Pg. 69: Martyn Bedford's "Twenty Questions for Gloria"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Twenty Questions for Gloria by Martyn Bedford.

About the book, from the publisher:

At 15, Gloria longs for adventure, something beyond her ordinary suburban life. When a mysterious new boy strolls into school, bent on breaking all the rules, Gloria is ready to fall under his spell.

Uman is funny, confident, and smart. He does what he wants without a care for what anyone thinks. The only people for him, he says, are the mad ones, the ones who never yawn or say a commonplace thing but burn, burn, burn.

He is everything Gloria wants to be. He can whisk her away and show her a more daring, more exciting life in which the only limits are the boundaries of her own boldness. But Uman is not all he seems. And by the time she learns the truth about him, she’s a long way from home ... and the whole country wants to know: Where’s Gloria?

For fans of Dreamland by Sarah Dessen, Stolen by Lucy Christopher, and the Mara Dyer books by Michelle Hodkin.

Visit Martyn Bedford's website.

The Page 69 Test: Twenty Questions for Gloria.

--Marshal Zeringue

Freya North's 6 best books

Freya North is the author of many bestselling novels including The Turning Point. One of her six best books, as shared at the Daily Express:

A WIDOW FOR ONE YEAR by John Irving

My favourite by Irving because the heroine is an author. He writes such believable characters and this is a perfect blend of drama, rich plot and a marriage of the gaudy and the sensitive. His attention to detail is an inspiration for my own writing.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Billie Livingston reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Billie Livingston, author of The Crooked Heart of Mercy.

Her entry begins:

I have just begun reading a collection of interwoven short stories called Mother of Sorrow by Richard McCann. The book came out in 2006 and I had never heard of it before last week.

A few days ago, I finished a book tour down the west coast of the United States. My last stop was Book Passage in San Francisco. Because The Crooked Heart of Mercy is an American debut for me—and because bookstore readings are notorious for the empty-chair factor—we had a small crowd of five people gathered. And yet it was a wondrous evening. After the reading and talk, the six of us got into a conversation about different faiths, spirit and spiritualism, dying and strange visions. In the front row was a woolly bearded man, slim with silver hair and quiet eyes. He sat clutching one of those emergency foil thermal blankets. He talked about reading the Tibetan Book of the Dead to his dying mother. His mother had been his best friend, he said. He talked about being a 67-year-old gay man and growing up Presbyterian in Kentucky. He'd been living on the streets for many years now.

At the back of the room was a woman from Ottawa who said she had been...[read on]

About The Crooked Heart of Mercy, from the publisher:

From acclaimed Canadian novelist Billie Livingston comes this powerful U.S. debut that unfolds over a riveting dual narrative—an unforgettable story of ordinary lives rocked by hardship and scandal that follows in the tradition of Jennifer Haigh, A. Manette Ansay, and Jennifer Egan.

Ben wakes up in a hospital with a hole in his head he can't explain. What he can remember he’d rather forget. Like how he’d spend nights as a limo driver for the wealthy and debauched….how he and his wife, Maggie, drifted apart in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy…how his little brother, Cola, got in over his head with loan sharks circling.

Maggie is alone. Again. With bills to pay and Ben in a psych ward, she must return to work. But who would hire her in the state she’s in? And just as Maggie turns to her brother, Francis, the Internet explodes with video of his latest escapade. The headline? Drunk Priest Propositions Cops.

Francis is an unlikely priest with a drinking problem and little interest in celibacy. A third DUI, a looming court date.…When Maggie takes him in, he knows he may be down to his last chance. And his best shot at healing might lie in helping Maggie and Ben reconnect—against all odds.

Simmering with dark humor and piercing insights, The Crooked Heart of Mercy is a startling reminder that redemption can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Read more about the author and her books at the official Billie Livingston website.

My Book, The Movie: Cease to Blush.

The Page 69 Test: The Crooked Heart of Mercy.

My Book, The Movie: The Crooked Heart of Mercy.

Writers Read: Billie Livingston.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four books that changed Vivian Gornick

Vivian Gornick's latest book is The Odd Woman and the City: A Memoir. One of four books that changed the author, as shared at the Sydney Morning Herald:

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte

I read this book first as a teenage girl, next as a college sophomore, and then as a graduate student. First, I saw Jane as Cinderella; then I saw the heaven-and-hell nature of the fairy tale; then I saw the second-class position of women, as Jane prevails as an equal only when Rochester is blind – and has therefore been cut down to size. Again, the thrill of rereading: taking in what you need to see when you need to see it.

Read about another book on the list.

Jane Eyre also made Meredith Borders's list of ten of the scariest gothic romances, Esther Inglis-Arkell's top ten list of the most horribly mistreated first wives in Gothic fiction, Martine Bailey’s top six list of the best marriage plots in novels, Radhika Sanghani's top ten list of books to make sure you've read before graduating college, Lauren Passell's top five list of Gothic novels, Molly Schoemann-McCann's lists of ten fictional men who have ruined real live romance and five of the best--and more familiar--tropes in fiction, Becky Ferreira's lists of seven of the best fictional depictions of female friendship and the top six most momentous weddings in fiction, Julia Sawalha's six best books list, Honeysuckle Weeks's six best books list, Kathryn Harrison's list of six favorite books with parentless protagonists, Megan Abbott's top ten list of novels of teenage friendship, a list of Bettany Hughes's six best books, the Guardian's top 10 lists of "outsider books" and "romantic fiction;" it appears on Lorraine Kelly's six best books list, Esther Freud's top ten list of love stories, and Jessica Duchen's top ten list of literary Gypsies, and on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best governesses in literature, ten of the best men dressed as women, ten of the best weddings in literature, ten of the best locked rooms in literature, ten of the best pianos in literature, ten of the best breakfasts in literature, ten of the best smokes in fiction, and ten of the best cases of blindness in literature. It is one of Kate Kellaway's ten best love stories in fiction.

