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Hot Fiction: Gold Fame Citrus
by eapearce
The dystopian novel Gold Fame Citrus has gotten a lot of buzz in recent months. Named one of NPR’s Best Books of 2015 and reviewed favorably in the New York Times’ Sunday Book Review, The Lost Angeles Times and The Washington Post, the book shines as brightly as the white dune sea of the near-future southwestern United States that it describes. Author Claire Vaye Watkins is a writing professor here in Ann Arbor at the University of Michigan, and Gold Fame Citrus is a hit of a debut novel.
The apocalyptic world that Watkins paints so vividly is that of fiction… for now. Drought has struck the southwestern United States. High winds and broiling temperatures have created a rolling “dune sea”, devoid of almost all life, and moving across the country at breakneck speed. A few survivors hold out, among them former model Luz Dunn and her partner, Ray. The two live in an abandoned Hollywood mansion, surviving on rationed cola and whatever else they can find. When they discover a child one day, however, their world—unexpectedly stable despite the destruction around them—turns upside down. What follows is a fascinating look at how humans react in the face of fear and the unknown, when survival is constantly on the line. Deciding to leave California, Ray, Luz, and the baby attempt to cross the dune sea to make it to the eastern United States—overcrowded but still livable.
The setting of Gold Fame Citrus is fascinating in and of itself, but Watkins creates such a brilliant storyline and uses such descriptive language that readers may feel as though they are trekking across the dusty landscape next to Ray and Luz, with the sun beating down upon them, tasting salt and grit on their tongue. “Gold Fame Citrus is a dreamy story with a mystical streak and a core of juvenile irresponsibility that does not go unpunished,” writes Jason Sheehan in his review of the book for NPR. “She's [Watkins got a knife eye for details, a vicious talent for cutting to the throbbing vein of animal strangeness that scratches inside all of us.” The characters are as intense as the landscape. Despite being in a place that is entirely unfamiliar to us today, the characters and their reactions make sense to readers, if not always in a positive way. “A great pleasure of the book is Watkins’s fearlessness, particularly in giving her characters free rein to be themselves. People who were shiftless and irresponsible before the disaster are shiftless and irresponsible afterward. This particular apocalypse is not an opportunity for redemption, and no one is ennobled by it,” reads the New York Times review of Gold Fame Citrus. “We were dishonest with ourselves and others before the apocalypse, Watkins suggests, and the same will hold true afterward. The world might be irrevocably altered, but we’re still us.”
Watkins is also the author of the short story collection Battleborn.
Blog Post
New teen fiction: The Smell of Other People's Houses
by eapearce
In her new book, author Bonnie-Sue Hitchcock throws readers into a little-considered time and place: 1970s Fairbanks, Alaska. The Smell of Other People’s Houses intertwines the lives of four teens all growing up in Fairbanks, which isn’t much like growing up anywhere else. Alaska has only been a state for a decade, and growing up poor there is tougher than growing up poor in warmer climates or in more developed cities. Ruth and her younger sister are raised by their grimly devout grandmother, who offers little warmth or practical life advice. Dora, an Inupiat, is relieved to be adopted by a kind family, but still fears her abusive, alcoholic father even though he is behind bars. Alyce lives with her mother in Fairbanks and dreams of applying to college dance programs, but knows doing so will disappoint her father, with whom she fishes in the wilderness every summer. And, trying to escape a troubled home, Hank and his brothers stowaway on a southbound ferry hoping to be taken somewhere--anywhere--better.
The images that Hitchcock evokes in this book are not often seen in fiction these days, teen or otherwise. She writes of trying to find winter clothes warm enough at a picked-over Goodwill and describes the beauty and unique lifestyle of a summer fishing camp along the Yukon River. Her eye for detail allows readers to become truly immersed in the stories of Ruth, Dora, Alyce and Hank, hoping with the teens themselves that they are able to achieve survival and salvation.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #589 "And above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it.” ~ Roald Dahl
by muffy
First in a projected series, The Last Days of Magic is the debut novel by published poet and the founder of The Aspen Writers’ Network Mark Tompkins; which Geraldine Brooks called "a fantasy adventure with the shifting perspectives of dreamscape. A novel rich and strange."
A frantic warning from her grandmother alerts Sara Hill to secrets hidden in the books of mythology given to her as a child.The undamaged versions of the Dead Sea Scrolls found in the binding point to evidence of Nephilim, whose existence the Vatican wishes to suppress. When Sara's body washes up on a beach, the scene shifts to late 14th-century Ireland where a centuries-old status quo is in jeopardy.
