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BookBrowse Highlights
| April 24, 2014
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Hello,
In this issue I invite you to discover Astoria, a work of non-fiction that reads like an action-adventure story; and A Paris Apartment which our members have recently read and reviewed for First Impressions.
Louise Penny's next book is out in late August. There is so much interest in this author, whose most recent book was voted BookBrowse's favorite novel of 2013, that the publisher is starting a whole series of reprints of the earlier books in the Gamache series, backed by a new website stuffed with information for aficionados and newcomers alike - more about this below.
In our online book club we have two new discussions. The first is The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry, a charming just published book about books and booklovers; the second is Sailor Twain - an exceptional graphic novel. All are welcome to participate in the discussions so if you've read either, please do join us to discuss; and if you haven't, you'll find information so you can decide if they would be right for you or your book club. All this and much more waiting for you to explore!
Thanks for reading!
Davina, BookBrowse Editor
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BookBrowse features the kinds of books you can't wait to tell your friends about, providing insightful reviews, stories behind the books, previews of notable titles publishing soon, book discussions, and free books to read and review. You can view some of BookBrowse for free but full access is for members only - for just $10 for 3 months or $35 for a year.
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 Editor's Choice
Astoria by Peter Stark
Hardcover (March 04, 2014), 384 pages.
Publisher: Ecco.
ISBN 9780062218292
BookBrowse Rating: 5/5 Critics' Consensus: 4.2/5 In 1784, twenty-one-year-old John Jacob Astor left his home in Walldorf, Germany and came to the fledgling United States to make his fortune in an unknown land. He quickly became aware of the vast sums to be made trading animal furs and established a company based on that knowledge, bartering with Native Americans and trappers. As a result, by the turn of the century, he became one of the most influential and affluent men in the United States. A canny businessman, Astor was conscious of the massive untapped potential of the West Coast, and developed a plan with the support of President Thomas ... continued Read the full review, backstory and an excerpt
Reviewed by Kim Kovacs More Editor's Choice features Although visitors can view a lot of BookBrowse for free, full access to our reviews, previews, backstories and more is for members only. But you will always find four free Editor's Choice reviews and backstories on our homepage.
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 First Impressions: Members Recommend
Each month we give away books to US resident members to read and review (or discuss). Members who choose to take part receive a free book (including free shipping) about every three months. Here are their opinions on one recently published book:   A Paris Apartment by Michelle Gable Publisher: Thomas Dunne Books Publication Date: Apr 2014 Novel, 304 pages Number of reader reviews: 20 Readers' consensus: 4.0/5.0 Members Say "Wow - what I book! I literally could not put it down. Reading A Paris Apartment, I became immersed in the lives of two women in France - April Vogt in the present, and Marthe de Florian living in the Belle Epoque. Highly recommended!" - Randi H. (Bronx, NY) "A very impressive debut novel. The writing is excellent and insightful. Although I suppose it will be classified as a 'women's book,' as a male reader I found it engaging. It primarily is both an imaginative romance and a paean to Paris both contemporarily and during the belle epoch, all from the viewpoint of two very different women." - Everett W. (Mount Pleasant, SC) "Could not put this book down! Two stories at once! What a bargain! Thoroughly enjoyed the author's knowledge of the auction world, antiques and the Belle Epoque era. A great read." - Jan C. (San Antonio, TX) "The novel is original and unlike anything I have previously read. I would definitely recommend it to anyone who has an interest in historical fiction and art history." - Wendy R. (Woodinville, WA)
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Have you read BookBrowse's Favorite Author?
 Louise Penny's #1 New York Times bestseller How the Light Gets In was voted BookBrowse's favorite novel of 2013. If you have read the Chief Inspector Gamache series you know why; and if you have not, now is a great time to catch up with this stunning series in preparation for Louise's highly-anticipated new novel, The Long Way Home, on-sale August 26th.
