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BookBrowse Highlights
| January 8, 2015
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Hello,
There is much to discover in this week's issue including four just published books recommended by our members: Descent, First Frost, Her and Vanessa and Her Sister.
In addition we go beyond the book to explore the background to Ali Smith's How To Be Both, which won the UK Costa Novel of the Year Award this week.
And don't miss the huge giveaway of 500 copies of Jeffrey Archer's Only Time Will Tell - the first volume in his Clifton Chronicles series.
Davina
BookBrowse Founder & Editor
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1. 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 four recently published books:   Descent by Tim Johnston Publisher: Algonquin Books Publication Date: Jan 2015 Thriller, 384 pages Number of reader reviews: 23 Readers' consensus: 4.6/5.0 Members Say"This book drew me in like a magnet. The story is simple. A girl disappears and her family searches for her. But what Tim Johnston does with this story is what is amazing. His language and style has a mesmerizing feeling and hypnotizes the readers into the flow of the words...Don't miss this one!" - Patricia D. (Woodland Hills, CA)
"Tim Johnston has crafted a brilliant thriller, gripping in its intensity. The writing is stunning. I strongly recommend this book to thriller lovers or book club members who want to read a page turner." - Kathleen S. (St Louis, MO) "To employ the term "lyrical thriller" might seem an oxymoron, but not after you have begun reading this extraordinary novel. ... Strongly recommended, but beware: it's a page--turner you won't want to put down." - William Y. (Lynchburg, VA) More about this book | Read all the reviews Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
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2. First Impressions: Members Recommend
 First Frost by Sarah Addison Allen Publisher: St. Martin's Press Publication Date: Jan 2015 Novel, 304 pages Number of reader reviews: 25 Readers' consensus: 4.3/5.0
Members Say "Loved, loved, loved this book. Quirky small town characters, small town, mystical , and fun. I began by rereading the first book, Garden Spells, which was a great refresher, but not absolutely necessary. This would be a great book club read - even both of them. Set in a small town with funny people and a dash of mystical fun." - Teresa R. (Evansville, IN) "I love Sarah Addison Allen. A few years ago, I found Garden Spells and fell in love. I went to the book store and read all of the rest of her books. I gave them away and all my friends and especially my daughter are now fans. ... This book made me want to stop thinking of what is impossible and think only of possibilities." - Marta M. (Santa Ana, CA) "I felt as comfy and cozy in this book as I did in her first - in spite of its title! Read it in the middle of winter - it will warm you!" - Susie J. (Fort Wayne,, IN)
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3. First Impressions: Members Recommend
 Her by Harriet Lane Publisher: Little Brown & Company Publication Date: Jan 2015 Thriller, 320 pages Number of reader reviews: 46 Readers' consensus: 3.8/5.0
Members Say"This was a WOW book as far as I am concerned. It is a carefully crafted suspense that I could not put down. Nina and Emma are very realistic characters with very different lives... The beauty of this novel was the suspense and the growing anticipation of disaster that Harriet Lane creates. Loved it!" - Viqui G. (State College, PA) "A lovely subtle and seemingly quiet thriller. For fans of S.J. Watson and Rosamund Lupton." - Susan P. (Boston, MA) "I was riveted by the prose, as it draws you in from the first into what turns out to be a crash landing in the very last paragraph." - Diana C. (Delray Beach, FL) More about this book | Read all the reviews Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
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4. First Impressions: Members Recommend
 Vanessa and Her Sister by Priya Parmar Publisher: Ballantine Books Publication Date: Dec 2014 Historical Fiction, 368 pages Number of reader reviews: 25 Readers' consensus: 4.5/5.0 Members Say "Priya Parmar has a poetic flair that is highly suited to 'channeling' the voices of the Bloomsbury Group. I highly recommend this book even if you don't know these people or don't think you care about them." - Jeanne B. (Albuquerque, NM)"It is a story of familial love and dependency, insanity, jealousy, sex and marriage in the early 20th Century and the evolving social and cultural upheavals of this era. The book also introduces many of the young, brilliant writers and artists of the period, such as E.M Forster, Bertrand Russell, Aldous Huxley, and T.S. Eliot! It is exciting to hear of the struggles of post-Impressionists, such as Picasso, Matisse and Cezanne, as they began to shake up the art world." - Marie D. (Waretown, NJ)"I am anxious to read other books by this author. She is a masterful storyteller." - Mary Lou C. (Shenandoah Junction, WV)
More about this book | Read all the reviews Buy at Amazon | B&N | Indie
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5. Beyond the Book: A History of Fresco
When we review a book we also explore a related topic. Here is a recent "beyond the book" article for How To Be Both by Ali Smith (which recent won the Costa Best Novel of the Year Award.)
