Pg. 99: Marc Wortman's "The Bonfire"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: The Bonfire: The Siege and Burning of Atlanta by Marc Wortman.

About the book, from the publisher:

The destruction of Atlanta is an iconic moment in American history—it was the centerpiece of Gone with the Wind. But though the epic sieges of Leningrad, Stalingrad, and Berlin have all been explored in bestselling books, the one great American example has been treated only cursorily in more general histories. Marc Wortman remedies that conspicuous absence in grand fashion with The Bonfire, an absorbing narrative history told through the points of view of key participants both Confederate and Union. The Bonfire reveals an Atlanta of unexpected paradoxes: a new mercantile city dependent on the primitive institution of slavery; governed by a pro-Union mayor, James Calhoun, whose cousin was a famous defender of the South. When he surrendered the city to General Sherman after forty-four terrible days, Calhoun was accompanied by Bob Yancey, a black slave likely the son of Union advocate Daniel Webster. Atlanta was both the last of the medieval city sieges and the first modern urban devastation. From its ashes, a new South would arise.

Learn more about The Bonfire and its author at Marc Wortman's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Bonfire.

--Marshal Zeringue

Roger Moore's 6 best books

Roger Moore will always be remembered for playing James Bond and as Simon Templar in the long-running 1960s TV series The Saint.

The New York Post called his autobiography, My Word Is My Bond, "full of unbelievable scenes, corny dialogue and a lead character who doesn’t take himself too seriously ... full of humor, in praise of many and offensive to few."

Moore named his six best books for the Daily Express.

One book on his list:

TAI-PAN
by James Clavell
Hodder, £8.99

All Clavell’s books are brilliant but I have a particular affection for this one. It’s about the beginning of Hong Kong and contains one of my favourite insults, which film producer Cubby Broccoli and I invariably greeted one another with: “Ye be a bag full of farts!”

Read about another book on Moore's list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Victor Gischler's "Vampire a Go-Go"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Vampire a Go-Go by Victor Gischler.

About the book, from the publisher:

HORROR AT ITS SIDE-SPLITTING BEST!

Victor Gischler is a master of the class-act literary spoof, and his work has drawn comparison to that of Douglas Adams, Kurt Vonnegut, and Thomas Pynchon. Now, Gischler turns his attention to werewolves, alchemists, ghosts, witches, and gun-toting Jesuit priests in Vampire a Go-Go, a hilarious romp of spooky, Gothic entertainment. Narrated by a ghost whose spirit is chained to a mysterious castle in Prague, Gischler's latest is full of twists and surprises that will have readers screaming -- and laughing -- for more.

Browse inside Vampire a Go-Go, and learn more about the author and his work at Victor Gischler's Blogpocalypse.

Victor Gischler is a former English professor and the author of Gun Monkeys, The Pistol Poets, Suicide Squeeze, Shotgun Opera, and Go-Go-Girls of the Apocalypse.

The Page 69 Test: Shotgun Opera.

My Book, The Movie: Shotgun Opera.

The Page 69 Test: Go-Go-Girls of the Apocalypse.

The Page 69 Test: Vampire a Go-Go.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Bruce Weigl reading?

The current featured contributor to Writers Read: Bruce Weigl, author of more than a dozen books of poetry, several translations, and the best-selling memoir The Circle of Hanh.

His poetry titles include The Monkey Wars (University of Georgia, 1985); The Song of Napalm (Grove, 1988); What Saves Us (Triquarterly, 1992); Sweet Lorain (Triquarterly, 1996); Archaeology of the Circle (Grove, 1999); After the Others (Triquarterly, 1999); The Unraveling Strangeness (Grove, 2002); Declension in the Village of Chung Luong (Ausable, 2006).

His entry begins:

What I’m reading lately has to do with the work I’ve been doing in preparation for teaching Homer’s The Odyssey, a poem I’d also like to co-translate someday. Barry Strauss’ The Trojan War provides the clearest and most inclusive history of the war that Homer based at least one of his epic works on, and he does it with a wonderfully lyrical regard for his writing so that it feels like you’re reading a great adventure story rather than a work of history. What’s particularly interesting to me as a teacher are the ways in which Homer deviated from what Strauss argues was the real history of Troy, evidence that the role of the author was far more important in these early texts than I had originally believed.

I’m also reading...[read on]

Read selected poems of Bruce Weigl.

Writers Read: Bruce Weigl.

--Marshal Zeringue

Brian Keaney's "The Hollow People," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: The Hollow People by Brian Keaney.

The entry begins:

The Hollow People is set in a nightmare society where people have handed over their minds to the state. It’s a world in which everything and everyone is controlled. Even dreaming is a crime. But Dante, the teenage boy at the centre of the story refuses to submit. That makes him unique. So whoever plays him must be able to convey a character who is not afraid to be different, no matter what it costs. The actor who immediately springs to mind is Robert Pattinson, who recently starred in Twilight. He has the right kind of look – like someone who doesn’t care if the whole world is against him; he’s still going to be himself.

