Pg. 69: Justina Chen's "A Blind Spot for Boys"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: A Blind Spot for Boys by Justina Chen.

About the book,from the publisher:

Shana has always had a blind spot for boys. Can she trust the one who's right in front of her?

Sixteen-year-old Shana Wilde is officially on a Boy Moratorium. After a devastating breakup, she decides it's time to end the plague of Mr. Wrong, Wrong, and More Wrong.

Enter Quattro, the undeniably cute lacrosse player who slams into Shana one morning in Seattle. Sparks don't just fly; they ignite. And so does Shana's interest. Right as she's about to rethink her ban on boys, she receives crushing news: Her dad is going blind. Quattro is quickly forgotten, and Shana and her parents vow to make the most of the time her father has left to see. So they travel to Machu Picchu, and as they begin their trek, they run into none other than Quattro himself. But even as the trip unites them, Quattro pulls away mysteriously... Love and loss, humor and heartbreak collide in this new novel from acclaimed author Justina Chen.

Visit Justina Chen's website.

The Page 69 Test: A Blind Spot for Boys.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Shannon Stoker reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Shannon Stoker, author of The Alliance: A Registry Novel.

Her entry begins:

I am in a book club and we are reading Orange is the New Black this month. I rarely do non-fiction so it’s a nice change. I’m plugging along at Doctor Sleep too, which I really need to finish. Someone gave me a copy as a Christmas present, so it’s only been...[read on]

About The Alliance, from the publisher:

To overthrow a brutal dictator and free her country, a brave young woman will risk her life and liberty to spark a revolution in this explosive final installment in Shannon Stoker’s electrifying Registry trilogy.

Mia Morrissey fled to Mexico to escape the government marrying her to someone she did not love. Now, she’s going risk everything so that the rest of America can be free.

Going undercover as part of a diplomatic mission, Mia returns to America. But life there is more dangerous than ever as the walls grow ever taller, and the forgotten country faces its most ruthless leader yet, Grant Marsden ... a shadow from Mia’s past. With the help of Andrew, Carter, and other members of the subversive group Affinity, she embarks on a perilous journey to defeat Grant, bring down the government, and destroy the Registry once and for all.

When a terrible betrayal exposes the operation, Mia discovers that her enemies have used her—and so have her friends. Alone and frightened, she’s uncertain who to trust—or whether the mission is worth what she’s sacrificing.

With the fate of her friends and the future of her country on the line, Mia knows that her next step may be the last for her ... and America.

Visit Shannon Stoker's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Shannon Stoker & Nucky.

Writers Read: Shannon Stoker.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top books about serial killers

Laura McHugh's debut novel is The Weight Of Blood. One of her ten favorite books about serial killers, as shared at the Daily Express:

THE LOVELY BONES by Alice Sebold

I was fascinated with Sebold’s fresh and ingenious approach of having teen murder victim, Susie, narrate from the afterlife.

A thoroughly heart-wrenching portrait of a life cut short and the lasting effects on the loved ones left behind, the novel is also incredibly suspenseful as Susie watches from above, unable to protect the living from her prolific killer.

Read about another book on the list.

The Lovely Bones is one of Tamzin Outhwaite's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Margaret Maron's "Designated Daughters," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Designated Daughters by Margaret Maron.

The entry begins:

Rather than a movie per se, I'd rather see all 19 of my Judge Deborah Knott novels turned into a series for "Masterpiece Mystery." (Hey, if you're gonna aim high, might as well shoot for the moon, right?) I've never cast the characters in my head except for Deborah's daddy. The only actor I've ever seen that matches the description of that tall, blue-eyed fiddle-playing bootlegger is...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Margaret Maron's website.

The Page 69 Test: Three-Day Town.

My Book, The Movie: Designated Daughters.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten alternate histories

Christopher Edge is the author of the Twelve Minutes to Midnight series and other books.

For the Guardian, he tagged his ten favorite twisted histories (also known as alternate histories, counterfactuals, "what-if" fiction), including:

The Difference Engine by William Gibson and Bruce Sterling

Hailed by many as the first steampunk novel, The Difference Engine depicts an alternative timeline where Charles Babbage has succeeded in the construction of his prototype computers, the Difference Engine and its successor, the Analytical Engine. This heralds a technological revolution alongside the industrial one, with steam-powered computers transforming a society now ruled by an intellectual elite. With hackers becoming clackers, the novel presents a fascinating exploration of a Victorian information age.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Difference Engine is one of Jeffery Deaver's top ten novels featuring the internet or computers.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Dori Hillestad Butler's "The Haunted Library"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Haunted Library by Dori Hillestad Butler.

About the book, from the publisher:

When ghost boy Kaz’s haunt is torn down and he is separated from his ghost family, he meets a real girl named Claire, who lives above the town library with her parents and her grandmother. Claire has a special ability to see ghosts when other humans cannot and she and Kaz quickly form a friendship. The two join forces to solve the mystery of the ghost that’s haunting the library. Could it be one of Kaz’s lost family members?

Learn more about the book and author at Dori Hillestad Butler's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Haunted Library.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Julie Schumacher reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Julie Schumacher, author of Dear Committee Members.

