[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Fiction A to Z March 2010

From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Mon, 15 Mar 2010 08:55:40 -0400
Fiction A to Z March 2010

"Who forces time is pushed back by time; who yields to time finds time on his 
side."
~ The Talmud
New and Recently Released!

The Room and the Chair: A Novel - by Lorraine Adams
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/09/2010
ISBN-13: 9780307272416
ISBN-10: 0307272419
Set just after 9/11, The Room and the Chair falls somewhere between a suspense 
novel and a literary one, featuring as it does covert military operations,
a Washington newsroom, and "darkly poetic" prose (Booklist). Of the many 
characters populating this book, foremost are a 32-year-old fighter pilot forced
to eject when her Viper malfunctions and crashes into the Potomac, and Vera 
Hastings, the African-American rookie journalist who investigates the story.
In her second novel, which bounces from black ops in Afghanistan to newsroom 
scuttlebutt, author Lorraine Adams remains an "enormously stimulating writer"
(Kirkus Reviews).

Shadow Tag - by Louise Erdrich
Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/02/2010
ISBN-13: 9780061536090
ISBN-10: 0061536091
Psychological warfare is the name of the game in this tale of domestic strife 
by bestselling author Louise Erdrich. Though she includes many themes of Native
American history and identity, Erdrich's main focus is the disintegrating 
marriage between part-Ojibwe academic Irene America and her husband, Gil, an
artist known for his large, graphic portraits of Irene in various poses of 
subjugation and degradation. When Irene realizes that Gil is reading her diary,
she invents entries meant to enrage him into leaving her. Between Irene's 
problems with alcohol, Gil's brutalism, their mutual hostility--and their three
children, caught in the middle--Shadow Tag is bleak and dark, but as befits 
Erdrich's talents, also "masterfully concentrated and gripping" (Booklist).

Union Atlantic: A Novel - by Adam Haslett
Publisher: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/09/2010
ISBN-13: 9780385524476
ISBN-10: 0385524471
Doug Fanning is a wealthy, narcissistic bachelor responsible for turning a 
healthy regional bank into a powerful international conglomerate--one whose 
financial
services are not necessarily built on the soundest of principles. Still...it's 
made Doug and his firm rich. To congratulate himself, he's built a McMansion
on what used to be a picturesque hillside in Massachusetts, enraging his 
idealistic neighbor, Charlotte Graves. Charlotte--who believes her two dogs are
the reincarnations of Cotton Mather and Malcolm X--plans to sue Doug. But 
despite the extremely topical nature of this novel, this novel is about more
than just our financial crisis or a neighborly feud. Pick it up if you're 
looking for a complex, beautifully written, and thought-provoking novel.

The Wife's Tale: A Novel - by Lori Lansens
Publisher: Little, Brown
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/10/2010
ISBN-13: 9780316069311
ISBN-10: 0316069310
The night before their 25th wedding anniversary, Mary Gooch's husband doesn't 
come home. For years, Mary has been increasingly isolating herself, which
has manifested itself emotionally (she pushes her husband and others away) and 
physically (she weighs over 300 pounds). The disappearance of her husband,
however, motivates Mary to reenter the world, and she leaves her native 
Canadian town for her mother-in-law's home in California. There, Mary slowly 
relearns
how to take risks and stand on her own two feet. This character-driven novel 
will appeal to readers who appreciate author Lori Lansens' portrait of a woman
who is struggling to better herself.

Searching for Tina Turner - by Jacqueline Luckett
Publisher: Grand Central
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 01/27/2010
ISBN-13: 9780446542968
ISBN-10: 0446542962
Though from the outside 52-year-old Lena Spencer might look like she's got it 
all (her husband, Randall, is close to being the first black CEO of his company
and provides a more than comfortable lifestyle), she's in the midst of a 
mid-life crisis. Should she continue to support her self-absorbed husband on his
quest for his goals--or finally start reaching for her own? Turning to Tina 
Turner's life and music for inspiration--and as a guide for her own search
for success and happiness--Lena eventually decides to attend a Tina Turner 
concert in France, where the story really takes off. If you're a fan of Terry
McMillan's How Stella Got Her Groove Back, you won't want to miss this debut.

