The Autumn Season's Reasons to Read
The breeze is blowing outside the window, the sun is lower in the sky, and many new releases are lining up to bring in Fall 2006! From Non-Fiction, to Fiction to Children's books you won't want to miss, here are just a few we recommend...
NON-FICTION
The Discomfort Zone, by Jonathan Franzen
The Jonathan Franzen Memoir! Those of you who enjoyed The Corrections will be happy to know that Franzen's latest is now available at Village Books! Kirkus Reviews says, "Franzen displays his mastery of nonfiction in this compact, affecting memoir, which begins with the aftermath of his mother's death and ends with a quiet epiphany about love." This is also available on CD read by the author.
I Feel Bad About My Neck and Other Thoughts on Being a Woman, by Nora Ephron
Yes, that most perceptive and humorous woman is attacking our biggest nemesis! Janet Maslin of the New York Times says, "This brief, long-overdue book is for readers still willing to buy into Ms. Ephron's familiar writing persona: that of a sharp, funny, theatrically domesticated New Yorker who can throw both arrows and good money at the petty things that plague her. When she says that she can trace the history of the last 40 years through changing trends in lettuce, she isn't kidding." This is also available on CD read by the author.
I Feel Earthquakes More Often than They Happen, by Amy Wilentz
This author relocates to Los Angeles with her family after having spent her life on the East Coast and offers insightful, biting and humorous writing as she remarks on the differences. Publishers Weekly says, "Through Wilentz's Gulliveresque chronicles of the gubernatorial recall, natural disasters and Hollywood, there surfaces a clear affinity for the "showmanship" and "blowhardism" upon which California is founded."
FICTION
Special Topics in Calamity Physics, by Marisha Pessl
There's much 'buzz' about this new, first novel. "A darkly hilarious coming of age novel" says the publisher. "A stunning debut" says Publishers Weekly. Library Journal says, "Precocious Blue van Meer is used to moving around with her professor father, who travels from job to job and affair to affair. But she's not prepared for the consequences when both friend and a favorite teacher die tragically. A much-touted debut..."
The Guy Not Taken, by Jennifer Weiner
I just love this title! It's a collection of 11 stories following the progress of love throughout the course of a lifetime. These characters "feel like they could be your best friend" (Janet Maslin).
CHILDREN'S
Is There Really a Human Race?, by Jamie Lee Curtis, Laura Cornell (Illustrator)
Is there really a human race?
Is it going on now all over the place?
When did it start?
Who said, "Ready, Set, Go"?
Did it start on my birthday?
I really must know.
From Kirkus Review: "Teammates Curtis and Cornell have once again produced a winningly simple yet profound picture book that uses a play on the word "race" to ask, through a varity of child-posed questions, about the significant competition we all face as humans."
The End: Book the Thirteenth, by Lemony Snicket
This is coming out October 13th (Friday the 13th of course!) Alas, 'tis come to an end! This from the author:"Dear Reader, ...This book is the last in A Series of Unfortunate Events, and even if you braved the previous twelve volumes, you probably can't stand such unpleasantries as a fearsome storm, a suspicious beverage, a herd of wild sheep, an enormous bird cage, and a truly haunting secret about the Baudelaire parents." But you must!