One book she tagged:

Smith Henderson, Fourth of July Creek
I read a review of this novel which praised it but spent a good deal of time discussing its resemblance to the work of Cormac McCarthy – which I found discouraging, because I am one of the few people on the planet who doesn’t care for McCarthy’s work. Fortunately, I loved Fourth of July Creek, which is powerfully dramatic in its portrayals of a well-meaning but damaged social worker and some of the rural and very damaged children he attempts to assist. There’s a bleakness here, but Henderson offers the reader – and his characters – hope as well....[read on]

About the book, from the publisher:

Finally a novel that puts the "pissed" back into "epistolary."

Jason Fitger is a beleaguered professor of creative writing and literature at Payne University, a small and not very distinguished liberal arts college in the midwest. His department is facing draconian cuts and squalid quarters, while one floor above them the Economics Department is getting lavishly remodeled offices. His once-promising writing career is in the doldrums, as is his romantic life, in part as the result of his unwise use of his private affairs for his novels. His star (he thinks) student can't catch a break with his brilliant (he thinks) work Accountant in a Bordello, based on Melville's Bartleby. In short, his life is a tale of woe, and the vehicle this droll and inventive novel uses to tell that tale is a series of hilarious letters of recommendation that Fitger is endlessly called upon by his students and colleagues to produce, each one of which is a small masterpiece of high dudgeon, low spirits, and passive-aggressive strategies. We recommend Dear Committee Members to you in the strongest possible terms.

Visit Julie Schumacher's website and Facebook page.

Writers Read: Julie Schumacher.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Martin Ruef's "Between Slavery and Capitalism"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Between Slavery and Capitalism: The Legacy of Emancipation in the American South by Martin Ruef.

About the book, from the publisher:

At the center of the upheavals brought by emancipation in the American South was the economic and social transition from slavery to modern capitalism. In Between Slavery and Capitalism, Martin Ruef examines how this institutional change affected individuals, organizations, and communities in the late nineteenth century, as blacks and whites alike learned to navigate the shoals between two different economic worlds. Analyzing trajectories among average Southerners, this is perhaps the most extensive sociological treatment of the transition from slavery since W.E.B. Du Bois's Black Reconstruction in America.

In the aftermath of the Civil War, uncertainty was a pervasive feature of life in the South, affecting the economic behavior and social status of former slaves, Freedmen's Bureau agents, planters, merchants, and politicians, among others. Emancipation brought fundamental questions: How should emancipated slaves be reimbursed in wage contracts? What occupations and class positions would be open to blacks and whites? What forms of agricultural tenure could persist? And what paths to economic growth would be viable? To understand the escalating uncertainty of the postbellum era, Ruef draws on a wide range of qualitative and quantitative data, including several thousand interviews with former slaves, letters, labor contracts, memoirs, survey responses, census records, and credit reports.

Through a resolutely comparative approach, Between Slavery and Capitalism identifies profound changes between the economic institutions of the Old and New South and sheds new light on how the legacy of emancipation continues to affect political discourse and race and class relations today.

Learn more about Between Slavery and Capitalism at the Princeton University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Between Slavery and Capitalism.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Kevin Baker's "The Big Crowd"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker.

About The Big Crowd, from the publisher:

Tom O’Kane has always looked up to his brother, Charlie, latching onto him as a surrogate father as soon as he arrived in America from County Mayo. Charlie is the American Dream personified: an immigrant who worked his way up from beat cop to mayor of New York. But what if Charlie isn’t as wonderful as he seems?

More than a decade after Tom arrives in New York, he is forced to confront the truth about Charlie while investigating the mysterious “suicide” of Kid Twist, Charlie’s star witness against the largest crime syndicate in New York. As Tom digs deeper, the secrets he uncovers throw everything he thinks he knows about his beloved brother into question.

Based on one of the biggest unsolved mob murders in history, The Big Crowd brings the 1940s to indelible life, from the beaches of Acapulco to the battlefields of World War II, from Gracie Mansion to the Brooklyn docks.

Learn more about the book and author at Kevin Baker's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Big Crowd.

Writers Read: Kevin Baker.

The Page 69 Test: The Big Crowd.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Sandy Hall reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Sandy Hall, author of A Little Something Different.

Her entry begins:

As a young adult librarian, I work really hard to strike a balance between what I need to read and what I want to read. Luckily I genuinely love and enjoy reading young adult literature, so I don’t mind reading that the majority of the time. But there are definitely times when I just need to read a story about my peer group.

When I can get away with it, I try to read one YA book, one adult book, one YA book, one adult book, etc. There are certain times of the year that I can’t squeeze an adult book in the middle, like when I need to read for my book awards committee or when I’m planning summer book club.

Now that you know my extremely scientific technique for reading, I can tell you about what I’ve been reading this summer.

Ready, Player One by Ernest Cline was actually recommended to me by one of the teens at work. She loved it. She kept going on and on about it every time I ran into her and I knew I needed to get a hold of it ASAP. It’s...[read on]

About A Little Something Different, from the publisher:

The distinctive new crowdsourced publishing imprint Swoon Reads proudly presents its first published novel—an irresistibly sweet romance between two college students told from 14 different viewpoints.

The creative writing teacher, the delivery guy, the local Starbucks baristas, his best friend, her roommate, and the squirrel in the park all have one thing in common—they believe that Gabe and Lea should get together.

Lea and Gabe are in the same creative writing class. They get the same pop culture references, order the same Chinese food, and hang out in the same places. Unfortunately, Lea is reserved, Gabe has issues, and despite their initial mutual crush, it looks like they are never going to work things out.

But somehow even when nothing is going on, something is happening between them, and everyone can see it. You'll be rooting for Gabe and Lea too, in Sandy Hall's quirky, completely original novel A Little Something Different, chosen by readers, writes, and publishers, to be the debut titles for the new Swoon Reads imprint!