Apparition & Late Fictions: A Novella and Stories - by Thomas Lynch
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/08/2010
ISBN-13: 9780393042078
ISBN-10: 0393042073
The short fictions in this collection by poet Thomas Lynch are set mostly in 
Michigan's north woods, but they are also linked by loss--at the center of
each is a character who has lost a parent, a spouse, a child. In "Bloodsport," 
a funeral director remembers the childhood of a young woman he is now preparing
for burial; in "Apparition," the driving force is divorce. Lynch, who took over 
his father's funeral home in the 1970s, has also written a series of essays
on death and the attending rites of passage; these were collected in The 
Undertaking, which was a National Book Award finalist.
A Year of...

A Year in the Merde - by Stephen Clarke
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/02/2006
ISBN-13: 9781582346175
ISBN-10: 1582346178
Supposedly based on the author's own experiences, A Year in the Merde follows 
Paul West's adventures as a British expatriate living in Paris. Brought there
by a French firm to open a chain of British tea rooms, Paul soon sees much to 
dislike about France (the food, his business associates) and to like (mostly,
the women). With pointed commentary about inefficient French business 
practices, the snobbery of Parisians, the laziness of the workers, and the 
scheming
nature of Paul's boss, A Year in the Merde nevertheless showcases all there is 
to love about France. Perfect for armchair travelers wishing to visit France,
as long as you've got a sense of humor. Check out In the Merde for Love for 
more.

A Seahorse Year - by Stacey D'Erasmo
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/13/2005
ISBN-13: 9780618618873
ISBN-10: 0618618872
In San Francisco, 16-year-old Christopher has gone missing, after acting 
increasingly unlike himself. His mother, Nan, is crazed with worry, as are 
Marina,
Nan's lover, and Hal, Christopher's father (who, while a sperm donor, is very 
involved in Christopher's life). Already coping with complex emotional issues,
the three adults must refocus their energies on helping their son, who 
eventually is diagnosed with schizophrenia but continues to court disaster 
despite
the help he receives. With a narrative point of view that alternates among the 
characters, this is a finely wrought portrait of a family and its domestic
drama.
First Chapter

The Shadow Year - by Jeffrey Ford
Publisher: HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/01/2009
ISBN-13: 9780061231537
ISBN-10: 0061231533
It's the mid-1960s in the Long Island town where the unnamed narrator, a 
sixth-grade boy, and his siblings live with their mostly absent father and 
alcoholic
mother. Despite the lack of adults in their lives, the kids are doing 
ok--together, they've created a model of their town, complete with clay figures 
standing
in for neighbors, friends, and foes. But soon events in their town turn 
menacing, when a boy disappears and a prowler haunts the streets. With elements
of mystery, fantasy, and an enticingly spooky atmosphere, The Shadow Year is 
likely to appeal to readers who like genre-bending novels; author Jeffrey
Ford has won the Edgar (a mystery award) and been nominated for a Nebula for 
science fiction.
First Chapter

My Year of Meats - by Ruth L. Ozeki
Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/01/1999
ISBN-13: 9780140280463
ISBN-10: 0140280464
Japanese-American Jane Tagaki-Little's salary is paid by the beef industry; her 
job is to travel across America filming attractive, robust housewives creating
yummy (beef-based) recipes for Japanese television. In Japan, Akiko Ueno, the 
wife of the show's head ad exec, watches the show and dutifully cooks the
recipes. As Jane becomes more aware of the unwholesome side of the meat 
industry, she uses the show to undermine it, and Akiko comes to understand that
she doesn't have to settle for a loveless marriage. My Year of Meats is 
issue-oriented yet entertaining, but a word of caution to burger lovers: reading
this book may cause a change in your eating habits.

The Year of Fog: A Novel - by Michelle Richmond
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/27/2007
ISBN-13: 9780385340113
ISBN-10: 0385340117
Walking one morning on a San Francisco beach, photographer Abby Mason's 
attention is drawn to a dead baby seal. When she looks up once more, her 
fiance's
six-year-old daughter has vanished in the fog. The search for Emma begins 
immediately, but as time passes, her father begins to believe that she is dead;
Abby, meanwhile, feels enormous guilt and refuses to accept that Emma drowned, 
instead believing that she has been kidnapped. As the year unfolds, Abby
sees a hypnotist for help in searching her memory for clues, joins the sad 
sub-culture of of those with missing children, and fights for her relationship.
A "mesmerizing" novel, says Library Journal, and sure to appeal to fans of Jodi 
Picoult or Jacquelyn Mitchard.
First Chapter



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[bksvol-discuss] Fw: Fiction A to Z March 2010

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