For Beatrice, the girl from a good family who throws it all away to befriend Dante, I would like to see...[read on]

Read an excerpt from The Hollow People and view a video of Brian Keaney discussing the book.

Learn more about the author and his work at Brian Keaney's website and blog.

My Book, The Movie: The Hollow People.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the best reformations in literature

At the Guardian, John Mullan named ten of the best reformations in literature.

One reformed character on the list:

Uriah Heep

Near the end of David Copperfield, Dickens's hero embarks on a tour of a new model prison. There, in adjacent cells, he finds two exemplary inmates: his old foe Uriah Heep and Littimer*, Steerforth's sinister valet. Heep is admired by his jailors for "his pious admonitions to everybody around him".

Read about another reformation on Mullan's list.

*Littmer is one of Mullan's ten best valets in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Alexandra Horowitz's "Inside of a Dog"

Today's feature at the Page 99 Test: Inside of a Dog: What Dogs See, Smell, and Know by Alexandra Horowitz.

About the book, from the publisher:

What do dogs know? How do they think? The answers will surprise and delight you as Alexandra Horowitz, a cognitive scientist, explains how dogs perceive their daily worlds, each other, and that other quirky animal, the human.

Inside of a Dog is a fresh look at the world of dogs -- from the dog's point of view. As a dog owner, Horowitz is naturally curious to learn what her dog thinks about and knows. And as a scientist, she is intent on understanding the minds of animals who cannot speak for themselves.

In clear, crisp prose, Horowitz introduces the reader to dogs' perceptual and cognitive abilities and then draws a picture of what it might be like to be a dog. What's it like to be able to smell not just every bit of open food in the house but also to smell sadness in humans or even the passage of time? How does a tiny dog manage to play successfully with a Great Dane? What is it like to hear the bodily vibrations of insects or the hum of a fluorescent light? Why must a person on a bicycle be chased? What's it like to use your mouth as a hand? In short, what is it like for a dog to experience life from two feet off the ground, amidst the smells of the sidewalk, gazing at our ankles or knees?

Inside of a Dog explains these things and much more. The answers can be surprising -- once we set aside our natural inclination to anthropomorphize dogs. Inside of a Dog also contains up-to-the-minute research -- on dogs' detection of disease, the secrets of their tails, and their skill at reading our attention -- that Horowitz puts into useful context. Although not a formal training guide, Inside of a Dog has practical application for dog lovers interested in understanding why their dogs do what they do.

The relationship between dogs and humans is arguably the most fascinating animal-human bond because dogs evolved from wild creatures to become our companions, an adaptation that changed their bodies, brains, and behavior. Yet dogs always remain animals, familiar but mysterious. With a light touch and the weight of science behind her, Alexandra Horowitz examines the animal we think we know best but may actually understand the least. This book is as close as you can get to knowing about dogs without being a dog yourself.

Read an excerpt from Inside of a Dog and learn more about the book at the publisher's website.

Watch the Inside of a Dog video.

Visit Alexandra Horowitz's dog cognition website and her quasi-academic website.

The Page 99 Test: Inside of a Dog.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Holly Goddard Jones & Bishop and Martha

Today's featured guests at Coffee with a Canine: Holly Goddard Jones & Bishop and Martha.

How did these dogs get their names?

Believe it or not, Bishop’s namesake was the android in the movie Aliens. I was watching it with my husband back in our undergraduate days, and I told him that Bishop would make a nice dog’s name. We knew we had the right dog when he matched the name; he’s solid black with a clerical collar. Martha is named for the Beatles song, “Martha, My Dear,” which was about Paul McCartney’s sheepdog.[read on]

Holly Goddard Jones is the author of the acclaimed short story collection, Girl Trouble. Among the praise for the book:

"No politician should ever again use the phrase 'The American People' without reading this book, preferably twice, so that they understand at last just who the hell they're talking about. Holly Goddard Jones has a voice as expansive, complex, and beautiful as the country itself."
--Joshua Ferris, bestselling author of Then We Came to the End

"A powerful, resonant short story collection from the uniquely talented Holly Goddard Jones.”
--George Pelecanos, author of The Turnaround and writer/producer for HBO's The Wire

“Holly Goddard Jones is blessed with wisdom beyond her years, a gimlet eye and an enviable literary talent; her debut collection Girl Trouble is a fierce and exhilarating achievement.”
--Claire Messud, bestselling author of The Emperor’s Children

Visit Holly Goddard Jones' website.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Holly Goddard Jones & Bishop and Martha.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is A. Roger Ekirch reading?

The current featured contributor to Writers Read: A. Roger Ekirch, author of the forthcoming Birthright: The True Story of the Kidnapping of Jemmy Annesley.