Visit Sandy Hall's Twitter perch and learn more about the author.

Writers Read: Sandy Hall.

--Marshal Zeringue

Douglas Corleone's "Payoff," the movie

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

The entry begins:

Since the opening scenes of my new novel Payoff take place at the Calabasas, California home of movie mogul Edgar Trenton, My Book, The Movie presents an ideal question.

When Edgar Trenton’s teenage daughter is kidnapped during a violent home invasion, he turns to former U.S. Marshal Simon Fisk to ensure a smooth ransom exchange. Not just because Simon Fisk is a kidnapper’s worst nightmare, but because Simon owes Edgar Trenton a favor. Years ago, Edgar granted Simon’s request to nix the film version of a book based on Simon’s own real-life nightmare – the abduction of his six-year-old daughter Hailey and subsequent suicide of his beloved wife Tasha. When Simon made the request, the film already had a star attached – Jason Statham was under contract to play Simon Fisk.

But if Payoff were to be made into a movie, who would fill out the rest of the cast?

While writing the book, I imagined Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton) playing the role of movie mogul Edgar Trenton, and Jennifer...[read on]

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

Writers Read: Douglas Corleone (August 2013).

The Page 69 Test: Good as Gone.

My Book, The Movie: Payoff.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best new girl-powered sci-fi and fantasy novels

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Nicole Hill tagged five of the best new girl-powered sci-fi and fantasy novels, including:

The Angel of Losses, by Stephanie Feldman

Fans of Catherynne M. Valente’s Deathless can get their folklore and mysticism fix here. Feldman weaves Jewish myth with a heaping helping of family secrets to form an imaginative work that’s part magical realism and part fable. When college student Marjorie finds her grandfather’s mysterious notebook filled with stories about the mysterious White Rebbe, she comes to realize everything she understood about her grandfather, her family, and her thesis (on the legend of the Wandering Jew) is, well, lacking. And then off we go through the centuries—and the various incarnations of folklore—to find out the truth.

Read about another book on the list.

See Stephanie Feldman's list of ten of the best creepy books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Kenneth Dyson's "States, Debt, and Power"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: States, Debt, and Power: 'Saints' and 'Sinners' in European History and Integration by Kenneth Dyson.

About the book, from the publisher:

States, Debt, and Power argues for the importance of situating our contextually influenced thinking about European states and debt within a commitment to historically informed and critical analysis. It teases out certain broad historical patterns. The book also examines the inescapably difficult and contentious judgements about 'bad' and 'good' debt; about what constitutes sustainable debt; and about distributive justice at times of sovereign debt crisis. These judgements offer insight into the nature of power and the contingent nature of sovereign creditworthiness. Three themes weave through the book: the significance of creditor-debtor state relations in defining asymmetry of power; the context-specific and constructed character of debt, above all in relation to war; and the limitations of formal economic reasoning in the face of radical uncertainty. Part I examines case studies from Ancient Greece to the modern Euro Area and brings together a wealth of historical data that cast fresh light on how sovereign debt problems are debated and addressed. Part II looks at the conditioning and constraining framework of law, culture, and ideology and their relationship to the use of policy instruments. Part III shows how the problems of matching the assumption of liability with the exercise of control are rooted in external trade and financial imbalances and external debt; in financial markets and vulnerability to banking crisis; in the character of the 'private governance of public debt'; in who has power over indicators of sustainability; in domestic institutional and political arrangements; and in sub-national fiscal governance. Part IV looks at how the problems of mismatch between liability and control take on an acute form within the historical context of European monetary union, above all in Euro Area debt crises.

Learn more about States, Debt, and Power at the Oxford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: States, Debt, and Power.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Nomi Eve's "Henna House"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Henna House by Nomi Eve.

About the book, from the publisher:

An evocative and stirring novel about a young woman living in the fascinating and rarely portrayed community of Yemenite Jews of the mid-twentieth century, from the acclaimed author of The Family Orchard.

In the tradition of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them.

Nomi Eve’s vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari’s parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter. After passage of the Orphan’s Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents’ health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela’s situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing. Suddenly, Adela’s eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one’s heritage. She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long-established way of life. She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear.

Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history. From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far-ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming-of-age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century.

Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart.

Visit Nomi Eve's website and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Henna House.

Writers Read: Nomi Eve.

The Page 69 Test: Henna House.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Kevin Baker reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Kevin Baker, author of The Big Crowd.

His entry begins:

I tend to read both fiction and nonfiction at the same time, what I need to read for my work, and what I read for pleasure (all too infrequently), or because I want to satisfy my curiosity about something.

With the hundredth anniversary of the start of World War I, I’ve begun reading through the spate of recent books on the subject. I wanted to see if the old Barbara Tuchman thesis from The Guns of August still stood up: that the conflict was caused mostly by putting into place mechanisms for war, that could not be halted once they were triggered.

It does, but this is only part of the whole story, at least according to Sean McMeekin’s July 1914: Countdown to War, which is tremendously well-researched. It makes clear that the full story is even more depressing, that the war was brought on in good part by the bureaucratic maneuverings of obscure cabinet ministers, trying to win petty political points. I’ve just started...[read on]

About The Big Crowd, from the publisher:

Tom O’Kane has always looked up to his brother, Charlie, latching onto him as a surrogate father as soon as he arrived in America from County Mayo. Charlie is the American Dream personified: an immigrant who worked his way up from beat cop to mayor of New York. But what if Charlie isn’t as wonderful as he seems?

