Pg. 69: Sharon Huss Roat's "Between the Notes"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Between the Notes by Sharon Huss Roat.

About the book, from the publisher:

After Ivy is forced to move to "the wrong side of the tracks" due to economic hard times, she discovers that not everything—or everyone—is what they seem, even herself. Fans of Jenny Han and Sarah Dessen will love this funny, poignant, and relatable story.

When Ivy Emerson's family loses their house—complete with her beloved piano—the fear of what's to come seizes her like a bad case of stage fright. Forced to give up her allowance, her cell phone, and the window seat in her lilac-colored bedroom, Ivy moves with her family from her affluent neighborhood to Lakeside, aka "the wrong side of the tracks." Hiding the truth from her friends—and the cute new guy in school, who may have secrets of his own—seems like a good idea at first. But when the bad-boy-next door threatens to ruin everything, Ivy's carefully crafted lies begin to unravel . . . and there is no way to stop them.

Once things get to the breaking point, Ivy turns to her music, some surprising new friends, and the trusting heart of her disabled little brother. And she may be surprised that not everyone is who she thought they were . . . including herself.

Visit Sharon Huss Roat's website.

The Page 69 Test: Between the Notes.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the most evocative fictional castles and manors

Helen Maslin's first book is a YA ghost story called Darkmere. At the Guardian she tagged ten of the best castles and manors in fiction, including:

Castle Dracula from Dracula by Bram Stoker

Easily the spookiest place on this list is Castle Dracula. “A vast ruined castle, from whose tall black windows came no ray of light, and whose broken battlements showed a jagged line against the moonlit sky.”

Young solicitor, Jonathan Harker, is sent to the Transylvanian home of Count Dracula on business. He travels through wild, snowy country swarming with wolves, as the locals cross themselves and try to deter him. Upon reaching the castle, finds it worn and dilapidated, but still an impenetrable stronghold. Harker soon realises he has no way of escape.

The interior of the castle is decorated with costly furnishings, cups and plates of gold, and there is a good library. No servants however – and no mirrors. The castle is seething with menace and Harker becomes increasingly desperate to leave. Eventually, he climbs out of the window to discover a ruined chapel containing fifty great wooden boxes filled with earth. In one, lays Dracula. “I saw the dead eyes, and in them, dead though they were, such a look of hate, though unconscious of me or my presence that I fled from the place...”

Read about another entry on the list.

Dracula is on John Mullan's list of the ten best coach rides in literature, Rowan Somerville's top ten list of good sex in fiction, Arthur Phillips' list of six favorite books set in places that their authors never visited, and Anthony Browne's six best books list. It is one of the books on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best teeth in literature, ten of the best wolves in literature and ten of the best mirrors in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Thomas Cobb reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Thomas Cobb, author of Darkness the Color of Snow.

The entry begins:

Starting with the present and working back a couple of weeks, these are the books I’ve been reading.

Bodies Electric by Colin Harrison. This is an older book of Harrison’s, his second novel if I’m not mistaken. I’m only fifty or so pages in, but Harrison has already set the major conflict as Jack Whitman, who works for The Corporation tries to do a good deed for a woman he met on the subway. The Corporation would seem not in favor of doing good deeds. Colin Harrison is, perhaps, the best...[read on]

About Darkness the Color of Snow, from the publisher:

Like No Country for Old Men and Snow Falling on Cedars, a haunting, suspenseful, and dazzlingly written novel of secrets, corruption, tragedy, and vengeance from the author of Crazy Heart—the basis of the 2009 Academy Award-winning film—an electrifying crime drama and psychological thriller in which a young cop becomes the focal point for a community’s grief and rage in the aftermath of a tragic accident.

Out on a rural highway on a cold, icy night, Patrolman Ronny Forbert sits in his cruiser trying to keep warm and make time pass until his shift ends. Then a familiar beater Jeep Cherokee comes speeding over a hill, forcing the rookie cop to chase after it. The driver is his old friend turned nemesis, Matt Laferiere, the rogue son of a man as beaten down as the town itself.

Within minutes, what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving spirals out of control into a heated argument between two young men with a troubled past and ends in a fatal hit and run on an icy stretch of blacktop.

As the news spreads around town, Police Chief Gordy Hawkins remains certain that Ronny Forbert followed the rules, at least most of them, and he’s willing to stand by the young cop. But a few manipulative people in town see opportunity in the tragedy. As uneasy relationships, dark secrets, and old grievances reveal themselves, the people of this small, tightly woven community decide that a crime must have been committed, and someone—Officer Ronny Forbert—must pay a price, a choice that will hold devastating consequences for them all.

Learn more about the author and his work at Thomas Cobb's website.

Cobb's books include Crazy Heart, which was adapted into a 2009 Academy Award-winning film starring Jeff Bridges, and Shavetail.

The Page 69 Test: Shavetail.

My Book, The Movie: Crazy Heart.

The Page 69 Test: Darkness the Color of Snow.

Writers Read: Thomas Cobb.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Watt Key's "Among the Swamp People"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Among the Swamp People: Life in Alabama’s Mobile-Tensaw River Delta by Watt Key.

About the book, from the publisher:

Among the Swamp People is the story of author Watt Key’s discovery of the Mobile-Tensaw River Delta. “The swamp” consists of almost 260,000 acres of wetlands located just north of Mobile Bay. There he leases a habitable outcropping of land and constructs a primitive cabin from driftwood to serve as a private getaway. His story is one that chronicles the beauties of the delta’s unparalleled natural wonders, the difficulties of survival within it, and an extraordinary community of characters—by turns generous and violent, gracious and paranoid, hilarious and reckless—who live, thrive, and perish there.