Medieval Ireland is protected by a powerful goddess known as the Morrígna, a female trinity with one aspect in the spirit realm and two human aspects, born again and again as the twins Anya, the sage, and Aisling, the warrior, who stands between warring clans of Celts, Vikings, and darkly magical otherworldly beings. With Anya’s death, forces are massing to attack the weakened island - the most dangerous being the Vatican which is hell bent on exterminating magical creatures and converting new lands.
At the helm is Jordan, a Vatican commander and clandestine student of forbidden magic who is secretly torn between duty and desire when he meets Najia, an enchantress and his slave. Loyalties are tested and betrayals sown, yet the coming battle is not to be the last.
In this epic novel of magic and mysticism, Celts and faeries, mad kings and Druids, stalwart warriors and the goddess, Tompkins combines deft characterization with treachery, battle, magic, and hints of Dan Brown.
Read-alikes: Danielle Trussoni's Angelology; Lev Grossman's The Magicians; and Deborah Harkness's A Discovery of Witches. Will also appeal to fans of Diana Gabaldon; Jasper Fforde; and Patrick Rothfuss.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #588 “Women can accept the fact that a man is a rotter, a swindler, a drug taker, a confirmed liar, and a general swine, without batting an eyelash, and without its impairing their affection..." ~ Agatha Christie
by muffy
It really was NOT my intention to revisit the topic of child abduction again so soon, but The Widow * by award-winning journalist Fiona Barton is NOT to be missed.
A week after her husband Glen is killed by a bus, Jean Taylor is again hounded by the press. This is nothing new. Ever since the abduction of 2-year-old Bella Elliott from her Southampton backyard five years ago, Glen has been the prime suspect. Though the police could not make the charges stick, public opinion has no trouble making him to be a monster. Jean remains the faithful, steadfast wife and an unwavering supporter of Glen's innocence, even after evidence of child pornography turned up on Glen's computers, both at home and at the bank where he was let go.
Told from the alternating perspectives of the widow, journalist Kate Waters, the lead police investigator Bob Sparkes, and Bella's single mother Dawn who still harbors hope that her daughter is still alive, the suspense builds and the intrigue intensifies. The burning question remains - how much does Jean know about Glen’s involvement, and whether she plays a part in Bella's disappearance. Readers who resist skimming to the end will be rewarded with a jaw-dropping conclusion.
Read-alike: Just Fall, a first novel by screenwriter/producer Nina Sadowsky, that begs the question - how can you find out that the person you love is a killer…and continue to love him anyway? "Guilt, sex, and double-crosses collide to produce a blazing inferno of heat and betrayal on a tropical island paradise."
* = starred review
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #587 “The only way you can truly get to know an author is through the trail of ink he leaves behind him. The person you think you see is only an empty character: truth is always hidden in fiction.” ~ Carlos Ruiz Zafón
by muffy
Selected for the March Indie Next and the LibraryReads, The Madwoman Upstairs * by Catherine Lowell is "a mystery, a love story, and a very dark comedy with the Brontës...playing a role back there in the shadows."
20 year-old American Samantha Whipple is the last of the Brontë line and the presumed heir to a long-rumored trove of diaries, paintings, letters, and early novel drafts never revealed to anyone outside of the family. When she fulfills her father's dying wish to attend Oxford (his alma mater) almost immediately, she is the center of speculation and unwanted attention, especially among Brontë scholars and fanatics.
Soon long lost objects thought to have perished in the fire that killed her father begin relentlessly rematerializing in her life, compelling her on an elaborate and frustrating scavenger hunt, guided only by her father's cryptic notes. When she is emotionally and physically challenged to her limits, and a careless mistake places her at risk academically, help comes unexpectedly from her handsome but inscrutable tutor who is "as complex and passionate as his student." Together, they must decode the clues hidden within the Brontës’ novels in order to put the rumor to rest.
"Smart and surprising and fiercely funny." “An entertaining and ultimately sweet story." For fans of Juliet by Anne Fortier.
Companion reads:
Nelly Dean : a return to Wuthering Heights * * by Alison Case, that re-imagines life at Wuthering Heights through the eyes of the Earnshaws’ loyal servant, Nelly Dean. This is the first novel by a professor of 19th century fiction and poetry at Williams College.
