Summer '12 Reading Suggestions from the Indie Next List

Each summer, Indie Bound puts together a list of book suggestions for reading groups. Many people read from this list all year long... I'm including the top five picks from the list here. For the full list and more details, stop by Hattie's Books in downtown Brunswick! It's a great time to read.

The Tiger's Wife
A Novel, by Téa Obreht

“Very rarely does a first novel announce a major new talent, but so it is with The Tiger's Wife. Brilliantly using myth and legend from the Balkans, Tea Obreht tells the story of a young doctor, her grandfather, and their shared history against the backdrop of the area's decades of turmoil and sorrow. This brilliant effort evokes echoes of Borges and Garcia Marquez, and is certain to mesmerize the reader.”

-- Bill Cusumano, Nicola's Books, Ann Arbor, MI

The Art of Fielding: A Novel
Chad Harbach
“Every now and then, a life-affirming novel comes along that gets everybody talking and The Art of Fielding is such a book. It is an accomplished first novel sure to raise the bar for every debut in the near future. Building from the loaded bases of a Wisconsin college baseball field, Harbach's team is like family; we cheer their victories, feel their losses, and grow up a little more with every lesson learned. Anyone claiming to be a reader cannot miss this grand slam of a book.”

—Sarah Bagby, Watermark Books, Wichita, KS

The Art of Hearing Heartbeats: A Novel
Jan-Philipp Sendker
“This is one of the most beautiful love stories I've ever read. Two people, doomed to a life of misery, find pure happiness in sharing their love even when time, distance, and family keep them apart. While you are reading this wonderful novel, your life might actually change; you will notice things you never did before, and your senses will be heightened and sharpened whether hearing, smelling, tasting, feeling, or even seeing. Read this book -- you will neither regret nor forget it.”

—Jean-Paul Adriaansen, Water Street Books, Exeter, NH

Turn of Mind
Alice LaPlante
“This is an emotionally intense story of a 64-year-old hand surgeon, Jennifer White, as she experiences the unyielding onslaught of dementia. On any given day she is lucid, catatonic, violent, or very, very sly. Does she feel any remorse for her less-than-stellar parenting of her two children? Did she kill her friend Amanda and amputate her fingers? LaPlante's exceptional skill with words puts readers inside this brilliant woman's mind so that we might experience her anger, frustration, and increasing confusion. This is a remarkable, heart-wrenching, and utterly compelling debut novel.”                        —Susan Wasson, Bookworks, Albuquerque, NM

State of Wonder: A Novel
Ann Patchett
“When Marina Singh receives a note that her office mate, Anders Eckman, has died in the Amazon while investigating scientific work on female fertility, she is persuaded to follow him into the jungle in search of the doctor with whom he worked -- who has also exerted a crucial influence on Marina's life - and to retrieve Anders' personal effects. This spellbinding, richly atmospheric novel raises ethical questions about scientific research and discovery, loyalty, honesty, and love. Not to be missed!”         —Tova Beiser, Brown University Bookstore, Providence, RI

Now in Paperback

State of Wonder

by Ann Patchett

“When Marina Singh receives a note that her office mate, Anders Eckman, has died in the Amazon while investigating scientific work on female fertility, she is persuaded to follow him into the jungle in search of the doctor with whom he worked - who has also exerted a crucial influence on Marina's life - and to retrieve Anders' personal effects. This spellbinding, richly atmospheric novel raises ethical questions about scientific research and discovery, loyalty, honesty, and love. Not to be missed!”

Tova Beiser, Brown University Bookstore, Providence, RI

The Lady of the Rivers

by Philippa Gregory

“I was riveted from the beginning of this amazing novel, when Jaquetta, a powerful, passionate woman born in tumultuous times, is introduced to Joan of Arc. From Jaquetta's marriage at a young age to a much older duke, and how she negotiates their relationship and her place in court, to her falling in love with a brave knight, Jacquetta's story will keep you transfixed. A riveting read for lovers of historical fiction and fans of Philippa Gregory. You won't be disappointed!”