There is no way into the delta except by small boat. To most it would appear a maze of rivers and creeks between stunted swamp trees and mud. Key observes that there are few places where one can step out of a boat without “sinking to the knees in muck the consistency of axle grease. It is the only place I know where gloom and beauty can coexist at such extremes. And it never occurred to me that a land seemingly so bleak could hide such beauty and adventure.”

It also chronicles Key’s maturation as a writer, from a twenty-five-year-old computer programmer with no formal training as a writer to a highly successful, award-winning writer of fiction for a young adult audience with three acclaimed novels published to date.

In learning to make a place for himself in the wild, as in learning to write, Key’s story is one of “hoping someone—even if just myself—would find value in my creations.”

Visit Watt Key's website.

The Page 99 Test: Among the Swamp People.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nose in a book: Madeleine Moyn

Who: Madeleine Moyn

What: Christian Human Rights by Samuel Moyn

When: August 21, 2015

Where: Cambridge, MA

Photo credit: Samuel Moyn

Learn more about Christian Human Rights.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tamara Ellis Smith's "Another Kind of Hurricane," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Another Kind of Hurricane by Tamara Ellis Smith.

The entry begins:

I love color and shape, I love picture book illustrations, and I love movies – but I don't think in images at all. I think in words, and, more specifically in sounds and rhythms and energy. That said, I have definitely imagined Another Kind of Hurricane as a movie – Oh that would be so exciting! – but I have envisioned actors based on their energies more than anything. I love strong and quirky woven together. A few people have been in my mind from the get-go who bring that mix to their work.

I see Alfre Woodard as Ms. Cyn. I think I first saw her way back when in Passion Fish and have loved her ever since. She is fierce and funny, and has a sense of wisdom about her, a sense of knowing the truth of the matter.

I see Sam...[read on]

Visit Tamara Ellis Smith's website.

My Book, The Movie: Another Kind of Hurricane.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best novels about mothers and daughters

Patricia Abbott is the author of more than 125 stories that have appeared online, in print journals and in various anthologies. She is the author of Monkey Justice and Home Invasion and co-editor of Discount Noir. She won a Derringer award for her story "My Hero."

Abbott's new novel is Concrete Angel.

One of the author's five favorite novels about mothers and daughters, as shared at Crimespree Magazine:

MILDRED PIERCE by James Cain.

None of the four books above influenced me, at least consciously, when writing CONCRETE ANGEL. But MILDRED PIERCE did. I wanted to show the flip side of the mother-daughter coin by writing a story where the daughter makes all the sacrifices for an ungrateful mother. This is what happens to Mildred. The more she loves her daughter, the worse her daughter seems to behave. A heart-breaking story–as are all the five listed.

Read about another entry on the list.

Mildred Pierce is among Ester Bloom's ten favorite fictional feminists.

The Page 69 Test: Concrete Angel.

Writers Read: Patricia Abbott.

My Book, The Movie: Concrete Angel.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Priscilla Cummings's "Cheating for the Chicken Man"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Cheating for the Chicken Man by Priscilla Cummings.

About the book, from the publisher:

A companion novel to Priscilla Cumming’s highly acclaimed The Red Kayak and The Journey Back

Thirteen-year-old Kate Tyler must ask herself how far she will go to protect her older brother, J.T., when he returns home after nearly a year in a juvenile detention facility, only to find himself ostracized and bullied as he attempts to make a fresh start. Kate compromises her own values and risks getting herself into serious trouble as she launches a secret campaign to protect her brother long enough for him to find his place in the family – and in the world – again.

As a follow-up to Red Kayak, Cheating for the Chicken Man brings J.T., Kate, and Brady Parks together again as they struggle with the complicated issues of fairness, friendship, and forgiveness.

Visit Priscilla Cummings's website.

The Page 69 Test: Cheating for the Chicken Man.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Shannon Grogan reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Shannon Grogan, author of From Where I Watch You.

Her entry begins:

Since I teach 2nd grade, I read for school, usually about 45 minutes a day to my class, and for fun at home, of course!

For my 2nd graders, I usually pick illustrated middle grade books with lots of humor for my classroom read-alouds, like Cecil and Anton: Cats at Sea, and Flora & Ulysses.

I also read picture books and usually pick ones I can use as mentor texts for our own writing. Our favorite this year, because we focused on opinion letter writing, was The Day the Crayons Quit. For both MG and PBs, humor and pictures definitely capture and keep my student’s attention. Good example: when Peach Crayon in The Day the Crayons Quit hides in the crayon box because he’s...[read on]

About From Where I Watch You, from the publisher:

Sixteen-year-old Kara is about to realize her dream of becoming a professional baker. Beautifully designed and piped, her cookies are masterpieces, but also her ticket out of rainy Seattle—if she wins the upcoming national baking competition and its scholarship prize to culinary school in California. Kara can no longer stand the home where her family lived, laughed, and ultimately imploded after her mean-spirited big sister Kellen died in a drowning accident. Kara’s dad has since fled, and her mom has turned from a high-powered attorney into a nutty holy-rolling Christian fundamentalist peddling “Soul Soup” in the family café. All Kara has left are memories of better times.

But the past holds many secrets, and they come to light as Kara faces an anonymous terror: Someone is leaving her handwritten notes. Someone who knows exactly where she is and what she’s doing. As the notes lead her to piece together the events that preceded Kellen’s terrible, life-changing betrayal years before, she starts to catch glimpses of her dead sister: an unwelcome ghost in filthy Ugg boots. If Kara doesn’t figure out who her stalker is, and soon, she could lose everything. Her chance of escape. The boy she’s beginning to love and trust. Even her life.

