This issue of BookBrowse Highlights includes member reviews of three just published books and a featured review of Amy Tan's first book in eight years, The Valley of Amazement.
You can also go beyond the book to explore the the genre of dirty realism; browse previews of notable books publishing soon; and enter to win a copy of Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey by The Countess of Carnarvon. In addition you'll find all the usual features such as recent news stories, interviews, book club recommendations and so forth.
Best regards,
Davina,
BookBrowse Editor
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Readers Recommend
Each month we give away books to our members to read and review (or discuss). Members who take part receive a free book (including free shipping) about every three months. Here are their opinions on three recently published books:  Through the Evil Days:
A Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne Mystery by Julia Spencer-Fleming
Publisher: St. Martin's Minotaur Publication Date: 11/05/2013 Mystery, 368 pages Number of reader reviews: 21 Readers' consensus:  BookBrowse Members Say "There are many plot-driven thrillers out there; what sets this one apart are the interesting characters and the interplay between them. A police chief, newly married to a younger Episcopal priest who is pregnant, and also happens to be a combat veteran makes for some exciting family drama. Other subplots swirl around the main plot of kidnapping and murder. I have not read any other books in this series, but even so, the author gives enough background information about the characters to make a first-time reader comfortable." - Loretta F. (Fountain Inn, SC) "A tightly crafted story puts the reader right in the middle of a multi-layered mystery, exploration and insight into personal relationships, life-changing reveals and decisions. The story teems with suspense and offers enough twists and turns along the way to keep the reader eager to read more." - Barbara H. (Alexandria, VA) "This book was an edge of your seat, can't put it down thriller... The best compliment I can give is that I plan to read the other books in the series." - Mary M. (Lexington, KY) "I have read each and every book in this series. In my humble opinion, this one is by far the best... This book is for mystery lovers, plain and simple." - Helen M. (Petaluma, CA) Read all the Reviews Buy at Amazon
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Readers Recommend
 Buying Inby Laura Hemphill
Publisher: New Harvest Publication Date: 11/05/2013 Novel, 304 pages Number of reader reviews: 15 Readers' consensus:  BookBrowse Members Say " Buying In is an absolutely fascinating portrayal of the inside wheeling and dealing of the fictional Wall Street investment bank, Sterling. The main characters are fully developed...from the shrewd veteran to the wide-eyed newly hired. Having spent seven years working on Wall Street, Ms. Hemphill certainly understands and capably shares with her readers what it takes for a young, ambitious woman to make her stand in this complex world. Even with complete ignorance of this type of high finance, I was utterly drawn into this exciting, dramatic, and totally readable novel. The story gives one good insight into the rise and fall of investment banks such as that which our country has recently experienced. An excellent choice for any reader and for any book club." - Rose N. (Saginaw, MI) "Great book, good read." - Arden A. (Longboat Key, FL) "I am not one who finds business a very interesting topic, but this book was a wonderful read... Definitely would recommend this book to others and my book club." - Carol B. (Orland Park, IL) "This book really gave a great insight into the corporate and banking system. The character study was well done and there were four very strong characters and several minor ones. I really enjoyed the book and the look into a failing system and the reasons for that failure in the financial crisis." - Jane C. (Brighton, MI) "No, it's not a thriller or a horror novel, but it's scary, nevertheless... This book is quite thought-provoking and I do recommend reading it." - Elizabeth K. (Dallas, TX) Read all the Reviews Buy at Amazon
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Readers Recommend
 Where the Moon Isn'tby Nathan Filer
Publisher: St. Martin's Press Publication Date: 11/05/2013 Novel, 320 pages Number of reader reviews: 12 Readers' consensus: BookBrowse Members Say " Where The Moon Isn't by Nathan Filer is beautifully written. It is a sad, funny, hopeful, heart wrenching story of Matthew, the narrator and main character. He absolutely stole my heart. He is difficult and yet so vulnerable that I couldn't help but love him. A book that teaches me about other people's frailties and differences and leads me to a better understanding of their story is one that stays with me. This is one such book. I absolutely loved it." - Maggie S. (Durango, CO) "At first I thought the drawings and multiple type faces, fonts, and spacing might be mere gimmicks. Not so. This powerful novel by Nathan Filer uses all of these devices to enhance the telling of nineteen-year-old Matthew Homes' harrowing story... Readers who enjoyed the carefully crafted voice of the boy with Asperger's disease in Mark Haddon's The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time will find that Filer has captured beautifully the voice of a boy in search of truth and sanity in this tragically moving story of memory, madness, family resilience, and enduring love." - Carole C. (Upper Marlboro, MD) "I was reading another book when this one arrived. I decided to read a few pages, but I could not put it down. It is hard to believe that this is a debut novel... Great book that I will wholeheartedly recommend to friends." - Yvette T. (Boca Raton, FL) "This left me stunned in a good way. Sad and frightening in such a beautiful way. I was touched and had so many emotions rushing through me while reading. You won't be able to stop reading this book and will be sad when it's over." - Barbara B. (Holbrook, NY) Read all the Reviews Buy at Amazon
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Featured Review
Below is part of BookBrowse's review of
The Valley of Amazement
by Amy Tan
Hardcover (Nov 2013), 608 pages.