Early Fresco Painting  Ali Smith's How to Be Both was inspired by a book she found about frescoes. Fresco, meaning "fresh" in Italian, is the technique of painting in water-based pigment on wet plaster so that the plaster, paint and wall fuse into a single entity. The earliest known examples date from c. 1500 BCE, on the island of Crete, the center of Minoan civilization. One of the more stunning ... continued Read the review & beyond the book article in full |
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 6. Publishing Soon Each month BookBrowse previews 80-100 notable books. Here is a particularly interesting title from these upcoming books.
Publisher: Knopf
Publication Date: Jan 2015
Novels, 320 pages
When Gaby Baillieux releases the Angel Worm into Australia's prison computer system, hundreds of asylum-seekers walk free. And because the Americans run the prisons (let's be honest: as they do in so many parts of her country) the doors of some five thousand jails in the United States also open. Is this a mistake, or a declaration of cyber war? And does it have anything to do with the largely... continued
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7. Readalikes for Navigating Early
 Every time we review a book we also suggest readalikes based on the book's themes, settings and writing style. Here are some suggestions for those who have enjoyed Clare Vanderpool's Navigating Early - a gorgeous book aimed at younger readers which can be enjoyed by all ages.
Paperback Jan 2011
Moose and the cons are about to get a lot closer in this much-anticipated sequel to Al Capone Does My Shirts. Recommended for ages 10+.
Paperback Mar 2010
When two boys come to spend the summer at Bird Lake, each is reeling from his own personal tragedy. Both boys arrive scarred and fragile, but as they become friends, the sharp edges of their lives smooth out and, slowly, they are able to start to heal.
 Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool
Paperback Dec 2011
Powerful in its simplicity and rich in historical detail, Clare Vanderpool's debut is a gripping story of loss and redemption.
Paperback Sep 2010
Set in 1917 and inspired by the author's true family history, this is the poignant story of a remarkable friendship and the perils of small-town justice.
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8. News
Jan 06 2015: The category winners in the 2014 Costa Book Award have been announced, with Ali Smith winning in the Novel category with
How to be Both, a Man Booker Prize shortlisted novel about grief and the experience of making and appreciating art. The Costa Book Award is now in its 43rd year - it was ... (more)
Jan 06 2015: Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire social network founder has set up the Facebook group "A Year of Book", inviting others to join him in reading a new book every other week. Mr Zuckerberg said the books chosen would emphasise learning about "different cultures, beliefs, histories and technologies".
Jan 02 2015: Barnes & Noble has agreed to buy back Pearson's stake in the booksellers's struggling e-book business, Nook Media, for nearly $28 million. The company said that it would pay $13.75 million in cash and 602,927 shares of Barnes & Noble's common stock. The move follows an exit by Microsoft from Nook ... (more)
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 9. Quote If Passion Drives You, Let Reason Hold The Reins Born in Boston in 1706, Benjamin Franklin was a man of many talents. Despite having little formal schooling, he wrote and published newspapers and books, conducted scientific experiments, came up with new inventions, was a statesman and diplomat and, of course, had an integral role in the formation of the United States of America.
After working for his father as a candle maker, he was apprenticed to his older brother James in his print shop, but the brothers did not get along so Franklin left for Philadelphia where he found work at print shops and, having established his own shop, began to publish
The Pennsylvania Gazette in 1730, writing many of the articles himself. The Gazette and the almanac that he published every year for many years (Poor Richard's Almanac) made him quite rich.... continued
Read in Full
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 10. Win This Book: 500 Copies to Give Away!
 Only Time Will Tell by Jeffrey ArcherPublished Aug 2011
400 pages
Enter the Giveaway
From the Jacket The epic tale of Harry Clifton's life begins in 1920, with the words "I was told that my father was killed in the war." A dock worker in Bristol, Harry never knew his father, but he learns about life on the docks from his uncle, who expects Harry to join him at the shipyard once he's left school. But then an unexpected gift wins him a scholarship to an exclusive boys' school, and his life will never be the same again. As he enters into adulthood, Harry finally learns how his father really died, but the awful truth only leads him to question, was he even his father? Is he the son of Arthur Clifton, a stevedore who spent his whole life on the docks, or the firstborn son of a scion of West Country society, whose family owns a shipping line? This introductory novel in Archer's ambitious series The Clifton Chronicles includes a cast of colorful characters and takes us from the ravages of the Great War to the outbreak of the Second World War, when Harry must decide whether to take up a place at Oxford or join the navy and go to war with Hitler's Germany. From the docks of working-class England to the bustling streets of 1940 New York City, Only Time Will Tell takes readers on a journey through to future volumes, which will bring to life one hundred years of recent history to reveal a family story that neither the reader nor Harry Clifton himself could ever have imagined. "I was utterly hooked. It was an absurdly enjoyable read." - The Daily Telegraph
500 people will each win a paper copy of Only Time Will Tell. This giveaway is open to residents of the USA only and is being hosted by the publisher, St Martin's Press.
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In memory of the 10 journalists from satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, and the two policeman, who were murdered yesterday:
 | Nous Sommes Charlie
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