Visit Shannon Grogan's website.

My Book, The Movie: From Where I Watch You.

The Page 69 Test: From Where I Watch You.

Writers Read: Shannon Grogan.

--Marshal Zeringue

David Simon's 6 favorite books

David Simon is the creator of the 2002–08 crime series The Wire. His new six-part miniseries, Show Me a Hero, is about a desegregation battle in Yonkers, New York.

One of Simon's six favorite books, as shared at The Week magazine:

All the King's Men by Robert Penn Warren

My nominee for the Great American Novel. Not because I want to argue down Huck Finn — I don't — but because Warren caught something so dark, hollow, and true in the populist affirmations that we Americans use to adorn ourselves and our works. Read it before every election cycle as a prophylactic.

Read about another entry on the list.

All the King's Men appears on Ester Bloom's top ten list of books for fans of the television series House of Cards, a list of the eleven best political books of all time, Gabe Habash's list of ten of the biggest book adaptation flops, David Blight's list of five outstanding novels about the Civil War era, Heather Brooke's top five list of books on holding power to account, Melanie Kirkpatrick's list of her five favorite novels of political intrigue, and H.W. Brands's five best list of books on scandals...in truth or just in print; Robert McCrum called it a book to inspire busy public figures.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: John Hagedorn's "The Insane Chicago Way"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: The Insane Chicago Way: The Daring Plan by Chicago Gangs to Create a Spanish Mafia by John M. Hagedorn.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Insane Chicago Way is the untold story of a daring plan by Chicago gangs in the 1990s to create a Spanish Mafia—and why it failed. John M. Hagedorn traces how Chicago Latino gang leaders, following in Al Capone’s footsteps, built a sophisticated organization dedicated to organizing crime and reducing violence. His lively stories of extensive cross-neighborhood gang organization, tales of police/gang corruption, and discovery of covert gang connections to Chicago’s Mafia challenge conventional wisdom and offer lessons for the control of violence today.

The book centers on the secret history of Spanish Growth & Development (SGD)—an organization of Latino gangs founded in 1989 and modeled on the Mafia’s nationwide Commission. It also tells a story within a story of the criminal exploits of the C-Note$, the “minor league” team of the Chicago’s Mafia (called the “Outfit”), which influenced the direction of SGD. Hagedorn’s tale is based on three years of interviews with an Outfit soldier as well as access to SGD’s constitution and other secret documents, which he supplements with interviews of key SGD leaders, court records, and newspaper accounts. The result is a stunning, heretofore unknown history of the grand ambitions of Chicago gang leaders that ultimately led to SGD’s shocking collapse in a pool of blood on the steps of a gang-organized peace conference.

The Insane Chicago Way is a compelling history of the lives and deaths of Chicago gang leaders. At the same time it is a sociological tour de force that warns of the dangers of organized crime while arguing that today’s relative disorganization of gangs presents opportunities for intervention and reductions in violence.

Learn more about The Insane Chicago Way at the University of Chicago Press website.

My Book, The Movie: The Insane Chicago Way.

The Page 99 Test: The Insane Chicago Way.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Thomas Cobb's "Darkness the Color of Snow"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Darkness the Color of Snow: A Novel by Thomas Cobb.

About the book, from the publisher:

Like No Country for Old Men and Snow Falling on Cedars, a haunting, suspenseful, and dazzlingly written novel of secrets, corruption, tragedy, and vengeance from the author of Crazy Heart—the basis of the 2009 Academy Award-winning film—an electrifying crime drama and psychological thriller in which a young cop becomes the focal point for a community’s grief and rage in the aftermath of a tragic accident.

Out on a rural highway on a cold, icy night, Patrolman Ronny Forbert sits in his cruiser trying to keep warm and make time pass until his shift ends. Then a familiar beater Jeep Cherokee comes speeding over a hill, forcing the rookie cop to chase after it. The driver is his old friend turned nemesis, Matt Laferiere, the rogue son of a man as beaten down as the town itself.

Within minutes, what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving spirals out of control into a heated argument between two young men with a troubled past and ends in a fatal hit and run on an icy stretch of blacktop.

As the news spreads around town, Police Chief Gordy Hawkins remains certain that Ronny Forbert followed the rules, at least most of them, and he’s willing to stand by the young cop. But a few manipulative people in town see opportunity in the tragedy. As uneasy relationships, dark secrets, and old grievances reveal themselves, the people of this small, tightly woven community decide that a crime must have been committed, and someone—Officer Ronny Forbert—must pay a price, a choice that will hold devastating consequences for them all.

Learn more about the author and his work at Thomas Cobb's website.

Cobb's books include Crazy Heart, which was adapted into a 2009 Academy Award-winning film starring Jeff Bridges, and Shavetail.

The Page 69 Test: Shavetail.

My Book, The Movie: Crazy Heart.

The Page 69 Test: Darkness the Color of Snow.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Matthew McGevna reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Matthew McGevna, author of Little Beasts.

His entry begins:

Most recently I read Anthony Marra’s stunning debut A Constellation of Vital Phenomena. I first discovered Marra back when I subscribed to Narrative Magazine. They published his Pushcart Prize-winning short story “Chechnya.” I was profoundly moved by that short story. I have an older sister who moved out before we got a chance to really bond as siblings, and the delicate and fragile way Marra captures the dynamic between two sisters separated by circumstance was only enriched by the amazing education I received about Chechnya.