His entry begins:

Believe it or not, I am at this minute reading the final page proofs of a book that I have coming out in January, compliments of Norton. I know that this answer is not in the spirit of the question that you’ve posed, but please indulge me, for I’ve been reading little else of late. Entitled Birthright: The True Story of the Kidnapping of Jemmy Annesley, the book recounts, for the first time, the real-life story that inspired five nineteenth-century novels, most famously Robert Louis Stevenson’s Kidnapped. Arguably, no saga of personal hardship so captivated the British public in the eighteenth century as the turbulent life of James Annelsey, the presumptive heir of five aristocratic titles and scion of the mighty...[read on]

A. Roger Ekirch is an award-winning author and a professor of history at Virginia Tech. In addition to scholarly articles in such journals as the William and Mary Quarterly and Perspectives in American History, his writing has appeared in the New York Times, the International Herald Tribune, and Newsday. His books have included Bound for America: The Transportation of British Convicts to the Colonies, 1718-1775 and the multiple prize-winning At Day’s Close: Night in Times Past, a sweeping study of nocturnal culture before the Industrial Revolution.

Read more about Birthright: The True Story of the Kidnapping of Jemmy Annesley, due out in January 2010.

Writers Read: A. Roger Ekirch.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Claire Zulkey's "An Off Year"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: An Off Year by Claire Zulkey.

About the book, from the publisher:

Cecily has always done everything as she was supposed to: taken the right classes, gotten the right grades, applied to the right colleges. But after a lifetime of following the rules, she surprises everyone by arriving for her freshman year of college . . . and turning around. There are infinite possibilities for Cecily’s unexpected gap year. She could volunteer, or travel around the world—but, for now, Cecily is content to do absolutely nothing. What follows is a year of snarkily observed self-doubt and selfdiscovery during which Cecily must ask herself, for the first time, what does she really want to do with her life?

Learn more about the book and author at Claire Zulkey's website.

The Page 69 Test: An Off Year.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five best books of Southern fiction

Elizabeth Spencer’s fiction includes the novels The Night Travellers and The Salt Line and the short-story collection The Southern Woman.

For the Wall Street Journal she named her favorite works of Southern fiction.

One book on the list:

The Last Gentleman
by Walker Percy
Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1966

Walker Percy's heroes always seem to be the author himself, searching for aim and answers. In "The Last Gentleman," an endlessly polite, sincere and lovable Alabaman named Will Barrett ventures comically through all the crazy creeds and lifestyles of the 1960s, only to wind up adrift in New York. Then he sees a girl in Central Park and falls in love. In finding her he also finds her family, rich and Southern. They look to him as a guide companion for their terminally ill son, ­Jamie. Now Will has love, family and purpose. But is simple Will the ­author's only projected self? We suspect not, for Percy is never satisfied with easy answers. Within the family Will joins is an older son, a brilliant, cynical doctor named Sutter; and a sister, a Roman Catholic nun, Val. The true line of the novel now appears. Is Percy not only Will but also Sutter? The doctor (Percy trained as a medical man, too) writes a journal of philosophic nihilism scoffing at the possibility of human transcendence. Will and Sutter, the mocking alter-ego, make up the novel's core. Yet at Jamie's dying, when a priest arrives, it appears that Will may at last find an answer ­nestled in the folds of the ancient ­Roman church. The novel's laughs are far behind us, and the issues are life and death.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Joanne Rendell's "Crossing Washington Square"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Crossing Washington Square by Joanne Rendell.

About the book, from the publisher:

A story of two strong-willed and passionate women who are compelled to unite their senses and sensibilities, from the author of The Professors’ Wives’ Club.

Professor Diana Monroe is a highly respected scholar of Sylvia Plath. Serious and aloof, she steadfastly keeps her mind on track. Professor Rachel Grey is young and impulsive, with a penchant for teaching relevant contemporary women’s stories like Bridget Jones’ Diary and The Devil Wears Prada, and for wearing her heart on her sleeve.

The two conflicting personalities meet head-to-heart when Carson McEvoy, a handsome and brilliant professor visiting from Harvard, sets his eyes on both women and creates even more tension between them. Now Diana and Rachel are slated to accompany an undergraduate trip to London, where an almost life-threatening experience with a student celebrity will force them to change their minds and heal their hearts…together.

Learn more about the book and author at Joanne Rendell's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Professors' Wives' Club.

The Page 99 Test: Crossing Washington Square.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Karen Walker reading?

This weekend's featured contributor to Writers Read: Karen Walker, author of Following the Whispers.

Her entry begins:

I am a voracious reader and have been since I learned to read. Just finished three books in two days: Queen of the Road, by Doreen Orion, The Prairie Grass Murders by Patricia Stoltey, and The Ride, by Jane Sutton Kennedy.

I hadn't read murder mysteries in a while and had forgotten what great escape reading they can be. Prior...[read on]

Karen Walker is a writer who has published essays in newspapers and magazines, as well as an anthology series. After a 30+ year career in marketing and public relations, she went back to college to complete a Bachelor’s degree and graduated Summa Cum Laude in 2005 from the University of New Mexico’s University Studies program with a major emphasis in Creative Writing.

