Pg. 99: C. M. Woolgar's "The Culture of Food in England, 1200-1500"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: The Culture of Food in England, 1200-1500 by C.M. Woolgar.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this revelatory work of social history, C. M. Woolgar shows that food in late-medieval England was far more complex, varied, and more culturally significant than we imagine today. Drawing on a vast range of sources, he charts how emerging technologies as well as an influx of new flavors and trends from abroad had an impact on eating habits across the social spectrum. From the pauper’s bowl to elite tables, from early fad diets to the perceived moral superiority of certain foods, and from regional folk remedies to luxuries such as lampreys, Woolgar illuminates desire, necessity, daily rituals, and pleasure across four centuries.

Chris Woolgar is professor of history and archival studies at the University of Southampton and editor of the Journal of Medieval History.

Learn more about The Culture of Food in England, 1200-1500 at the Yale University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: The Culture of Food in England, 1200-1500.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Cathy Maxwell's "The Fairest of Them All"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Fairest of Them All by Cathy Maxwell.

About the book, from the publisher:

In New York Times bestselling author Cathy Maxwell’s glittering new series, wedding bells are ringing…but which Whitridge twin is the right groom?

The penniless orphan of a disreputable earl, Lady Charlene Blanchard thrives on the adventure of picking the pockets of unsavory gentlemen to survive. But due to her extraordinary beauty and prized bloodlines, she is hand-chosen as a potential bride for the Duke of Baynton, who is on the hunt for a suitable wife to provide heirs. All Char has to do is act the part she was born to play and charm a duke she’s never laid eyes on into proposing. Except the duke turns out to be the tall, dark and sexy stranger who just caught her red-handed as a thief!

Or is he? Jack Whitridge is the duke’s twin who had “gone missing” over ten years ago. Now back in England, he knows that the supposed Lady who has his brother’s love is hardly duchess material—except he needs her to save his adopted country from war. He is willing to bargain with her heart, until he finds himself falling for Char...

Visit Cathy Maxwell's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Groom Says Yes.

The Page 69 Test: The Fairest of Them All.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top books set in New England

Ann Leary's new novel is The Children.

One of her ten favorite books set in New England, as shared at B&N Reads:

Moby-Dick, or The Whale, by Herman Melville

Okay, I admit I haven’t read it cover-to-cover since high school. Instead, I frequently return to favorite chapters and sometimes I discover a fascinating passage I had either forgotten or failed to understand when I was younger. If you’re into literary erotica, I recommend the chapter, “A Squeeze of the Hand.” It appears that there was a sort of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy on Ahab’s ship. Enjoy!

Read about another book on the list.

Moby-Dick appears among Martin Seay's ten best long books, Ian McGuire's ten best adventure novels, Jeff Somers's five top books that will expand your vocabulary and entertain, Four books that changed Mary Norris, Tim Dee's ten best nature books, the Telegraph's fifteen best North American novels of all time, Nicole Hill's top ten best names in literature to give your dog, Horatio Clare's five favorite maritime novels, the Telegraph's ten great meals in literature, Brenda Wineapple's six favorite books, Scott Greenstone's top seven allegorical novels, Paul Wilson's top ten books about disability, Lynn Shepherd's ten top fictional drownings, Peter Murphy's top ten literary preachers, Penn Jillette's six favorite books, Peter F. Stevens's top ten nautical books, Katharine Quarmby's top ten disability stories, Jonathan Evison's six favorite books, Bella Bathurst's top 10 books on the sea, John Mullan's lists of ten of the best nightmares in literature and ten of the best tattoos in literature, Susan Cheever's five best books about obsession, Christopher Buckley's best books, Jane Yolen's five most important books, Chris Dodd's best books, Augusten Burroughs' five most important books, Norman Mailer's top ten works of literature, David Wroblewski's five most important books, Russell Banks' five most important books, and Philip Hoare's top ten books about whales.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Holly Schindler reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Holly Schindler, author of Spark.

Her entry begins:

My reading tastes really do run the gamut. I’m an old lit major; when I was in school, I read everything from Beowulf to Ursula K. Le Guin. I still love my old classics (and often reread my fave Jane Austens). Currently, I’m getting into graphic novels (Daniel Clowes’s Patience and Joe Hill’s Locke & Key)...[read on]

About Spark, from the publisher:

Acclaimed author Holly Schindler writes a compelling contemporary tale with a dash of magic. The theater comes to life in this story of family ties, fate, love, and one girl’s quest to rewrite history.

The local Avery Theater was just a run-down building to Quin—until her mother told her about the tragic love that played out on the theater’s stage many years ago. Quin is convinced it’s the perfect story to re-create for her drama class. And when she does, the Avery begins to magically regain its former splendor, clearly setting the stage for her classmates Dylan and Cass to relive the romance from a time before. Quin can see the spark between them, but it’s up to her to make sure her friends—and the Avery—can both be saved this time around.

Visit Holly Schindler's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Coffee with a Canine: Holly Schindler & Jake.

My Book, The Movie: Feral.

My Book, The Movie: Spark.