The Page 99 Test: Jane Eyre.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Andrew B. Kipnis's "From Village to City"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: From Village to City: Social Transformation in a Chinese County Seat by Andrew B. Kipnis.

About the book, from the publisher:

Between 1988 and 2013, the Chinese city of Zouping transformed from an impoverished town of 30,000 people to a bustling city of over 300,000, complete with factories, high rises, parks, shopping malls, and all the infrastructure of a wealthy East Asian city. From Village to City paints a vivid portrait of the rapid changes in Zouping and its environs and in the lives of the once-rural people who live there.

Despite the benefits of modernization and an improved standard of living for many of its residents, Zouping is far from a utopia; its inhabitants face new challenges and problems such as alienation, class formation and exclusion, and pollution. As he explores the city’s transformation, Andrew B. Kipnis develops a new theory of urbanization in this compelling portrayal of an emerging metropolis and its people.

Learn more about From Village to City at the University of California Press website.

The Page 99 Test: From Village to City.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six novels that can teach you practical skills

Jeff Somers is the author of We Are Not Good People, the Avery Cates series, Lifers, and Chum. He has published over thirty short stories, including “Ringing the Changes,” which appeared in the Best American Mystery Stories 2006 anthology. One of his six top books that offer as much practical education as entertainment value, as shared at the B&N Reads blog:

The Revenant, by Michael Punke

Punke’s fantastic fictional retelling of the true story of the survival of Hugh Glass after he was mauled by a bear and left for dead is thrilling, and can be interpreted in many ways. Punke contemplates nature and man’s relationship to it, the value of revenge, and, ultimately, what drives us to continue living. Throughout, he also offers up a veritable survival how-to, detailing the methods Hugh Glass uses to survive with minimal equipment while horrifically injured. Many of the techniques offered are very real and could actually be useful should you find yourself lost in the wilderness, from setting up simple snare traps, to building temporary shelters that might mean the difference between freezing to death and living to see the sunrise.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Revenant is among Jeff Somers's five top novels based on bonkers things that actually happened and Melissa Albert's list of top adaptations.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Karen Odden's "A Lady in the Smoke"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: A Lady in the Smoke: A Victorian Mystery by Karen Odden.

About the book, from the publisher:

Karen Odden’s enthralling debut historical mystery transports readers to Victorian England, where a terrifying railway disaster plunges a headstrong young noblewoman into a conspiracy that reaches to the highest corridors of power.

Following a humiliating fourth Season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is on her way back to her ancestral country estate when her train careens off the rails and bursts into flames. Though she is injured, she manages to drag herself and her unconscious mother out of the wreckage, and amid the chaos that ensues, a brilliant young railway surgeon saves her mother’s life. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection with Paul Wilcox—though society would never deem a medical man eligible for the daughter of an earl.

After Paul reveals that the train wreck was no accident, and the inspector who tried to prevent it dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth undertakes a dangerous investigation of her own that leads back to her family’s buried secrets. The more she learns, the more she must risk. Not only are her dowry and her reputation at stake; Paul’s very life hangs in the balance when he is arrested for manslaughter. As the trial draws near, and Parliament prepares for a vote that will change the course of the nation, Elizabeth uncovers a conspiracy that has been years in the making. But time is running out for her to see justice done.

Visit Karen Odden's website.

Writers Read: Karen Odden.

The Page 69 Test: A Lady in the Smoke.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top unappreciated animal heroes

Swapna Haddow is the author of Dave Pigeon: How to Deal with Bad Cats and Keep (Most of) Your Feathers, illustrated by Sheena Dempsey. At the Guardian she tagged her top ten unappreciated animal heroes, including:

Babe from The Sheep-Pig by Dick King-Smith and Ann Kronheimer

I don’t think it is possible to write a top 10 of animal stories without starting off with the godfather of brilliant animal fiction: Dick King Smith.

Babe couldn’t be further from the stereotype of pigs as the grotty, greedy, gruel-hogging farmyard bottom feeders. This orphaned piglet not only wins the hearts of Farmer Hogget and the animals on the farm and of course us, the readers, he perfects the art of shepherding proving that a pig can be so much more than just a swine.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Alex Gordon's "Jericho," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Jericho by Alex Gordon.

The entry begins:

Jericho is a supernatural thriller with a horror chaser. It continues the story of Lauren Reardon, who was first introduced in Gideon (2015). Over the course of the books, Lauren is coming to grips with the fact that she is the latest in a long line of witches and that the world is a very different place than what she has grown up believing it to be.

Ideally, the books would be filmed together, as a single season miniseries. I have no clue who should direct, but they would need to prefer a low-key approach to horror and prize character over kabooms! I am guessing that anyone who has directed episodes of The Walking Dead, The Expanse, or a number of other cable series would do well.

In keeping with the supernatural flavor, the actors chosen can be living or dead, and if necessary will be age-adjusted to suit.

Lauren Reardon—a 30-something Sandra Bullock. Lauren is an outdoorsy woman who enjoys kayaking, backwoods camping, rock climbing. Girl-next-door attractive, and very down-to-earth. Bullock appeals to me in those respects. She’s always struck me as someone you could run into at the local drugstore or mini-mart and have a friendly, funny no-drama conversation with. But there’s a toughness there, and a sense that something happened to her that...[read on]

Visit Alex Gordon's website and Kristine Smith's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Kristine Smith & Gaby.

