a very good novel that I think will appeal to mystery lovers and just
plain fiction lovers alike.
“The Fifth
Woman” by Henning Mankell – If you are a mystery lover and are
looking for something different, Mankell is your man. His novels
are set in and around
Wallender is a senior police investigator who spends a
lot of time drinking coffee and making lists when he is not complaining about
the weather. But when a murder is committed, he instantly becomes all business
– relentless and brilliant. A series of bizarre murders has Wallender
stumped until he is able to decipher the message conveyed by the method of the
killings.
“The Dogs of
Riga” by Henning Menkel – Wallender travels to
Wallender has to resort to spy-like tactics to solve the
murders, and quite surprisingly finds romance in the gray city of
“1912” by James Chace – This
is history in a very academic form – possibly a doctoral thesis made into
a book. The year in question was a tumultuous one, with fears of communism and
the rise of unions informing the presidential election. History buffs will
enjoy it.
“A Death in the
Family” by James Agee – The Pulitzer Prize was awarded to Agee
posthumously for this novel, which feels heavily autobiographical. One of
Agee’s greatest talents was the ability to describe the world through a
child’s eyes.
The stream-of-consciousness passages here are similar to
those found in “Let Us Now Praise Famous Men.” They can be
difficult to read sometimes, but they offer some of the most tender and
sentimental moments of the book.
-Clark Bruner
My
favorite read for 2007 was "Blackbird" and it's sequel
"Stillwaters" by Jennifer Lauck. The true and amazing story of
a young girl and the incredible odds that she is able to overcome with a family
that keeps falling apart. An unbelievable testament to the human spirit.
-C. Robbins
I
was born near the end of World War II, and as a child I was fascinated to hear
my mother and aunt reminisce about victory gardens, rationing and coupons,
knitting sweaters and socks for the troops, plane spotting, and rolling
bandages. Women's contributions to the war effort have always been an
interest, and in 2007 two books were especially informative and appealing. (1) Our Mothers' War:
American Women at Home and at the Front During World War II, by
Emily Yellin. Inspired by her mother's WW II journal and letters written
while a Red Cross volunteer in the Pacific, the author presents the wartime
experiences of movie stars and average Janes, women of many ethnic and
socio-economic backgrounds who served at home and overseas as members of the
military or as everyday civilians. An excellent overview of what life was like
for American women in the 1940s. (2) No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt:
The Home Front in World War II by
Two
baseball biographies were on my list. Jane Leavy's Sandy Koufax, A Lefty's
Legacy made me marvel at Koufax's monumental talent and left me wondering
what records he might have set had his arm and his career lasted another
decade. Terrific book! I was not nearly so taken with Joseph
Durso's DiMaggio:
The Last American Knight, mostly because the subject was not as
appealing. The Yankee Clipper comes across as arrogant and utterly
self-centered - the opposite of Koufax. But perhaps I should, in all fairness,
confess to a preference for the National League over the American....
The Tender Bar, J. R. Moehringer's autobiographical account of growing
up among the denizens of a New York bar, abounds with some of the
strangest, most memorable characters I've ever encountered, and I'm glad none
of them was part of my own formative years.
A
friend introduced me to the thrillers of Iris Johansen late in the year, and
both Countdown
and Stalemate
satisfied my liking for plot twists, snappy dialogue, and boffo finishes.
-
I have read several
Elizabeth George books during 2007 and loved all of them. They are so British, have
great plots and character development. I have also enjoyed reading Julia
Fleming Spencer who has won several prestigious awards for her mysteries. I met
Julia at the Montgomery Book Fair this past year. She is a new author for me
and I have found her series about the female Episcopal priest and the small
town police chief working together to solve murders to be very compelling
reading.