Kym Havens, Wellesley Booksmith, Wellesley, MA

Caleb's Crossing

by Geraldine Brooks

“Caleb's Crossing reveals how early pioneers and native inhabitants of what is now Martha's Vineyard were capable of intense friendship and a sharing of spiritual beliefs despite dissimilar backgrounds. Employing the language of the time, Brooks once again proves her prowess in this story of the education of the first Native American to graduate from Harvard College. Caleb, the son of a chieftain, faces criticism from his own people as well as from white society. The narrator, Bethia Mayfield, desires the same education as Caleb but is denied due to her sex. The two become lifelong friends and their story is an emotional and evocative look at a crossing of cultures.”

Karen Briggs, Great Northern Books and Hobbies, Oscoda, MI 

The Language of Flowers

by Vanessa Diffenbaugh

“During the Victorian era, flowers conveyed expressions of love and were often used as a form of communication. Victoria Jones, an abandoned child who has been evicted from many group homes, learns this language, and upon her emancipation at age 18, eventually finds a job with a caring florist. A chance meeting at a flower market forces her to confront her past and learn to love and trust someone again. Diffenbaugh's extraordinary debut brings forth in elegant prose the emotions of anger and mistrust, love and loss, and the possibilities for a second chance at happiness.”

Annie Philbrick, Bank Square Books, Mystic, CT

The Last Werewolf

by Glen Duncan

“With this novel, Duncan has reinvented a genre. Jake Marlowe is literally the last werewolf in existence, and after 200 years he has resigned himself to a date with his executioner at the next full moon. That is, until everything changes. Duncan's razor-sharp writing combines all the gory raunchiness of classic horror with the elegance of top literary fiction, while also managing to include a considerable amount of hip pop culture. This is a smart and engaging thriller that is not to be missed.”

Katherine Osborne, Kennebooks, Kennebunk, ME

Special Lunch and Discussion with Sea Change Author, Karen White

Hattie's Books is hosting a luncheon and book discussion with Karen White on Tuesday, June 19th from 12:30 to 2:00. Karen newest book, Sea Change is set on St. Simons Island. On her website White says, "it's a book about second chances, leaps of faith, and love."

Lunch will be catered by Suzanne Scaglione's Catering By Design. 

Please choose between:

Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad with Roll, Dessert Bar & Beverage 

OR

4 Salad Medley: Shrimp salad, Pasta Salad, Chicken Salad, Fruit, Cookie & Beverage

The luncheon event is $30 and includes a signed copy of Sea Change. Seating is very limited so make your reservations soon! Payment required with your reservation. Contact Marcia at hattiesbooks@bellsouth.net or 912-554-8677. 

May's First Friday Details Posted in Events!

Check out the details here for May's First Friday author, Kathy A. Bradley. She will be signing her book,  Breathing and Walking Around Meditations on a Life from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. As always, we'd love to see you!

Everyday Food... Three Versions From the Kitchens of Martha Stewart Living

 

You can love Martha, Inc.or hate her (it?) but the formula used to create the Everyday Food franchise is so very appealing. The subtitles for these three cookbooks are Great Food Fast, Fresh Flavor Fast and Light (all recipes under 500 calories).

For the most part, the recipes are flavorful, well written, beautifully photographed, with readily available ingredients. These are fast recipes, but not fast food. For me, the real test with any cookbook is: how often do I use it? These are cookbooks I go back to again and again just because of their "everydayness." To tell the truth, I rarely follow a recipe exactly, but I know folks who do, and have enjoyed using this cookbook because the recipes work well. Another bonus for those who care, nutritional information is included with all the recipes.

Great Food Fast came first, and it is divided by seasons, then by course, with soups & salads, main courses, pasta, sides and desserts in each season. It ends with an excellent section of Basics. I made the Spicy Paprika Rub from the Basics section just last week to cover a pork roast which I grilled. Delicious!

Next came Fresh Flavor Fast which broke away from the seasonal approach and is divided simply into courses, with a helpful Basics, Tips & Techniques Section. The tips in this book are not the standard run of the mill stuff... just looking through it as I was preparing this blog post, I learned how to pit an olive.  The nutritional information for Fresh Flavor Fast is not with the recipes, but it is included in an addendum. A favorite recipe from this book is the "Hot Spinach Dip" which is an easy, crowd pleasing appetizer for any party and it uses fresh spinach!