Writers Read: Holly Schindler.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five YA titles for readers burnt out on love

Sona Charaipotra is a New York City-based writer and editor with more than a decade’s worth of experience in print and online media. For the BN Teen Blog she tagged five YA books to read when you're burnt out on love, including:

Endangered, by Lamar Giles

Quiet and forgettable, Lauren “Panda” Daniels is great at keeping secrets—and at spilling them, as the girl behind Gray Scales, an anonymous photo blog that exposes the dirty deeds of teens and teachers at her school. She’s managed to stay under the radar so far, but when she reveals the unsavory relationship between a teacher and student, someone catches her in the act and decides to beat her at her own game, blackmailing her with a cutthroat game of truth or dare that escalates to dangerous levels. This page-turner is fast-paced, complex, and compelling, with nary a distracting kissing scene in sight.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Andy Mozina's "Contrary Motion," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Contrary Motion: A Novel by Andy Mozina.

The entry begins:

Matt Grzbc, the novel’s protagonist, is a divorced harpist living in Chicago and preparing for a symphony audition. He’s tall, ambitious, handsome, late 30’s, with a slightly robotic affect, a dark sense of humor, some crippling anxieties, a romantic life on the skids, and a six-year-old daughter to help raise. While trying to do justice to the important relationships in his life and prep for the audition, he plays weddings, brunches at the downtown Marriott, and bedside vigils at a hospice. After careful reflection, it seems to me that only John Krasinski, aka Jim Halpert from The Office, can play the role. He can do hangdog, he can do wiseass, he can do internal distress. He doesn’t look like a harpist, but neither does Matt, so that would be just right. Krasinski also wrote and directed Brief Interviews with Hideous Men, the film adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s short story collection, so I feel we have some influences in common.

Matt has two love interests. His ex-wife Milena’s good sense, resilience, and unself-conscious sexiness could call for Jennifer...[read on]

Visit Andy Mozina's website.

The Page 69 Test: Contrary Motion.

Writers Read: Andy Mozina.

My Book, The Movie: Contrary Motion.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Lucy Keating & Ernie

Featured at Coffee with a Canine: Lucy Keating & Ernie.

The author, on how Ernie hinders her writing:

He has this thing where he makes direct eye contact all the time, like he's trying to communicate telepathically. I think it's the poodle part of him. I read somewhere that when dogs do that they are just trying to read our body language and figure us out. But it's distracting. I can't even tell you how many times a day I turn and say out loud to him,...[read on]

About Lucy Keating's Dreamology, from the publisher:

Vibrantly offbeat and utterly original, Lucy Keating’s debut novel combines the unconventional romance of Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind with the sweetness and heart of Jenny Han.

For as long as Alice can remember, she has dreamed of Max. Together, they have traveled the world and fallen deliriously, hopelessly in love. Max is the boy of her dreams—and only her dreams. Because he doesn’t exist.

But when Alice walks into class on her first day at a new school, there he is. Real Max is nothing like Dream Max. He’s stubborn and complicated. And he has a whole life Alice isn’t a part of. Getting to know each other in reality isn’t as perfect as Alice always hoped.

Alarmingly, when their dreams start to bleed into their waking hours, the pair realize that they might have to put an end to a lifetime of dreaming about each other. But when you fall in love in your dreams, can reality ever be enough?

Visit Lucy Keating's website.

Dreamology is among Eric Smith's top five YA reads that explore dreams.

Coffee with a Canine: Lucy Keating & Ernie.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Carol Wayne White's "Black Lives and Sacred Humanity"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Black Lives and Sacred Humanity: Toward an African American Religious Naturalism by Carol Wayne White.

About the book, from the publisher:

Identifying African American religiosity as the ingenuity of a people constantly striving to inhabit their humanity and eke out a meaningful existence for themselves amid harrowing circumstances, Black Lives and Sacred Humanity constructs a concept of sacred humanity and grounds it in the writings of Anna Julia Cooper, W. E. B. Du Bois, and James Baldwin. Supported by current theories in science studies, critical theory, and religious naturalism, this concept, as Carol Wayne White demonstrates, offers a capacious view of humans as interconnected, social, value-laden organisms with the capacity to transform themselves and create nobler worlds wherein all sentient creatures flourish.

Acknowledging the great harm wrought by divisive and problematic racial constructions in the United States, this book offers an alternative to theistic models of African American religiosity to inspire newer, conceptually compelling views of spirituality that address a classic, perennial religious question: What does it mean to be fully human and fully alive?

Learn more about Black Lives and Sacred Humanity at the Fordham University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Black Lives and Sacred Humanity.

--Marshal Zeringue

Adam Phillips' six favorite books

Adam Phillips is a British psychotherapist and essayist. His latest book is Unforbidden Pleasures. One of the author's six favorite books, as shared at The Week magazine:

Visible Signs by Lawrence Raab

This is a book of luminous and enigmatic poems and should inspire anyone to read all of Raab's remarkable writing. Raab has, in the American grain, a generous and ironic skepticism about charmed lives and the allure of disappointment. In Raab's poetry, the ordinary is made not merely strange but palpably uncanny.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Margaret Dilloway reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Margaret Dilloway, author of Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters.

