Between the Lines

Well it took me a fair bit of the summer to get through its 831 pages but I did finish Game of Thrones and liked it quite a bit. Will move on to book two- A Clash of Kings- of George Martin's A Song of Fire and Ice series pretty soon- can't wait to see what happens next in this imaginary land. His latest, Dance with Dragons went straight to the top of bestseller lists. If you liked Lord of the Rings and are a fan of medieval historical fiction, you'll like this series too. (Husband Chris really enjoyed the HBO series of the same name.) Picked up Deadly Appearances by Canadian author, Gail Bowen. This is the first in her Joanne Kilbourn mystery series. Set in Saskatchewan, there's a lot of politics involved but Kilbourn is a likeable character and it was readable. Duck's Cottage Reading Group met last month and half-heartedly discussed The Slap. We also shared books recently read and enjoyed. A few recommended stand-outs: Faithful Place (Tana French), Peace Like A River (Leif Enger), The Weird Sisters (Eleanor Brown), Summer Rental (Mary Kay Andrews) and In The Garden of Beasts (Larson). We selected our next six books which are- Doc (Mary Doria Russell), A Friend of the Family (Lauren Grodstein), Lost in Shangri-La (Mitchell Zuckoff), State of Wonder (Ann Patchett), The Raising (Laura Kasischke) and Nothing Daunted (Dorothy Wickenden). Books this summer that just keep selling and selling: The Help, the entire Hunger Games trilogy and Cutting for Stone. Really hard to get from publishers- State of Wonder, Room and Summer Rental. Jaycee Dugard's memoir A Stolen Life is selling briskly and Tina Fey's Bossypants continues to do well. 

A recent hardback I liked tremendously is Alice LaPlante's Turn of Mind about a female doctor suffering from Alzheimer's. She still lives alone but her daughter checks in often, they've developed a notebook system to help her keep up with her 'lost hours'. Unfortunately, her lifelong best friend who lives around the corner has just been murdered- the police think she may have done it, but she can't remember. Great read.

Have you heard about Go the F*k to Sleep by Adam Mansbach? HYSterical- a really funny spoof on a children's 'go to sleep' book that adeptly captures the frustration a parent can feel when their little darling just won't close their eyes. A $4.99 CD of the book is read by none other than Samuel L. Jackson- perfect voice for this one. Keith Richard's bio- Life- has been a strong seller all summer and the audio version features both his voice and Johnny Depps.

Several YA titles that have been recommended lately: Austen and Selena both said anything by John Greene is worth reading so I started Looking for Alaska. Also the Michael Grant 'Gone' series has been selling briskly- one day in Perdido Beach, CA everyone over the age of 13 vanishes and an impenetrable wall prevents any adults from stepping in to help with the resulting chaos. To make matters worse, as time goes by, kids continue to disappear when they reach the age of 14. Sounds like Stephen King for teens and I can't wait to read it.

Really enjoyed Jerry Radford's latest The Banks Club. A group of friends from Richmond, VA, is enjoying a golf trip to the Outer Banks when one disappears into the woods searching for an ill-shot golf ball... and never comes out. Inventive plot and of course love the settings. Jerry will be here signing books on August 11.

New book out this month by Maxine Swann- The Foreigners. I liked her previous titles- Flower Children and Serious Girls. The Foreigners is set in Buenos Aires and follows three very different women trying to find their place in the world. 

Jamie's Book Club: the July Selection

For July, I looked for a book perfect for the summer reading season- I found it in The Ice Princess by Camilla Lackberg. In the wake of Stiegg Larsson's tremendous albeit posthumous success, publishers are deluging the American bookselling market with Scandanavian authors- Nesbo, Mankell, Kepler and more. I found Lackberg really stood out from the rest with more relatable characters, easy to follow story lines, a good pace (many of these Nords tend to plod!)and a really unique setting for her murder mystery- Fjallbacka, Sweden- a sleepy seaside village that, due to its location, is experiencing a real estate boom! Erica Flack has put her life aside for awhile in order to return to her hometown and wrap up her parent's estate. Her past returns in a rush as she discovers her best friend from childhood dead in an apparent suicide while another friend, the boy who always had googly eyes for her, is the chief investigator. Meanwhile, her sister's abusive husband wants to sell her childhood home as urbanites have discovered this quiet coastal haven and are reclaiming it as a weekend getaway town. 

This is a great summer read, beach book or anytime diversion! I can't wait to read her latest book, The Preacher, in which Erica (and a few other characters) return to the page.

BUY IT NOW! 

Four weeks left of Summer.

Swim more.

Play harder.

Eat fresher.

Have fun. Lots.

Get out in the sun.

Enjoy everyday.

Winter is coming.

lol

Jamie Layton

 Duck's Cottage