More than a decade after Tom arrives in New York, he is forced to confront the truth about Charlie while investigating the mysterious “suicide” of Kid Twist, Charlie’s star witness against the largest crime syndicate in New York. As Tom digs deeper, the secrets he uncovers throw everything he thinks he knows about his beloved brother into question.

Based on one of the biggest unsolved mob murders in history, The Big Crowd brings the 1940s to indelible life, from the beaches of Acapulco to the battlefields of World War II, from Gracie Mansion to the Brooklyn docks.

Learn more about the book and author at Kevin Baker's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Big Crowd.

Writers Read: Kevin Baker.

--Marshal Zeringue

Bruce Grierson's "What Makes Olga Run?," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: What Makes Olga Run?: The Mystery of the 90-Something Track Star and What She Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Happier Lives by Bruce Grierson.

The entry begins:

Coming soon to your local multiplex, What Makes Olga Run?, the movie. It’s the story of an uptight city guy’s slow absorption of the paleo lifestyle – primitive food, polyphasic sleeping and intense barefoot workouts with boulders — which he views as the secret of recovering his lost youth. His mentor on this journey, the Burgess Meredith to his Rocky, is a 90-something track athlete with Old Country grit and a Zen-like intelligence: Olga Kotelko.

There’s surely an Oscar waiting for the actress who can pull off the role of Olga. The part demands a pretty serious level of physicality. The real Olga Kotelko notched more than fifty world records in three age categories — most recently women aged 95-99. She was a sprinter and a high jumper. It’s hard to imagine, say, Betty White, putting that kind of spring into even her walking step.

But here’s the thing: In every physiological test done on her by specialists across North America, the real Olga scored at least 30 years younger than her chronological age. And in physical appearance she was at least 25 years younger. So we’re not looking for a 90-year-old actress here. We’re looking for a 65- to 70-year-old actress. That opens up the field to all those late-Boomer Oscar-winners who must be dying for another chance to carry a film: Goldie Hawn, Glenn Close, Sigourney Weaver, Cher. (!). (Okay, the last two are probably out, since Olga was five-foot-zero and 125 pounds.)

For pure athleticism, a casting director’s thoughts might drift to Jane...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Bruce Grierson's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

The Page 99 Test: What Makes Olga Run?.

My Book, The Movie: What Makes Olga Run?.

--Marshal Zeringue

The top 10 fictitious biographies

Jonathan Gibbs is a writer and journalist born in Trinidad, raised in Essex, and living, now, in London. His debut novel is Randall.

For the Guardian, Gibbs tagged his top ten biographies of made-up persons as if they were real. (Note: these are not fictionalized biographies – novels based on the life of a famous person. There are many of those.) One title on the list:

Orlando by Virginia Woolf

Woolf's light-hearted "escapade" is a satirical romp through the very idea of a biography, with its portrait of a nobleman who lives from the Elizabethan era right through to the 1920s, somehow changing gender along the way. Its sentence-by-sentence delight in evoking past times offers a model that few "proper" historical accounts can hope to follow – not least because it's skipped on a decade before they've tied their bootlaces.

Read about another entry on the list.

Orlando is among Sam Mills's top ten fictional sex changes.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twenty books from the 1990s that are still great

At the Huffington Post, Stephen Graham Jones tagged twenty books as great today as they were in the 90s, including:

A Simple Plan (1993):

I would like to submit this as the single best thriller ever written. And that's taking into account Thomas Harris, and Firestarter, and Preston and Child's Thunderhead, and even Ira Levin. Stephen King was spot-on to blurb this, to bring it to our attention. Thank you. If I could just write this book once, I might stop writing. What other worlds would there be to conquer?

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Courtney Miller Santo's "Three Story House"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Three Story House: A Novel by Courtney Miller Santo.

About the book, from the publisher:

Renovating an historic Memphis house together, three cousins discover that their spectacular failures in love, career, and family provide the foundation for their future happiness in this warm and poignant novel from the author of The Roots of the Olive Tree that is reminiscent of The Postmistress, The Secret Life of Bees, and Kristin Hannah’s novels.

Nearing thirty and trying to avoid the inescapable fact that they have failed to live up to everyone’s expectations and their own aspirations, cousins and childhood best friends Lizzie, Elyse, and Isobel seek respite in an oddly-shaped, three-story house that sits on a bluff sixty feet above the Mississippi.

As they work to restore the almost condemned house, each woman faces uncomfortable truths about their own failings. Lizzie seeks answers to a long-held family secret about her father in her grandmother’s jumble of mementos and the home’s hidden spaces. Elyse’s obsession with an old flame leads her to a harrowing mistake that threatens to destroy her sister’s wedding, and Isobel’s quest for celebrity tempts her to betray confidences in ways that would irreparably damage her two cousins.

Told in three parts from the perspective of each of the women, this sharply observed account of the restoration of a house built out of spite, but filled with memories of love is also an account of friendship and how relying on each other’s insights and strengths provides the women a way to get what they need instead of what they want.

Learn more about the book and author at Courtney Miller Santo's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Roots of the Olive Tree.

My Book, The Movie: The Roots of the Olive Tree.

My Book, The Movie: Three Story House.

Writers Read: Courtney Miller Santo.

The Page 69 Test: Three Story House.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is M. P. Cooley reading?