My Book, The Movie: Jericho.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Karen Odden reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Karen Odden, author of A Lady in the Smoke: A Victorian Mystery.

Her entry begins:

I just handed in the manuscript for my next novel, Down a Dark River, to my agent a few weeks ago; until I hear a verdict from him, I binge read like a crazy person, all the books that have piled up on my nightstand. So this past month I’ve read thirteen books. These are five of my favorites, each from a different genre.

First, When Breath Becomes Air. Because everyone is reading it. And because, probably, everyone should be reading it. It’s heartbreaking, empathic, beautifully written; it reaches far beyond the hackneyed message of "make the most of what's left.” The author, a neurosurgeon who died of lung cancer at 36, asks openly, how do we find our values, in the middle of crisis, when life has been upended? And then how do we find them again, the next day, when something else has changed? One of my favorite parts of this book was his acknowledgement, early on, that...[read on]

About A Lady in the Smoke, from the publisher:

Karen Odden’s enthralling debut historical mystery transports readers to Victorian England, where a terrifying railway disaster plunges a headstrong young noblewoman into a conspiracy that reaches to the highest corridors of power.

Following a humiliating fourth Season in London, Lady Elizabeth Fraser is on her way back to her ancestral country estate when her train careens off the rails and bursts into flames. Though she is injured, she manages to drag herself and her unconscious mother out of the wreckage, and amid the chaos that ensues, a brilliant young railway surgeon saves her mother’s life. Elizabeth feels an immediate connection with Paul Wilcox—though society would never deem a medical man eligible for the daughter of an earl.

After Paul reveals that the train wreck was no accident, and the inspector who tried to prevent it dies under mysterious circumstances, Elizabeth undertakes a dangerous investigation of her own that leads back to her family’s buried secrets. The more she learns, the more she must risk. Not only are her dowry and her reputation at stake; Paul’s very life hangs in the balance when he is arrested for manslaughter. As the trial draws near, and Parliament prepares for a vote that will change the course of the nation, Elizabeth uncovers a conspiracy that has been years in the making. But time is running out for her to see justice done.

Visit Karen Odden's website.

Writers Read: Karen Odden.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top depictions of British rain

Melissa Harrison is an author, freelance writer and occasional photographer who lives in South London. Her second novel, At Hawthorn Time was shortlisted for the Costa Novel of the Year award and longlisted for the Baileys Women’s Prize for Fiction. Her new non-fiction book is Rain: Four Walks in English Weather. At the Guardian, Harrison tagged her top ten depictions of British rain, including:

Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel

The rain in Wolf Hall isn’t so much about downpours as a constant dampness, a pitter-patter that seems to seep through the entire book. When Wolsey is turned out of York Place and dismounts his mule to kneel in the mud with Norris, the drizzle creates an extra layer of pathos. Elsewhere, without being foregrounded, it acts to create a subtle sense of chilly discomfort, powerfully but subtly evoking the harsher, less coddled world of the Tudors.

Read about another entry on the list.

Wolf Hall made the Telegraph's list of the 21 greatest television adaptations of novels, BBC Culture's list of the 21st century’s twelve greatest novels, Ester Bloom's ten list of books for fans of the television series House of Cards, Rachel Cantor's list of the ten worst jobs in books, Kathryn Williams's reading list on pride, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of books on baby-watching in Great Britain, Julie Buntin's top ten list of literary kids with deadbeat and/or absent dads, Hermione Norris's 6 best books list, John Mullan's list of ten of the best cardinals in literature, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five books on dangerous minds and Lev Grossman's list of the top ten fiction books of 2009, and is one of Geraldine Brooks's favorite works of historical fiction; Matt Beynon Rees called it "[s]imply the best historical novel for many, many years."

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Kiera Stewart & Casper

Featured at Coffee with a Canine: Kiera Stewart & Casper.

The author, on Casper's contribution to her writing career:

I actually credit Casper with the fact that I'm published at all. I was writing at the time we adopted him, but wasn't have much luck getting past very bad rough drafts. But once he became part of the family, I found myself interested in lots of dog-training programs -- Animal Planet and National Geographic Channel had some really good ones at the time. The shows got me thinking about what would happen if you used adaptations of some of these dog-training techniques in social settings, particularly the most challenging ones. Like middle school, which I remember all too well. This sparked the idea behind Fetching, which landed me a wonderful agent and a book deal with Disney-Hyperion, and has allowed me to continue writing middle-grade books. My second novel, How to Break a Heart, came out...[read on]

About How to Break a Heart, from the publisher:

This time, even ice cream won't help.

Nick Wainwright is definitely the love of thirteen-year-old Mabry Collins's life, and when he dumps her in the most mortifying way possible, her heart is shattered. So, maybe they'd never kissed, but they had shared something special. They'd shared LOVE. True love. She's sure of it.

And Mabry would know. She's watched countless episodes of her favorite telenovela with her best friend, Sirina, and the characters have taught her everything about romance.

But when Sirina's usual methods for comforting Mabry fail, she has an idea: it's time for Mabry to break a heart of her own. And who better than Thad Bell to teach Mabry how to do it? He was the source of her very first heartbreak, and he seems to have his own reasons for wanting to see Nick suffer.

Mabry decides to give it a shot, but she's pretty sure Thad's advice will lead to disaster. After all, his sole passion is a burrito with extra hot sauce. Anyone with any sense knows that true love doesn't come in a foil wrapper! But if Thad can help her win back-um, that is, break-Nick's heart, then it might just be worth it.