-Char Freeman
Hey guys,
I'm sending along my vote for the best of 2007. I didn't do as well as I did
last year; I only got in 85 books, but I was very pleased w/the offerings this
year. It seemed like everyone had something new to offer, from a biography
about the Crocodile Hunter to the last Harry Potter book to Lost in Austen (a
choose your own adventure Austen book that I couldn't include because I haven't
finished it yet!) to the reissue of Kathryn Tucker Windham's book about front
porches. I think I'll remember 2007 as one of the best years for books in a
long time. It was hard to find time to read them all and still harder to pick
from the lot and choose the best. Still, I've made a go of it and here are my
10 picks for the best of 2007:
10) The Last Stand by Chris Claremont
I am a HUGE X-Men fan. The whole universe just captures my imagination. The
movies have been a major source of entertainment and can always make me feel
better on a down day. They are thrilling, exciting, and action-packed. This
book is the novelization of the last X-Men movie. I know, why would you read it
if you can just watch it? Because
The book is even more exciting than the movie and provides valuable insights
that aren’t available in the motion picture. It really makes me think
that there will be another movie, which is a great source of comfort for me.
It gets A+ **** Energizingly Brilliant
9) Mr. Monk Goes to the Firehouse by Lee Goldberg
I love the TV show Monk. It's always so funny and Mr.
Monk's OCD is just great. This is actually the first season Jonathan and I have
watched it & we're now addicted. I was thrilled beyond words to learn that
there was a mystery series out there based on the characters. And a little concerned. Let's face it, books based on
television series and/or movies don't always live up to their expectations. So
I read this book warily.
I needn't have worried. Goldberg is brilliant. He captures Monk perfectly. And
the other characters, too. The plot? Monk tries to
solve the murder of a firehouse dog and ends up involved in trying to solve
another murder. It was a great whodunit and a true jewel for fans of the show.
By the way, for those who loved Diagnosis Murder, Goldberg also wrote a
series of mysteries about that show. I'm definitely gonna check them out.
It gets A+ **** Hilariously Brilliant
8) I'm Proud of You by Tim Madigan
I readily admit to being a Mister Rogers fan. When I've had a bad day, it's
nice to turn on the television and see that Mr. Rogers is still sharing the
same message of unconditional love. I have wondered, of course, if he was as
nice in real life as he was on television. And apparently, he was. This is the
story of Madigan's 'unlikely' friendship with Fred Rogers, host of Mr. Rogers'
Neighborhood, which began when he was interviewing the television star. Madigan
copies letters written by
It gets **** A+ Joyfully Brilliant
7) My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Jodi Picoult is one of my favorite writers; she has a talent for tackling
controversial topics and making you think about your position. This one is no
exception. Picoult tells the story of a 13 year old who was conceived to be a
genetic match for her sister who is dying of leukemia. It tells the stories of
the many times that she goes to bat for her sister, placing her own body at
risk, at her parents' request to save her sister. Until the day she doesn't
want to do it anymore. It's skillfully and eloquently done. I have thought of
this topic many times and I had never considered what it would mean to be the
child who was only born to help a sibling. What if the sibling had never needed
help? Picoult tackles these aspects with care and concern. While I haven't
changed my mind about genetic matches, I now can appreciate the other side
better. And isn't that the mark of a truly great writer?
**** A+ Achingly Brilliant
6) A Perfect Match by Jodi Picoult
As previously stated, Picoult is one of my favorite writers. The writing is
clean and fresh, sharp and clear. The situations, however, are muddy,
confusing, and worthy of debate. This novel focuses on Nathaniel, a child who
was molested and his mother, the Prosecutor, who can't stand what the "justice"
system will do to the little guy. As a social worker, I have ranted and raved
many times about how helpless children are before our system; there is no one
to speak for them, no one to protect them. The predators are protected securely
by the system. I agree fully with Picoult's view of the system. It fails. Many many times. Too often. And if
you've ever seen the system fail a kid, you know the frustration. So the mother
extracts her own justice. And fails. I have to tell
you, it was eye-opening to me. I've thought (quite happily) about the kind of
justice I would extract from someone who hurt my nephews. This, however, got me
to thinking. Is justice really best for the kids? Did Nathaniel benefit from
what his mother did? The questions are many and this book sparked some
wonderful debates around the office. Picoult is passionate about her subject
and her talent shines through.