Her entry begins:

I'm reading In the Woods by Tana French. I'm not sure how I missed this-- except it came out when I had three little kids, that's probably why. It's a psychological police mystery about two detectives who are trying to locate a girl's killer. It's all tied into a crime that happened...[read on]

About Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters, from the publisher:

Xander Miyamoto would rather do almost anything than listen to his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Stedman, drone on about weather disasters happening around the globe. If Xander could do stuff he’s good at instead, like draw comics and create computer programs, and if Lovey would stop harassing him for being half Asian, he might not be counting the minutes until the dismissal bell.

When spring break begins at last, Xander plans to spend it playing computer games with his best friend, Peyton. Xander’s father briefly distracts him with a comic book about some samurai warrior that pops out of a peach pit. Xander tosses it aside, but Peyton finds it more interesting. Little does either boy know that the comic is a warning.

They are about to be thrust into the biggest adventure of their lives—a journey wilder than any Xander has ever imagined, full of weird monsters even worse than Lovey. To win at this deadly serious game they will have to rely on their wits, courage, faith, and especially, each other. Maybe Xander should have listened to Mr Stedman about the weather after all....

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

Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Dilloway and Gatsby.

My Book, The Movie: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

The Page 69 Test: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

My Book, The Movie: Sisters of Heart and Snow.

The Page 69 Test: Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters.

My Book, The Movie: Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters.

Writers Read: Margaret Dilloway.

--Marshal Zeringue

Harlan Coben's 6 best books

Harlan Coben's latest novel is Fool Me Once.

One of his six best books, as shared at the Daily Express:

MARATHON MAN by William Goldman

This story of two brothers and a surviving Nazi was my first adult thriller. You could have put a gun against my head and I wouldn’t have noticed because it was so gripping.

It was probably more of an influence on me than any other book. Subconsciously I thought nothing could be cooler than a job where you could make people feel this way.

Read about another book on the list.

Marathon Man is on Jeff Somers's list of "five characters that are basically superheroes, despite appearing in books that aren’t in any way speculative fiction," Paul McEuen's six favorite books list and Howard Gordon's list of the five best thriller plots with terror themes.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Teresa Toten's "Beware That Girl"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Beware That Girl by Teresa Toten.

About the book, from the publisher:

For fans of We Were Liars, The Girl on the Train, and Gone Girl, this powerful psychological thriller with multiple mysteries is set against the backdrop of the megawealthy elite of New York City. Toten delves into the mesmerizing yet dysfunctional world of those who manipulate but seem ever so charming. With its gripping pace and Hitchcockian twists, Beware That Girl will keep readers guessing until the very last line.

The Haves. The Have-Nots. Kate O’Brien appears to be a Have-Not. Her whole life has been a series of setbacks she’s had to snake her way out of—some more sinister than others. But she’s determined to change that. She’s book smart. She’s street-smart. Oh, and she’s also a masterful liar.

As the scholarship student at the Waverly School in NYC, Kate has her work cut out for her: her plan is to climb the social ladder and land a spot at Yale. She’s already found her “people” among the senior class “it” girls—specifically in the cosseted, mega-wealthy yet deeply damaged Olivia Sumner. As for Olivia, she considers Kate the best friend she’s always needed, the sister she never had.

When the handsome and whip-smart Mark Redkin joins the Waverly administration, he immediately charms his way into the faculty’s and students’ lives—becoming especially close to Olivia, a fact she’s intent on keeping to herself. It becomes increasingly obvious that Redkin poses a threat to Kate, too, in a way she can’t reveal—and can’t afford to ignore. How close can Kate and Olivia get to Mark without having to share their dark pasts?

Visit Teresa Toten's website.

The Page 69 Test: Beware That Girl.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six kids' books that help share the meaning of Memorial Day

Lindsey Lewis Smithson has her MFA from UC Riverside’s Palm Desert Low Residency MFA. She has served as the Poetry Editor and the Managing Editor for The Coachella Review, in addition to having read for The Pacific Review and The Whistling Fire. At the BN Kids blog she tagged six books that help share the meaning of Memorial Day, including:

Don’t Forget, God Bless Our Troops, by Jill Biden and Raúl Colón

The Second Lady of the United States, Dr. Jill Biden, has also written a book inspired by her own family’s experiences. Told from the view point of Natalie, her granddaughter, young readers will be able to understand and appreciate the sacrifices made by military service members and their families. There are also some really great ideas on helping kids, both your own and those of other military families, to celebrate and support each other. Memorial Day isn’t just about being thankful to those who have lost their lives in war; it is about supporting their families as well. (Ages 5-8)

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Cathryn J. Prince's "American Daredevil"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: American Daredevil: The Extraordinary Life of Richard Halliburton, the World's First Celebrity Travel Writer by Cathryn J. Prince.