Join the conversation at GamacheSeries.com for recaps, exclusives, giveaways and more! |
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 Publishing Soon Each month BookBrowse previews 80-100 notable books publishing next month. here is a particularly interesting title from these upcoming books.  The Painter by Peter Heller Publisher: Knopf Publication Date: May 2014 Novel, 384 pages Critic's Opinion: 5/5 "Starred Review. [Heller] explores the mysteries of the human heart and creates an indelible portrait of a man searching for peace, while seeking to maintain his humanity in the face of violence and injustice." - Publishers Weekly "Starred Review. Heller's writing is sure-footed and rip-roaring, star-bright and laced with 'dark yearning,' coalescing in an ever-escalating, ravishing, grandly engrossing and satisfying tale of righteousness and revenge, artistic fervor and moral ambiguity." - Booklist "Starred Review. Difficult to define by genre, this novel embraces themes of personal loss and growth, drama and suspense, while also including plenty for those who enjoy art or nature fiction. Highly recommended." - Library Journal
More about this book | Read all the reviews | Buy at Amazon
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Book Clubs & Discussions |
 The BookBrowse Book Club
Please Join Us to Discuss:
 The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry by Gabrielle Zevin
Published Apr 2014, 272 pages
As surprising as it is moving, The Storied Life of A. J. Fikry is an unforgettable tale of transformation and second chances, an irresistible affirmation of why we read, and why we love.
More about this book | Join the discussion
 Sailor Twain by Mark Siegel
Published in paperback Mar 2014, 400 pages
A mysterious and beguiling love story with elements of Poe, Twain, Hemingway, and Greek mythology, drawn in moody black-and-white charcoal.
| Join the discussion
 Discussions Opening Soon
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 Also Recommended for Book Clubs
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Beyond The Book
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Meet Our Reviewers In this occasional feature, I invite you to meet our reviewers.
Poornima Apte, Editor & Reviewer
Poornima is a member of the National Book Critics Circle and an award-winning journalist who lives in the greater Boston area. Trained as an engineer, she gradually made the shift to journalism after a brief stint as a technical writer. She loves to read and review literary fiction and narrative non-fiction and is most comfortable when her bedside stash of books looks like a Jenga pile. In addition to her editing responsibilities, she reviews for BookBrowse and publishes snappy 100-word-critiques of most of the books she reads on her blog, booksnfreshair.blogspot.com. Poornima also edits two trade magazines.
Poornima wrote the review and backstory for The Ten Thousand Things featured in this newsletter. More reviews by Poornima
Kim Kovacs
Kim Kovacs is an avid reader in the Pacific Northwest. All those rainy days give her the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of books that span many genres.
Kim wrote the review and backstory for Astoria featured in this newsletter. More reviews by Kim
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 Blog: Should Authors Respond to Reviewers? by Catherine McKenzie  So you're an author, and your book is out there in the world. You've sweated and agonized and copy edited and re-read; in short, you've done everything you could to make sure your book is the best thing you can write at that moment. You wait nervously for its release. Will it sell? Will people like it? And then the reviews start to appear. Maybe it's a positive review (yeah!); maybe it's negative (ouch!), but the reviewer takes the time to explain what it is they didn't like about the book in a clear and fair way (still ouch, but okay, I get it, no book is for everyone). continued... Read this blog post All blog posts |
 Author Interview  A Q&A with Molly Antopol, author of The UnAmericans, a collection of stories that move from McCarthy-era America to modern-day Israel to communist Europe and back again. Read the Interview | The UnAmericans |