Featured at Writers Read: M. P. Cooley, author of Ice Shear.

Her entry begins:

My reading right now is split between pleasure and research for book two. First, the pleasure reading. I just finished Chris Holm’s Dead Harvest, which was a joy ride. It’s main character, Sam Thornton, is a collector of souls, and when I picked it up I think I had expected meditations on death and redemption with some suspense thrown in. Instead I got meditation and death and redemption in the middle of an all out demon war. With tight prose and world building that was organic and interesting, this novel had a life-and-death pace that made it...[read on]

About Ice Shear, from the publisher:

A small town cop’s murder investigation turns deadly when she uncovers a web of politics and drugs linked to an outlaw motorcycle gang in this gripping debut suspense novel for fans of Winter’s Bone, Frozen River, Breaking Bad, and Sons of Anarchy.

As a cop on the night shift in Hopewell Falls, New York, June Lyons drives drunks home and picks up the donuts. A former FBI agent, she ditched the Bureau when her husband died, and now she and her young daughter are back in upstate New York, living with her father, the town’s retired chief of police.

When June discovers a young woman’s body impaled on an ice shear in the frozen Mohawk River, news of the murder spreads fast; the dead girl was the daughter of a powerful local Congresswoman, and her troubled youth kept the gossips busy.

Though June was born and raised in Hopewell Falls, the local police see her as an interloper—resentment that explodes in anger when the FBI arrive and deputize her to work on the murder investigation. But June may not find allies among the Feds. The agent heading the case is someone from her past—someone she isn’t sure she can trust.

As June digs deeper, an already fraught case turns red-hot when it leads to a notorious biker gang and a meth lab hidden in plain sight—and an unmistakable sign that the river murder won’t be the last.

Learn more about the book and author at M. P. Cooley's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: Ice Shear.

Writers Read: M. P. Cooley.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kevin Baker's "The Big Crowd," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Big Crowd by Kevin Baker.

The entry begins:

The Big Crowd is based closely on a series of real events, about a New York City mayor just after World War II who was forced into exile in Mexico, after he was accused of taking part in the greatest unsolved murder in mob history.

It’s a story about politics and crime, with all sorts of conflicting loyalties between what we owe the people we love, and our duty to the rest of those around us, so naturally I thought of Martin Scorsese as the ideal person to direct it. Someone else who understands the nuances of civic and personal corruption in a big city would be James Gray.

For the mayor, Charlie O’Kane, who started out as an Irish immigrant and a beat cop, I thought of Liam Neeson, who can convey that sort of bluff ruggedness but also a certain vulnerability. Someone else like that might be Bryan...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Kevin Baker's website.

My Book, The Movie: The Big Crowd.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Edward Dolnick's "The Rush"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: The Rush: America's Fevered Quest for Fortune, 1848-1853 by Edward Dolnick.

About the book, from the publisher:

A riveting portrait of the Gold Rush, by the award-winning author of Down the Great Unknown and The Forger's Spell.

In the spring of 1848, rumors began to spread that gold had been discovered in a remote spot in the Sacramento Valley. A year later, newspaper headlines declared "Gold Fever!" as hundreds of thousands of men and women borrowed money, quit their jobs, and allowed themselves- for the first time ever-to imagine a future of ease and splendor. In THE RUSH, Edward Dolnick brilliantly recounts their treacherous westward journeys by wagon and on foot, and takes us to the frenzied gold fields and the rowdy cities that sprang from nothing to jam-packed chaos. With an enthralling cast of characters and scenes of unimaginable wealth and desperate ruin, THE RUSH is a fascinating-and rollicking-account of the greatest treasure hunt the world has ever seen.

Learn more about the book and author at Edward Dolnick's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Forger's Spell.

The Page 99 Test: The Clockwork Universe.

The Page 99 Test: The Rush.

--Marshal Zeringue

Four highly recommended science fiction debuts

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Paul Goat Allen tagged four must-read science fiction debuts, including:

A Darkling Sea, by James L. Cambias

Set on the planet of Ilmatar, which is surrounded by a layer of ice a kilometer thick, this story follows a crew of human scientists as they attempt to study a sentient race of aliens that live on and around the ocean’s dark floor. A primary directive for the mission is noninterference (hello, Star Trek), but when a member of the crew inadvertently makes contact with a group of the hard-shelled aliens (who resemble beluga whales in armor) and is killed, a chain of events is set off that could spark an interstellar war with another alien race that has been monitoring humankind’s missteps on the planet. I was enamored with Cambias’s straightforward narrative, richly descriptive writing style, and the overall tone of the novel, which was reminiscent of classic Silverberg. That sense of wonder associated with most of Silverberg’s science fictional works is shared by this memorable debut.

Read about another entry on the list.

My Book, The Movie: A Darkling Sea.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Ruth Downie's "Tabula Rasa"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Tabula Rasa (Gaius Petreius Ruso Series #6) by Ruth Downie.

About the book, from the publisher:

The medicus Ruso and his wife Tilla are back in the borderlands of Britannia, this time helping to tend the builders of Hadrian’s Great Wall. Having been forced to move off their land, the Britons are distinctly on edge and are still smarting from the failure of a recent rebellion that claimed many lives.

Then Ruso’s recently arrived clerk, Candidus, goes missing. A native boy thinks he sees a body being hidden inside the wall’s half-finished stonework, and a worrying rumor begins to spread. When the soldiers ransack the nearby farms looking for Candidus, Tilla’s tentative friendship with a local family turns to anger and disappointment. It’s clear that the sacred rites to bless her marriage to Ruso will have to wait. Tensions only increase when Branan, the family’s youngest son, also vanishes. He was last seen in the company of a lone and unidentified soldier who claimed he was taking the boy to see Tilla.

