|
|
Weekly Words about BooksMarch 9, 2014
|
 |
|
Book Clubs, Take Note of
These New Paperbacks
|
Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. I wrote about Adichie last May when Americanah came up in hardcover. Her debut novel Purple Hibiscus (2003) received rave reviews and favorable comparisons to legendary  Nigerian writer Chinua Achebe. Next came Half of a Yellow Sun, which won the 2007 Orange Prize and was a National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist, then a short story collection titled The Thing Around Your Neck.
Her latest work is a compelling and meaty new novel about a young woman from Nigeria who leaves behind her home and her first love to start a new life in America, only to find her dreams are not all she expected. Reviews have been great, with NPR calling it a "knockout of a novel about immigration, American dreams, the power of first love, and the shifting meanings of skin color."
We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. The Santa Cruz, CA, author is best known for The Jane Austen Book Club, but she's hardly a one-book wonder. We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves  was on the Best of 2013 lists of the likes of The New York Times Book Review, Slate, Chicago Tribune, and The Christian Science Monitor.
Coming of age in middle America,18-year-old protagonist Rosemary tells the story of how her entire youth was defined by an unusual family member - an endearing chimpanzee whom Rosemary loved as a sister. That relationship and the chimp's expulsion from the family when Rosemary is six is the crux of this powerful and sometimes unsettling novel. In crafting her story, Fowler drew on true accounts of animal behaviorists raising chimps with infant children, and the verisimilitude adds greatly to the book's appeal.
How to Get Filthy Rich in Rising Asia by Mohsin Hamid. This tale of a man's journey from impoverished rural boy to corporate tycoon has its roots in the business self-help books that are popular with ambitious youths all over "rising Asia." It was well received by independent booksellers, making the Indie Next list last March when it was first released in hardcover. Here's what one bookseller wrote:
"This is a slick, fast-paced novel that breaks the bounds of literary convention while immersing readers in the life of a poor young man trying to make his fortune. The characters and places remain nameless, which allows them to represent 'Anywhere, Asia' and yet somehow we come to know them deeply and believe in their specific reality. The young man's fortunes rise and fall through a series of lucky encounters, chances taken, and circumstances both in and out of his control. In the end, this book is less about individual actions and more about the inexorable power and energy of Rising Asia. As in his previous novels, Hamid's writing is taut and beautifully crafted."
- Caitlin Caulfield, Odyssey Bookshop, South Hadley, MA | |
|
|
Children's Update - Mockingjay and Big Nate
| | The third book in the Hunger Games trilogy, Mockingjay, is finally out in paperback, and it's  worth the wait. Author Suzanne Collins wraps up everything quite nicely, as Jennifer Law -- I'm sorry, Katniss Everdeen returns to lead the revolution that has been roiling through the first two books, The Hunger Games and Catching Fire.
For the younger set, the popular Big Nate series now numbers six with the publication of Big Nate: In t he Zone, starring the one and only cartooning genius, king of detention, and Cheez Doodle connoisseur Nate Wright. The mix of text and comic strip art has made the series a big hit - even Diary of a Wimpy Kid author Jeff Kinney is a fan.
|
|
|
Just For Fun
| |
These two ads are from a campaign for Steimatzky Books, the largest and oldest bookstore chain in Israel. The copy block says "The Right Book Will Always Keep You Company." The book on the floor in the first ad is
Pippi Longstocking; in the second, the woman has fallen asleep reading a volume of Sherlock Holmes stories.
|
|
Join the
Get Hut's Place
Every Week -
No Charge!
If You're Already a Subscriber, How About Forwarding to a Friend?
Your e-mail will
never be shared!
|
|
A LITTLE BIT ABOUT ME
| |
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.
|
|
WHERE TO
FIND AN INDEPENDENT BOOKSTORE
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.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