Among the praise for Following the Whispers:

“This readable, lucid and flowing account of Karen’s emotional journey has the potential of being so inspiring to any who may have faced similar travails. Her memoir is a brave and monumental step in the healing process. I especially appreciate the brilliant metaphors which convey visually and textually her various feeling-states.”
--Barbara J. Newman, Ph.D., R.N., Licensed Clinical Psychologist

“Following the Whispers is a moving description of one person's journey to wholeness. It will comfort and inspire all who read it.”
--Rev. Clara Alexander

"I wish I'd had this book to give my clients who'd been in abusive relationships--it would have given them hope."
--Jackie Baron, former welfare worker for the Human Services Department, State of New Mexico

Visit Karen Walker's website and blog.

Writers Read: Karen Walker.

--Marshal Zeringue

Bamber Gascoigne's 6 best books

Bamber Gascoigne is best known in Britain for being the quizmaster on University Challenge, which he presented for 25 years. More recently he has devoted himself to writing HistoryWorld, an interactive history of the world on the internet at www.historyworld.net.

For the Daily Express he named his six best books. One title on the list:

Animal Farm
by George Orwell

Not since Jonathan Swift has anyone written political satire with as surprising an angle and as deft a touch. The pigs Napoleon (Stalin) and Snowball (Trotsky) and the uncomplaining carthorse Boxer (the model worker) have a long literary life ahead of them.

Read about another book on Gascoigne's list.

Animal Farm also appears among Chuck Klosterman's most important books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Michiel Heyns's "The Children’s Day"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Children’s Day by Michiel Heyns.

About the book, from the publisher:

The tender chronicle of a boy's coming of age in South Africa during the apartheid years of the sixties, The Children's Day captures the essence of growing up in a world fraught with the strange and sometimes violent contradictions of class, race, gender, and language. The widening world of adolescence, in all its allure and confusion, is explored through the eyes of Simon, who struggles to make sense of the adults around him—torn between scorn for his surroundings and a desire to belong.

This debut novel is peopled with poignant, vulnerable, and sometimes eccentric characters, and it is through their lives that Simon comes to understand the complexities of love.

Read an excerpt from The Children’s Day, and learn more about the author and his work at Michiel Heyns' website.

The Page 69 Test: The Children’s Day.

--Marshal Zeringue

Maile Meloy: best books

Maile Meloy is the author of the recently published story collection, Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It.

For The Week magazine, she named "six books that have changed her idea of 'what’s possible in fiction'." One title on her list:

Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy (Vintage, $15).

This has been one of my favorite books for years, and I just “reread” it by listening to it on my iPod. A friend of mine was horrified, but I don’t see why: The audiobook forces you to slow down to the pace of men walking through Mexico or riding on horseback—no skimming—and drops you into the huge, mannered nightmare journey of the book.

Read about another book on the list.

Blood Meridian is one authority's pick for the Great Texas novel and is among Clive Sinclair's top 10 westerns, the New York Times list of the best American fiction of the last 25 years, and the top ten works of literature according to Stephen King.

Maile Meloy is the author of the story collection Half in Love, and the novels Liars and Saints, shortlisted for the 2005 Orange Prize, and A Family Daughter. Her stories have been published in The New Yorker, and she has received The Paris Review’s Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, the PEN/Malamud Award, the Rosenthal Foundation Award, and a Guggenheim Fellowship. In 2007 Meloy was chosen as one of Granta’s Best American Novelists under 35.

Visit Maile Meloy's website.

What is Maile Meloy reading?

The Page 69 Test: Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It.

The Page 99 Test: Both Ways Is the Only Way I Want It.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Russell Atwood's "Losers Live Longer"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Losers Live Longer by Russell Atwood.

About the book, from the publisher:

DEATH PROWLS THE STREETS BETWEEN C & D

The death of legendary private eye George Rowell looked like an accident—but searching for the truth behind it will put down-and-out East Village detective Payton Sherwood on the corpse-littered trail of a runaway investment scam artist, a drug-addicted reality TV star—and the bewitching beauty whose appearance set it all in motion...

Read an excerpt from Losers Live Longer, and learn more about the book and author at the Losers Live Longer website.

Learn more about the distinctive cover of Losers Live Longer at The Rap Sheet's Killer Covers blog.

The Page 69 Test: Losers Live Longer.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Jenny Diski's "The Sixties"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: The Sixties by Jenny Diski.

About the book, from the publisher:

A brilliant, alternative take on sixties swinging London, Jenny Diski offers radical reconsiderations of the social, political, and personal meaning of that turbulent era.

What was Jenny Diski doing in the sixties? A lot: dropping out, taking drugs, buying clothes, having sex, demonstrating, and spending time in mental hospitals. Now, as Diski herself turns sixty years old, she examines what has been lost in the purple haze of nostalgia and selective memory of that era, what endures, and what has always been the same. From the vantage point of London, she takes stock of the Sexual Revolution, the fashion, the drug culture, and the psychiatric movements and education systems of the day. What she discovers is that the ideas of the sixties often paved the way for their antithesis, and that by confusing liberation and libertarianism, a new kind of radicalism would take over both in the UK and America.

Witty, provocative, and gorgeously written, Jenny Diski promises to feed your head with new insights about everything that was, and is, the sixties.

