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

Motivation for the New Year!

Need a little inspiration to help you with those New Year's resolutions? Look no further than your favorite book store! Here are a few of the motivational (and educational) books available at Hatties' to help you on your journey to health and happiness in 2012.

Eat to Live: The Amazing Nutrient-Rich Program for Fast and Sustained Weight Loss

Joel Fuhrman

Clean: The Revolutionary Program to Restore the Body’s Natural Ability to Heal Itself
Alejandro Junger

Younger Next Year: Live Strong, Fit, and Sexy —
Until You’re 80 and Beyond

Chris Crowley, Henry S. Lodge

Our Bodies, Ourselves 40
Boston Women’s Health Book Collective
This is the 40th Anniversary Publication of this wonderful book! I'm definitely in for a copy of this classic!

Change Your Brain, Change Your Body
Daniel G. Amen

What French Women Know
Debra Ollivier

2011 Bestsellers - How Does Hattie's List Stack Up?

Today, I was curious... what are the current bestsellers in the marketplace and how does Hattie's list of bestsellers this year compare? There are several intervening factors which skew the list from Hattie's, but it is still interesting to see the intersections. Hattie's book club selections are always bestsellers including this year's Big Read book, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald (you probably won't find that on any other bestseller list!)

The top seller at Hattie's Books this year to date? Spencer Spider Spins Spinach Over Spaghetti by Mattie Brown and illustrated by our very own Ed Hose! Hattie's also provides books to a certain local school (Thanks Frederica Academy!) which also gives our best seller list a certain intellectual flair.  (Think Twelve Angry Men, Raisin in the Sun, The Odyssey, and Beowulf!) If we drill down past the required reading, Hattie's customers like many of the books on every other bestseller list.

Number one on the Indie Fiction Bestsellers in paperback from this week is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. The Help has been very popular at Hattie's also, but because of the long delay in the book coming to paperback, many readers in Brunswick opted to bite the bullet and purchase the hardcover edition.

Number four on the Paperback Indie Fiction Bestsellers this week was Abraham Verghese's Cutting for Stone, a beautifully written and engaging story that our book club thoroughly enjoyed. At Hattie's Books, Cutting for Stone sales slightly edged out The Help.

When it comes to nonfiction, the number one spot on the Indie Paperback Bestsellers is held by The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. Although Hattie's Book Club reads predominantly fiction, this was one of our selections this year and it was almost universally appreciated. From the numbers, it looks like the sales were confined to members of the book club and quite honestly, that is a shame. This is a book that everyone would enjoy reading. I'm typically a diehard nonfiction disliker and I loved The Immortal Life.

These are just some musings as we start to edge into the end of the year. Have you read any of these books? Do you have a favorite? We'd love to hear from you!

Georgia Book Award Nominees Are A Great Bet!

Each year books are nominated for the Georgia Book Awards by teachers and media specialists from the state of Georgia. The award is given in two categories – picture books and middle grade novels. The final list of 20 nominees are selected by a committee of teachers and media specialists (chaired by a member of the University of Georgia faculty from the Department of Language and Literacy Education). 

(information from the Georgia Book Awards Website)

Mimi Mayberry-White, media specialist at Glynn Middle School says,

 "We want our students to enjoy reading and to be lifelong readers – many of these books will be the ones that turn them on to reading. At GMS, we can’t keep the Georgia Book Award Nominees on the shelf!

These book nominees are one of my first stops when looking for books that will  engage my girl's book club. The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins is one of this year's nominees and an easy favorite for taking the prize. In March, kids get to vote and this beginning novel of the trilogy is a big favorite, plus the movie will be coming out at the same time (March 23).

But since most teens and preteens may have already read The Hunger Games, the list has lots of great choices. The first book from the list that my daughter and I both read this fall was Out of My Mind by Sharon M. Draper. Melody is eleven years old and has never spoken a word. Chapter 2 opens with this exposition.

"I can't talk, I can't walk. I can't feed myself or take myself to the bathroom. Big bummer."

The reader gets pulled into Melody's life, just as she finally has the opportunity to communicate with the outside world through a device that can talk for her. This is no sappy idealized story about a girl with cerebral palsy. It is a realistic look at how "different" children are treated and how it feels to be one. Melody is a character that will stick with you and I'm pretty sure you will be glad you took the time to step into her mind!