Fabulous Fiction First #39

Fri, 10/27/2006 - 5:55pm by muffy

When a young girl is murdered and mutilated and another disappears in Wind Gap, Mo., Chicago Daily Post reporter Camille Preaker returns to her hometown to cover the story. She is less than surprised with the cold reception after her long absence, especially at her mother's house.

Fans of Shirley Jackson and Minette Walters will welcome this debut psychological thriller by Gillian Flynn. In Sharp Objects, she writes "fluidly about small-town America", but what distinguishes this gruesome tale is the skills with which she misdirects the reader, allowing secrets to unfold only towards the shocking ending.

Flynn (Author interview) is the lead television critic for Entertainment Weekly, and Sharp has been endorsed by both Stephen King and Harlan Coben. Starred review in Library Journal. Can the film rights be far behind? Stay tuned.

Are you ready to bring SexyBack?

Fri, 10/27/2006 - 3:00pm by tkj

I know you've already heard Justin Timberlake's "My Love" & "SexyBack." Now check out the entire FutureSex/LoveSounds album. You won't be disappointed... I promise!

Oh yeah, after you've listened to the CD a few times, come back to this blog and let us know what you think...

New Fiction on the New York Times Best Sellers List (10/29/06)

Fri, 10/27/2006 - 1:24pm by Mazie

Michael Connelly is my favorite American mystery writer. With his Hieronymous (Harry) Bosch series he has become the heir apparent to Raymond Chandler and Ross MacDonald. In these novels, Connelly explores the same strange and surreal southern California landscape. Harry may be just as ironic and world weary but he does not don the same famous blue raincoat as Philip Marlowe and Lew Archer. He is passionate in his fight for the lost innocents of his world. With splendid writing that evokes an aching nostalgia for a better world, Connelly creates his own films noir.

At #2 is Echo Park by Michael Connelly: Harry returns to solve a cold case.

At #3 is Act of Treason by Vince Flynn: A CIA agent investigates an attack on a presidential candidate. Is Flynn the heir to Tom Clancy?

At #6 is Short Straw by Stuart Woods: A Santa Fe lawyer wakes up to find his wife gone and his world turned inside out and upside down. Ed Eagle fights for his life and his good name.

19th Annual Jewish Book Festival

Fri, 10/27/2006 - 9:52am by ulrich

The 19th Annual Jewish Book Festival will take place at the Jewish Community Center at 2935 Birch Hollow Drive from November 5-12. Speakers include a number of prominent authors such as journalist and radio commentator Steven V. Roberts who will open this years's festival with a talk about his book My Father's Houses: Memoir of a Family; Jeffrey Goldberg, the 'New Yorker' magazine's Washington correspondent; and editor Ruth Andrew Ellenson who'll speak on her anthology The Modern Jewish Girl's Guide to Guilt. For more information about the festival and the names of other speakers visit the Jewish Community Center web site.

Unsquared unleashed on Ann Arbor!

Thu, 10/26/2006 - 6:02pm by K.C.

Soon to appear on AADL’s shelves - a new anthology, Unsquared: Ann Arbor Writers Unleash Their Edgiest Stories & Poems, jointly published by Neutral Zone and 826michigan. Sonja Brodie of AA News describes the anthology as “a mix of stories and poetry, with some essays thrown in for good measure. A final section focuses on previously unpublished work by young poets from this year's Youth Poetry Slam team. What these works have in common is that they are gritty and offbeat. . .”

Meet some of the contributors at Nicola’s Books this Friday, October 27 at 7:30 p.m. You’ll hear poet and novelist Laura Kasischke, quirky fictional writer Jeff Parker, Hopwood Award winning poet Scott Beal, rising poetic star Adam Falkner, and 2006 AA Youth Poetry Slam Team member Courtney Whittler.

Move over, Martha.

Thu, 10/26/2006 - 4:02pm by Sancho Panza

Amy Sedaris, everyone’s favorite comic shape-shifter and newly minted solo author, wants you to get drunk. On her witty repartee, that is (and maybe a few well-chosen cocktails). Her new book, I Like You: Hospitality Under the Influence delivers plenty of the expected sardonic humor, and some recipes, too. If you consider yourself a fan of both plastic food and Martha Stewart, this book is for you.

Chicken With Plums

Wed, 10/25/2006 - 4:30pm by anned

Marjane Satrapi’s newest graphic novel, Chicken With Plums, was released this month. In her earlier Persepolis books, she tells her story of growing up in Iran during (and after) the 1979 revolution. This time it is 1958 and we witness the last eight days in the life of her great-uncle, Nassar Ali Khan, a revered tar player.

Satrapi’s personal and sometimes humorous look into her great-uncle’s life is wonderfully enhanced by her simple black and white drawings. She has a gift for illustrating complex human issues and making them universally understandable.
Be on the lookout for Persepolis in animated movie form, to be released sometime in 2007 by Sony Pictures Classics.

"Revenge of the Book Eaters"

Wed, 10/25/2006 - 3:54pm by Bertha

Sunday, October 29, 6:30 pm at EMU's Pease Auditorium is Revenge of the Book Eaters. It's a fall fundraiser for the local 826michigan, a non-profit writing center.
Dave Eggers will be a guest, as well as the reknown Davy Rothbart The emcee for the evening is Martin Bandyke, and performing live are the Cowboy Junkies. So, it's an extra-ordinary mix of music and books. See the full line-up and ticket information at 826michigan

A Tempest in Trinidad

Wed, 10/25/2006 - 11:32am by Maxine

In addition to "The Tempest" brewing at Power Center, there's a storm of wills in Elizabeth Nunez's latest book, Prospero's Daughter. Dr. Peter Gardner has been exiled to Trinidad with his daughter, Virginia, after the discovery of a gruesome experiment he performed on a human subject. In this reworking of Shakespeare's play, Nunez poses questions about race and class. Carlos, a Caliban of sorts, is a mixed race orphan who has been living with the Gardner's. He and Virginia have fallen in love. When Gardner who is depicted as a racist lunatic finds out, he accuses Carlos of attempted rape. At the same time, he sexually abuses his native servant, Ariana. Into this mix comes John Mumsford of the British police who fears an uprising of natives against British rule in Trinidad's quest for independence and uses Carlos as an example of the continued stability of his country's authority.

For other fiction that takes place in Trinidad, try:
A Perfect Pledge by Rabindranath Maharaj and
A Thirst for Rain by Roslyn Carrington.

NaNoWriMo

Wed, 10/25/2006 - 10:39am by S.T. Augustine

Have you always wanted to write the Great American Novel but never seem to find the time? Maybe all you need is a push. That's where Chris Baty, the brain behind NaNoWriMo was coming from. NaNo what? National Novel Writing Month. 2006 marks the seventh year of this pencil-pushing frenzy.

The basics: you have the month of November to pen (or word process) a 50,000 word novel. This is an exercise in quantity, not necessarily quality. That's the joy of the process, or the horror, depending on whom you ask. No head starts; that would be cheating. If you push through to the end, when December rolls around, you can say (to people who would be impressed by this sort of thing) that you wrote a novel.

Will we see you in any of our branches writing your novel this November?