Charlotte Brontë : a fiery heart by Claire Harman, is a "landmark biography (that) transforms Charlotte Brontë from a tragic figure into a modern heroine." The Brontës at Haworth by Ann Dinsdale paints a detailed picture of everyday life at Haworth, and provides fascinating insight into the lives of some of the most beloved authors of the 19th century.
* = starred review
* * = 2 starred reviews
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #586
by muffy
Ways to Disappear * by poet/translator Idra Novey is what the NPR book reviewer called "a fast-paced, beguilingly playful, noirish literary mystery," about the disappearance of a famous Brazilian novelist and the young translator who turns her life upside down to follow her author's trail.
Celebrated author Beatriz Yagoda has vanished, last been climbing into an almond tree with a suitcase and cigar in hand. As soon as the news reach her translator in Pittsburgh, Emma Neufeld puts her life in on hold and hops a flight to Rio de Janeiro, leaving behind a seriously exasperated boyfriend.
Upon arrival, Emma is met by an angry loan shark who threatens violence if Beatriz does not repay the half a million dollars owed from online gambling. Joining Emma's search is Beatriz's two grown children - the practical, business-like Raquel and the exceedingly handsome Marcus. But before long, they realize they are way over their heads. Meanwhile, Roberto Rocha, Beatriz's publisher finds himself equally entangled, and he might be the only one who could save the day.
"Novey’s characters are hilariously impulsive, terribly misguided, hopelessly lost, relentlessly determined, and immediately sympathetic. An incisive meditation on the relationship between literature and life, a reflection on the cumulative result of everyday decisions, and a dazzling, truly memorable work of humor and heart."
For readers who enjoyed The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson; Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour bookstore by Robin Sloan; and The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.
* = starred review
Blog Post
High Interest/Low Reading Level Fiction
by Beth Manuel
If you, or someone you know, are an English Language Learner looking for higher level reading materials to increase your vocabulary, here’s a cool way to find them on aadl.org. Go to the Catalog tab and enter Lang-Learn-RL into the search box. RL stands for Reading Level. You can also enter 'Hi/Lo' into the search box. To search for a particular reading level, simply type in a different number after RL. Once your search results come up, you can refine your search to find the titles that interest you the most. These high interest, low level readers, sometimes called HiLo books, are also great for adults who are learning to read.
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A Most Unusual Love Story
by Lucy S
Author: Miranda July
Narrator: Miranda July
Length: 7.5 Hours
Listening to Miranda July read her unforgettable novel, The First Bad Man, was an engrossing experience that provided me with many laughs, surprises, and moments of reflection. Giving voice to her narrator, 43-year-old, Cheryl Glickman, Miranda July creates a story full of the minutiae and inner-musings of a singular, single woman. This debut novel defies categorization. It is sharp, funny, detailed and challenging. July’s narration is the perfect way to hear this story, so much of which comes to us from inside Cheryl’s head. To hear Cheryl’s thoughts conveyed by their original creator provides the listener with extra layer of nuance and knowledge.
As Lauren Groff said in her New York Times review of The First Bad Man, “Cheryl is ...such an acute observer that her life is never as pathetic to the reader as it appears to the people around her.”
When we meet Cheryl, her existence is one of systems and order, fueled by an obsession with Phillip Bettelheim, who serves on the board at Open Palm, where Cheryl is the manager. Open Palm is an organization that teaches self-defense to women as a way to be fit, but, even as manager, Cheryl works primarily from home, per the request of her employers. They seem to feel a little of Cheryl goes a long way. Due to her solitude, many of Cheryl’s interactions with other people are fantastical or imagined. Her life is suddenly disrupted when she asked to take in the daughter of her employers, Clee. Clee turns out to be a challenging roommate in many ways, as she defies Cheryl’s carefully constructed systems and ultimately breaks down Cheryl’s rigidity. The relationship between Cheryl and Clee evolves many times, and passes through some unexpected territory.
July’s novel is an exploration of violence, both real and imagined, sexuality, and physical expression. The most explicit physical of these interactions take place in Cheryl's imagination. In an interview in The Guardian, July explains that “it is perfectly possible for people who live primarily in their own heads (artists, writers, intellectuals) to hanker after a physical communion.” Through Cheryl, July examines and exposes relationships and intimacies. We meet characters, including Cheryl, who are learning to love on different levels, self-love, mother-love, married love, new love, and we see how powerful and terrifying these attachments can be.
