********* updated after book club vote to let you all know that we chose EVERYTHING BEAUTIFUL BEGAN AFTER!!! ***********
I will be pitching the following titles to my club on Thursday. Which would YOU vote for? The blurbs are from goodreads.com and I am including the Kindle pricing because almost all of my friends have that eReader. Clicking on the book cover will take you to goodreads.
Everything Beautiful Began After 
by Simon Van Booy. A huge favorite of those bloggers who adore Mr. Van Booy. I have read a short story collection and I must say, his writing IS beautiful. I purchased a copy at the first day of the Borders-Is-Going-Out-Of-Biz sale. #sob Paperback 416 pages, Kindle $9.99
Simon Van Booy brings to the page his unique talent for poetic dialogue and sumptuous imagery in this his remarkable debut novel of love and loss, dependence and independence. Rebecca has come to Athens to paint. Born and raised in the south of France, Rebecca’s mother abandoned her and her sister when they were very young, left to be raised by her loving yet distant grandfather. Young and lost, she seeks solace in the heat of Athens. George has come to Athens to translate language. Dropped off at a New England boarding school when he was a child, he has close to no relationships with anyone, except the study of ancient language and alcohol. Henry has come to Athens to dig. An archaeologist, Henry is on-site at Athens during the day, and roams the Agora on the weekend. Three lost and lonely souls whose worlds become inexorable enmeshed with consequences that ripple far among the ruins of ancient Athens.
∏
Two Rivers 
by T. Greenwood. I know absolutely nothing about this (and will TRY to not even even read the blurb I’m about to cut and paste!) My friend just loaned this to me and it was included in the Reading Group Choices 2010 edition. Paperback 367 pages, Kindle $9.60
“Two Rivers is a convergence of tales, a reminder that the past never washes away, and yet, in T. Greenwood’s delicate handling of time gone and time to come, love and forgiveness wait on the other side of what life does to us and what we do to it. This novel is a sensitive and suspenseful portrayal of family and the ties that bind.” –Lee Martin, author of The Bright Forever and River of Heaven
∏
How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe 
by Charles Yu. I read a review of this at Ti’s BOOK CHATTER blog and knew that I must read. I also think the idea of a book club is to read something one might never ever pick up without a nudge. Hardcover 234 pages, Kindle $11.99
National Book Foundation 5 Under 35 Award winner Charles Yu delivers his debut novel, a razor-sharp, ridiculously funny, and utterly touching story of a son searching for his father . . . through quantum space & time.
∏
and finally, NOT that I have a favorite but this one excites me: The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb 
by Melanie Benjamin. The subject of this historical fiction novel grew up in the town I now live in. WICKED COOL! And the reviews so far are GUSHING-good. Hardcover 448 pages $15.44, Kindle $12.99
She was only two-foot eight-inches tall, but her legend reaches out to us more than a century later. As a child, Mercy Lavinia “Vinnie” Bump was encouraged to live a life hidden away from the public. Instead, she reached out to the immortal impresario P. T. Barnum, married the tiny superstar General Tom Thumb in the wedding of the century, and transformed into the world’s most unexpected celebrity.
A barnstorming novel of the Gilded Age, and of a woman’s public triumphs and personal tragedies, The Autobiography of Mrs. Tom Thumb is the irresistible epic of a heroine who conquered the country with a heart as big as her dreams—and whose story will surely win over yours.
OK! Time to vote! I will be sending my club the link to this so they can vote as well. I have the power to dictate WHICH book to read but not yet sure which one I would pick. Thank you. And have a nice day.
HIdeinWhitetoSkipLine
Recent Comments