**** A+ Profoundly Brilliant
5) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
This was a surprising treasure I lucked up on at my public library. What
bibliophile could resist such a title? It was a foreign concept as well, the
tale of a German girl during World War II. Not a topic I had given much
thought, although I had thought much and read much about Jewish Germans during
that time. So what must it have been like? A leader run amuck
and dragging his country with him. Although many agreed with him, not
all did and life for them was a constant gamble. In this tale, told in
mesmerizing fashion by Death himself, the characters shine brightly and tales
of bravery and humanity (even by Hitler's staunchest followers) are an everyday
occurrence. Zusak has true talent and I look forward to reading much more of
his works.
It gets **** A+ Vividly Brilliant
4) A Girl Named Zippy by Haven Kimmel
This is a book recommended to me by my dear husband about a year ago. It took
me this long to get to it. And, now that I've read it, I'm very sorry I didn't
get to it sooner. This is the memoir of a girl growing up in a small town in
It gets **** A+ Sparklingly Brilliant
3) Across the Miles: Tales of Correspondence by L.M. Montgomery
I adore Ms. Montgomery. Have ever since I was 12 and got Anne of Green
Gables for Christmas. Her writing is extraordinary and is fresh even in
2007. I read all the novels I could get my grubby little paws on, but wanted
still more. How wonderful to discover a collection of short stories written by
her and compiled by Rae Wilmhurst (a true heroine for locating the jewels).
While there are several collections, this is the best of the group. Ms.
Montgomery had a reputation for recycling story lines, but you see none of that
in this collection. Each story is a brand new treasure. They are stories
revolving around letters and journals; everything from love letters to lost
notes. They are heart-warming and satisfying. Even for fans who eschew the
short story collections, this collection should be examined closely. I loved
it!
It gets **** A+ Wonderfully Brilliant
2) Steve & Me by Terri Irwin
I didn't really think much about the Crocodile Hunter. I mean, beyond the fact
that my nephews love him and the kitties like to watch his show. That is, I
didn't really think about him until his untimely death and then I heard a kid
make a remark that one of his dreams would never come true now. He is a
brilliant kid, interested in wildlife, who wanted to grow up, move to
When I saw this book, I just had to pick it up. Mostly, I was curious, but I
wasn't holding my breath that it would be a brilliant read. Just
a good one. I can't say why. I just didn't. I'm very glad to say that I
was wrong.
Steve & Me is written by Terri Irwin, a grieving widow raising two
small children. A major feat, I'm sure. It is unflinching as it looks at her
grief and sparkling as she talks about the man that she loves. She does not
make him out to be a saint, but shows us his flaws. And it makes us respect him
more because he wasn't perfect.
It's a fast read and well worth the time.
It gets **** A+ Authentically Brilliant
And finally... My vote for book of the year goes to....
1) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling
I have waited for this book for so very long. Ever since I
read the first one, really. How does it all end? Does Harry survive? Can
the Wizarding World ever be truly safe from Moldy Voldy? (Gotta
love Peeves!) The release, however, was bittersweet. After all,
it’s the end of a phenomenon. Very likely the last time we will see
children standing in line at
The final installment in the Harry Potter series is, in my humble opinion, the
best of the lot. This follows Harry on his search for the Horcruxes and the
Wizarding World’s descent into the dark days. I had feared that we would
be left with unanswered questions and a lack of resolution (remember
Snicket’s The End?), but none of that is true. There is resolution
and the whole series is wrapped up lovingly. It is the most exciting of the
series and I was thrilled from the first page to the last. There were no flaws
and I could not have asked for more.
I will include a warning: I’ve heard people saying that they’ll
start with this one and go back and read the first books later. Don’t.
You’ll miss the joy of discovering Harry, Hermione, and Ron along the way
and the pay-off won’t be there for you. Trust me on this one.
You’ll want to wait. It is well worth it.
It gets A+ **** Magically Brilliant
-Amanda Cullum
Valley,
My favorite read of 2007
was Water for Elephants--hands down. What an interesting, unusual,
and tightly woven tale, with layers and layers of emotion, drama, mystery, and
intrigue lightened by a love story and by contrasting perspectives of the main
character's life. The books I enjoy most are those through which I learn
something new, and this book was packed full of information disguised as
fiction. When I first read the back cover, I thought: why would I
want to learn about circuses in the time of the Great Depression? After
the first paragraph, I couldn't put it down. What a great read!