Learn more about the book and author at Jenny Diski's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Sixties.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Bruce Coston reading?

The current featured contributor to Writers Read: Bruce Coston, author of the newly released Ask The Animals: A Vet’s-Eye View of Pets and the People They Love.

His entry begins:

My taste in books is widely variable and erratically eclectic. The following books are ones I am reading or have read in the last three months or so. They include the following:

1) Current read. The One Percent Doctrine by Pulitzer Prize winning author, Ron Suskind, and published by Simon and Schuster Paperbacks. This is a very enlightening, though perhaps acutely angled, inside account of America’s war on terror as prosecuted by the Bush administration. It is based on this reporter’s assembly of data from interviews, documents, and investigative reporting. No previous information I have heard has outlined so succinctly the foundational principles of the war on terror which were elucidated by Bush and Cheney. Within the administration this became known as the one percent doctrine: if there is even a one percent chance that an aggressive event is being contemplated by a terrorist network or rogue state, then America would respond as if the event was 100% reality. This stance was rooted in the perceived need for the public protection of Americans who, after 9/11, understood that potential attacks were possible, if not likely. Suskind posits, however, that the subsequent decisions and actions which arose from this doctrine have undermined the principles and freedoms of a democracy such as ours and has resulted in an unwarranted war...[read on]

Read excerpts and some of the early praise for Ask the Animals, and learn more about the book and author at Bruce Coston's website.

See--Coffee with a Canine: Starr and Bruce Coston.

Writers Read: Bruce Coston.

--Marshal Zeringue

Charles Salzberg's "Swann’s Last Song," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: Swann’s Last Song by Charles Salzberg.

The entry begins:

When I first began writing Swann’s Last Song, I had no idea what Henry Swann looked like, or even how old he was. But I did know he wasn’t going to be the stereotypical slick, handsome, charismatic private eye whom women swooned over and men wished they could be, the ones played by Paul Newman, Robert Redford, or George Clooney. Just the opposite, in fact. I wanted a down and out, living on the edge, marginalized, cynical loser whose aim was simply to make enough money to pay the rent on his seedy office and seedier apartment and maybe buy a few rounds of drinks for himself and his boys at the Paradise Bar and Grill, across the street from his office.

And so, the first thing I did was make him a forty-something year old skip tracer who made his living repossessing cars and finding deadbeats who skipped on their bills, their wives or both. His clients weren’t high-class movers and shakers, but mostly women on welfare, which is why he had a sign in his office, Foods Stamps Unacceptable as Payment.

As I wrote, a clearer picture of what Swann looked like began to develop. The interesting thing is that I first began writing the book twenty-five years ago and so, in terms of actors who could play the part, that’s changed over the years. I didn’t want someone who was conventionally handsome, and so the first actor I thought of was...[read on]

Read more about the Shamus Award-nominated novel and author at Charles Salzberg's website.

My Book, The Movie: Swann’s Last Song.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six great books for gardeners

Oprah and associates came up with six great books for gardeners.

One title on the list:

Plants in Garden History
By Penelope Hobhouse

Peaceful coexistence begins in a garden. In Plants in Garden History: An Illustrated History of Plants and Their Influences on Garden Styles—from Ancient Egypt to the Present Day (Pavilion) master horticulturist Penelope Hobhouse points out "the cross-fertilization of ideas" between cultures. As early as the 16th century, Arab and European botanists, encouraged by trade, exploration in Asia and the Americas, and a spirit of political openness, began freely exchanging specimens and designs. Seeded with historical curiosities (one ancient Egyptian king kept a crocodile in the garden pool to ambush his wife's lover), paintings, plans, and photographs, this richly researched volume blooms with visions of paradise on earth.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Lisa Black's "Evidence of Murder"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Evidence of Murder by Lisa Black.

About the book, from the publisher:

Forensic investigator Theresa MacLean takes on the worst kind of murder case—one without clues—in this second novel in a hot new series from Lisa Black

Eight months ago, forensic investigator Theresa MacLean lost her fiancé in a bank robbery gone wrong, and she's had trouble concentrating on her work ever since. But now a particularly difficult case may just be what she needs to regain her focus by demanding all her skill, intelligence, and attention.

Jillian Perry has been found dead in the woods, leaving behind a husband of three weeks and a young daughter. The police can't determine how she died—her body shows no visible marks, and the autopsy reveals nothing suspicious—and the leading theory is that she purposely wandered into the forest and succumbed to the freezing weather. But something doesn't feel right to Theresa, and she can't let it go.

To complicate matters, a former boyfriend of Jillian's unexpectedly petitions for custody of the daughter. Obsessed with Jillian, he also suspects foul play in Jillian's death, and now he and Theresa believe Jillian's daughter may be in danger of meeting a similar fate. With a child's life at stake, Theresa must search for evidence of murder—evidence that doesn't seem to exist—before it's too late.

Browse inside Evidence of Murder, and learn more about the book and author at Lisa Black's website.

The Page 69 Test: Takeover.