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 News Apr 18 2014 On Monday, the Colorado House of Representatives passed the Marketplace Fairness & Small Business Protection Act (HB 1269), which "clarifies Colorado's sales tax laws to note that remote retailers that maintain a warehouse in the state, or that have online affiliates that generate $10,000 or more in... (more) Apr 17 2014 Nobel prize-winning Colombian author Gabriel Garcia Marquez has died in Mexico aged 87. Best known for his classic, One Hundred Years of Solitude, Marquez is considered the father of the magical realism genre. He was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1982. Apr 14 2014 Late Friday afternoon, the Authors Guild filed its appeal in its copyright infringement lawsuit against Google, asking the appellate court to reverse a lower court's ruling that granted summary judgment to Google, while denying the Guild's request for partial summary judgment. The suit stems from ... (more) Apr 14 2014 The 2014 Pulitzer Prize winners in the books category are: Fiction: "The Goldfinch" by Donna Tartt (Little, Brown) History: "The Internal Enemy: Slavery and War in Virginia, 1772-1832" by Alan Taylor (W.W. Norton) Biography: "Margaret Fuller: A New American Life" by Megan Marshall (Houghton... (more) Apr 11 2014 Sue Townsend, 68, died at home on Thursday after a short illness following many years suffering with diabetes that left her blind. She will be best remembered for her 8 book series starting with The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole, aged 13 3/4, which was published in 1982. The eighth installment, The...(more) Apr 08 2014 UK publisher Pan Macmillan has acquired three new novels by Ken Follett, including a sequel to The Pillars of the Earth. Apr 06 2014 Peter Matthiessen, well-known US writer and environmentalist, died at the age of 86 of leukemia. His notable works include The Snow Leopard, Shadow Country and At Play in the Fields of the Lord. More News Stories |
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Themed Reading
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 The Steady Running of the Hour by Justin Go Publication Date: Apr 2014 Enter the Giveaway From the Jacket A quest novel and a historical tour de force, The Steady Running of the Hour unravels a tale of passion, legacy, and courage reaching across the twentieth century. In 1924, the English mountaineer Ashley Walsingham dies attempting to summit Mount Everest, leaving his fortune to his former lover, Imogen Soames-Andersson-whom he has not seen in seven years. Ashley's solicitors search in vain for Imogen, but the estate remains unclaimed. Nearly eighty years later, new information leads the same law firm to Tristan Campbell, a young American who could be the estate's rightful heir. If Tristan can prove he is Imogen's descendant, the inheritance will be his. But with only weeks before Ashley's trust expires, Tristan must hurry to find the evidence he needs. From London archives to Somme battlefields to the Eastfjords of Iceland, Tristan races to piece together the story behind the unclaimed riches: a reckless love affair pursued only days before Ashley's deployment to the Western Front; a desperate trench battle fought by soldiers whose hope is survival rather than victory; an expedition to the uncharted heights of the world's tallest mountain. Following a trail of evidence that stretches to the far edge of Europe, Tristan becomes consumed by Ashley and Imogen's story. But as he draws close to the truth, Tristan realizes he may be seeking something more than an unclaimed fortune. The Steady Running of the Hour announces the arrival of a stunningly talented author. Justin Go's novel is heartrending, transporting, and utterly compelling. Reviews "This story is a page-turner and an impressive first work, sure to be appreciated by fans of historical and travel fiction." - Library Journal "Ambitious...this is a remarkable work." - Booklist "Go's debut is ambitious in many ways [but also] heartfelt and overwrought." - Publishers Weekly "Go is a maximalist (lofty emotions, extreme settings) punching above his weight." - Kirkus "Justin Go has written an astonishingly vast, meticulously plotted, and beautifully told novel. In elegant, haunting prose he tells a wartime story that is at once violent and lovely, hopeful and despairing. I won't soon forget Go's passionate, star-crossed lovers and their deeply moving story, set against the riveting, utterly realistic backdrop of the Great War." - Anton DiSclafani "A wonderful time-slip story, beautifully written with a superb sense of place. Go captures the spirit of early 20th-century England perfectly, both in the past and the present, in a novel that is exciting, emotionally engaging and ambitious. I loved it!" - Kate Mosse 5 people will each win a signed hardcover copy of The Steady Running of the Hour. 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 Past Winners | |
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