As Ruso and Tilla try to solve the mystery of the two disappearances—while at the same time struggling to keep the peace between the Britons and the Romans—an intricate scheme involving slavery, changed identities, and fur trappers emerges, and it becomes imperative that Ruso find Branan before it’s too late.

Learn more about the book and author at Ruth Downie's website.

The Page 69 Test: Caveat Emptor.

Writers Read: Ruth Downie.

The Page 69 Test: Tabula Rasa.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Nomi Eve reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Nomi Eve, author of Henna House.

Her entry begins:

I just finished The Girl with All the Gifts. I am an eclectic reader, and devour zombie books and thrillers side by sides with literary classics. I couldn’t put The Girl down. The fast-paced plot along with devastatingly precise descriptions of a doomed world and its inhabitants had me from the first word to the last. I am a firm believer that a good book offers up something new to the world. This book certainly does that – with a vision of zombie-hood that is utterly different than...[read on]

About Henna House, from the publisher:

An evocative and stirring novel about a young woman living in the fascinating and rarely portrayed community of Yemenite Jews of the mid-twentieth century, from the acclaimed author of The Family Orchard.

In the tradition of Anita Diamant's The Red Tent, Henna House is the enthralling story of a woman, her family, their community, and the rituals that bind them.

Nomi Eve’s vivid saga begins in Yemen in 1920, when Adela Damari’s parents desperately seek a future husband for their young daughter. After passage of the Orphan’s Decree, any unbetrothed Jewish child left orphaned will be instantly adopted by the local Muslim community. With her parents’ health failing, and no spousal prospects in sight, Adela’s situation looks dire until her uncle arrives from a faraway city, bringing with him a cousin and aunt who introduce Adela to the powerful rituals of henna tattooing. Suddenly, Adela’s eyes are opened to the world, and she begins to understand what it means to love another and one’s heritage. She is imperiled, however, when her parents die and a prolonged drought threatens their long-established way of life. She and her extended family flee to the city of Aden where Adela encounters old loves, discovers her true calling, and is ultimately betrayed by the people and customs she once held dear.

Henna House is an intimate family portrait and a panorama of history. From the traditions of the Yemenite Jews, to the far-ranging devastation of the Holocaust, to the birth of the State of Israel, Eve offers an unforgettable coming-of-age story and a textured chronicle of a fascinating period in the twentieth century.

Henna House is a rich, spirited, and sensuous tale of love, loss, betrayal, forgiveness, and the dyes that adorn the skin and pierce the heart.

Visit Nomi Eve's website and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Henna House.

Writers Read: Nomi Eve.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the best vampire novels

At SciFiNow Jonathan Hatfull tagged the ten best vampire novels ever, including:

I AM LEGEND BY RICHARD MATHESON

Forget the Will Smith film, Richard Matheson’s 1954 novel is one of the greatest vampire stories ever written. Robert Neville is the sole survivor of a vampire plague, living in a boarded up house which he only leaves during the daytime to hunt. At night, the monsters return the favour, needling at him through the boarded up windows. The powerful sense of isolation is second only to the powerful moral twist of the book’s finale, when Robert is forced to recognise his position in the new world. This is a must-read.

Read about another entry on the list.

I Am Legend is among Jennifer Griffith Delgado's top eleven mind-blowing surprise endings in science fiction and fantasy literature and Kevin Jackson's top ten vampire novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

M. P. Cooley's "Ice Shear," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Ice Shear by M. P. Cooley.

The entry begins:

Figuring out who would play the characters in the movie of Ice Shear is a challenge, but a fun one. My book is populated by regular folks who lack shiny hair and coordinated outfits, and for many of them, I didn’t develop a fixed idea of actors who might play them. Even my hero June only came to me in flashes: blond with pale blue eyes, slim, broad shouldered, and with a stillness and strength that comes from living through the grief of her husband’s death and taking care of her young daughter. Charlize Theron has that stillness as well as a physicality that convinces me that she could beat up an enforcer for an outlaw biker gang.

June’s partner Dave could be played by Mark...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at M. P. Cooley's website, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

My Book, The Movie: Ice Shear.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five entertaining novels that will also stimulate your brain

At the Telegraph, Radhika Sanghani recommended five books "guaranteed to stimulate your evening drinks – but not bore you on the beach," including:

The Women’s Room by Marilyn French

You might have already read this - it was first published in 1977. If not, I recommend you do so now. Set in Fifties America, the book tells the story of Mira Ward, a young woman who finds herself getting married simply because everyone else is. She has a gradual feminist awakening, eventually (spoiler alert...) getting divorced and doing a PhD at Harvard.

It’s one of the most influential feminist books. But it’s also just a novel. So, unlike The Female Eunuch, it won’t make for tough reading. The story will make you consider the plight of women throughout the 20th century - and if that doesn’t inspire impassioned dinner chat, I don’t know what will.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Carys Bray's "A Song for Issy Bradley"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: A Song for Issy Bradley: A Novel by Carys Bray.

About the book, from the publisher:

A mesmerizing literary debut novel of doubt, faith, and perseverance in the aftermath of a family tragedy—for fans of Me Before You, Little Bee, and Tell the Wolves I’m Home.