The other books I remember most from last year were Suite Francaise, by
Irene Nemirovsky, and four by Jodi Picoult, My Sister's Keeper, The Pact,
Plain Truth, and Songs of the Humpback Whale, in order of preference
beginning with the one I enjoyed most. Picoult takes a scholarly approach
to her writing and research, which I enjoy immensely, but her language is
delicate and nuanced. After reading a few of her novels, I could see the
formula by which she completed the work, but that only bothered me a little
bit. I still want to read more from her. Suite Francaise is
the first two novels of what Nemirovsky planned to be a series of five on the
topic of the German occupation of
-Su Ofe
Lagging
behind my wife's, here is my list of 2007 reads, in the approximate order that
I read them:
1.
40 EXAMPLES by Ansel Adams -- As my interest in photography continued to
develop (pun intended) early in the year, I decided to study up.
2.
PICTURE TAKER: PHOTOGRAPHS BY KEN ELKINS -- A career's worth of great work
from one of
3.
EUDORA WELTY: PHOTOGRAPHS and COUNTRY CHURCHYARDS, both by Eudora Welty -- This
was my year to rediscover Welty's genius after a brief encounter in
college. Again, these are "picture books" but full of depth
nonetheless. Unlike the work of Walker Evans, Welty's images of the South
are captured with the affection of a native.
4.
PHOTOPORTRAITS by Henri Cartier-Bresson -- I pored over several books by the
legendary French photographer, but this is the one I find most impressive, for
its visual elegance.
5.
ENCOUNTERS by Kathryn Tucker Windham -- Short essays and photos from a living
6.
1/2 PRICE LIVING: SECRETS TO LIVING
7.
HARRY POTTER
8.
THE END (A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS) by Lemony Snicket -- I didn't think there
were any surprises left after 13 books, but WOW, what a clever ending! It
blindsided me. My interpretation: the Snicket character in the book
is not the man we've thought he was. My wife, on the other hand, says I
misread the ending... But I think not!
9.
A REDBIRD CHRISTMAS by Fannie Flagg -- My first time reading another
Alabamian. Generally entertaining and heartwarming.
10.
DOLLY: MY
11.
MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE by Lee Goldberg -- One of the best of the year,
surprisingly. Goldberg takes a lovable TV character and brings him to
life with pinpoint accuracy. A page-turner in the very best sense of the
word.
12.
A CURTAIN OF GREEN
13.
MR. MONK GOES TO HAWAII by Lee Goldberg -- Lighter fare after Welty. Somewhat
more predictable than MR. MONK GOES TO THE FIREHOUSE, but Goldberg's pacing and
characterizations are spot-on.
14.
Jonathan
Cullum
Here
are some books I really enjoyed in 2007 apart from the bestsellers already on
people's radar:
"Suddenly They Heard Footsteps: Storytelling for the Twenty-First
Century" by Dan Yashinsky, a professional storyteller who lives in Canada,
is a great book that combines experiences Yashinsky has had as a storyteller,
his insight on why storytelling is important and how to be a good teller and a
collection of stories. It has great stories about telling stories, along
with great stories.
"Only You Can Save Mankind" by Terry Pratchett is one of his
"young adult" books from the early 1990s, although I don't think it
was published here until somewhat more recently. The book is about Johnny
Maxwell, a British boy who gets sucked into a computer game where some of the
characters no longer want to fight, and it has a lot to say about war both in
the game and real worlds. The humor and the crackerjack writing will appeal to
adults (even those like me who don't play computer games), and it's a must-read
for any kid or adult who enjoys computer games. The two Johnny Maxwell sequels
are a lot of fun, too.
I have just recently discovered Jane Austen (How did I manage to put off
devouring these books off as long as I have?) and cannot believe what a
"modern" voice this author of the early 1800s had. And the books are
so funny. I've found that I particularly enjoy them as audiobooks. "
-Madelyn Dinnerstein
Pittsburgh, PA,
Usually
I prefer fiction but, in 2007, I found two very interesting nonfiction books.