About the book, from the publisher:

With a polished walking stick and neatly pressed trousers, Richard Halliburton served as an intrepid globetrotting guide for millions of Americans in the 1920s and ’30s. Readers waited with bated breath for each new article and book he wrote. During his career, Halliburton climbed the Matterhorn, nearly fell out of his plane while shooting the first aerial photographs of Mt. Everest, and became the first person to swim the Panama Canal. With his matinee idol looks, the Tennessee native was a media darling in an era of optimism and increased social openness. But as the Great Depression and looming war pushed America toward social conservatism, Halliburton more actively worked to hide his homosexuality, burnishing his image as a masculine trailblazer. As chronicled in American Daredevil, Halliburton harnessed the media of his day to gain and maintain a widespread following long before our age of the 24-hour news cycle, and thus became the first celebrity adventure journalist. And during the darkest hours of the Great Depression, Halliburton did something remarkable: he inspired generations of authors, journalists, and everyday people who dreamt of fame and glory to explore the world.

Learn more about the book and author at Cathryn J. Prince's website.

The Page 99 Test: Death in the Baltic.

Coffee with a Canine: Cathryn J. Prince & Hershey and Juno.

The Page 99 Test: American Daredevil.

--Marshal Zeringue

Holly Schindler's "Spark," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Spark by Holly Schindler.

The entry begins:

Spark is about the magic of the theater. More specifically, it’s about the magic of losing yourself in the theater. We’ve all had that experience—being able to lean back into a seat in the audience and completely forget ourselves for a couple of hours. It’s pure escapism. But if you’re on the stage, you don’t just get to forget yourself, you actually get to become someone else—step into another character’s skin.

Two of the main characters in Spark get a chance to shed their perceived flaws when they step onto the stage. That’s part of the magic that lives inside that old Avery Theater. And by...[read on]

Visit Holly Schindler's website, blog, Facebook page, and Twitter perch.

Coffee with a Canine: Holly Schindler & Jake.

My Book, The Movie: Feral.

My Book, The Movie: Spark.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best books that recycle historical legends

Kiersten White is the New York Times bestselling author of the Paranormalcy trilogy; the dark thrillers Mind Games and Perfect Lies; The Chaos of Stars; Illusions of Fate; and the forthcoming And I Darken. At Tor.com she tagged her "five favorite books that use European history or historical legends as a background for asking timeless questions about life, love, and the reality of magic," including:

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Come for the time travel, stay for the kilts. Gabaldon’s book is famously hard to categorize—is it fantasy? Sci-fi? Historical romance with a slightly magical twist? In the end, it doesn’t matter what it is, because what it isn’t is boring. Ever. Taking a plucky World War II nurse and throwing her back in time to Scotland during the Jacobite rebellion lets the reader discover this time and history right along with the intrepid heroine. (And if it, ahem, has rather more sexytimes than most history texts, well! As I said, the past isn’t dull in Gabaldon’s hands.) I’m guessing that, like me, most readers start out not knowing much about this period in Scottish history, and come away feeling like they lived it.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Adam Haslett reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Adam Haslett, author of Imagine Me Gone.

His entry begins:

As usual I'm in the midst of several books, fiction and non-fiction. I'm about a third of the way through Peter Gay's biography of Freud, which I picked up as a kind of backgrounder to psychoanalytic theory, about which I have only an undergraduate acquaintance. It's a mildly frustrating book because it takes for granted the existence of Freud's various internal entities and diagnoses--the id, hysteria--as though they were fossils he'd discovered on a dig rather than historical and cultural concepts, but it's good on...[read on]

About Imagine Me Gone, from the publisher:

From a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, a ferociously intimate story of a family facing the ultimate question: how far will we go to save the people we love the most?

When Margaret's fiancé, John, is hospitalized for depression in 1960s London, she faces a choice: carry on with their plans despite what she now knows of his condition, or back away from the suffering it may bring her. She decides to marry him. Imagine Me Gone is the unforgettable story of what unfolds from this act of love and faith. At the heart of it is their eldest son, Michael, a brilliant, anxious music fanatic who makes sense of the world through parody. Over the span of decades, his younger siblings -- the savvy and responsible Celia and the ambitious and tightly controlled Alec -- struggle along with their mother to care for Michael's increasingly troubled and precarious existence.

Told in alternating points of view by all five members of the family, this searing, gut-wrenching, and yet frequently hilarious novel brings alive with remarkable depth and poignancy the love of a mother for her children, the often inescapable devotion siblings feel toward one another, and the legacy of a father's pain in the life of a family.

With his striking emotional precision and lively, inventive language, Adam Haslett has given us something rare: a novel with the power to change how we see the most important people in our lives.

Visit Adam Haslett's website.

See Haslett's list of the five best novelists on grief and five best books about evil.

The Page 69 Test: Union Atlantic.

The Page 69 Test: Imagine Me Gone.

Writers Read: Adam Haslett.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Hannah Dennison's "A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall by Hannah Dennison.

About the book, from the publisher:

When antique dealer Kat Stanford stumbles upon the partially mummified body of a young woman in an abandoned wing at Honeychurch Hall, suspicion falls on those who had been living there many years ago. And it appears that the deceased had been murdered. Given her mother Iris’s checkered past, Kat is not surprised to learn that Iris knew the victim.