He continued that education of post-Soviet Russia with A Constellation. The dynamic between sisters, neighbors, father and son: it’s all there. Set against an unnerving backdrop of violence and uncertainty. The plot is somewhat streamlined, and that makes way for the characters to really fill out the panoramic view of the Chechen conflict, the struggle for survival, the way militancy and depravation can make little Judases out of...[read on]

About Little Beasts, from the publisher:

Turnbull is a working-class town full of weary people who struggle to make ends meet. Evictions, alcoholism, and random violence are commonplace. In the heat of July 1983, when eight-year-olds James Illworth, Dallas Darwin, and Felix Cassidy leave their homes to play in the woods, they have to navigate between the potentially violent world of angry adults and even angrier teens. Little do they know that by the end of the summer, one of them will lay dead, after a bit of playful bullying from older teens escalates to tragedy.

Loosely based on a real crime that took place on Long Island in 1979, Little Beasts is a panorama of a poor, mostly white neighborhood surrounded by the affluent communities of the East End. After the murder, the novel’s main characters must come to grips with the aftermath, face down the decisions they’ve made, and reestablish their faith in the possibility of a better world.

Visit Matthew McGevna's website.

Writers Read: Matthew McGevna.

--Marshal Zeringue

Robert Masello's "The Einstein Prophecy," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Einstein Prophecy by Robert Masello.

The entry begins:

At some point in every author’s life, he or she briefly dreams of what the book might look like as a movie, and who might be in it. I try not to focus on it, but since we’re dreaming here, if I were to cast the major roles in The Einstein Prophecy, I’d give some serious thought to the following.

For the role of Einstein, there’s a raft of veteran character actors (all of the ones who come to mind, interestingly enough, are from the UK) who might be wonderful in the role. In the book, set in 1945, Einstein is in his mid- 60s, so someone like Jonathan Pryce (who was so wonderful in Wolf Hall recently), or Gary Oldman (who can disappear into any role at all), or the venerable Derek Jacobi, whose face actually has much the right heft and shape to it.

For Lieutenant Lucas Athan, my hero . . . I’m drawing only one name – Michael...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Robert Masello's website.

The Page 69 Test: Blood and Ice.

The Page 69 Test: The Medusa Amulet.

The Page 69 Test: The Einstein Prophecy.

My Book, The Movie: The Einstein Prophecy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven of the best YA sociopaths

Sarah Skilton is the author of Bruised, a martial arts drama for young adults; and High and Dry, a hardboiled teen mystery. At the B&N Teen blog she tagged seven of her favorite YA sociopaths, including:

I Hunt Killers, by Barry Lyga

Jasper “Jazz” Dent is the son of Billy Dent, a notorious serial killer who is “pure brilliance and pure evil in one package.” Jazz’s unique perspective on horrific crime scenes—Dear Old Dad has shown him the ropes—brings with it the opportunity to assist the local police in Lobo’s Nod, a small town with a serial killer problem all its own. Jazz’s girlfriend, Connie, reassures him he’s not a sociopath like his father, but Jazz isn’t so sure; what if he carries within him the same “genetic mistake” that manifested in Grandma and Dad?

Read about another entry on the list.

I Hunt Killers is among Dahlia Adler's five top YA horror novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Stanley I. Thangaraj's "Desi Hoop Dreams"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Desi Hoop Dreams: Pickup Basketball and the Making of Asian American Masculinity by Stanley I. Thangaraj.

About the book, from the publisher:

South Asian American men are not usually depicted as ideal American men. They struggle against popular representations as either threatening terrorists or geeky, effeminate computer geniuses. To combat such stereotypes, some use sports as a means of performing a distinctly American masculinity. Desi Hoop Dreams focuses on South Asian-only basketball leagues common in most major U.S. and Canadian cities, to show that basketball, for these South Asian American players is not simply a whimsical hobby, but a means to navigate and express their identities in 21st century America.

The participation of young men in basketball is one platform among many for performing South Asian American identity. South Asian-only leagues and tournaments become spaces in which to negotiate the relationships between masculinity, race, and nation. When faced with stereotypes that portray them as effeminate, players perform sporting feats on the court to represent themselves as athletic. And though they draw on black cultural styles, they carefully set themselves off from African American players, who are deemed “too aggressive.” Accordingly, the same categories of their own marginalization—masculinity, race, class, and sexuality—are those through which South Asian American men exclude women, queer masculinities, and working-class masculinities, along with other racialized masculinities, in their effort to lay claim to cultural citizenship.

One of the first works on masculinity formation and sport participation in South Asian American communities, Desi Hoop Dreams focuses on an American popular sport to analyze the dilemma of belonging within South Asian America in particular and in the U.S. in general.

Learn more about Desi Hoop Dreams at the NYU Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Desi Hoop Dreams.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Shannon Grogan's "From Where I Watch You"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan.

About the book, from the publisher:

Sixteen-year-old Kara is about to realize her dream of becoming a professional baker. Beautifully designed and piped, her cookies are masterpieces, but also her ticket out of rainy Seattle—if she wins the upcoming national baking competition and its scholarship prize to culinary school in California. Kara can no longer stand the home where her family lived, laughed, and ultimately imploded after her mean-spirited big sister Kellen died in a drowning accident. Kara’s dad has since fled, and her mom has turned from a high-powered attorney into a nutty holy-rolling Christian fundamentalist peddling “Soul Soup” in the family café. All Kara has left are memories of better times.

But the past holds many secrets, and they come to light as Kara faces an anonymous terror: Someone is leaving her handwritten notes. Someone who knows exactly where she is and what she’s doing. As the notes lead her to piece together the events that preceded Kellen’s terrible, life-changing betrayal years before, she starts to catch glimpses of her dead sister: an unwelcome ghost in filthy Ugg boots. If Kara doesn’t figure out who her stalker is, and soon, she could lose everything. Her chance of escape. The boy she’s beginning to love and trust. Even her life.