My Book, The Movie: Takeover.

The Page 69 Test: Evidence of Murder.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Lori D. Ginzberg's "Elizabeth Cady Stanton"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Elizabeth Cady Stanton: An American Life by Lori D. Ginzberg.

About the book, from the publisher:

Elizabeth Cady Stanton was a brilliant activist-intellectual. That nearly all of her ideas—that women are entitled to seek an education, to own property, to get a divorce, and to vote—are now commonplace is in large part because she worked tirelessly to extend the nation’s promise of radical individualism to women.

In this subtly crafted biography, the historian Lori D. Ginzberg narrates the life of a woman of great charm, enormous appetite, and extraordinary intellectual gifts who turned the limitations placed on women like herself into a universal philosophy of equal rights. Few could match Stanton’s self-confidence; loving an argument, she rarely wavered in her assumption that she had won. But she was no secular saint, and her positions were not always on the side of the broadest possible conception of justice and social change. Elitism runs through Stanton’s life and thought, defined most often by class, frequently by race, and always by intellect. Even her closest friends found her absolutism both thrilling and exasperating, for Stanton could be an excellent ally and a bothersome menace, sometimes simultaneously. At once critical and admiring, Ginzberg captures Stanton’s ambiguous place in the world of reformers and intellectuals, describes how she changed the world, and suggests that Stanton left a mixed legacy that continues to haunt American feminism.

Learn more about Elizabeth Cady Stanton: An American Life at the publisher's website, and visit Lori D. Ginzberg's faculty webpage.

Ginzberg is professor of history and women’s studies at Pennsylvania State University. She has written several books on women’s history, including Untidy Origins: A Story of Woman’s Rights in Antebellum New York.

The Page 99 Test: Elizabeth Cady Stanton: An American Life.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top 10 literary landscapes

Margaret Drabble is the author of 17 novels, which have won numerous prizes including the John Llewellyn Rhys and James Tait Black awards. Her most recent works are the novel The Sea Lady, and a memoir, The Pattern in the Carpet.

For the Guardian, she named a top 10 list of literary landscapes--"her favourite places to go walking in the footsteps of great writers."

One landscape on her list:

Godrevy Lighthouse

This St Ives landmark is the eponymous lighthouse of Virginia Woolf's greatest novel, and an enduring symbol of artistic hope and endeavour. St Ives is full of memories of Woolf, and of all the summer seaside holidays of all children, of all time.

Read about another landscape on Drabble's list.

To the Lighthouse appears among the American Book Review's 100 best last lines from novels, on Amity Gaige's best books list, and on Adam Langer's best books list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Bruce Coston & Starr

Today's featured duo at Coffee with a Canine: Starr and Bruce Coston, author of the newly released Ask the Animals: A Vet's-Eye View of Pets and the People They Love.

Coston on Starr's connection to Ask the Animals:

Starr is mentioned in the book in a chapter called “What’s In a Name” in which I explain our family’s method of pet nomenclature and outline some of the more interesting pet names I have encountered over the years. Other than that, Starr is only tangentially related to the book. It is through my relationship with Starr and our cats (currently Webster, Flinn and Phelps) that I can empathize with the depth of feeling invested in my patients by their devoted owners. I know because I am as sappy with my pets as any of my clients are.[read on]

Among the early praise for Ask the Animals:

"Ask the Animals is a beautifully written memoir that not only explores the daily life of a veterinarian, but also the sacrifices it takes to get there. Dr. Coston has accomplished what all veterinarians aspire to, a companionate relationship with both his patients and their humans".
--Jeff Wells, DVM, author of All My Patients Have Tales

Read excerpts and some of the buzz around Ask the Animals, and learn more about the book and author at Bruce Coston's website.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Starr and Bruce Coston.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Chelsea Cain's "Evil at Heart"

Today's feature at the Page 69 Test: Evil at Heart by Chelsea Cain.

About the book, from the publisher:

Chelsea Cain’s novels featuring Portland detective Archie Sheridan and serial killer Gretchen Lowell have captivated fans through two nail-biting entries, Heartsick and Sweetheart, both of them multiweek bestsellers in The New York Times, USA Today, and Publishers Weekly.

Gretchen Lowell is still on the loose. These days, she’s more of a cause célèbre than a feared killer, thanks to sensationalist news coverage that has made her a star. Her face graces magazine covers weekly and there have been sightings of her around the world. Most shocking of all, Portland Herald reporter Susan Ward has uncovered a bizarre kind of fan club, which celebrates the number of days she’s been free.

Archie Sheridan hunted her for a decade, and after his last ploy to catch her went spectacularly wrong, remains hospitalized months later. When they last spoke, they entered a détente of sorts---Archie agreed not to kill himself if she agreed not to kill anyone else. But when a new body is found accompanied by Gretchen’s trademark heart, all bets are off and Archie is forced back into action. Has the Beauty Killer returned to her gruesome ways, or has the cult surrounding her created a whole new evil?

Chelsea Cain continues to deliver heart-stopping thrills and chills in the latest entry in this dynamic bestselling series.