The Bradleys see the world as a place where miracles are possible, and where nothing is more important than family. This is their story.

It is the story of Ian Bradley—husband, father, math teacher, and Mormon bishop—and his unshakeable belief that everything will turn out all right if he can only endure to the end, like the pioneers did. It is the story of his wife, Claire, her lonely wait for a sign from God, and her desperate need for life to pause while she comes to terms with tragedy.

And it is the story of their children: sixteen-year-old Zippy, experiencing the throes of first love; cynical fourteen-year-old Al, who would rather play soccer than read the Book of Mormon; and seven-year-old Jacob, whose faith is bigger than a mustard seed—probably bigger than a toffee candy, he thinks—and which he’s planning to use to mend his broken family with a miracle.

Intensely moving, unexpectedly funny, and deeply observed, A Song for Issy Bradley explores the outer reaches of doubt and faith, and of a family trying to figure out how to carry on when the innermost workings of their world have broken apart.

Visit Carys Bray's website.

My Book, The Movie: A Song for Issy Bradley.

The Page 69 Test: A Song for Issy Bradley.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Courtney Miller Santo reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Courtney Miller Santo, author of Three Story House.

Her entry begins:

A few months ago, I decided that I didn’t have enough variety in the books I picked out. So to challenge myself, I try to read one popular fiction, one classic, one poetry and one nonfiction book each month. I stash them all over the place so I’m always reading different ones at different times. The poetry book is always in my purse and the classic by my bed.

I’ve already finished Townie, which was my nonfiction pick for the month. I took it with me to my twenty-year high school reunion and had devoured it by the time I returned home. Andre Dubus wrote one of my all time favorite short stories (“Fat Girl”) and I’d loved Andre Dubus III’s House of Sand and Fog when I read it in college. Townie is a memoir about growing up with a father who is a writer and also about the intersection of poverty and violence. I read some of the boxing chapters through...[read on]

About the book, from the publisher:

Renovating an historic Memphis house together, three cousins discover that their spectacular failures in love, career, and family provide the foundation for their future happiness in this warm and poignant novel from the author of The Roots of the Olive Tree that is reminiscent of The Postmistress, The Secret Life of Bees, and Kristin Hannah’s novels.

Nearing thirty and trying to avoid the inescapable fact that they have failed to live up to everyone’s expectations and their own aspirations, cousins and childhood best friends Lizzie, Elyse, and Isobel seek respite in an oddly-shaped, three-story house that sits on a bluff sixty feet above the Mississippi.

As they work to restore the almost condemned house, each woman faces uncomfortable truths about their own failings. Lizzie seeks answers to a long-held family secret about her father in her grandmother’s jumble of mementos and the home’s hidden spaces. Elyse’s obsession with an old flame leads her to a harrowing mistake that threatens to destroy her sister’s wedding, and Isobel’s quest for celebrity tempts her to betray confidences in ways that would irreparably damage her two cousins.

Told in three parts from the perspective of each of the women, this sharply observed account of the restoration of a house built out of spite, but filled with memories of love is also an account of friendship and how relying on each other’s insights and strengths provides the women a way to get what they need instead of what they want.

Learn more about the book and author at Courtney Miller Santo's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Roots of the Olive Tree.

My Book, The Movie: The Roots of the Olive Tree.

My Book, The Movie: Three Story House.

Writers Read: Courtney Miller Santo.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: David Thunder's "Citizenship and the Pursuit of the Worthy Life"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Citizenship and the Pursuit of the Worthy Life by David Thunder.

About the book, from the publisher:

What does citizenship have to do with living a worthy human life? Political scientists and philosophers who study the practice of citizenship, including Rawlsian liberals and Niebuhrian realists, have tended to either relegate this question to the private realm or insist that ethical principles must be silenced or seriously compromised in our deliberations as citizens. This book argues that the insulation of public life from the ethical standpoint puts in jeopardy not only our integrity as persons but also the legitimacy and long-term survival of our political communities. In response to this predicament, David Thunder aims to rehabilitate the ethical standpoint in political philosophy, by defending the legitimacy and importance of giving full play to our deepest ethical commitments in our civic roles and developing a set of guidelines for citizens who wish to enact their civic roles with integrity. In this way, this book provokes a lively conversation about the ethical foundations of public life in constitutional democracies.

Learn more about Citizenship and the Pursuit of the Worthy Life and its author at David Thunder's website and the Cambridge University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Citizenship and the Pursuit of the Worthy Life.

--Marshal Zeringue

Nomi Eve's "Henna House," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Henna House by Nomi Eve.

The entry begins:

My book takes place far from Hollywood in an early twentieth century community of Jews in Northern Yemen. For authenticity, I would cast Yemenite Jewish actors in Israel in all the main roles. My characters would look like the singer Achinoam Nini, who is widely known as Noa. She is one of the most beautiful, talented people in the world. Unfortunately, she is too much a woman to play the girls in my book, but if she had a niece, a daughter….that’s who I would pick for Hani.

As for the director, I would choose Anthony...[read on]

Visit Nomi Eve's website and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Henna House.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twenty of the best British and Irish novels of all time

One title on the Telegraph's list of the twenty best British and Irish novels of all time:

I, Claudius
Robert Graves (1934)

Graves hit a rich seam with this imagining of the lost autobiography of Emperor Claudius. Lethal palace intrigues, poisonings and sex, as well as satisfyingly complex relationships gives ancient Rome a vivid new colour and energy.

Read about another book on the list.