Visit Kiera Stewart's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Kiera Stewart & Casper.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Dov Waxman's "Trouble in the Tribe"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Trouble in the Tribe: The American Jewish Conflict over Israel by Dov Waxman.

About the book, from the publisher:

Trouble in the Tribe explores the increasingly contentious place of Israel in the American Jewish community. In a fundamental shift, growing numbers of American Jews have become less willing to unquestioningly support Israel and more willing to publicly criticize its government. More than ever before, American Jews are arguing about Israeli policies, and many, especially younger ones, are becoming uncomfortable with Israel's treatment of Palestinians. Dov Waxman argues that Israel is fast becoming a source of disunity for American Jewry, and that a new era of American Jewish conflict over Israel is replacing the old era of solidarity.

Drawing on a wealth of in-depth interviews with American Jewish leaders and activists, Waxman shows why Israel has become such a divisive issue among American Jews. He delves into the American Jewish debate about Israel, examining the impact that the conflict over Israel is having on Jewish communities, national Jewish organizations, and on the pro-Israel lobby. Waxman sets this conflict in the context of broader cultural, political, institutional, and demographic changes happening in the American Jewish community. He offers a nuanced and balanced account of how this conflict over Israel has developed and what it means for the future of American Jewish politics.

Israel used to bring American Jews together. Now it is driving them apart. Trouble in the Tribe explains why.

Learn more about the book and author at Dov Waxman's website.

The Page 99 Test: Trouble in the Tribe.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Lucinda Riley reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Lucinda Riley, author of The Storm Sister (Book #2 of The Seven Sisters).

Her entry begins:

It’s an old adage, but it’s true: in order to be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. And I take this to heart; I consume books like a starving tiger devours its prey in the jungle. I have very eclectic taste, devoid of snobbery. In the past year I have read perhaps 40 books, including M. L. Stedman's The Light Between Oceans, the two Wolf Hall books by Hilary Mantel and most recently, the entire twelve book 'Inspector Gamache' series by Louise Penny. Set in the fictional idyllic village of Three Pines in Quebec, Canada, Chief Inspector Armand Gamache solves one...[read on]

About The Storm Sister, from the publisher:

Gathered at their childhood home to mourn their father’s death, Ally D’Aplièse and her five adoptive sisters receive tantalizing clues to their distinct heritages. Ally soon finds herself in Norway where she begins to make sense of her elusive past in the second part of an epic new series by #1 internationally bestselling author Lucinda Riley.

Olympic hopeful Ally is in the midst of preparations for one of the world’s most challenging yacht races when news of her beloved father’s death shocks the accomplished sailor. Saying goodbye to the love of her life, a man her family knows nothing about, she rushes back to her family home, an enchanting chateau where she and her five sisters—each adopted as infants—were raised on the shores of Lake Geneva.

When new tragedy strikes on the high seas, pummeling Ally yet again with a terrible and unexpected loss, she turns her back on the water and instead follows her own North Star—an intriguing clue left by her father which leads her to Norway and the promise of unmasking her origins. Surrounded by the majestic beauty of an unfamiliar homeland, Ally begins to unpack the century-old story of a remarkable young woman named Anna Landvik, a talented singer with an astonishing link to composer Edvard Grieg and his celebrated musical accompaniment to Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play “Peer Gynt.”

Lucinda Riley’s captivating story brings together two resilient women—decades apart—weaving their stories into a moving examination of family, love, and identity.

Visit Lucinda Riley's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Storm Sister.

My Book, The Movie: The Storm Sister.

Writers Read: Lucinda Riley.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five heroines quicker to act violently than with a level head

Alwyn Hamilton is the author of Rebel of the Sands. At Tor.com she tagged five heroines quicker to act violently than with a level head, including:

Saba from Blood Red Road by Moira Young

Saba of Silverlake is known as the Angel of Death because she never loses a fight. She will take you down and she’ll do it with her bare hands, no less. Forced into cage matches where three losses means execution, Saba is a survivor who sends her competitors to the chopping block. But most of Saba’s fighting doesn’t come from skill or strength; it comes from the semi out-of-body wildness that kicks in when she’s threatened. Her fighting style is mindless but effective.

Read about another entry on the list.

Blood Red Road is among Lee Kelly's five favorite books with unforgettable sisters and Sarah Holding's top ten "cli-fi novels that make you think deeply about the human consequences of climate change."

--Marshal Zeringue

Billie Livingston's "The Crooked Heart of Mercy," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Crooked Heart of Mercy by Billie Livingston.

The entry begins:

To cast The Crooked Heart of Mercy, you’d need three actors who could really pull of strong working class people. Jodie Foster has played dozens of these kinds of characters and to have her take the helm, as director, would be really interesting. I bet she could direct the hell out of a story like this.

Francis, though a supporting character is something of a linchpin to the story. A gay, promiscuous, alcoholic priest, Francis is playful, confused, funny and ultimately gifted with a grace that helps people forward with their own secret burdens. A 30-something Robert Downey Jr. would be fantastic. You’d need that kind of...[read on]

Read more about the author and her books at the official Billie Livingston website.

My Book, The Movie: Cease to Blush.

The Page 69 Test: The Crooked Heart of Mercy.

My Book, The Movie: The Crooked Heart of Mercy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Alan Smale's "Eagle in Exile"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Eagle in Exile: The Clash of Eagles Trilogy Book II by Alan Smale.