Meanwhile, the unexpected appearance of former lothario Bryan Laney sets female hearts aflutter. Despite the passing years, time has not dampened his ardor for Iris, but the feeling is not reciprocated.

With stories of hidden treasure and secret chambers, past and present collide. As Kat becomes embroiled once more in her mother’s mysterious and tumultuous bygone days, she comes to realize that life is never black and white, and sometimes it is necessary to risk your own life to protect the lives of the ones you love.

Visit Hannah Dennison's website and Facebook page.

The Page 69 Test: Murder at Honeychurch Hall.

My Book, The Movie: Murder at Honeychurch Hall.

My Book, The Movie: Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall.

The Page 69 Test: Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall.

Writers Read: Hannah Dennison.

The Page 69 Test: A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall.

--Marshal Zeringue

Margaret Dilloway's "Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway.

The entry begins:

Joey Morris as Xander. My husband and I were watching Genie in a Bikini on Nickelodeon with our youngest and we turned to each other and said, "Xander!"

Paris Berelc as Jinx-- she has mad gymnastics skills!

Charles Vandervaart as Peyton.

Caitriona Balfe from Outlander for...[read on]

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

Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Dilloway and Gatsby.

My Book, The Movie: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

The Page 69 Test: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

My Book, The Movie: Sisters of Heart and Snow.

The Page 69 Test: Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters.

My Book, The Movie: Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top chases in literature

Chris Ewan is the critically acclaimed and bestselling author of many mystery and thriller novels. His most recent thriller is Long Time Lost, now available in the UK and forthcoming in the USA.

One of Ewan's top ten books which demonstrate that "the relationship between the hunted and the hunter can be an intense and strangely intimate one, with each anticipating the moves of the other, and in the crucible of the chase, with the psychological strains going both ways, it is sometimes unclear who is stalking whom," as shared at the Guardian:

The Talented Mr Ripley by Patricia Highsmith

Tom Ripley, the ultimate chameleon, is a man on the run; not simply from the repercussions of a minor postal scam in New York, but also the spectre of his own humdrum existence. Later, after he has murdered Dickie Greenleaf in Italy and assumed his identity, Tom finds himself hounded at various times by the police, an American private detective and by the suspicions of Dickie’s friends and family. As the net closes in, Tom finds that shedding his former shabby existence is as troublesome as evading justice.

Read about another book on the list.

The Talented Mr Ripley is on Meave Gallagher's top twenty list of gripping page-turners every twentysomething woman should read, Sophia Bennett's top ten list of books set in the Mediterranean, Emma Straub's top ten list of holidays in fiction, E. Lockhart's list of favorite suspense novels, Sally O'Reilly's top ten list of novels inspired by Shakespeare, Walter Kirn's top six list of books on deception, Stephen May's top ten list of impostors in fiction, Simon Mason's top ten list of chilling fictional crimes, Melissa Albert's list of eight books to change a villain, Koren Zailckas's list of eleven of literature's more evil characters, Alex Berenson's five best list of books about Americans abroad John Mullan's list of ten of the best examples of rowing in literature, Tana French's top ten maverick mysteries list, the Guardian's list of the 50 best summer reads ever, the Telegraph's ultimate reading list, and Francesca Simon's top ten list of antiheroes.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Andy Mozina reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Andy Mozina, author of Contrary Motion: A Novel.

His entry begins:

I just finished the short story collection The Heaven of Animals by David James Poissant. He inhabits the worlds of all of his characters so thoroughly that by the end of each story, I have a sense that I’ve heard someone out, heard them express their core values, seen them at their best and at their worst. He makes you care about real people, flaws and all, and he writes about characters you might easily sympathize with (parents who’ve lost a child, a boy who is bullied at a party), as well as some people you may not like (two cousins have a decades-long affair, a bigoted man who throws his gay son out a window). This is a writer with...[read on]

About Contrary Motion, from the publisher:

By turns hilarious and bittersweet, Andy Mozina’s winning debut novel introduces a charming new hero for our times: a dysfunctional, divorced family man whose passion for life comes straight from the harp.

Matthew Grzbc is a talented musician who plays the concert harp. He is a divorced dad who lives in Chicago, has a sexy girlfriend, and has a major, potentially life-changing audition with an orchestra on the horizon. At least that’s how he appears on paper. But take a closer look and a very different man starts to emerge: an obsessive, self-sabotaging Midwesterner, fumbling through his relationship with his curiously neurotic six-year-old daughter and headed for destruction in his romantic life by grasping at any remotely affectionate warm body, including that of his ex-wife. Instead of playing to sold-out concert halls, he spends his days plucking out “Send in the Clowns” at hotel brunches, and his weekends serenading the captive audience at the local hospice.

When his father dies unexpectedly (while listening to a meditation tape), Matt’s life begins to come untethered. In quick succession his ex-wife gets engaged, his girlfriend begins to pull away, and his daughter starts acting out. With his audition rapidly approaching, Matt is paralyzed by panic—why can’t he hold it together and follow his dream? And what does that even mean, if you’re not sure what it is you really want?