Visit Shannon Grogan's website.

My Book, The Movie: From Where I Watch You.

The Page 69 Test: From Where I Watch You.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten dog stories

Jill Ciment was born in Montreal, Canada. She is the author of Small Claims, a collection of short stories and novellas; The Law of Falling Bodies, Teeth of the Dog, The Tattoo Artist, Heroic Measures, and Act of God, novels; and Half a Life, a memoir.

One of her top ten dog stories, as shared at the Guardian:

The Call of the Wild by Jack London

All of London’s dog novels hark back to the courting stage of man and wolf, when we were still both beasts. London’s plots are really love stories - two wary beings learn to trust each other and fall in love. Buck, a huge St Bernard/shepherd mix, is kidnapped from his comfortable middle-class home, sold into bondage, and escapes. In the Alaskan wilderness, he discovers the bestial instinct within himself. Only late in life does Buck fall in love with a man, John Thornton, who saves his life. When he loses John to an Indian’s arrow, he returns to the wild and joins a wolf pack. London intends for Buck’s howl, “the song of the pack”, to be a dirge.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Call of the Wild is among Cliff McNish's top ten dogs in children's books, Brian Payton's top ten books about Alaska, Joshua Glenn's top 32 list of adventure novels of the 19th century, Sarah Lean's top ten animal stories, Ben Frederick's eleven essential books for dog lovers, Megan Miranda's top ten books set in a wintry landscape, Jill Hucklesby's top 10 books about running away, Charlie English's top ten snow books, and Thomas Bloor's top ten tales of metamorphosis. It appears on John Mullan's list of ten of the best wolves in literature and Alice-Azania Jarvis's reading list on dogs.

The Page 69 Test: Jill Ciment's Heroic Measures.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Nicole Galland reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Nicole Galland, author of Stepdog.

Her entry begins:

I’m usually a serial monogamist in my reading – I lose myself completely in something, finish it, and then move on to the next. At the moment, though, there’s a pile on my bedside table, and I despair of getting through them all before the end of summer. It’s a pretty eclectic stack.

I’ll start with Malcolm Gaskill’s Between Two Worlds: How the English Became American. This is research for my next novel (which I’m writing in collaboration with Neal Stephenson). I grew up in eastern Massachusetts, which means I’d been to Plimoth Plantation several times and done all the historical walks around Boston, but there’s 150 years between “Behold! the settlers” and “Behold! the revolutionaries” and that gap generally isn’t covered in the pop-cultural sense of American history – one might almost get the impression the Pilgrims got off the Mayflower and a few years later were throwing tea into Boston harbor. This book...[read on]

About Stepdog, from the publisher:

From the author of The Fool’s Tale and I, Iago comes a disarmingly charming and warm-hearted “romcom” about a woman, her dog, and the man who has to prove that he is good enough for both of them.

Sara Renault fired Rory O’Connor from his part-time job at a Boston art museum, and in response, Rory—an Irish actor secretly nursing a crush on his beautiful boss—threw caution to the wind, leaned over, and kissed her. Now Sara and Rory are madly in love.

When Rory’s visa runs out on the cusp of his big Hollywood break, Sara insists that he marry her to get a green card. In a matter of weeks they’ve gone from being friendly work colleagues to a live-in couple, and it’s all grand . . . except for Sara’s dog, Cody, who had been a gift from Sara’s sociopath ex-boyfriend. Sara’s over-attachment to her dog is the only thing she and Rory fight about.

When Rory scores both his green card and the lead role in an upcoming TV pilot, he and Sara (and Cody) prepare to move to Los Angeles. But just before their departure, Cody is kidnapped by Sara’s ex—and it is entirely Rory’s fault. Sara is furious and broken-hearted. Desperate to get back into Sara’s good graces, Rory takes off and tracks Cody and the dog-napper to North Carolina. Can Rory rescue Cody and convince Sara that they belong together—with Cody—as a family? First they’ll need to survive a madcap adventure that takes them all across the heartland of America.

Stepdog is a refreshing and hilarious romantic comedy that asks: How far would you go for the one you love?

Visit Nicole Galland's website.

The Page 69 Test: Stepdog.

My Book, The Movie: Stepdog.

Writers Read: Nicole Galland.

--Marshal Zeringue

John Hagedorn's "The Insane Chicago Way," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Insane Chicago Way: The Daring Plan by Chicago Gangs to Create a Spanish Mafia by John M. Hagedorn.

The entry begins:

In$ane was the product of a unique collaboration between the author and an Outfit (Chicago’s mafia) solider, Sal Martino. Sal was the godfather of the C-Note$, the Outfit’s minor league team. Sal fondly called the five C-Note leaders he mentored, “Two Dagos, Two Spics, and a Hillbilly.” With Sal’s encouragement, the C-Note$ joined a secret “Spanish mafia,” Spanish Growth & Development, that had goals of controlling violence, organizing crime, and corrupting police. In$ane is a tragedy of how SGD rose and collapsed in a bloody “war of the families.” Since I’m not a movie buff, I asked Sal to write how he’d produce a movie base on the book. Here is what he wrote:The film would open in 1989, focusing on five guys, Dominick, Sammy, Joey Bags, Mo-Mo, and Lucky, as they grow up in and around an area known as “The Patch,” in Chicago’s Little Italy.