I, Claudius also appears on Daisy Goodwin's list of six favorite historical fiction books, a list of the eleven best political books of all time, David Chase's six favorite books list, Andrew Miller's top ten list of historical novels, Mark Malloch-Brown's list of his six favorite novels of empire, Annabel Lyon's top ten list of books on the ancient world, Lindsey Davis' top ten list of Roman books, and John Mullan's lists of ten of the best emperors in literature and ten of the best poisonings in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Jessica Spotswood's "Sisters' Fate"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Sisters' Fate by Jessica Spotswood.

About the book, from the publisher:

A fever ravages New London, but with the Brotherhood sending suspected witches straight to the gallows, the Sisters are powerless against the disease. They can’t help without revealing their powers—as Cate learns when a potent display of magic turns her into the most wanted witch in all of New England.

To make matters worse, Cate has been erased from the memory of her beloved Finn. While she’s torn between protecting him from further attacks and encouraging him to fall for her all over again, she’s certain she can never forgive Maura’s betrayal. And now that Tess’s visions have taken a deadly turn, the prophecy that one Cahill sister will murder another looms ever closer to its fulfillment.

Learn more about the book and author at Jessica Spotswood's website.

My Book, The Movie: Star Cursed.

The Page 69 Test: Sisters' Fate.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Justin Taylor reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Justin Taylor, author of Flings: Stories.

His entry begins:

This has been a good summer for getting to stuff I should have gotten to a long time ago. Up until recently, I was the last person I knew who hadn't read a Roberto Bolaño book. Not like I had anything against the guy; I just missed the bandwagon when it left. But then this whole Knausgaard thing hit, and in the course of ignoring that I wound up picking up a copy of The Savage Detectives, while on vacation in Norway, no less! Take that Knausgaard! Not that I have anything against him, by the way, it's just that I like to keep myself two steps behind the cultural zeitgeist whenever possible--which unfortunately means no Elena Ferrante for me until 2017 or '18, probably. Anyway, I liked Savage Detectives, particularly the sections with Quim Font, Amadeo Salvatierra, and Xóchitl García, and of course the sword duel on the beach with...[read on]

About  Flings, from the publisher:

The acclaimed author of Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever and The Gospel of Anarchy makes his hardcover debut with a piercing collection of short fiction that illuminates our struggle to find love, comfort, and identity.

In a new suite of powerful and incisive stories, Justin Taylor captures the lives of men and women unmoored from their pasts and uncertain of their futures.

A man writes his girlfriend a Dear John letter, gets in his car, and just drives. A widowed insomniac is roused from malaise when an alligator appears in her backyard. A group of college friends try to stay close after graduation, but are drawn away from—and back toward—each other by the choices they make. A boy’s friendship with a pair of identical twins undergoes a strange and tragic evolution over the course of adolescence. A promising academic and her fiancée attempt to finish their dissertations, but struggle with writer’s block, a nasty secret, and their own expert knowledge of Freud.

From an East Village rooftop to a cabin in Tennessee, from the Florida suburbs to Hong Kong, Taylor covers a vast emotional and geographic landscape while ushering us into an abiding intimacy with his characters, Flings is a commanding work of fiction that captures the contemporary search for identity, connection, and a place to call home.

Learn more about the book and author at Justin Taylor's website and Twitter perch.

Taylor is also the author of the story collection Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever and the novel The Gospel of Anarchy.

The Page 69 Test: Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever: Stories.

Writers Read: Justin Taylor.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Edward H. Carpenter's "Steven Pressfield's 'The Warrior Ethos'"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Steven Pressfield's 'The Warrior Ethos' by Edward H. Carpenter.

About the book:

STEVEN PRESSFIELD IS WRONG - not everyone is a warrior. But those of us who are can indeed benefit from developing a strong Warrior Ethos; one that acknowledges diversity and is based on solid principles of firmness, fairness, and dignity towards our fellow warriors - and our adversaries.

Written by a Marine officer, this alternative Warrior Ethos is intended primarily for men and women in uniform, but its core principles can be applied by leaders from all walks of life, and anyone who wants to develop in themselves the qualities of Experience, Empathy, Example, Education, and Empowerment.

This book calls upon historical wisdom of Herodotus, Plutarch and Thucydides along with the modern observations of John Keegan, Michael Ignatieff, Lieutenant General Victor "Brute" Krulak, and others to debunk the misogynistic and backwards-looking nature of Pressfield's 2011 book, and to provide a better moral compass than the honor-bound, shame-based relic of dead cultures that he has offered up as a template for our young women and men in uniform.

Learn more about the book and author at Edward H. Carpenter's website.

The Page 99 Test: Steven Pressfield's 'The Warrior Ethos'.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten first lines in children's and teen books

Jon Walter is the author of the novel Close To The Wind.

One of his ten top first lines in children's and teen books, as shared at the Guardian:

A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula Le Guin

Ruth Ackroyd was in the garden checking the rhubarb when the RAF Spitfire accidently shot her chimney pot to bits.

Elegant prose that's solid as a rock. This may be quiet but it's so assured that you can relax into it, knowing you won't be disappointed in what is to follow. So begins one of the best ever books about a school for wizards.

Read about another entry on the list.

A Wizard of Earthsea is among Tanya Byrne's ten best books for children and teenagers which are about black characters, five books that changed Gary Corby, and Lev Grossman's top five fantasy novels.

Also see: Top ten opening lines of novels in the English language.

--Marshal Zeringue