Read an excerpt from Evil at Heart and watch the Evil at Heart video.

Learn more about the author and her work at Chelsea Cain's website and blog, and at iheartgretchenlowell.com.

The Page 99 Test: Sweetheart.

The Page 69 Test: Evil at Heart.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Blake Nelson reading?

The current featured contributor to Writers Read: Blake Nelson, author of Destroy All Cars and other books.

His entry begins:

Right now I am beginning David Levithan's Love is the Higher Law, which I heard him read from about a year ago in NY. It's about 9/11 and the passage I heard had a cool haunting quality to it. I stayed away from 9/11 literature during the first wave of books on that subject. I couldn't really digest it, the reality of what happened or the reaction to the reality.

Now though I am...[read on]

Blake Nelson's first novel Girl (1994) has been translated into six foreign languages and was made into a feature film. After Girl, he published two more adult novels, Exile (1997) and User (2001). In 2003 he wrote his first Young Adult novel, The New Rules of High Sschool.

Since then Nelson has published six YA novels, New Rules, Rockstar Superstar, Prom Anonymous, Gender Blender, They Came From Below and Paranoid Park, which has been made into an award winning film by Gus Van Sant.

Among the early praise for Destroy All Cars:

"[A]n elegant and bittersweet story of a teenager who is finding his voice and trying to make meaning in a world he often finds hopeless."
--Publishers Weekly

"[A]s much as I liked the humor, I thought that the real heart of the story was pseudo-nihilistic James's ongoing affection for his idealistic ex-girlfriend, Sadie. When she asks him to help save a local pond, he puts aside his default pessimism and pitches in--will James and Sadie get back together, or will James just get over it? I'm not telling, but I will say that you should definitely check out this book...."
--Teen Vogue

Visit Blake Nelson's website.

Writers Read: Blake Nelson.

--Marshal Zeringue

Forty-six books that will "rock your books off"

The writers of the LA Times "Jacket Copy" blog came up with forty-six "essential rock reads."

One tile on the list:

Zachary Lazar -- "Sway"

Read about another book on the list.

Related: My Book, The Movie: Sway and the Page 69 Test: Sway.

Also see: the ten best rock biographies, the four greatest rock ’n’ roll books, and Mark Hodkinson's critic's chart: rock music in fiction.

[h/t to escapegrace]

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Tracy Kiely's "Murder at Longbourn"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Murder at Longbourn by Tracy Kiely.

About the book, from the publisher:

A die-hard fan of Jane Austen novels and the traditional English mystery, Tracy Kiely has combined elements of both for this truly delightful and witty debut.

Planning New Year’s resolutions to rid her life of all things unhealthy, Elizabeth Parker has dumped fatty foods, processed sugar, and her two-timing boyfriend. Indeed, the invitation to join her Aunt Winnie for a How to Host a Murder Party on New Year’s Eve at Winnie’s new Cape Cod B and B comes just in time. But when the local wealthy miser ends up the unscripted victim, Elizabeth must unearth old secrets and new motives in order to clear her beloved aunt of suspicion. The suspects include the town gossip, a haughty rich woman, and an antiques business owner much enamored of his benefactress, a Mrs. Kristell Dubois. If that isn’t bad enough, Elizabeth must also contend with her childhood nemesis, Peter McGowan---a man she suspects has only matured in chronological years---and her suspicions about his family’s interest in Winnie’s inn.

Yesterday, her only worry was of ever finding her Mr. Darcy. Now she has a murder to solve. Is it any wonder her resolution to achieve inner poise is in tatters?

By reimagining characters and themes lifted from the treasured classic Pride and Prejudice, and crafting an expert, intricate mystery, Tracy Kiely has brought to life something very special: a new cozy series that is clever, vibrant, and utterly disarming.

Read an excerpt from Murder at Longbourn, and learn more about the book and author at Tracy Kiely's website.

The Page 69 Test: Murder at Longbourn.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Hallie Rubenhold's "The Lady in Red"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: The Lady in Red: An Eighteenth-Century Tale of Sex, Scandal, and Divorce by Hallie Rubenhold.

About the book, from the publisher:

She was a spirited young heiress. He was a handsome baronet with a promising career in government. The marriage of Lady Seymour Dorothy Fleming and Sir Richard Worsley had the makings of a fairy tale—but ended as one of the most scandalous and highly publicized divorces in history.

In February 1782, England opened its newspapers to read the details of a criminal conversation trial in which the handsome baronet Sir Richard Worsley attempted to sue his wife’s lover for an astronomical sum in damages. In the course of the proceedings, the Worsleys’ scandalous sexual arrangements, voyeuristic tendencies, and bed-hopping antics were laid bare. The trial and its verdict stunned society, but not as much as the unrepentant behavior of Lady Worsley.

Sir Joshua Reynolds captured the brazen character of his subject when he created his celebrated portrait of Lady Worsley in a fashionable red riding habit, but it was her shocking affairs that made her divorce so infamous that even George Washington followed it in the press. Impeccably researched and written with great flair, this lively and moving true history presents a rarely seen picture of aristocratic life in the Georgian era.