About the book, from the publisher:

Perfect for fans of Bernard Cornwell, Steve Berry, Naomi Novik, and Harry Turtledove, Alan Smale’s gripping alternate history series imagines a world in which the Roman Empire has survived long enough to invade North America in 1218. Now the stunning story carries hero Gaius Marcellinus deeper into the culture of an extraordinary people—whose humanity, bravery, love, and ingenuity forever change his life and destiny.

In A.D. 1218, Praetor Gaius Marcellinus is ordered to conquer North America and turning it into a Roman province. But outside the walls of the great city of Cahokia, his legion is destroyed outright; Marcellinus is the only one spared. In the months and years that follow, Marcellinus comes to see North America as his home and the Cahokians as his kin. He vows to defend these proud people from any threat, Roman or native.

After successfully repelling an invasion by the fearsome Iroqua tribes, Marcellinus realizes that a weak and fractured North America won’t stand a chance against the returning Roman army. Worse, rival factions from within threaten to tear Cahokia apart just when it needs to be most united and strong. Marcellinus is determined to save the civilization that has come to mean more to him than the empire he once served. But to survive the swords of Roma, he first must avert another Iroqua attack and bring Cahokia together. Only with the hearts and souls of a nation at his back can Marcellinus hope to know triumph.

Visit Alan Smale's website.

The Page 69 Test: Clash of Eagles.

The Page 69 Test: Eagle in Exile.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten CIA novels

For The Strand Magazine, Mike Dellosso tagged ten of "the most memorable and captivating novels featuring agents of the CIA," including:

The Book of Spies by Gayle Lynds

Ivan the Terrible’s mysterious Library of Gold has been spoken of but never found. Now, one of the library’s gold-gilded books turns up, The Book of Spies, and has everyone looking for the library. The CIA enlists rare-book curator Eva Blake to help them. When an attempt is made on her life, Eva turns to her friend, Judd Ryder, ex-CIA intelligence officer. Together they embark on a mission that covers most of Europe. Lynds has written more books with the team of Blake and Ryder at the helm but this is the one that started it all.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Brian Doyle reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Brian Doyle, author of Chicago: A Novel.

His entry begins:

The usual motley slew – just read the excellent Love and War in the Apennines by Eric Newby, a very good memoir of his experiences as a prisoner and escapee in WW2 Italy. But the great burst lately has been the terrific Richard Hannay adventure novels of John Buchan. He’s most famous for The 39 Steps, probably because it was made into a fine Hitchcock movie, but that good book is one of...[read on]

About Chicago, from the publisher:

On the last day of summer, some years ago, a young college graduate moves to Chicago and rents a small apartment on the north side of the city, by the vast and muscular lake. This is the story of the five seasons he lives there, during which he meets gangsters, gamblers, policemen, a brave and garrulous bus driver, a cricket player, a librettist, his first girlfriend, a shy apartment manager, and many other riveting souls, not to mention a wise and personable dog of indeterminate breed.

A love letter to Chicago, the Great American City, and a wry account of a young man's coming-of-age during the one summer in White Sox history when they had the best outfield in baseball, Brian Doyle's Chicago is a novel that will plunge you into a city you will never forget, and may well wish to visit for the rest of your days.

Read more about Chicago at the publisher's website.

My Book, The Movie: Bin Laden’s Bald Spot.

The Page 69 Test: Mink River.

My Book, The Movie: The Plover.

The Page 69 Test: Chicago.

Writers Read: Brian Doyle.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top books for "Pride and Prejudice" fans

Curtis Sittenfeld’s new novel is Eligible, a reimagining of Pride and Prejudice. One of her ten books every Pride and Prejudice fan must read, as shared at the B & N Reads blog:

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P., by Adelle Waldman

This whip-smart novel brings Austen’s level of anthropological insight to the romantic machinations of youngish contemporary New Yorkers.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P. also appears among Jeff Somers's five most disastrous dinner parties in fiction, Melissa Albert's top five books to celebrate the start of the new season of HBO’s Girls, Esquire's five most important books of 2014 and Radhika Sanghani's top ten books to make sure you've read before graduating college.

The Page 69 Test: The Love Affairs of Nathaniel P..

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Loring M. Danforth's "Crossing the Kingdom"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Crossing the Kingdom: Portraits of Saudi Arabia by Loring M. Danforth.

About the book, from the publisher:

For many people, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia evokes images of deserts, camels, and oil, along with rich sheikh in white robes, oppressed women in black veils, and terrorists. But when Loring Danforth traveled through the country in 2012, he found a world much more complex and inspiring than he could have ever imagined.

With vivid descriptions and moving personal narratives, Danforth takes us across the Kingdom, from the headquarters of Saudi Aramco, the country’s national oil company on the Persian Gulf, to the centuries-old city of Jeddah on the Red Sea coast with its population of undocumented immigrants from all over the Muslim world. He presents detailed portraits of a young woman jailed for protesting the ban on women driving, a Sufi scholar encouraging Muslims and Christians to struggle together with love to know God, and an artist citing the Quran and using metal gears and chains to celebrate the diversity of the pilgrims who come to Mecca.

Crossing the Kingdom paints a lucid portrait of contemporary Saudi culture and the lives of individuals, who like us all grapple with modernity at the dawn of the twenty-first century.

Learn more about Crossing the Kingdom at the University of California Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Crossing the Kingdom.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Tessa Arlen reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Tessa Arlen, author of Death Sits Down to Dinner.

Her entry begins:

The Jewel in the Crown by Paul Scott.