Mo-Mo (Freddy Rodriguez) is a college student by day and a gangster by night, Joey Bags (Benjamin Bratt) is a high ranking old school gang member with ties to organized crime; Lucky (Stephen...[read on]

Learn more about The Insane Chicago Way at the University of Chicago Press website.

My Book, The Movie: The Insane Chicago Way.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Robert Masello's "The Einstein Prophecy"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Einstein Prophecy by Robert Masello.

About the book, from the publisher:

As war rages in 1944, young army lieutenant Lucas Athan recovers a sarcophagus excavated from an Egyptian tomb. Shipped to Princeton University for study, the box contains mysteries that only Lucas, aided by brilliant archaeologist Simone Rashid, can unlock.

These mysteries may, in fact, defy—or fulfill—the dire prophecies of Albert Einstein himself.

Struggling to decipher the sarcophagus’s strange contents, Lucas and Simone unwittingly release forces for both good and unmitigated evil. The fate of the world hangs not only on Professor Einstein’s secret research but also on Lucas’s ability to defeat an unholy adversary more powerful than anything he ever imagined.

From the mind of bestselling author and award-winning journalist Robert Masello comes a thrilling, page-turning adventure where modern science and primordial supernatural powers collide.

Learn more about the book and author at Robert Masello's website.

The Page 69 Test: Blood and Ice.

The Page 69 Test: The Medusa Amulet.

The Page 69 Test: The Einstein Prophecy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six top novels featuring teens in Hollywood

At LitReactor Riki Cleveland tagged six top novels featuring teens in Hollywood, including:

The Notorious Pagan Jones by Nina Berry

One drunken night changes everything for America’s sweetheart Pagan Jones when she causes a car accident that kills her whole family. For nine months she is stuck in the Lighthouse Reformatory for Wayward Girls where the sadistic Miss Edwards is making every day a new sort of hell. But everything changes when Pagan’s old agent shows up with mysterious studio executive Devin Black, offering Pagan a juicy role in a comedy directed by award-winning director Bennie Wexler. Pagan must agree to a court-appointed guardian and a shoot in West Berlin starting in only three days time. Berlin is in great political turmoil and the mysterious Devin Black is up to something, but Pagan is just the girl to figure it all out.

Nina Berry paints a perfect picture of Berlin in the 1960s. The country is divided by war and attempting to rebuild, and it makes for the perfect backdrop for this intense thrill-ride of a novel. This book is definitely a page-turner, especially in the last third, and readers will really enjoy the fantastic setting and unique characters.

Read about another entry on the list.

Writers Read: Nina Berry.

My Book, The Movie: The Notorious Pagan Jones.

The Page 69 Test: The Notorious Pagan Jones.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Joachim J. Savelsberg's "Representing Mass Violence"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Representing Mass Violence: Conflicting Responses to Human Rights Violations in Darfur by Joachim J. Savelsberg.

About the book, from the publisher:

How do interventions by the UN Security Council and the International Criminal Court influence representations of mass violence? What images arise instead from the humanitarianism and diplomacy fields? How are these competing perspectives communicated to the public via mass media? Zooming in on the case of Darfur, Joachim J. Savelsberg analyzes more than three thousand news reports and opinion pieces and interviews leading newspaper correspondents, NGO experts, and foreign ministry officials from eight countries to show the dramatic differences in the framing of mass violence around the world and across social fields. Representing Mass Violence contributes to our understanding of how the world acknowledges and responds to violence in the Global South.

Learn more about Representing Mass Violence at the University of California Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Representing Mass Violence.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Douglas Corleone reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Douglas Corleone, author of Gone Cold.

His entry begins:

A food jag is when a child will only eat one item, meal after meal. I sometimes go through periods like that with authors. When I first discovered Lee Child, I’d read nothing but Reacher novels for months at a time. If I fall behind on prolific authors such as Stephen King, I do the same. My current author jag is Harlan Coben. I originally picked him up because I was feeling nostalgic for my home state of New Jersey. But once Coben sinks his hooks into you, it’s incredibly difficult to break way.

Over the past few weeks I’ve read a number of his standalones, including The Innocent, Hold Tight, The Woods, Six Years, and Caught. I’m...[read on]

About Gone Cold, from the publisher:

Twelve years after a kidnapping destroyed former US Marshal Simon Fisk's family, he is newly determined to find the people responsible for taking his then-six-year-old daughter. He refuses to step away from the cold case, even after enduring months of dead ends and frustration.

And then, at last, he gets a break. On a brutal January night, Simon finds an urgent message on his computer. Attached are two images: one, a computer-generated image of Hailey Fisk had she reached eighteen years of age; the second, a sketch of a young woman wanted for murder in the Ireland. There are striking similarities. Within a matter of hours, Simon is on a flight to Dublin, setting off to find a girl who may be Hailey Fisk-before she's arrested for murder.

The chase will lead Simon through the UK and Ireland, where he learns secrets that have been kept far longer than the twelve years Hailey has been missing. It's Dublin where Simon hopes to find the people responsible for his daughter's disappearance and his wife's suicide. There he hopes to hold them accountable for what they've done. And, most importantly, it is there that Simon hopes to find Hailey, to bring her home once and for all.

Learn more about the book and author at Douglas Corleone's website.

The Page 69 Test: Good as Gone.

My Book, The Movie: Payoff.

The Page 69 Test: Gone Cold.

My Book, The Movie: Gone Cold.

Writers Read: Douglas Corleone.

--Marshal Zeringue

Shannon Grogan's "From Where I Watch You," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: From Where I Watch You by Shannon Grogan.

The entry begins:

This is easy. If they made my book into a film, I'd love two totally unknown actors to play the lead roles. I definitely have a visual image for my characters, and they don’t look like anyone I know or have seen in real life. Well, except Charlie—he has hair like Josh Duhamel.

I think Rachel McAdams and Ryan Gosling...[read on]

Visit Shannon Grogan's website.

My Book, The Movie: From Where I Watch You.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top books on the perils of education

Ian R. MacLeod is an acclaimed writer of speculative and fantastic fiction. For Tor.com he tagged five top novels on the perils of education, including:

Apt Pupil by Stephen King (originally published in Different Seasons)

A promising young lad rides his bike up to the doorstep of a neighbour, and on into the horrors of the old man’s corpse-filled cellar, the even greater horrors of Nazi Germany, and a concluding shoot-out which ends in his death. Which just goes to show once again that a good education isn’t necessarily a good one.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Katherine Rundell's "The Wolf Wilder"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Wolf Wilder by Katherine Rundell.

About the book, from the publisher:

A girl and the wolves who love her embark on a rescue mission through Russian wilderness in this lyrical tale from the author of the acclaimed Rooftoppers and Cartwheeling in Thunderstorms.

Feo’s life is extraordinary. Her mother trains domesticated wolves to be able to fend for themselves in the snowy wilderness of Russia, and Feo is following in her footsteps to become a wolf wilder. She loves taking care of the wolves, especially the three who stay at the house because they refuse to leave Feo, even though they’ve already been wilded. But not everyone is enamored with the wolves, or with the fact that Feo and her mother are turning them wild. And when her mother is taken captive, Feo must travel through the cold, harsh woods to save her—and learn from her wolves how to survive.

Visit Katherine Rundell's Twitter perch.

The Page 69 Test: The Wolf Wilder.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Stephanie Clifford reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Stephanie Clifford, author of Everybody Rise.

Her entry begins:

I just finished Cristina Henríquez' The Book of Unknown Americans. Henríquez's details give such a vivid sense of her characters' lives - the rundown Delaware apartment building that the characters live in, one of the father's jobs at a mushroom-packaging factory where he has to work in the dark. It's about moving to America, and it's also about family and sacrifice and what you do for...[read on]

About Everybody Rise, from the publisher:

It's 2006 in the Manhattan of the young and glamorous. Money and class are colliding in a city that is about to go over a financial precipice and take much of the country with it. At 26, bright, funny and socially anxious Evelyn Beegan is determined to carve her own path in life and free herself from the influence of her social-climbing mother, who propelled her through prep school and onto the Upper East Side. Evelyn has long felt like an outsider to her privileged peers, but when she gets a job at a social network aimed at the elite, she's forced to embrace them.

Recruiting new members for the site, Evelyn steps into a promised land of Adirondack camps, Newport cottages and Southampton clubs thick with socialites and Wall Streeters. Despite herself, Evelyn finds the lure of belonging intoxicating, and starts trying to pass as old money herself. When her father, a crusading class-action lawyer, is indicted for bribery, Evelyn must contend with her own family's downfall as she keeps up appearances in her new life, grasping with increasing desperation as the ground underneath her begins to give way.

Bracing, hilarious and often poignant, Stephanie Clifford's debut offers a thoroughly modern take on classic American themes - money, ambition, family, friendship - and on the universal longing to fit in.

Visit Stephanie Clifford's website.

Writers Read: Stephanie Clifford.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nine top historical novels

Philippa Gregory's new novel, The Taming of the Queen, tells the story of Henry VIII’s final bride, Kateryn Parr. One of the author's top nine historical novels, as shared at B & N Reads:

Simple Gifts, by Joanne Greenberg

I don’t know why this book is not universally adored. It deals with an eccentric, very poor family in remote Colorado who are paid to create a “heritage” experience, making their farm into a pioneer homestead of the 1880s. The question of authenticity and heritage versus history is central to the novel as it is to all historical fiction.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Susan Campbell Bartoletti's "Terrible Typhoid Mary"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Terrible Typhoid Mary: A True Story of the Deadliest Cook in America by Susan Campbell Bartoletti.

About the book, from the publisher:

What happens when a person's reputation has been forever damaged? With archival photographs and text among other primary sources, this riveting biography of Mary Mallon by the Sibert medalist and Newbery Honor winner Susan Bartoletti looks beyond the tabloid scandal of Mary's controversial life. How she was treated by medical and legal officials reveals a lesser-known story of human and constitutional rights, entangled with the science of pathology and enduring questions about who Mary Mallon really was. How did her name become synonymous with deadly disease? And who is really responsible for the lasting legacy of Typhoid Mary? This thorough exploration includes an author's note, timeline, annotated source notes, and bibliography.

Visit Susan Campbell Bartoletti's website.

My Book, The Movie: Terrible Typhoid Mary.

The Page 99 Test: Terrible Typhoid Mary.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nicole Galland's "Stepdog," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Stepdog by Nicole Galland.

The entry begins:

Well naturally, I think my own dog (who inspired the novel) should play the title role of the Stepdog, Cody, even though she’s the wrong breed, because she is the sweetest, gentlest, best-behaved, smartest, most photogenic dog in the world. Not that I’m biased.

The story is a sort of romantic bow-tie between the narrator (an Irish actor/musician), his bride, her dog and her ex. A frequent and very flattering comment I’ve been hearing from folks about Stepdog is that there is something Nick-Hornby-ish in the tone of the book, which thrills me as I’m a big Hornby fan. Since the movie About A Boy is my favorite adaptation of anything in the Hornby canon, I’d opt for...[read on]

Visit Nicole Galland's website.

The Page 69 Test: Stepdog.

My Book, The Movie: Stepdog.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Stephen Emond reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Stephen Emond, author of Bright Lights, Dark Nights.

His entry begins:

I’m always reading a wide variety at the same time. At the moment I’m working on a historical fiction pitch and I’m knee-deep in research for that, so a lot of my reading is tied to that. I’ve also had an itch to draw lately, so I’ve been reading some comic books like Lumberjanes and Rocket Girl, and I just finished...[read on]

About Bright Lights, Dark Nights, from the publisher:

A story about first love, first fights, and finding yourself in a messed up world, from Stephen Emond, acclaimed author of Happyface.

Walter Wilcox has never been in love. That is, until he meets Naomi, and sparks, and clever jokes, fly. But when his cop dad is caught in a racial profiling scandal, Walter and Naomi, who is African American, are called out at school, home, and online. Can their bond (and mutual love of the Foo Fighters) keep them together?

With black-and-white illustrations throughout and a heartfelt, humorous voice, Bright Lights, Dark Nights authentically captures just how tough first love can be...and why it's worth fighting for.

Visit Stephen Emond's website.

The Page 69 Test: Bright Lights, Dark Nights.

My Book, The Movie: Bright Lights, Dark Nights.

Writers Read: Stephen Emond.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten must-read YA novels that deserve a bigger following

Guardian children's books site teen blogger John Hansen tagged ten must-read YA novels you've probably never heard of, including:

Under A Painted Sky by Stacey Lee

Under A Painted Sky chronicles the journey of two teenagers during the start of the Gold Rush, one an escaped slave and the other a runaway Chinese girl who longs to become a musician. On the run from law enforcement, the two head West, along the way meeting a fascinating cast of characters. Under A Painted Sky is a historical, a western, a coming of age novel, and a story of friendship all rolled into one.

Read about another book on the list.

Under a Painted Sky is among Sarah Skilton's top six YA books featuring cross-cultural friendships and Dahlia Adler's seven top YA novels about best friendship.

My Book, The Movie: Under a Painted Sky.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Susan Crandall's "The Flying Circus"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Flying Circus by Susan Crandall.

About the book, from the publisher:

From the bestselling and award-winning author of Whistling Past the Graveyard comes an adventure tale about two daredevils and a farm boy who embark on the journey of a lifetime across America’s heartland in the Roaring Twenties.

Set in the rapidly changing world of 1920s America, this is a story of three people from very different backgrounds: Henry “Schuler” Jefferson, son of German immigrants from Midwestern farm country; Cora Rose Haviland, a young woman of privilege whose family has lost their fortune; and Charles “Gil” Gilchrist, an emotionally damaged WWI veteran pilot. Set adrift by life-altering circumstances, they find themselves bound together by need and torn apart by blind obsessions and conflicting goals. Each one holds a secret that, if exposed, would destroy their friendship. But their journey of adventure and self-discovery has a price—and one of them won’t be able to survive it.

As they crisscross the heartland, exploring the rapidly expanding role of aviation from barnstorming to bootlegging, from a flying circus to the dangerous sport of air racing, the three companions form a makeshift family. It’s a one-of-a-kind family, with members as adventurous as they are vulnerable, and as fascinating as they are flawed. But whatever adventure—worldly or private—they find themselves on, they’re guaranteed to be a family you won’t forget.

Visit Susan Crandall's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Flying Circus.

--Marshal Zeringue

Douglas Corleone's "Gone Cold," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Gone Cold by Douglas Corleone.

The entry begins:

Remember Jaguar’s 2014 Super Bowl ad featuring “British villains” Sir Ben Kingsley, Tom Hiddleston, and Mark Strong? That’s the tone I wanted to set for Gone Cold, the third international thriller to feature former US Marshal Simon Fisk. In Gone Cold, Simon returns to his birthplace, the United Kingdom, to discover what happened to his daughter Hailey, who was abducted twelve years earlier from the Fisk family home in Washington, DC. As mentioned in a previous MBTM blog post, my Simon Fisk is dream-played by action star Jason...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Douglas Corleone's website.

The Page 69 Test: Good as Gone.

My Book, The Movie: Payoff.

The Page 69 Test: Gone Cold.

My Book, The Movie: Gone Cold.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Gary Alan Fine's "Players and Pawns"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Players and Pawns: How Chess Builds Community and Culture by Gary Alan Fine.

About the book, from the publisher:

A chess match seems as solitary an endeavor as there is in sports: two minds, on their own, in fierce opposition. In contrast, Gary Alan Fine argues that chess is a social duet: two players in silent dialogue who always take each other into account in their play. Surrounding that one-on-one contest is a community life that can be nearly as dramatic and intense as the across-the-board confrontation.

Fine has spent years immersed in the communities of amateur and professional chess players, and with Players and Pawns he takes readers deep inside them, revealing a complex, brilliant, feisty world of commitment and conflict. Opening with a close look at a typical tournament in Atlantic City, Fine carries us from planning and setup through the climactic final day’s match-ups between the weekend’s top players, introducing us along the way to countless players and their relationships to the game. At tournaments like that one, as well as in locales as diverse as collegiate matches and community chess clubs, players find themselves part of what Fine terms a “soft community,” an open, welcoming space built on their shared commitment to the game. Within that community, chess players find both support and challenges, all amid a shared interest in and love of the long-standing traditions of the game, traditions that help chess players build a communal identity.

Full of idiosyncratic characters and dramatic gameplay, Players and Pawns is a celebration of the ever-fascinating world of serious chess.

Learn more about Players and Pawns at The University of Chicago Press.

The Page 99 Test: Players and Pawns.

--Marshal Zeringue