After watching both The King of Scotland and Hotel Rwanda, I read The
Bone Woman: A Forensic Anthropologist’s Search for Truth in the
Mass
The
second nonfiction book I liked was The Colony by John Tayman, which
deals with the establishment of the leprosy colony on
On
the fiction side, I liked the following:
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen. It’s about a circus and
has thrills, chills, a love story and, of course, an elephant!
The Girls by Lori Lansens. Rose and Ruby Darlen are the oldest, surviving
conjoined twins and they are writing their life story. They write
individually and in very different styles and their interpretations of life
events are often very different. It’s a fascinating look at how
they see their family and community and how they feel about each other.
Although it sounds like a nonfiction book, it is fiction.
This
is probably cheating because I read this book two years ago but I loved The
Twelve Little Cakes by Dominika Dery. Ms. Dery, who was born in 1975
in what was then
-Jean
Smyth
Maurice
Manning’s Bucolics, a book of poetry that poses the age old man/god
in a pastoral setting with a laborer constantly haranguing someone he calls
“Boss” was my number one favorite poetry read of 2007. Many poets
write wonderful and memorable poems, but Mannings’ book is unique –
it’s a poet’s book, as well as one that will touch the heart of
anyone who has ever wondered – who made us? why are we here? is
anyone listening? For fiction, hands down I have to say Ian McEwan’s Atonement
was one of those books in the league with Ahab’s Wife or Sound
and the Fury, a true ground-breaker. This book had languished in my
house for at least a year before I picked it up in December. To swim in the
ocean of such powerfully well-made fiction is exhilarating, and I really
didn’t want to come up for air. This is a book that changed my life as a
writer.
-Jeanie
Thompson
Executive
Director
Easily: Stephen Colbert's
"I Am America (and So Can You)" I never would have bought it for
myself, but I got it as a gift and it is hilarious!
-Foster Dickson
-More
than likely many of your customers have read these first two books and
perhaps had the opportunity to see the author at Huntingdon. Two of my
favorites were Magic
Time and The Bridge both by Doug Marlette who has sadly left this
life. Magic Time is the story of Mississsippi's Freedom Summer of 1964
told in flashbacks between that summer and current time in
Pat
Conroy said that The Bridge is the finest novel to come out of the South
since Thomas Wolfe's Look Homeward Angel! It centers on the past as well - the
Great Textile Strike of 1934 and life in the mills and their villages. Its main
character has to deal with his career, the tear in his marital relationship,
returning home to his extended family and their eccentricities and the
truth that is uncovered that helps to settle his questions and
his life. This book caused a huge controversy in
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See is a fascinating book about women
in a remote province of 19th century
The Distance from the Heart of Things by Ashley Warlick is a beautifully
written novel about the South. It's about family and the strong bond that
exists as this lead character becomes a woman.
Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert was such a good read! After going through a
divorce and severe depression a woman journeys to
Elizabeth
Baucom,
I am lucky to have
creative folks in my life and in 2007 three of them had new books.
In April I introduced my
friend Tom Kimmel for his reading at the Alabama Book Festival in
Another friend who is a
poet, Barbara Wiedeman, published her book, The Half Life of Love, later
in the year. Lots of Barbara’s poems are set in the American southwest
and her images and emotions transported me back to my own desert adventures
many years ago. Barbara is a powerful poet and her work describes landscapes
exterior and interior in ways that makes a mental, emotional and spiritual
impression.
Lee Smith swears that her
latest novel, On Agate Hill, is her last because creating the characters
require so much emotional investment. Certainly, the characters of her new book
are full, commanding, endearing, and sometimes even frightening. Although for reasons most readers of these
comments will know, I am forever in love with Ivy Rowe, Molly certainly
deserves a place in my heart. Lee
remains concerned On Agate Hill is too dark. But anyone who is even a
little versed in the tale’s time period—Reconstruction—knows
that those days were tough, and it took tough characters to survive them.
Molly, Jacky, BJ, Simon are tough, alive, and present to an amazing degree.
Hanging out around a dinner table at the Sunset Grill in
And since I am writing
about folks that I do even pretend to be objective about, I heartily recommend
Tim Henderson’s book, A Glorious Defeat, and not just because I am
a fan & he is my hubby! He’ll probably get mad at me for writing
this, but I really think it is his best writing so far. In entertaining,
lyrical prose, Tim explains the events and situations that brought the
-Karren Pell
Cheryl and Thomas,
Your book list is always one of the highlights of my year. I've read some
really wonderful books in 2007. I'm terrible at describing books so will
not even try because I don't want to discourage anyone. The following are
truly exceptional books - I was sorry when each of them ended.
Body and Soul by Frank Conroy
Eat Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert
Queen of the Underworld by Gail Godwin
A Line of Beauty by Alan Hollinghurst
-Lee Eaton
I am enjoying Galt Neiderhoffer's "A Taxonomy of
Barnacles" very much. I read horrible reviews of the
book (which is what made me decide to read it for
myself), but I'm finding it witty. The author, who
was pretty widely panned for this book, drew me in
immediately with descriptions of the six Barnacle
sisters, their crazy penthouse apartment (complete
with indoor zoo!) and their lives, each of which is
utterly different.
Jon Krakauer's "Into the Wild" is at the top of my
2007 list. I loved the kid and hated his careless
disregard for his life. Although I didn't think
McCandless was completely arrogant or the least bit
suicidal, I found Krakauer's story about his own
hiking adventure to be explanatory and moving, in the
context of the book. Krakauer said that he suffered
from "hubris, perhaps, and an appalling innocence,
certainly; but [he] wasn't suicidal." He went on to
say that at his age, death was an abstract concept.
Several 10th grade M.A. students read this book for
extra credit last semester (thank you for the
suggestion, Capitol Book) and enjoyed it; one intrepid
student pointed out that as McCandless shed his
belongings during his cross-country trek, he also left
behind the guitar on which his mother played lullabies
for him. That, and the part where McCandless' parents
visited the bus where McCandless spent his last days,
broke my squishy mom heart. I can't wait to see the
movie at the
-Stephanie Hill
And just for the fun of it, here’s
Cheryl’s list of all her 2007 reads:
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CHERYL'S
2007 READS |
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TITLE |
AUTHOR |
RATING |
SETTING |
GENRE |
|
1 |
Blind
Submission |
Ginsberg,
Debra |
*** |
US/San
Francisco |
Fiction |
|
2 |
Burning |
Johnson,
Diane |
** |
US/ |
Fiction |
|
3 |
Three
Men in a Boat |
Jerome,
Jerome K. |
*** |
|
Memoir |
|
4 |
A Fatal
Grace |
Penny,
Louise |
**** |
Canada/Quebec |
Mystery |
|
5 |
Warm
Springs |
Shreve,
Susan Richards |
***** |
US/Georgia |
Memoir |
|
6 |
The
Overlook |
Connelly,
Michael |
**** |
US/California |
Mystery |
|
7 |
The
Last Chinese Chef |
Mones,
Nicole |
**** |
|
Fiction |
|
8 |
Pleasures
and Landscapes |
Bedford,
Sybille |
** |
|
Travel |
|
9 |
Prisoner
of Memory |
Hamilton,
Denise |
*** |
US/ |
Mystery |
|
10 |
Dark
Fire |
Sansom,
C.J. |
*** |
|
Mystery |
|
11 |
The
Woods |
Coben,
Harlan |
**** |
US/ |
Mystery |
|
12 |
Mr.
Sebastian & the Negro Magician |
Wallace,
Daniel |
**** |
US/Alabama |
Fiction |
|
13 |
Somebody
is going to die… |
Metcalfe,
Gayden |
*** |
US/Mississippi |
Humor |
|
14 |
Letter
from Point Clear |
McFarland,
Dennis |
***** |
US/Alabama |
Fiction |
|
15 |
The New
Yorkers |
Schine,
Cathleen |
**** |
US/NYC |
Fiction |
|
16 |
All-of-a-Kind
Family |
Taylor,
|
*** |
US/NYC |
YA |
|
17 |
Thistle
& Twigg |
Saums.