Read an excerpt from The Lady in Red, and learn more about the book and author at Hallie Rubenhold's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Lady in Red.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eileen McVety's "Welcome to the Company...," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: Welcome to the Company... by Eileen McVety.

The entry begins:

Part comedy, part how-to documentary, the film version of Welcome to the Company (or what it’s really like working here) is comprised almost entirely of antagonists. The sole protagonist, the unnamed new hire, is essentially you, the viewer. You are an eager and enthusiastic employee, too new in your role to be jaded yet by your working environment. If you are a woman, you might be played by a wide-eyed Amy Adams; if you’re a man, maybe a cool and inquisitive Justin Long. But sorry to say, YOU are basically irrelevant to the story. You are merely a foil for the madness and hypocrisy surrounding you.

Your boss is Gordon Wiggins, CEO of the Gordon Wiggins Group, played by Will Ferrell. Gordon is over-the-top friendly, but beneath his superficial affability exists a simmering resentment for being stuck in the same lousy profession for 30 years. Gordon’s insecurity is evidenced by the fact that the only...[read on]

Learn more about Eileen McVety and Welcome to the Company... at the Spot-on Writing website. Read--Coffee with a Canine: Eileen McVety & Shamrock.

My Book, The Movie: Welcome to the Company....

--Marshal Zeringue

Five best: books about working

Matthew Crawford is the author of Shop Class as Soulcraft: An Inquiry Into the Value of Work.

For the Wall Street Journal, he named a five best list of books about working.

One title on his list:

The Managed Heart
by Arlie Russell Hochschild
University of California, 1983

In sociologist Arlie Hochschild's path-breaking study of flight attendants, "The Managed Heart," she described the "commercialization of human feeling," in particular how some workers are expected to internalize the ends of their employers as their own. An old airline-company slogan, "Our smiles are not just painted on," turns out to be more than just an advertising hook. When a company's competitive advantage is tied to the spontaneous warmth of its employees, Hochschild says, the job requires "emotional labor." For example, a flight attendant facing an obnoxious passenger is trained to imagine that the troublemaker has a traumatic past, so that her anger will give way to solicitude. While the assembly-line worker may come to regard his own hand as an alien thing controlled by another, the flight attendant becomes estranged from her own emotions. As members of the boomer generation age and their care is increasingly professionalized, the domain of emotional labor is sure to expand.

Read about another book on Crawford's list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Laurie Sandell & Violet

Today's featured duo at Coffee with a Canine: Laurie Sandell & Violet.

Laurie Sandell is a contributing editor at Glamour where she writes cover stories, features, and personal essays. She has also written for Esquire, GQ, New York, and InStyle, among other publications.

Her first book, published this summer, is the highly-acclaimed graphic memoir The Impostor’s Daughter. Susan Orlean, author of The Orchid Thief, said "The Impostor’s Daughter is funny, frank, and absolutely engaging. It’s about truth and consequences and families and men and women and fame and, well, life itself. It’s wonderful."

Violet is her four(ish)-year-old Rat Terrier/Chihuahua mix.

One Q & A from the Coffee with a Canine feature:

How did Violet get her name?

This is a little embarrassing. A week before I got Violet, I interviewed Jennifer Garner for the cover of "Glamour." She has a cute little daughter named Violet, and, well … you do the math.[read on]

Visit Laurie Sandell's website and blog.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Laurie Sandell & Violet.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Deborah Grabien's "While My Guitar Gently Weeps"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: While My Guitar Gently Weeps by Deborah Grabien.

About the book, from the publisher:

Blacklight’s recent tour has been rough on guitarist JP Kinkaid: a heart attack in Boston and a significant ramp-up of his multiple sclerosis have left him more physically fragile than usual.

With the tour over, JP is relaxing by sitting in as second guitarist for a new CD by his longtime local friends, the Bombardiers. The Bombardiers are breaking in a new frontman, singer/guitarist Vinny Fabiano. Self-absorbed and abrasive, Vinny is new to the Bay Area music scene. All anyone seems to really know about him is that he has some very expensive instruments, but no obvious source of income to pay for them.

A few weeks into the sessions, Vinny is found dead in the Bombardiers’ rehearsal space, smashed over the head with a custom guitar. The murder leaves the Bombardiers--who are already in hot water with their record label--without a singer or a regular guitar player. JP, calling in a favor, asks Blacklight’s legendary frontman, Malcolm “Mac” Sharpe, to step in and sub for Vinny. But then Vinny’s cousin and guitar tech is found murdered in Marin County, and Vinny’s most valuable guitar---a $75,000 custom Zemaitis pearl-top--is missing.

In the second book of this exciting, atmospheric series, Deborah Grabien shares her insider knowledge of the world of rock ’n’ roll, spinning a terrific mystery in the process.

Learn more about the book and author at Deborah Grabien's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: While My Guitar Gently Weeps.

--Marshal Zeringue