This great collection of books – there are four volumes to The Jewel in the Crown – has become my go-to for information on the British Raj in India. Beautifully told and remarkably well researched the Raj Quartet, as it is often referred to, was written in the mid-1960s. The over-arching theme relates the end of British rule in India, told through the eyes of the British families who had become mainstays in India for several generations and viewed the British presence in India as absolutely necessary to it continued ‘civilization’. To balance out perspective the story is also told by some of the Indian people who were either politically involved in ousting the British, were independent rulers under their rule, or who merely became the scapegoats of racial tension during this very turbulent time in India’s fight for independence.

The main characters of the story are...[read on]

About Death Sits Down to Dinner, from the publisher:

Filled with deceptions both real and imagined, Death Sits Down to Dinner is a delightful Edwardian mystery set in London.

Lady Montfort is thrilled to receive an invitation to a dinner party hosted by her close friend Hermione Kingsley, the patroness of England's largest charity. Hermione has pulled together a select gathering to celebrate Winston Churchill's 39th birthday. Some of the oldest families in the country have gathered to toast the dangerously ambitious and utterly charming First Lord of the Admiralty. But when the dinner ends, one of the gentlemen remains seated at the table, head down among the walnut shells littering the cloth and a knife between his ribs.

Summoned from Iyntwood, Mrs. Jackson helps her mistress trace the steps of suspects both upstairs and downstairs as Hermione's household prepares to host a highly anticipated charity event. Determined to get to the bottom of things, Lady Montfort and Mrs. Jackson unravel the web of secrecy surrounding the bright whirlwind of London society, investigating the rich, well-connected and seeming do-gooders in a race against time to stop the murderer from striking again.

Visit Tessa Arlen's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Tessa Arlen & Daphne.

The Page 69 Test: Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman.

My Book, The Movie: Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman.

The Page 69 Test: Death Sits Down to Dinner.

My Book, The Movie: Death Sits Down to Dinner.

Writers Read: Tessa Arlen.

--Marshal Zeringue

Helen Macdonald's 6 favorite books

Helen Macdonald is the author of the acclaimed international best-seller, H Is for Hawk. One of her six favorite books, as shared at The Week magazine:

Arctic Dreams by Barry Lopez

A wondrous investigation into the Arctic and its place in our imagination, as well as an exploration of landscape, culture, science, hunting, morality, and value. There is a moment in this book when Lopez feels compelled to bow to arctic ground-nesting birds with deep humility and reverence for their tenacity. It always reduces me to tears.

Read about another entry on the list.

Arctic Dreams is among Caspar Henderson's top ten natural histories.

--Marshal Zeringue

Lucinda Riley's "The Storm Sister," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Storm Sister (Book #2 of The Seven Sisters) by Lucinda Riley.

The entry begins:

As a former actress, there is nothing more satisfying than the game of casting my own characters. I remember sweating before auditions in London, and then wondering what was going through the casting director’s mind as I read for a part. While my acting days are long over, I do so admire the young British actors of today. So for my main character Ally in The Storm Sister, I would have to choose Eleanor Tomlinson, who was so brilliant in the BBC adaptation of Poldark. With her vibrant red hair and feisty personality, she would really do Ally justice. Ally’s half-American lover and fellow sailor Theo would be played by Jake Gyllenhaal.

For all my sisters in this series, I imagine that their historical ancestor will be played by the same actress, as they are physically similar. So Ally’s great-great-grandmother Anna would...[read on]

Visit Lucinda Riley's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Storm Sister.

My Book, The Movie: The Storm Sister.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Billie Livingston's "The Crooked Heart of Mercy"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Crooked Heart of Mercy by Billie Livingston.

About the book, from the publisher:

From acclaimed Canadian novelist Billie Livingston comes this powerful U.S. debut that unfolds over a riveting dual narrative—an unforgettable story of ordinary lives rocked by hardship and scandal that follows in the tradition of Jennifer Haigh, A. Manette Ansay, and Jennifer Egan.

Ben wakes up in a hospital with a hole in his head he can't explain. What he can remember he’d rather forget. Like how he’d spend nights as a limo driver for the wealthy and debauched….how he and his wife, Maggie, drifted apart in the wake of an unspeakable tragedy…how his little brother, Cola, got in over his head with loan sharks circling.

Maggie is alone. Again. With bills to pay and Ben in a psych ward, she must return to work. But who would hire her in the state she’s in? And just as Maggie turns to her brother, Francis, the Internet explodes with video of his latest escapade. The headline? Drunk Priest Propositions Cops.

Francis is an unlikely priest with a drinking problem and little interest in celibacy. A third DUI, a looming court date.…When Maggie takes him in, he knows he may be down to his last chance. And his best shot at healing might lie in helping Maggie and Ben reconnect—against all odds.

Simmering with dark humor and piercing insights, The Crooked Heart of Mercy is a startling reminder that redemption can be found in the most unlikely of places.

Read more about the author and her books at the official Billie Livingston website.

My Book, The Movie: Cease to Blush.

The Page 69 Test: The Crooked Heart of Mercy.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Peggy Orenstein reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Peggy Orenstein, author of Girls & Sex: Navigating the Complicated New Landscape.

Her entry begins:

I go back and forth between reading books for adults and YA books, partly because my daughter and I like to read books together and partly because I love YA books. Right now I’m reading what is one of the most beloved books for young people in England but not, I think, especially popular here. It’s called Good Night, Mr. Tom. It’s the story of an abused child who is evacuated from London to the country during World War II to live with a crusty but compassionate elderly man. The boy gradually blooms under Mr. Tom’s loving care and the friendship of...[read on]

About Girls & Sex, from the publisher:

The author of the New York Times bestseller Cinderella Ate My Daughter offers a clear-eyed picture of the new sexual landscape girls face in the post-princess stage—high school through college—and reveals how they are negotiating it.