Funny, poignant, and thoroughly engaging, Contrary Motion is a journey deep inside a male mind as it searches—desperately—for a way to balance life, love, and a harp.

Visit Andy Mozina's website.

The Page 69 Test: Contrary Motion.

Writers Read: Andy Mozina.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Robert Elder's "The Sacred Mirror"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: The Sacred Mirror: Evangelicalism, Honor, and Identity in the Deep South, 1790-1860 by Robert Elder.

About the book, from the publisher:

Most histories of the American South describe the conflict between evangelical religion and honor culture as one of the defining features of southern life before the Civil War. The story is usually told as a battle of clashing worldviews, but in this book, Robert Elder challenges this interpretation by illuminating just how deeply evangelicalism in Methodist, Baptist, and Presbyterian churches was interwoven with traditional southern culture, arguing that evangelicals owed much of their success to their ability to appeal to people steeped in southern honor culture. Previous accounts of the rise of evangelicalism in the South have told this tale as a tragedy in which evangelicals eventually adopted many of the central tenets of southern society in order to win souls and garner influence. But through an examination of evangelical language and practices, Elder shows that evangelicals always shared honor’s most basic assumptions.

Making use of original sources such as diaries, correspondence, periodicals, and church records, Elder recasts the relationship between evangelicalism and secular honor in the South, proving the two concepts are connected in much deeper ways than have ever been previously understood.

Learn more about The Sacred Mirror at The University of North Carolina Press website.

The Page 99 Test: The Sacred Mirror.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Adam Haslett's "Imagine Me Gone"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Imagine Me Gone by Adam Haslett.

About the book, from the publisher:

From a Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award finalist, a ferociously intimate story of a family facing the ultimate question: how far will we go to save the people we love the most?

When Margaret's fiancé, John, is hospitalized for depression in 1960s London, she faces a choice: carry on with their plans despite what she now knows of his condition, or back away from the suffering it may bring her. She decides to marry him. Imagine Me Gone is the unforgettable story of what unfolds from this act of love and faith. At the heart of it is their eldest son, Michael, a brilliant, anxious music fanatic who makes sense of the world through parody. Over the span of decades, his younger siblings -- the savvy and responsible Celia and the ambitious and tightly controlled Alec -- struggle along with their mother to care for Michael's increasingly troubled and precarious existence.

Told in alternating points of view by all five members of the family, this searing, gut-wrenching, and yet frequently hilarious novel brings alive with remarkable depth and poignancy the love of a mother for her children, the often inescapable devotion siblings feel toward one another, and the legacy of a father's pain in the life of a family.

With his striking emotional precision and lively, inventive language, Adam Haslett has given us something rare: a novel with the power to change how we see the most important people in our lives.

Visit Adam Haslett's website.

See Adam Haslett's list of the five best novelists on grief and five best books about evil.

The Page 69 Test: Union Atlantic.

The Page 69 Test: Imagine Me Gone.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the best shapeshifters in fiction

Aimée Carter is the author of Simon Thorn and the Wolf's Den and other books. One of her top ten shapeshifters in fiction, as shared at the Guardian:

Count Dracula, from Dracula by Bram Stoker

Believed to have been inspired by Vlad the Impaler, Dracula is a legendary figure. We all know the lore surrounding vampires: the fangs, the blood, the widow’s peak and intimidating black cloak. But while Dracula is well-known for turning into a bat, he could also shapeshift into fog and a wolf, which only made him all the more terrifying as a character.

Read about another entry on the list.

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

--Marshal Zeringue

Sarah Strohmeyer's "This Is My Brain on Boys," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: This Is My Brain on Boys by Sarah Strohmeyer.

The entry begins:

I suppose I had Ellen Page in mind when I wrote about my extremely literal, brilliant and warm-hearted character Addie. (Poor Ellen. The curses of a youthful face!)

For Tess, her redheaded, wild, intuitive friend, I would love Jennifer...[read on]

Visit Sarah Strohmeyer's website.

The Page 69 Test: This Is My Brain on Boys.

Writers Read: Sarah Strohmeyer.

My Book, The Movie: This Is My Brain on Boys.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sixteen YA titles that get mental health right

At the BN Teen Blog Dahlia Adler collected recommendations for her collection of sixteen YA books that get mental health right. Two books that made the grade:

Invincible, by Amy Reed

Very few books really get the complexity that is addiction. Amy Reed’s Invincible goes deep down into the particular mix of anger, hopelessness, isolation, and longing that can breed addiction, and the result is astonishing. Books that deal with mental health can go a lot of places, but Reed’s book ventures somewhere I’ve never been before in a book. If you want to know what it’s really, truly like to love someone struggling with addiction, this book is it. To write about addiction you can’t be afraid of showing something ugly and unrelenting and powerful and frustrating. Reed has that bravery and paints a challenging portrait that makes it easy to understand how one disease (cancer) could lead so seamlessly into another (addiction).
–Corey Ann Haydu, author of OCD Love Story

Wild Awake, by Hilary T. Smith

Kiri is a brilliant pianist whose major concern is preparing for a huge competition, until a major family secret is revealed and it throws her for a loop. Suddenly, everything seems different and less important and her life feels completely changed; she wants new things, new people, and new experiences, and watching her chase them is exhilarating. By the time the reader realizes something is seriously wrong, Kiri has descended into an episode that neither she nor anyone else understands. This book brilliantly explores family, friendship, first love, creativity, and mania. We need all types of mental health books in YA: we need books that focus on diagnosis and treatment and we also need books like Wild Awake—books that show what mental illnesses feel like.
–Ally Watkins, Librarian and Co-Coordinator of MHYALit

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Margaret Dilloway's "Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters by Margaret Dilloway.