Mary |
*** |
US/Alabama |
Mystery |
|
18 |
Mistress
of the Art of Death |
Franklin,
Ariana |
*** |
|
Mystery |
|
19 |
The
Dead Father's Club |
Haig,
Matt |
*** |
|
Fiction |
|
20 |
Crimes
of |
Willis,
Clint |
*** |
US/NYC |
Nonfiction |
|
21 |
The
Late Bloomer's Revolution |
Cohen,
Amy |
*** |
US/NYC |
Memoir |
|
22 |
The
Secret of Lost Things |
Hay,
Sheridan |
** |
US/NYC |
Fiction |
|
23 |
Garden
Spells |
Allen,
Sarah Addison |
** |
US/NC |
Fiction |
|
24 |
The
Invention of Hugo Cabret |
Selznick,
Brian |
**** |
|
YA |
|
25 |
Death
Comes for the Fat Man |
|
***** |
|
Mystery |
|
26 |
Mediterranean
Summer |
Shalleck,
David |
*** |
|
Travel |
|
27 |
A
Thousand Splendid Suns |
Hosseini,
Khaled |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
28 |
The
Discomfort Zone |
Franzen,
Jonathan |
*** |
US/St.
Louis |
Memoir |
|
29 |
Free
Food for Millionaires |
Lee,
Min Jin |
**** |
US/NYC |
Fiction |
|
30 |
The
Eyre Affair |
Fforde,
Jasper |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
31 |
What
the Dead Know |
Lippman,
Laura |
***** |
US/Baltimore |
Mystery |
|
32 |
Animal,
Vegetable, Miracle |
Kingsolver,
Barbara |
***** |
US/Virginia |
Food |
|
33 |
Lost in
a Good Book |
Fforde,
Jasper |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
34 |
The Dud
Avocado |
Dundy,
Elaine |
*** |
|
Fiction |
|
35 |
Officer
Down |
Schwegel,
Theresa |
**** |
US/Chicago |
Mystery |
|
36 |
The
Well of Lost Plots |
Fforde,
Jasper |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
37 |
Probable
Cause |
Schwegel,
Theresa |
*** |
US/Chicago |
Mystery |
|
38 |
Here If
You Need Me |
Braestrup,
Kate |
**** |
US/Maine |
Memoir |
|
39 |
The
Janissary Tree |
Goodwin,
Jason |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
40 |
Lying
Low |
Johnson,
Diane |
*** |
US/California |
Fiction |
|
41 |
The Tenderness
of Wolves |
Penney,
Stef |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
42 |
Heartsick |
Cain, |
**** |
US/ |
Mystery |
|
43 |
Something
Rotten |
Fforde,
Jasper |
**** |
|
Fiction |
|
44 |
A
Student of Living Things |
Shreve,
Susan Richards |
**** |
US/Wash,
D.C. |
Fiction |
|
45 |
Our
Former Lives in Art |
Davis,
Jennifer S. |
*** |
US/Alabama |
Fiction |
|
46 |
Wash
This Blood Clean from My Hand |
Vargas,
Fred |
***** |
France/Canada |
Mystery |
|
47 |
|
Russo, Richard |
**** |
US/NY/Venice |
Fiction |
|
48 |
A
Valley in |
St.Aubin
de Teran, Lisa |
*** |
|
Memoir |
|
49 |
Stalin's
Ghost |
Smith,
Martin Cruz |
**** |
|
Fiction |
|
50 |
Death
at the Old Hotel |
Lehane,
Con |
*** |
US/NYC |
Mystery |
|
51 |
The
Grave Tattoo |
McDermid,
Val |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
52 |
Harry
Potter and the Deathly Hallows |
Rowling,
J.K. |
***** |
|
YA |
|
53 |
The
Pirate's Daughter |
Cezair-Thompson,
Margaret |
**** |
|
Fiction |
|
54 |
|
Burdett,
John |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
55 |
Within |
Spender,
Matthew |
*** |
|
Travel |
|
56 |
Thursday
Next: First Among Sequels |
Fforde,
Jasper |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
57 |
No Time
for Goodbye |
Barclay,
Linwood |
*** |
US/Connecticut |
Mystery |
|
58 |
The
Used World |
Kimmel,
Haven |
**** |
US/Indiana |
Fiction |
|
59 |
The
Tenth Muse |
Jones,
Judith |
*** |
US/NYC |
Food |
|
60 |
Down
River |
Hart,
John |
**** |
US/NC |
Mystery |
|
61 |
Little
Heathens |
Kalish,
Mildred Armstrong |
*** |
US/Iowa |
Memoir |
|
62 |
The |
Knight,
Michael |
***** |
US/Alabama |
Fiction |
|
63 |
Ratking |
Dibdin,
Michael |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
64 |
A Nail
Through the Heart |
Hallinan,
Timothy |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
65 |
Three
Junes |
Glass,
Julia |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
66 |
Trail
of Crumbs |
Sunee,
Kim |
**** |
|
Memoir |
|
67 |
Death
in the Garden |
Ironside,
Elizabeth |
***** |
|
Mystery |
|
68 |
The Wee
Free Men |
Pratchett, Terry |
*** |
|
YA |
|
69 |
Away |
Bloom,
Amy |
**** |
|
Fiction |
|
70 |
The
Wrong Kind of Blood |
Hughes,
Declan |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
71 |
Let Me
Finish |
Angell,
Roger |
**** |
US/NY/Maine |
Memoir |
|
72 |
The Various
Haunts of Men |
|
***** |
|
Mystery |
|
73 |
But
Enough About Me |
Dunn,
Jancee |
**** |
US/NYC |
Memoir |
|
74 |
Persian
Nights |
Johnson,
Diane |
***** |
|
Fiction |
|
75 |
Death
in the Truffle Wood |
Magnan,
Pierre |
*** |
|
Mystery |
|
76 |
|
Lippman,
Laura |
*** |
US/Baltimore |
Mystery |
|
77 |
The
Pure in Heart |
|
***** |
|
Mystery |
|
78 |
Taken |
Bloor,
Edward |
*** |
Us/ |
YA |
|
79 |
The
Accomplice |
Ironside,
Elizabeth |
***** |
|
Mystery |
|
80 |
Hons
and Rebels |
Mitford,
Jessica |
***** |
|
Memoir |
|
81 |
Unaccustomed
Earth |
Lahiri,
Jhumpa |
***** |
US/Mass |
Fiction |
|
82 |
Friend
of the Devil |
Robinson,
Peter |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
83 |
An
Incomplete Revenge |
Winspear,
Jacqueline |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
84 |
Diary
of a Wimpy Kid |
Kinney,
Jeff |
*** |
|
YA |
|
85 |
The
Namesake |
Lahiri,
Jhumpa |
***** |
US/Mass/NY |
Fiction |
|
86 |
My
Family and Other Animals |
Durrell,
Gerald |
*** |
|
Memoir |
|
87 |
The
Hard Way |
Child,
Lee |
**** |
NYC/England |
Mystery |
|
88 |
Killing
Floor |
Child,
Lee |
**** |
US/Georgia |
Mystery |
|
89 |
Bad
Luck and Trouble |
Child,
Lee |
**** |
US/California |
Mystery |
|
90 |
One
False Move |
Coben,
Harlan |
*** |
US/NYC |
Mystery |
|
91 |
First
Drop |
Sharp,
Zoe |
**** |
Us/ |
Mystery |
|
92 |
Second
Shot |
Sharp,
Zoe |
**** |
Us/NH |
Mystery |
|
93 |
Frost
at Christmas |
Wingfield,
R.D. |
**** |
|
Mystery |
|
94 |
The
Seasons of |
Hofmann,
Paul |
** |
|
Travel |
|
95 |
Born
Standing Up |
Martin,
Steve |
***** |
US/California |
Memoir |
|
96 |
Let Us
Eat Cake |
Boortsin,
Sharon |
** |
US/California |
Food |
|
97 |
Last
Night at the Lobster |
O'Nan,
Stewart |
**** |
US/ |
Fiction |
|
98 |
Beautiful
Lies |
Unger,
Lisa |
*** |
US/NYC |
Mystery |
|
99 |
The Man
Who Turned into Himself |
Ambrose,
David |
*** |
US/ |
Fiction |
|
100 |
The
Cruelest Month |
Penny,
Louise |
**** |
|
Mystery |
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