A generation gap has emerged between parents and their girls. Even in this age of helicopter parenting, the mothers and fathers of tomorrow’s women have little idea what their daughters are up to sexually or how they feel about it. Drawing on in-depth interviews with over seventy young women and a wide range of psychologists, academics, and experts, renowned journalist Peggy Orenstein goes where most others fear to tread, pulling back the curtain on the hidden truths, hard lessons, and important possibilities of girls’ sex lives in the modern world.

While the media has focused—often to sensational effect—on the rise of casual sex and the prevalence of rape on campus, in Girls and Sex Peggy Orenstein brings much more to the table. She examines the ways in which porn and all its sexual myths have seeped into young people’s lives; what it means to be the “the perfect slut” and why many girls scorn virginity; the complicated terrain of hookup culture and the unfortunate realities surrounding assault. In Orenstein’s hands these issues are never reduced to simplistic “truths;” rather, her powerful reporting opens up a dialogue on a potent, often silent, subtext of American life today—giving readers comprehensive and in-depth information with which to understand, and navigate, this complicated new world.

Visit Peggy Orenstein's website.

The Page 69 Test: Waiting for Daisy.

The Page 99 Test: Cinderella Ate My Daughter.

Writers Read: Peggy Orenstein.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten very funny Young Adult books

Jesse Andrews is the author the novels Me, Earl, and the Dying Girl and The Haters. At the B&N Teen blog he tagged ten funny YA books including:

Scarlett Epstein Hates It Here, by Anna Breslaw

Scarlett writes fan fiction, and this book (publishing in April, like mine) toggles with great wit and warmth between the turbulent romances in her writing and those in her real life. Breslaw is also a master of the digressive sentence that, if it catches you at the right time, will make you snort audibly on a bus or something, e.g., this one: “For a second I felt like Al Pacino in that scene in The Godfather where he shoots all those guys in that restaurant and then he flees to Sicily and marries that girl who doesn’t speak his language but has really nice breasts and then she gets blown up in a car.”

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Diego Gambetta & Steffen Hertog's "Engineers of Jihad"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Engineers of Jihad: The Curious Connection between Violent Extremism and Education by Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog.

About the book, from the publisher:

The violent actions of a few extremists can alter the course of history, yet there persists a yawning gap between the potential impact of these individuals and what we understand about them. In Engineers of Jihad, Diego Gambetta and Steffen Hertog uncover two unexpected facts, which they imaginatively leverage to narrow that gap: they find that a disproportionate share of Islamist radicals come from an engineering background, and that Islamist and right-wing extremism have more in common than either does with left-wing extremism, in which engineers are absent while social scientists and humanities students are prominent.

Searching for an explanation, they tackle four general questions about extremism: Under which socioeconomic conditions do people join extremist groups? Does the profile of extremists reflect how they self-select into extremism or how groups recruit them? Does ideology matter in sorting who joins which group? Lastly, is there a mindset susceptible to certain types of extremism?

Using rigorous methods and several new datasets, they explain the link between educational discipline and type of radicalism by looking at two key factors: the social mobility (or lack thereof) for engineers in the Muslim world, and a particular mindset seeking order and hierarchy that is found more frequently among engineers. Engineers' presence in some extremist groups and not others, the authors argue, is a proxy for individual traits that may account for the much larger question of selective recruitment to radical activism.

Opening up markedly new perspectives on the motivations of political violence, Engineers of Jihad yields unexpected answers about the nature and emergence of extremism.

Learn more about Engineers of Jihad at the Princeton University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Engineers of Jihad.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tessa Arlen's "Death Sits Down to Dinner," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Death Sits Down to Dinner: A Mystery by Tessa Arlen.

The entry begins:

This is the tale of a murder at a fashionable English dinner party to celebrate the birthday of Winston Churchill a year before WW1. It touches on the anxiety and paranoia of a country on the edge of war, the differences in class, in race and social dependence that is in the financial dependence of women.

For Winston Churchill the English actor Robert Hardy immediately springs to mind, as he was in The Wilderness Years. He did a splendid job of portraying Churchill in the 1920s which is just a little later than the book which is set in 1913. Hardy looks like Churchill, he sounds like him and he played the part with all the wit, charm and the stupendous ego that are such hallmarks of Churchill’s rather overwhelming personality and complex nature.

Edith Jackson, our amateur sleuth Lady Montfort’s ‘Watson’, should be played by Emily...[read on]

Visit Tessa Arlen's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Tessa Arlen & Daphne.

The Page 69 Test: Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman.

My Book, The Movie: Death of a Dishonorable Gentleman.

The Page 69 Test: Death Sits Down to Dinner.

My Book, The Movie: Death Sits Down to Dinner.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five fun, fearless, fictional femmes fatales

The editors at B & N Reads tagged five of their favorite fun, fearless femmes fatales in fiction, including:

The Secret Place, by Tana French

You don’t have to have read any of Tana French’s earlier novels to get sucked right into her most recent tour de force, The Secret Place (I hadn’t). Once you’ve entered her shimmering, radiant, and twisted world, though, you won’t want to leave, and you’ll go right back and start with her stunning debut novel, the dark, radiant In the Woods. Featuring a hard-boiled murder investigation set on the grounds of a cutthroat shark tank of an all-girls boarding school, The Secret Place embeds you deep in the middle of a solid (almost too solid) friendship between four smart, cynical, but still naive teenaged girls, that is as teeming with secrets and lies as it is with love, loyalty, and rampant clothes-borrowing.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Secret Place is among Kelly Anderson's seven amazing female friendships in fiction.