About the book, from the publisher:

Xander Miyamoto would rather do almost anything than listen to his sixth grade teacher, Mr. Stedman, drone on about weather disasters happening around the globe. If Xander could do stuff he’s good at instead, like draw comics and create computer programs, and if Lovey would stop harassing him for being half Asian, he might not be counting the minutes until the dismissal bell.

When spring break begins at last, Xander plans to spend it playing computer games with his best friend, Peyton. Xander’s father briefly distracts him with a comic book about some samurai warrior that pops out of a peach pit. Xander tosses it aside, but Peyton finds it more interesting. Little does either boy know that the comic is a warning.

They are about to be thrust into the biggest adventure of their lives—a journey wilder than any Xander has ever imagined, full of weird monsters even worse than Lovey. To win at this deadly serious game they will have to rely on their wits, courage, faith, and especially, each other. Maybe Xander should have listened to Mr Stedman about the weather after all....

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

Coffee with a Canine: Margaret Dilloway and Gatsby.

My Book, The Movie: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

The Page 69 Test: The Care and Handling of Roses with Thorns.

My Book, The Movie: Sisters of Heart and Snow.

The Page 69 Test: Momotaro: Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Hannah Dennison reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Hannah Dennison, author of A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall.

Her entry begins:

Like many readers, I have a stack of books on my nightstand. With the recent publication of A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall, I’ve been doing a lot of traveling—and that means reading more than usual.

In the past two weeks I’ve read Allison Leotta’s Law of Attraction featuring federal prosecutor Anna Curtis. Anna is a smart, savvy lawyer who fights to protect women from domestic violence. What particularly impressed me was how Leotta skillfully weaves humor and...[read on]

About  A Killer Ball at Honeychurch Hall, from the publisher:

When antique dealer Kat Stanford stumbles upon the partially mummified body of a young woman in an abandoned wing at Honeychurch Hall, suspicion falls on those who had been living there many years ago. And it appears that the deceased had been murdered. Given her mother Iris’s checkered past, Kat is not surprised to learn that Iris knew the victim.

Meanwhile, the unexpected appearance of former lothario Bryan Laney sets female hearts aflutter. Despite the passing years, time has not dampened his ardor for Iris, but the feeling is not reciprocated.

With stories of hidden treasure and secret chambers, past and present collide. As Kat becomes embroiled once more in her mother’s mysterious and tumultuous bygone days, she comes to realize that life is never black and white, and sometimes it is necessary to risk your own life to protect the lives of the ones you love.

Visit Hannah Dennison's website and Facebook page.

The Page 69 Test: Murder at Honeychurch Hall.

My Book, The Movie: Murder at Honeychurch Hall.

My Book, The Movie: Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall.

The Page 69 Test: Deadly Desires at Honeychurch Hall.

Writers Read: Hannah Dennison.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best grandpas in literature

Jeff Somers is the author of Lifers, the Avery Cates series from Orbit Books, Chum from Tyrus Books, and We Are Not Good People from Pocket/Gallery. He has published over thirty short stories as well. One of Somers's five best grandfathers in literary history, as shared at B&N Reads:

Vito Corleone in The Godfather, by Mario Puzo

Murderous, manipulative cancer on society? Sure, but Vito Corleone built a world-class criminal empire all in the service of providing for and securing his family. Having seen the damage done through vendettas in Sicily and then being forced to find his way through an unfamiliar society in America, Vito ruthlessly pursues power not as an aim in itself, but as a way to guarantee that his family is protected and inherits that power so they will never have to worry again. Unlike the grandfather in The Princess Bride, you might not want to have Vito creep into your room at night to read you a story, but he might not be a bad choice as grandfather if you’re, say, being bullied at school.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Godfather is among the Telegraph's ten worst dads in literature, and is one of Jackie Collins' six best books and five best literary guilty pleasures. It appears on Alice-Azania Jarvis's reading list on the Mafia and Will Dean's brief reading list on family dynasties.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Christine Gilbert's "Mother Tongue"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Mother Tongue: My Family's Globe-Trotting Quest to Dream in Mandarin, Laugh in Arabic, and Sing in Spanish by Christine Gilbert.

About the book, from the publisher:

One woman’s quest to learn Mandarin in Beijing, Arabic in Beirut, and Spanish in Mexico, with her young family along for the ride.