“Sometimes I looked at her sleeping face, the living flesh of it, and was overwhelmed by how precarious it was to love a living thing. She could die simply from lack of water. It hardly seemed safer than falling in love with a plant.”
“We thrust our babies into the air again and again, showing them what it felt like to be a mother, to be terrifyingly in love without the option of getting off.”
Parts of the story seem absurd and here is where listening to July’s telling is helpful. Her tone makes us implicit in her folly. July’s writing, while amusing, is also beautiful, poetic and sad and her reading of it is at times, breathtaking.
“But as the sun rose I crested the mountain of my self-pity and remembered I was always going to die at the end of this life anyway. What did it really matter if I spent it like this—caring for this boy—as opposed to some other way? I would always be earthbound; he hadn’t robbed me of my ability to fly or to live forever. I appreciated nuns now, not the conscripted kind, but modern women who chose it. If you were wise enough to know that this life would consist mostly of letting go of things you wanted, then why not get good at the letting go, rather than the trying to have?"
I found everything about this book to be unique from its absurdities to its breathtaking moments, many of which I rewound to hear again. The First Bad Man will appeal to fans of Lena Dunham, Maggie Nelson, and Carrie Brownstein.
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #585 "You have to do your own growing no matter how tall your grandfather was.” ~ Abraham Lincoln
by muffy
The Nest * *, a "warm, funny and acutely perceptive" debut by Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney is about the four Plumb siblings, and the fate of their joint trust fund - “The Nest,” that has shaped their lives, and the choices they make.
Jack, Beatrice and Melody Plumb meet on an unseasonably cold October afternoon in New York City to confront their charismatic and reckless older brother, Leo, freshly out of rehab. Back in August at a family wedding, an inebriated and stoned Leo crashed his car on a country road, and his passenger, a 19 year-old waitress was badly hurt. To make his troubles go away, Leo pillages The Nest, just as it is about to be distributed on Melody's (the baby of the family) 40th birthday. Meant by their deceased father to be a modest mid-life supplement, the Plumb siblings have been counting on the money (thanks to the bull market) to solve a number of self-inflicted problems, financial and otherwise.
Melody is about to lose her painstakingly restored house in the suburb and worries about college tuition for her twin teenage daughters. Jack, an antiques dealer, has secretly borrowed against the beach cottage he shares with his husband, Walker and is truly desperate for cash. And Bea, a once-promising short-story writer, just can’t seem to finish her overdue novel. They are all relying on Leo to somehow restore the fund. "The rest of the book is a wise, affectionate study of how expectations play out in our lives—not just financial ones..."
"Cynthia D'Aprix Sweeney brings a remarkable cast of characters to life to illuminate what money does to relationships, what happens to our ambitions over the course of time, and the fraught yet unbreakable ties we share with those we love."
For readers who enjoyed The View From Penthouse B by Elinor Lipman; The Vacationers by Emma Straub ; and The Red House by Mark Haddon. Readers familiar with Wes Anderson's films would likely draw comparison to The Royal Tenenbaums.
* * = starred reviews
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Fabulous Fiction Firsts #584
by muffy
A much anticipated debut - The Girl in the Red Coat * * * by Kate Hamer was shortlisted for the Costa First Novel Award and was a Dagger Award finalist. (Watch Kate speak on YouTube about the nomination with other finalists such as Kate Atkinson; Michael Robotham; and Robert Galbraith).
On a fog-shrouded day in Norfolk, 8 year-old Carmel Wakeford, who has a tendency to wander, is separated from her mother Beth at a storytelling festival. When a man tells her that he is her estranged grandfather, and her mother has been taken to a near-by hospital, she takes his hand in relief.
Through the years, in alternating chapters, the story unfolds as Beth struggles to hold on to hope and Carmel fights to remember her true identity while being held captive by a ragtag bunch of self-described miracle workers.
"Hamer's spectacular debut skillfully chronicles the nightmare of child abduction. Telling the story in two remarkable voices, with Beth's chapters unfurling in past tense and Carmel's in present tense, the author weaves a page-turning narrative. The trajectories of the novel's two leads—through despair, hope, and redemption—are believable and nuanced, resulting in a morally complex, haunting read."
Read-alikes: The 2007 Costa First Novel Award-winner What Was Lost by Catherine O'Flynn; The Light Between Oceans by M.L. Stedman; and The Year of Fog by Michelle Richmond
* * * = 3 starred reviews