Also see: John Mullan's ten best femmes fatales in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Lucinda Riley's "The Storm Sister"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Storm Sister (Book #2 of The Seven Sisters) by Lucinda Riley.

About the book, from the publisher:

Gathered at their childhood home to mourn their father’s death, Ally D’Aplièse and her five adoptive sisters receive tantalizing clues to their distinct heritages. Ally soon finds herself in Norway where she begins to make sense of her elusive past in the second part of an epic new series by #1 internationally bestselling author Lucinda Riley.

Olympic hopeful Ally is in the midst of preparations for one of the world’s most challenging yacht races when news of her beloved father’s death shocks the accomplished sailor. Saying goodbye to the love of her life, a man her family knows nothing about, she rushes back to her family home, an enchanting chateau where she and her five sisters—each adopted as infants—were raised on the shores of Lake Geneva.

When new tragedy strikes on the high seas, pummeling Ally yet again with a terrible and unexpected loss, she turns her back on the water and instead follows her own North Star—an intriguing clue left by her father which leads her to Norway and the promise of unmasking her origins. Surrounded by the majestic beauty of an unfamiliar homeland, Ally begins to unpack the century-old story of a remarkable young woman named Anna Landvik, a talented singer with an astonishing link to composer Edvard Grieg and his celebrated musical accompaniment to Henrik Ibsen’s iconic play “Peer Gynt.”

Lucinda Riley’s captivating story brings together two resilient women—decades apart—weaving their stories into a moving examination of family, love, and identity.

Visit Lucinda Riley's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Storm Sister.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Mark Sanders's "Learning Zulu"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Learning Zulu: A Secret History of Language in South Africa by Mark Sanders.

About the book, from the publisher:

"Why are you learning Zulu?" When Mark Sanders began studying the language, he was often asked this question. In Learning Zulu, Sanders places his own endeavors within a wider context to uncover how, in the past 150 years of South African history, Zulu became a battleground for issues of property, possession, and deprivation. Sanders combines elements of analysis and memoir to explore a complex cultural history.

Perceiving that colonial learners of Zulu saw themselves as repairing harm done to Africans by Europeans, Sanders reveals deeper motives at work in the development of Zulu-language learning—from the emergence of the pidgin Fanagalo among missionaries and traders in the nineteenth century to widespread efforts, in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, to teach a correct form of Zulu. Sanders looks at the white appropriation of Zulu language, music, and dance in South African culture, and at the association of Zulu with a martial masculinity. In exploring how Zulu has come to represent what is most properly and powerfully African, Sanders examines differences in English- and Zulu-language press coverage of an important trial, as well as the role of linguistic purism in xenophobic violence in South Africa.

Through one person's efforts to learn the Zulu language, Learning Zulu explores how a language's history and politics influence all individuals in a multilingual society.

Learn more about Learning Zulu at the Princeton University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Learning Zulu.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six top YA novels for "Downton Abbey" fans

At the B & N Teen Blog, Shaun Byron Fitzpatrick tagged six top YA novels for fans struggling to cope with the end of Downton Abbey, including:

Landry Park, by Bethany Hagen

Picture Downton Abbey if it were set in a future dystopia, and you have Landry Park. Madeline Landry is one of the lucky ones: one of her ancestors invented the Cherenkov lantern that the world now relies on, and he’s the heir to a vast fortune. Her father is a powerful man who expects her to marry and take over the family estate, much to Madeline’s dismay. Her dreams of attending university and continuing to enjoy her easy lifestyle are disrupted, however, when her eyes are opened to the way the other 99% of the world lives: the poverty stricken Rootless. Madeline becomes involved with the Rootless rebellion, turning the novel’s focus to a mix of class tension and uprising (and, of course, romance) in a futuristic setting.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: Landry Park.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Kristi Abbott reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Kristi Abbott, author of Kernel of Truth.

Her entry begins:

I just finished What Was Mine by Helen Klein Ross. I’ll be honest. I don’t remember how it made it onto my TBR list, but it was there and the library had it so voila! I love books that use point of view in interesting ways (maybe it was on a list for that?). Ross does alternating first person point of view chapters. I know that’s not revolutionary, but she pushes the envelope. Each chapter is no more than two to four pages long. While most of the chapters focus on three main characters, there are occasional chapters from characters we’ll never hear from again. Or maybe we’ll hear from them a handful more times. Ross...[read on]

About Kernel of Truth, from the publisher:

An all-new Popcorn Shop Mystery bursts on the scene, featuring gourmet popcorn entrepreneur Rebecca Anderson and her poodle Sprocket.

Opening a gourmet popcorn shop was never on Rebecca Anderson’s bucket list. But after a failed marriage to a celebrity chef, she’s ready for her life to open up and expand. She has returned to her hometown of Grand Lake, Ohio, with her popcorn-loving poodle Sprocket to start a new business—naturally called POPS. As a delicious bonus, Cordelia “Coco” Bittles, a close family friend who has always been like a grandmother to Rebecca, owns the chocolate shop next door, and the two are thinking of combining their businesses.

But when Coco’s niece, Alice, discovers her on the floor of her chocolate shop, those dreams go up in smoke. The local sheriff thinks Coco was the victim of a robbery gone wrong, but Rebecca isn’t so sure. As suspects start popping up all over, Rebecca is determined to turn up the heat and bring the killer to justice in a jiffy!

Visit Kristi Abbott's website.

The Page 69 Test: Kernel of Truth.

My Book, the Movie: Kernel of Truth.

Writers Read: Kristi Abbott.

--Marshal Zeringue