Publisher: Ecco
ISBN 9780062107312
BookBrowse Rating:  Critics' Consensus:
Review:
"Mirror, Mirror on the wall
I am my mother after all!"
In my pre-retirement days as a professor of women's studies, I made this the official mantra of a class I periodically taught called "Mothers and Daughters." Honesty compels me to admit that I did not think this up myself. I borrowed it from a poster or a T-shirt I came across in a catalog somewhere. And how true this saying is! For better or worse, the mother-daughter relationship is pivotal in a woman's life, and often when we least expect it, we find ourselves saying or doing something learned from our mothers that we swore we never would.
It is a theme that resonates not only through our life experiences, but in many a contemporary novel, including the work of Amy Tan. The mother-daughter relationship is a primary theme in the now classic The Joy Luck Club and continues through the majority of her subsequent books. The Valley of Amazement, Tan's first book in eight years, revisits this topic - albeit with a twist. Most of her earlier novels, including The Joy Luck Club, feature a contemporary setting with a traditional Chinese mother and a thoroughly Americanized daughter. However Tan's latest sweeps us from San Francisco to the glittering world of Shanghai over many decades starting with the late nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth.
Through a strange set of twists and turns, a white American woman Lulu Mintern, has become the madam of Hidden Jade Path, the finest courtesan house in Shanghai. Here she is raising her half-Chinese daughter Violet with the help and support of Violet's friend and mentor, Magic Gourd, herself a former courtesan. Narrated in turn by all three women, The Valley of Amazement is a multi-generational tale of love, betrayal, abandonment and redemption. And while the mother-daughter theme is first and foremost, the novel also deals with other life issues... continued
Reviewed by Judi Sauerbrey
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Beyond the Book
 At BookBrowse, we go 'beyond the book' to explore interesting aspects relating to each book we feature. Here is a recent "Beyond the Book" feature for Goat Mountain by David Vann.
David Vann fits into an American literary tradition that has been around since the 1960s, but was only given a name in 1983. Bill Buford, former editor of Granta literary magazine, coined the term "dirty realism" to characterize two trends in American fiction: a tendency toward simplified language, largely free from adverbs or flowery language (as is true of Vann's matter-of-fact prose in Goat Mountain), and frank consideration of the awfulness of ordinary, lower- or middle-class lives. A post-Cold War phenomenon, dirty realism arose in an atmosphere of suspicion and paranoia. It often reflects on capitalism and consumerism through the experiences of blue-collar workers, sometimes using black humor to lighten the mood. The characters usually have no hope of escaping the poverty of their circumstances; as Tamas Dobozy notes in his University of British Columbia PhD thesis, "Towards a Definition of Dirty Realism," the dirty realist story "chooses entrapment as its natural habitat." In a subversion of the American dream narrative, the characters find themselves caught in cycles of existential loneliness and meaninglessness - an observation that certainly rings true in relation to the protagonist of Goat Mountain. Dobozy adds that the genre is "uncluttered, both in style and content," by either experimental techniques or wider historical and social commentary. Some related literary movements are naturalism (a school that includes Theodore Dreiser, Ernest Hemingway, and John Steinbeck), minimalism (which, again, limits stylistic experimentation and linguistic virtuosity), and postmodernism. Granta highlighted such early pioneers of dirty realism as Raymond Carver, Tobias Wolff, Richard Ford, Frederick Barthelme, and Jayne Ann Phillips. Other writers who might be included under the umbrella of dirty realism are Charles Bukowski (known as the "godfather" of the movement), Bobbie Anne Mason, and Louise Erdrich... continued Above is part of BookBrowse's backstory to Goat Mountain. Read the backstory & review in full here Reviewed by Rebecca Foster
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Blog: Quercus Branches Out
If Steig Larsson was one of your essential beach reads a few summers ago, you have the guys at Quercus Publishing to thank. Since exploring what's new in books is one of our favorite things to do at BookBrowse, our ears perked up when we discovered that this nimble UK publishing company is now making waves stateside.
It doesn't get any more low-budget than this: Principals Mark Smith and Wayne Davies launched their indie publishing group in the UK less than a decade ago, and hand-sold their first batch out of a suitcase at the Frankfurt Book Fair.
So how do you get from here to being recognized as Publisher of the Year at the 2011 Bookseller Industry Awards?
For one thing, carving your niche helps. Quercus isn't interested in highly commercial books, nor is it interested in the extremely literary, instead it seeks out that middle ground of intelligent but readable fiction and nonfiction. In other words, just the kinds of books we look for at BookBrowse! Second, publish authors, not just books. Taking care of authors and building them from unknowns to household names has driven strong sales.
And if crime fiction or Steig Larsson are not your cup of tea, Quercus's range is broad enough to make sure there's many compelling reads for everyone. Lit fiction? Check! Narrative non-fiction? Check! Kids' fiction? Check!
Three of Quercus's early UK successes
(showing USA covers, even though published by others in America, as these are the covers familiar to the majority of our readers)
  
...Continue Reading
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Win
Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey
by The Countess of Carnarvon
Published Oct 2013
Enter the Giveaway
Past Winners
From the Jacket
Paperback Original. Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey, a transporting companion piece to the New York Times bestseller Lady Almina and the Real Downton Abbey, tells the story of Catherine Wendell, the beautiful and spirited American woman who married Lady Almina's son, the man who would become the 6th Earl of Carnarvon. The couple presided over Highclere Castle, the grand estate that serves as the setting for the hit PBS show. Following the First World War, many of the great houses of England faded as their owners fortunes declined in the new political and social world of the 1920s and 1930s. As war loomed, Highclere's survival as the family home of the Carnarvons was again in the balance-as was peace between the nations of Europe.
Using copious materials-including diaries and scrapbooks-from the castle's archives, the current Countess of Carnarvon brings alive a very modern story in a beautiful and fabled setting, paying particular attention to the staff who provide Highclere Castle with continuity between generations.
Reviews:
"Gossipy and fun, with a good history lesson-sure to delight Downton Abbey fans." - Kirkus Reviews
5 people will each win a paperback copy of Lady Catherine, the Earl, and the Real Downton Abbey.
This giveaway is open to residents of the USA only, unless you are a BookBrowse member, in which case you are eligible to win wherever you might live.
Enter the giveaway here |
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We currently have 4 open book club discussions -
please do join us to discuss any and all!
Next Discussion
Our next new discussion will open in January
Happier at Home
Kiss More, Jump More, Abandon Self-Control, and My Other Experiments in Everyday Life
by Gretchen Rubin
Summary & Reviews
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Featured Reading List: Immigrants & Expatriates
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Author Interviews
Tamara Smith interviews Beth Kephart, about her YA novel, Small Damages, that brings the heat, the colors, and the smells of Seville, Spain alive - a feast for the heart and the soul, and a coming-of-age novel not easily forgotten. Read the Q&A A Conversation with Suzanne Rindell, author of The Other Typist which explores her inspirations for the book, her research into the 1920s and the ways women's roles changed at this time, and the power of literature and the written word. The ever-popular "Downton Abbey" is even discussed!. Read the Q&A
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Wordplay
Solve this clue
"A W A N P M
J A Dull B"
and be entered
to win the book of your choice
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Answer to
Last Wordplay
A T Glitters I N G
All that glitters
is not gold
Meaning:
What might seem attractive at first glance doesn't always turn out to be.
Background:
The earliest known record of this expression is in Geoffrey Chaucer's The House of Fame (1384).
Lo, how a woman doth amis, / To love him that unknowen is! / For, by Crist, lo! thus hit fareth; / 'Hit is not al gold, that glareth.'
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News
Nov 06 2013:
Charlie Trotter, author of many cookbooks, whose eponymous Chicago restaurant was considered one of the finest in the world, has died of a brain aneurysm aged...(more)
Nov 01 2013:
Michael Palmer, physician and best-selling suspense author whose "Extreme Measures" was adapted into a 1996 film of the same name starring Hugh Grant and Gene Hackman, has died aged 71 from complications relating to a stroke and a heart...(more)
Oct 30 2013:
August bookstore sales fell 4.5% compared to August 2012, according to preliminary estimates from the Census Bureau, which were delayed two weeks because of the government shutdown. For the year to date, bookstore sales have fallen 2.6%. So far this year, sales improved in January and March over...(more)
Oct 25 2013:
Larry Kirshbaum, editorial head of Amazon's New York and Seattle adult imprints and children's publishing, is leaving the company early next year. In connection with his departure, the most ambitious part of Amazon's publishing operations will be scaled back. Already several editorial people have...(more)
Oct 25 2013:
Scribd has launched an updated subscription service that lets you read unlimited books for $8.99/month with the first month free. In their email to existing Scribd users they claim to have available "thousands of bestsellers and new releases, including titles by well-known authors Paulo Coehlo,...(more)
Oct 24 2013:
Salon has an extensive article about the small but growing faction of longtime, deeply involved Goodreads members who are up in arms about recent changes to the site's enforcement of its policies on what members are permitted to say when reviewing books, and many of them blame the crackdown on the...(more)
Oct 24 2013:
World Book Night 2014 will be on October 23 in both the UK and USA. Half a million copies will be given away for free in the USA. The 35 World Book Night U.S. titles for 2014 are:
Oct 18 2013:
Australia may soon be the first country in the world to see commercial courier deliveries by drone, if a launch by a textbook rental service and an Australian tech start-up goes according to plan. From March next year and pending regulatory approval, students will be able to order books from...(more)
Read these news stories, and many others, in full.
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