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Weekly Words about BooksAUGUST 25, 2013
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New on Independent Bookstore Shelves - Four to Look For
| How the Light Gets in: A Chief Inspector Gamache Novel by Louise Penny. When the first Inspector Armand Gamache mystery, Still Life, was published in 1986, reviewers called the book " a stellar debut" and said Gamache was  an "engaging hero" who was "destined for stardom." And yet, even as former Canadian journalist Penny continued to deliver first-rate mysteries featuring the Surete du Quebec detective, she stayed largely below the radar for many years. Mystery aficionados knew of her, but it was only in the last couple of years that her books have become more widely read.
Her most recent novel before this one, A Beautiful Mystery, was an independent bookstore bestseller and is now out in paperback. Her ninth Gamache installment, How the Light Gets In, hits  bookstore shelves this week, buoyed by publisher support and a big print run. It's a sequel to A Beautiful Mystery, as Gamache fights efforts to push him into retirement and the betrayal of his second-in-command. Fortunately, a baffling murder occurs to distract Gamache from personal problems.
If you're already a fan, a new Chief Inspector Gamache book is a welcome arrival. If you haven't discovered him yet, and you are a mystery reader, you're in for a treat. If you can't find one of Penny's earlier efforts, A Beautiful Mystery and How the Light Gets In provide a welcome introduction to both the series and a writer who has hit her stride.
NW by Zadie Smith. When Smith burst on the literary scene in 2000 with White Teeth, a novel about race and identity in modern-day London, critics compared her to the likes of Dickens, Irving, and Rushdie. Since then she's written three other novels, including NW, which was named one of the New York  Times Book Review's 10 Best Books of 2012 and is now in paperback.
Set in northwest London, the tragicomic novel follows four locals - Leah, Natalie, Fox, and Nathan - as they try to make adult lives outside of the projects of their childhood. Depicting modern urban life - familiar to city-dwellers everywhere - Smith writes about the growing chasm between haves and have-nots in a melting pot of a city. It's not a linear tale that takes readers from A to B - one critic calls the book "a master class in freestyle fiction writing" - but Smith's narrative prowess and ear for dialogue are undeniable.
A HUNDRED FLOWERS by Gail Tsukiyama. Born to a Chinese mother and a Japanese father in San Francisco, Tsukiyama has weaved her heritage into several wonderful novels, including book club staples like Women of the Silk and The Samurai's Garden. Her latest is just out in paperback - a powerful story of an ordinary family facing extraordinary times at the st art of the Chinese Cultural Revolution China in 1957.
The book's title comes from a line delivered by Chairman Mao in declaring a new openness in society: "Let a hundred flowers bloom; let a hundred schools of thought contend." Good luck with that - soon thereafter, a university professor is dragged away for writing a letter criticizing the Communist Party and sent to a labor camp for "reeducation." As his wife struggles to hold her small family together, other members of the household must face their own guilty secrets and strive to find peace in a world where the old sense of order is falling.
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The Master of Legal Thrillers Delivers Again
| | Also just out in paperback, in both the large trade and pocket book sizes, is The Racketeer, the latest legal thriller from one of the genre's leading practitioners, John Grisham. Not  surprisingly, the book delivers what Grisham fans have come to expect - a fast-paced thriller with a strong plot line and satisfying ending. He's not a flashy, show-off writer, just one who understands pacing and how to keep readers turning pages.
Here's a description of The Racketeer from the publisher:
In the history of the United States, only four active federal judges have been murdered. Judge Raymond Fawcett has just become number five. His body is found in his remote lakeside cabin. There is no sign of forced entry or struggle. Just two dead bodies: Judge Fawcett and his young secretary. And one large, state-of-the-art, extremely secure safe, opened and emptied.
One man, a former attorney, knows who killed Judge Fawcett, and why. But that man, Malcolm Bannister, is currently residing in the Federal Prison Camp near Frostburg, Maryland. Though serving time, Malcolm has an ace up his sleeve. He has information the FBI would love to know. Malcolm would love to tell them. But everything has a price - and the man known as the Racketeer wasn't born yesterday.
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A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
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My name is Hut Landon. I'm a former bookstore owner who now runs the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association (NCIBA) in San Francisco.
My goal with this newsletter is to keep readers up to date about new books hitting the shelves, share what booksellers are recommending in their stores, and pass on occasional news about the book world.
I'm not into long, wordy reviews or literary criticism; I'd like HUT'S PLACE to be a quick, fun read for book buyers.If you have any friends who you think might like receiving this column each week, simply click on "Forward this email" below and enter their email address. There is also a box in which to add a short message.
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WHERE TO FIND A BOOKSTORE
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Many of you already have a favorite local bookstore, but for those of you without such a relationship, this link will take you to a list of Northern California indie bookstores by region.
If you live or work elsewhere, you can click here to find the nearest indie bookstore by simply entering your postal code.
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