The newest addition, just in time for bathing suit season is called simply Light. Each healthy recipe includes calories, nutrition breakdown and helpful intros which include "Why It's Light", "Good To Know" and "Flavor Boosters." Light goes back to the seasonal approach, dividing the recipes into season friendly chapters. To me, an advantage of this approach  is that I have fewer recipes to choose from when they all look delish!

I would recommend any of these cookbooks to a friend and have purchased them as gifts. You don't have to love to cook, to love these books!

Book Review - "A Secret Kept"

Written by Tatiana de Rosnay, author of Sarah's Key, A Secret Kept is also a story about the past and its effect on the present. This book is told from the perspective of Antoine Rey, an emotionally wounded man, whose wife has divorced him.

A surprise trip with his sister Melanie for her birthday, to Noirmoutier Island opens the story. They have not visited the magical island since the death of their mother when they were quite young. Melanie was so young the last time they visited, at first she doesn't think she remembers anything. As they approach the island, she remembers Le Gois passage, a causeway that is only available about 4 hours a day at very low tide. If you search You Tube for  Le Gois, there is an amazing trip (by car) across the causeway in which the family just misses disaster!

By the end of the weekend, as Melanie and Antoine leave the island, Melanie is preoccupied. And as she begins to tell her brother what she remembers, she is loses control of the car causing a terrible accident. As Antoine pursues the memory, he uncovers not just the past, but the father and person he is meant to be.

The book club was generally pleased with A Secret Kept. A few members, but not the majority, enjoyed Sarah's Key more. While Antoine was not an immediately likable character, he became more appealing as he faces his life and his shortcomings as a father and partner.

Overall, a thumbs up!

Now in Paperback - March & February

We missed posting last month's now in paperback, so this month will include paperbacks introduced in March and February... all books mentioned are in stock at Hattie's Books now!

“The Pioneer Woman is at it again, but this time she's not dishing up recipes, rather she's giving us the juicy details of her courtship and her first year of marriage with her own 'Marlboro Man.' It's not your conventional fairy tale - Drummond went from designer clothes and spa days to becoming the hard working wife of a cowboy on an isolated ranch. But through it all, it's still clear that she landed one major prince. She traded her glass slippers for cowboy boots--and she couldn't be happier.”

-- Jackie Blem, Tattered Cover Bookstore, Denver, CO

“The sisters in this funny and touching book are not 'weird' in the modern sense of the word; the title refers to the three witches in Shakespeare's Macbeth. Headed by a father who was a professor of Shakespeare and his loving wife, the Adreas family was certainly unusual, and the three daughters grew up speaking in couplets, quoting Hamlet, and reading constantly. When their mother develops breast cancer, all three sisters return to their Midwestern home to aid in her care - and end up caring for each other as well. This is a wonderful tribute to literature, the bonds of sisterhood, and the importance of family.”
-- Ellen Burns, Books On The Common, Ridgefield, CT

“In South Korea in 1960, Soo-Ja Choi is a beautiful young woman from a well-to-do family. As the country is struggling to recover from a divisive war and tries to enter the modern world, Soo-Ja is exploring her options as a young adult. When her father does not allow her to accept a position studying to be a diplomat, he destroys her dreams. Over the next 15 years, she struggles with her life decisions, her new family, and a love she gave up before she understood the permanence of choice. A compulsive read, the novel is based on the life of Park's mother.”
-- Terry Gilman, Mysterious Galaxy Books, San Diego, CA

“This isn't your typical chef memoir. Gabrielle Hamilton has come to the stove by sheer force and tenacity, and it comes through on every page of her book. From a rural childhood with her large family hosting a lamb roast for 100 guests to owning one of the most respected restaurants in New York City, Hamilton's journey hasn't always been easy, but always surrounded by good 'real' food, which is where her passion lies. Hamilton writes so deliciously that your mouth will be watering as you read.”

 -- Sherri Gallentine, Vroman's Bookstore, Pasadena, CA

“On one hand, this is a tremendously affecting biography of William Styron, gorgeously written, dramatic, insightful, and compassionate. On the other, it is Mad Men, all skinny ties, nipped waists, scotch in the afternoon, and torrid love affairs. That the younger Styron has managed to both shed a bright light on her father's career, from its rapid rise in the '50s to its dark decline as a result of profound depression, as well as to entertain with literary name-dropping and party tales is commendable. I loved it!” 

-- Becky Dayton, The Vermont Book Shop, Middlebury, VT