Imagine negotiating for a replacement carburetor in rural Mexico with words you’re secretly pulling from a pocket dictionary. Imagine your two-year-old asking for more niunai at dinner—a Mandarin word for milk that even you don’t know yet. Imagine finding out that you’re unexpectedly pregnant while living in war-torn Beirut. With vivid and evocative language, Christine Gilbert takes us along with her into foreign lands, showing us what it’s like to make a life in an unfamiliar world—and in an unfamiliar tongue.

Gilbert was a young mother when she boldly uprooted her family to move around the world, studying Mandarin in China, Arabic in Lebanon, and Spanish in Mexico, with her toddler son and all-American husband along for the ride.Their story takes us from Beijing to Beirut, from Cyprus to Chiang Mai—and also explores recent breakthroughs in bilingual brain mapping and the controversial debates happening in linguistics right now.

Gilbert’s adventures abroad prove just how much language influences culture (and vice versa), and lead her to results she never expected. Mother Tongue is a fascinating and uplifting story about taking big risks for bigger rewards and trying to find meaning and happiness through tireless pursuit—no matter what hurdles may arise. It’s a treat for language enthusiasts and armchair travelers alike.

Visit Christine Gilbert's website.

The Page 99 Test: Mother Tongue.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Andy Mozina's "Contrary Motion"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Contrary Motion: A Novel by Andy Mozina.

About the book, from the publisher:

By turns hilarious and bittersweet, Andy Mozina’s winning debut novel introduces a charming new hero for our times: a dysfunctional, divorced family man whose passion for life comes straight from the harp.

Matthew Grzbc is a talented musician who plays the concert harp. He is a divorced dad who lives in Chicago, has a sexy girlfriend, and has a major, potentially life-changing audition with an orchestra on the horizon. At least that’s how he appears on paper. But take a closer look and a very different man starts to emerge: an obsessive, self-sabotaging Midwesterner, fumbling through his relationship with his curiously neurotic six-year-old daughter and headed for destruction in his romantic life by grasping at any remotely affectionate warm body, including that of his ex-wife. Instead of playing to sold-out concert halls, he spends his days plucking out “Send in the Clowns” at hotel brunches, and his weekends serenading the captive audience at the local hospice.

When his father dies unexpectedly (while listening to a meditation tape), Matt’s life begins to come untethered. In quick succession his ex-wife gets engaged, his girlfriend begins to pull away, and his daughter starts acting out. With his audition rapidly approaching, Matt is paralyzed by panic—why can’t he hold it together and follow his dream? And what does that even mean, if you’re not sure what it is you really want?

Funny, poignant, and thoroughly engaging, Contrary Motion is a journey deep inside a male mind as it searches—desperately—for a way to balance life, love, and a harp.

Visit Andy Mozina's website.

The Page 69 Test: Contrary Motion.

--Marshal Zeringue

Larry D. Sweazy's "See Also Deception," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: See Also Deception: A Marjorie Trumaine Mystery by Larry D. Sweazy.

The entry begins:

I think the demands of character are deep with Marjorie Trumaine. The role would require an actress to be vulnerable and strong, wise and afraid, sad without being maudlin, and fearless when it came to going after the truth. It would be a nuanced role, a lead in a movie—everything revolves around her—which in today’s Hollywood is an unfortunate rarity (a female lead role). Reese Witherspoon comes to mind as a candidate to play Marjorie. I think she could get the North Dakota accent, and after her portrayal of Cheryl Strayed in Wild, I’m certain she could reach the emotional depths that playing Marjorie would require. Her spunk was evident from the beginning in Man in the Moon, and that attribute is also a necessary ingredient to bring Marjorie to life. Can she carry a movie? Absolutely.

Hank is another central character, and hugely important. I’ve been...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Larry D. Sweazy's website and blog.

Coffee with a Canine: Larry D. Sweazy & Brodi and Sunny (April 2011).

Coffee with a Canine: Larry D. Sweazy & Brodi and Sunny (April 2013).

The Page 69 Test: The Badger’s Revenge.

The Page 69 Test: The Devil's Bones.

My Book, The Movie: The Devil’s Bones.

The Page 69 Test: The Coyote Tracker.

The Page 69 Test: The Gila Wars.

My Book, The Movie: Escape to Hangtown.

The Page 69 Test: Escape from Hangtown.

The Page 69 Test: A Thousand Falling Crows.

My Book, The Movie: A Thousand Falling Crows.

The Page 69 Test: See Also Deception.

Writers Read: Larry D. Sweazy.

My Book, The Movie: See Also Deception.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sherman Alexie's 6 favorite books about identity

Sherman Alexie is the award-winning author of The Absolutely True Story of a Part-Time Indian and other books. His first picture book, Thunder Boy Jr., has just been published by Little, Brown.

Among his six favorite reads "about exploring your origins and seeing yourself clearly," as shared at The Week magazine:

Wondering Who You Are by Sonya Lea

After her husband sustains a memory-erasing traumatic brain injury, Lea has to rebuild her entire life with him, from the beginning of their courtship to their becoming parents, and learn, in middle age, to fall in love again. What happens to a person whose identity is completely erased? How does one start over?

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue