Pg. 69: Wallace Stroby's "Gone 'til November"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Gone 'til November by Wallace Stroby.

About the book, from the publisher:

It’s late at night when Florida sheriff’s deputy Sara Cross arrives at the scene of a roadside shooting along a deserted highway. Another deputy, Billy Flynn, her former partner, who also happens to be her former lover, has fatally shot a twenty-two-year-old man during what started out as a routine traffic stop, and she’s the first to arrive on the scene. He claims that the man pulled a gun, and that when he didn’t respond to Billy’s commands to drop it, Billy shot him. Billy is clearly upset, shaken up; Sarah sees the gun in the dead man’s hand and the bag of illegal weapons in the trunk of his car and believes Billy’s actions were justified.

Up north in New Jersey, Mikey-Mike runs a major drug operation and is tightening his hold on the competition, making a deal with a new supplier. Morgan, a middle-aged enforcer for Mikey who’s been in the life too long, would like to make one last score, walk away, and retire for good. Mike asks Morgan to head to Florida to find out what’s holding up his new deal, and Morgan sees the job as a possibility for his last big payday.

As more details of the roadside shooting emerge with Sara’s investigation, and as Morgan follows the trail Mikey lays out for him, the two storylines begin to merge into a much darker, more menacing scenario than either Morgan or Sara imagined. Sara, in order to protect herself and her son, must follow the truth no matter where it leads.

Acclaimed crime writer Wallace Stroby delivers a gripping novel that is part modern noir, part intense character study--and totally compelling from start to finish.

Read an excerpt from Gone 'til November, and learn more about the author and his novels at the official Wallace Stroby website and The Heartbreak Blog.

See J. Kingston Pierce's review of Gone 'til November at January Magazine.

The Page 69 Test: Gone 'til November.

--Marshal Zeringue

Leslie Jamison: 3 memoir accounts of poverty

Leslie Jamison grew up in Los Angeles. Educated at Harvard College and the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, she has also worked as an innkeeper in California, a schoolteacher in Nicaragua, and an office temp in Manhattan. She is currently a PhD candidate at Yale University, where she is writing a dissertation on poverty and degradation in twentieth-century American writing.

The Gin Closet, her debut novel, was released by Free Press in February.

For NPR, she named "three memoirs whose accounts of poverty do justice to both the integrity of their subjects and the extremity of their suffering."

One of the memoirs:

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men, by James Agee

James Agee began working on Let Us Now Praise Famous Men in 1936, while on an assignment (ironically enough) from Fortune magazine, which had commissioned a piece about the lives of sharecropper families in Alabama. Ditching the terms of his article, Agee wrote this 400-page prose poem on the farmer's grueling workdays instead. Framed by the haunting photography of Walker Evans, the book presents these families' dilapidated shacks and empty dinner tables in haunting lyric meditations, all the while struggling with the futility of its own project — the impossibility of understanding the lives of others at all.

Read about another book on Jamison's list.

The Page 69 Test: The Gin Closet by Leslie Jamison.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Lynda Simmons reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Lynda Simmons, author of Getting Rid of Rosie.

Her entry begins:

Because I teach a novel writing class, I try to practice what I preach and read, read, read, because honestly, I don’t think you can write well if you don’t. So with my latest manuscript finally out the door, it was time at last to dip into the stack of books that I received for Christmas – some by authors I was trying for the first time, and a few by authors I always enjoy.

Where to begin was the problem. When I pick up a book, I’m looking to be engaged from the opening line. I want the writer to reach out, grab me by the throat and hold on until the very end. But beyond a compelling plot, I also hope the characters will be memorable, that they’ll linger in my heart and mind, drawing me back again and again. Characters like Lilah Kemp in Timothy Findlay’s Headhunter, who believes she has freed Kurtz from page 92 of Heart of Darkness and now must find her own Marlow to help get him back. Or the dog in Stephen King’s Gerald’s Game, who is torn between survival and being a ‘good dog’ – fabulous bit of characterization there.

So as I started in on my stack of books, I was hoping to find at least one with staying power, one that would stick with me long after I’d closed the cover and set the book back on the shelf. And I was delighted to discover that Claudia Dey’s Stunt definitely sticks.

The main character, Eugenia is nine years old, wise beyond her years and desperate for her father to love her. When he disappears, leaving behind a note of apology addressed only to her mother and sister, Eugenia is convinced he’s coming back for her. That her name was left out, not because he forgot to include her, but because he has no intention of leaving her behind. Now picture a nine year old girl sitting on the front stairs in a corduroy dress. “Teeth brushed. Hair brushed.” With provisions sewn into the hem of that dress. Things a little girl believes they will need. “. . .nuts, a handkerchief, rope, a pen and paper and a knife. I will move with you as seamlessly as you move through the world. I will be your shadow.” Heart...[read on]

Among the praise for Getting Rid of Rosie:

"Lynda Simmons pens a novel that is full of angst, laughter and love...excellent dialogue and character studies that show how relationships can be built or destroyed ...a believable and memorable tale of friendship and love... sure to keep anyone's attention from first page to last!"
--Dee Dailey

"Hold onto your socks because this book won't let you put it down until the very last page. Every single character is perfect in their own way, each detail painting a picture that you can almost see and hear. GETTING RID OF ROSIE is so good you'll want to read it over and over."
--LaNea Hartless

"A bright, crisp, funny tale... she has a delicious way with dialogue."
--Rebecca Wigod, Vancouver Sun

Visit Lynda Simmons' website.

Writers Read: Lynda Simmons.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Jenny Gardiner's "Winging It"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Winging It: A Memoir of Caring for a Vengeful Parrot Who's Determined to Kill Me by Jenny Gardiner.

About the book, from the publisher:

A hilarious and poignant cautionary tale about two very different types of creatures, thrown together by fate, who learn to make the best of a challenging situation -- feather by feather.

Like many new bird owners, Jenny and Scott Gardiner hoped for a smart, talkative, friendly companion. Instead, as they took on the unexpected task of raising a curmudgeonly wild African gray parrot and a newborn, they learned an important lesson: parrothood is way harder than parenthood.

A gift from Scott's brother who was living in Zaire, Graycie arrived scrawny, pissed-off, and missing a lot of her feathers -- definitely not the Polly-wants-a-cracker type the Gardiners anticipated. Every day became a constant game of chicken with a bird that would do anything to ruffle their feathers. The old adage about not biting the hand that feeds you -- literally -- never applied to Graycie.

But Jenny and Scott learned to adapt as the family grew to three children, a menagerie of dogs and cats, and, of course, Graycie. In this laugh-out-loud funny and touching memoir, Jenny vividly shares the many hazards of parrot ownership, from the endless avian latrine duty and the joyful day the bird learned to mimic the sound of the smoke detector, to the multiple ways a beak can pierce human flesh. Graycie is a court jester, a karaoke partner, an unusual audio record of their family history, and, at times, a nemesis. But most of all, she has taught the family volumes about tolerance, going with the flow, and realizing that you can no sooner make your child fit into a mold than you can turn a wild parrot into a docile house pet. Winging It is an utterly engrossing reminder of the importance of patience, loyalty, and humor when it comes to dealing with even the most unpleasant members of the family.

Watch a video of Gardiner discussing Winging It and another of Graycie performing, and learn more about the book and author at Jenny Gardiner's website and blog.

Writers Read: Jenny Gardiner.

The Page 99 Test: Winging It.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five best: novels of ideas

Rebecca Goldstein's new book is 36 Arguments for the Existence of God: A Work of Fiction. For the Wall Street Journal she named a five best list of novels of ideas.

One book on the list:

Middlemarch
by George Eliot
1873

George Eliot turned her hand to writing "Middlemarch" only months after completing her translation of Spinoza's "Ethica," and the novel is imprinted with many of Spinoza's ideas, as well as by Eliot's robust wrangling with them. The main plotline follows the passionate knowledge-seeker Dorothea Brooke, who blunders her way toward moral clarity, on the way making an unfortunate marriage to a dry pedant, Edward Casaubon. "We are all of us born in moral stupidity, taking the world as an udder to feed our supreme selves," Eliot writes. "Dorothea had early begun to emerge from that stupidity." A great ethicist as well as a supreme novelist, Eliot unobtrusively operates the intricate machinery of reflections about self-interest and morality, determinism and freedom, that move her interlacing stories along.

Read about another book on Goldstein's list.

Middlemarch also made John Mullan's lists of ten of the best marital rows, ten of the best examples of unrequited love, ten of the best funerals in literature, and ten of the best deathbed scenes in literature, as well as Tina Brown's five best list of books on reputation. It is one of Elizabeth Kostova favorite books. While it is one of Miss Manners' favorite novels, John Banville and Nick Hornby have not read it.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Susanne Dunlap & Betty

The current featured couple at Coffee with a Canine: Susanne Dunlap & Betty, a 21-month-old Coton de Tulear.

Dunlap, on Betty's best quality:

She is so loving and cuddly, and completely loyal to the people she loves.

Susanne Dunlap graduated from Smith College and later earned a PhD in music history from Yale University. She has taught music history at the college level, and is the author of two historical novels for adults.

Her novels for young readers include The Musician's Daughter, a Junior Library Guild Selection for Fall of 2008, and the newly released Anastasia's Secret.

About Anastasia’s Secret:

The youngest grand duchess in the Russian imperial family comes of age during the revolution. Her family is imprisoned, conditions become worse and worse.

But Anastasia has a secret that she keeps from her family...

Visit Susanne Dunlap's website and blog, and become a Facebook fan.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Susanne Dunlap & Betty.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Stephen Deas' "The Adamantine Palace"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Adamantine Palace by Stephen Deas.

About the book, from the publisher:

The power of the Realms depends on its dragons. With their terrifying natures, they are ridden by the aristocracy and bred for hunting and war. But as dangerous political maneuverings threaten the complacency of the empire, a single dragon has gone missing. And even that one dragon-returned to its full intelligence and fury-could spell disaster for the Realms...

Read an excerpt from The Adamantine Palace and an essay by Stephen Deas on the "Memory of Flames" trilogy.

Visit the official Stephen Deas website.

The Page 69 Test: The Adamantine Palace.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jennifer Stevenson's "Fools Paradise," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: Fools Paradise by Jennifer Stevenson.

Her entry begins:

Fools Paradise is my favorite book about my favorite men—stagehands, those blue-collar knights of chivalry, those workaholic, playaholic, unsung heroes behind the curtain.

This book more than any other came about through a collage. I knew it would begin with a Porsche Targa full of live smelt. I knew the hero and heroine would be trapped in a family feud, powerless to stop it from exploding, until they fake a betrothal that carries them way beyond sanity.

I didn’t know the characters.

Then I did the collage.

I found two faces...[read on]

Jennifer Stevenson is the author of four books that only look like they’re way too much about sex. She is a founding member of Book View Cafe, speed roller skater, swimmer, horsewoman, crow fancier, and messy gardener.

Fools Paradise is now available on Kindle, Smashwords, and BookViewCafe.com.

Visit Jennifer Stevenson's BVC page and Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Fools Paradise.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Joanna Smith Rakoff reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Joanna Smith Rakoff, author of the novel A Fortunate Age, which was a New York Times Editors' Pick, a winner of the Elle Readers' Prize, a selection of Barnes and Noble's First Look Book Club, an IndieNext pick, and a San Francisco Chronicle bestseller.

Her entry begins:

Right now, I’m reading Meghan Daum’s deeply brilliant memoir, Life Would Be Perfect if I Lived in That House, a sort of history of her life (and her mother’s life) through the prism of real estate, which is also a vivid take on the housing craze of the early Oughts. Daum is, undoubtedly, one of the most interesting thinkers—and cultural critics—of our generation, if not the most interesting, and certainly one of the most elegant, sharp writers of prose around. While reading Life Would Be Perfect—which I cannot put down—I’ve found myself thinking, “Wow, I’d read Meghan Daum’s thoughts on anything.” (A slight tangent: Recently, while getting my hair cut, I was handed a tattered copy of Allure and began reading a profile of Kristen Stewart, only to find myself thinking, “This is incredibly smart and funny. It’s as if Allure hired Meghan Daum to profile Kristen Stewart.” Then I flipped back to the byline and, indeed, Allure had hired Meghan Daum to profile Kristen Stewart.) In Life Would Be Perfect she...[read on]

Read an excerpt from A Fortunate Age, and learn more about the book and author at Joanna Smith Rakoff's website.

Among the praise for A Fortunate Age:

"A wonderful, funny and spot-on portrait of my clumsy generation that brings to mind such hallmarks as Mary McCarthy's The Group, Jay McInerney's Brightness Falls, and Claire Messud's The Emperor's Children."
--Gary Shteyngart, author of Absurdistan and The Russian Debutante's Handbook

"Joanna Smith Rakoff has cast a brilliant and glittering spell with this fierce debut. Her social observations are not only spot-on but often wickedly funny... She has captured both a generation and a landscape, and I'm still marveling at how she managed to pull off this page-turning cocktail of intelligence and desire."
--Joanna Hershon, author of The German Bride

The Page 69 Test: A Fortunate Age.

Writers Read: Joanna Smith Rakoff.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the best bells in literature

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

One novel on the list:

The Nine Tailors by Dorothy L Sayers

In sleepy Fenland St Paul, the death of a villager is marked by nine rings of the great bell, Tailor Paul, in the tower of the church. The visiting sleuth, Lord Peter Wimsey, finds himself challenged by a mystery involving jewel theft and murder that centres on the bell tower. Only Wimsey's knowledge of campanology allows him to decipher the coded message that unravels the tale.

Read about another bell on Mullan's list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Beth Bailey's "America's Army"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: America's Army: Making the All-Volunteer Force by Beth Bailey.

About the book, from the publisher:

In 1973, not long after the last American combat troops returned from Vietnam, President Nixon fulfilled his campaign promise and ended the draft. No longer would young men find their futures determined by the selective service system; nor would the U.S. military have a guaranteed source of recruits.

America’s Army is the story of the all-volunteer force, from the draft protests and policy proposals of the 1960s through the Iraq War. It is also a history of America in the post-Vietnam era. In the Army, America directly confronted the legacies of civil rights and black power, the women’s movement, and gay rights. The volunteer force raised questions about the meaning of citizenship and the rights and obligations it carries; about whether liberty or equality is the more central American value; what role the military should play in American society not only in time of war, but in time of peace. And as the Army tried to create a volunteer force that could respond effectively to complex international situations, it had to compete with other “employers” in a national labor market and sell military service alongside soap and soft drinks.

Based on exhaustive archival research, as well as interviews with Army officers and recruiters, advertising executives, and policy makers, America’s Army confronts the political, moral, and social issues a volunteer force raises for a democratic society as well as for the defense of our nation.

Read an excerpt from America’s Army, and learn more about the book at the Harvard University Press website.

Beth Bailey is Professor of History at Temple University. A social/cultural historian of the 20th century United States, her research has focused on the history of gender and sexuality and on war and society/military institutions in US history.

The Page 99 Test: America's Army.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Paula Reed's "Hester"

This weekend's feature at the Page 69 Test: Hester: The Missing Years of the The Scarlet Letter by Paula Reed.

About the book, from the publisher:

Upon the death of her demonic husband, Hester Prynne is left a widow, and her daughter Pearl, a wealthy heiress. Hester takes her daughter to live a quiet life in England--only to find herself drawn into the circle of the most powerful Puritan of all time, Oliver Cromwell.

From the moment Hester donned the famous scarlet letter, it instilled in her the power to see the sins and hypocrisy of others, an ability not lost on the Lord Protector of the Commonwealth. To Cromwell, Hester’s sight is either a sign of sorcery or a divine gift that Hester must use to assist the divinely chosen in his scheming to control England. Since sorcery carries a death sentence, Hester is compelled against her will to use her sight to assist Cromwell. She soon finds herself entangled in a web of political intrigue, espionage, and forbidden love.

Hester will carry readers away to seventeenth century England with a deeply human story of family, love, history, desire, weakness, and the human ideal.

Read an excerpt from Hester, and learn more about the book and author at Paula Reed's website.

Paula Reed is an English teacher at Columbine High School of Littleton, Colorado.

The Page 69 Test: Hester.

--Marshal Zeringue

Diana Quick's 6 best books

Diana Quick has acted on stage and screen yet is best known for playing Julia Flyte in the TV drama Brideshead Revisited. Her memoir is A Tug On The Thread: From The British Raj To The British Stage.

She told the Daily Express about her six best books, including:

The Blue Flower
by Penelope Fitzgerald

A fascinating novel by the late Booker prize-winning author, this centres on the 18th-century German poet and philosopher Novalis and his love for what seems to be a rather ordinary child. An extraordinary novel, rightly regarded as her masterpiece.

Read about another book on Quick's list.

The Blue Flower is one of Sebastian Faulks' forty recommended books and appears on Kate Blackwell's list of five books distinguished by sheer originality of language and unique vision. It was one of my favorite two books of 1995.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Dayna Hilton & Sparkles

This weekend's featured duo at Coffee with a Canine: Dayna Hilton & Sparkles.

Dayna Hilton is a volunteer firefighter, fire safety educator, children’s book author, blogger, CEO of Firehouse Dog Publishing as well as the Executive Director of Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation. Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog is an eleven-year-old Dalmatian.

Hilton, on how they were united:

In April 2003, I began to look online for a Dalmatian to adopt and found "Daisy" on the Dalmatian Assistance League of Tulsa website. The site noted that “Daisy” was calm and loved children. After seeing the look in her eyes, I fell in love with her.

After a lengthy adoption process, my husband and I went to Tulsa to meet her. The children that were in attendance at the adoption event were in love with her and when she rolled over and let them pet her belly, I knew immediately that she was the dog for me. She was so very affectionate to the children as well as to my husband and myself.

Once Sparkles became acclimated to her new surroundings in our home, I took her out to the fire station to meet the firefighters one evening. When I asked them for suggestions for a name, they came up with several wonderful ideas. Then, all at once, it hit me-- "Sparkles!" It was the perfect name for her since she had such a amazing "sparkling" personality. She was so HAPPY to be out at the fire station and was totally in her element.

Sparkles and I have been together ever since, and...[read on]

About their new book, from the author:

Sparkles is the star of her own critically acclaimed award winning children's fire safety book and audio book, Sparkles the Fire Safety Dog. The book is not only fun, but educationally sound and based on the latest fire safety research for children. Proceeds from the sale of her book benefit the Keep Kids Fire Safe Foundation and enable us to provide no or low cost materials to fire departments and schools. View the trailer for the book here.

You may read more about Sparkles here and watch a video that we have developed for children.

Follow Sparkles' fire safety message on her website, blog, Twitter, and Facebook pages.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Dayna Hilton & Sparkles.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Thomas Kavanagh's "Enlightened Pleasures"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Enlightened Pleasures: Eighteenth-Century France and the New Epicureanism by Thomas M. Kavanagh.

About the book, from the publisher:

Novelists, artists, and philosophers of the eighteenth century understood pleasure as a virtue—a gift to be shared with one’s companion, with a reader, or with the public. In this daring new book, Thomas Kavanagh overturns the prevailing scholarly tradition that views eighteenth-century France primarily as the incubator of the Revolution. Instead, Kavanagh demonstrates how the art and literature of the era put the experience of pleasure at the center of the cultural agenda, leading to advances in both ethics and aesthetics.

Kavanagh shows that pleasure is not necessarily hedonistic or opposed to Enlightenment ideals in general; rather, he argues that the pleasure of individuals is necessary for the welfare of their community.

Learn more about Enlightened Pleasures at the Yale University Press website.

Thomas M. Kavanagh, the Augustus R. Street Professor of French and department chair at Yale University, is the author of Dice, Cards, Wheels: A Different History of French Culture.

The Page 99 Test: Enlightened Pleasures.

--Marshal Zeringue

The 16 best dystopian books

One title from PopCrunch's list of the sixteen best dystopian books of all time:

Lets just throw all of Gibson’s cyberpunk in here, shall we? He could easily take half the list otherwise. Neuromancer was seminal in the establishment of the sadly defunct cyberpunk genre, the cold war era view of the future as a dirty high tech shithole where everyone’s a bastard. Not quite sure why people don’t still think that way. Anyway, Gibson famously wrote Neuromancer on a typewriter, which is more than a touch ironic. With this novel he explored artificial intelligence, virtual reality, urban sprawl, genetic engineering, and generally gave people the heebie jeebies about the future. It also has possibly the most famous opening sentence in modern literature: “The sky above the port was the color of television, tuned to a dead channel.”

Read about another book on the list.

Neuromancer made Annalee Newitz's list of "Thirteen Books That Will Change The Way You Look At Robots."

Also see Robert Collins' top ten list of dystopian novels and Gemma Malley's top 10 list of dystopian novels for teenagers.

--Marshal Zeringue

(h/t to Bill Crider)

What is Sujatha Hampton reading?

The current featured contributor at Writer's Read: Sujatha Hampton, author of the debut novel As It Was Written.

Her entry begins:

Right now, honestly, I am rereading my own novel, As It Was Written, for perhaps the millionth time. I’m looking for excerpts to read for various audiences. Some stuff is better left unread in certain venues. I’m doing some readings in schools; there are paragraphs I’d best not touch in front of the PTA.

But before this I was reading Theft by Peter Carey. I loved this book, and it was a fascinating discovery that I loved it despite the absolute fact that I was not particularly sympathetic with either of the main characters. The last novel I think I loved though I really didn’t find any one character likeable was...[read on]

Among the early praise for As It Was Written:

"This rich, lush family drama is bound to appeal to readers who like their fiction imaginative and whimsical."
—Kristine Huntley, Booklist

"A thoroughly wonderful, absolutely engaging debut novel. From the first page to the last, I was captivated by the beautifully drawn characters, intricate plotting, and compelling storyline. Quite simply, once you enter the crazy, heartfelt, loving, magical world of Dr. Raman Nair and his five daughters, you will never want to leave."
—Kristin Hannah, New York Times bestselling author of FIREFLY LANE

"Lyrical, erotic and quite funny, As It Was Written isn't about a clash of cultures: it's about the meeting of powerful mythologies, which regard one another with wonder and suspicion and then, inevitably, begin to swirl together."
—Jincy Willett, author of THE WRITING CLASS

"A beautifully written novel, in turns comic and poignant, from a bold new writer with a distinctive voice and a joyously vast imagination."
—Roopa Farooki, author of BITTER SWEETS

Learn more about the book and author at Sujatha Hampton's website and the publisher's webpage for As It Was Written.

Writer's Read: Sujatha Hampton.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Leslie Jamison's "The Gin Closet"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Gin Closet by Leslie Jamison.

About the book, from the publisher:

From a bold, sensitive, and shrewd young writer: a hotly anticipated debut novel, about flesh, fear, poverty, privilege, and the sheer and inescapable brutality of love.

In the beginning, there was Tilly: fabulous and free, outrageous and untamable, vulnerable and terrified. Was it the Sixties that did her wrong, or the drugs, or the men, or was it the middle-class upbringing she couldn't abide? As a young woman, she flees home for the hollow neon underworld of Nevada, looking for pure souls and finding nothing but bad habits. She stays away for decades, working the streets and worse, eventually drinking herself to the brink of death in the middle of the desert. One day, after Tilly has spent nearly thirty years without a family, her niece shows up on the doorstep of her dusty trailer.

Stella has been leading her own life of empty promise in New York City. She makes her living booking Botox appointments and national-media appearances for a famous (and famously neurotic) "inspirational" writer by day; she complains about her job at warehouse parties in remote boroughs by night; she waits for her married lover to make time in his schedule to screw her over, softly; and she takes care of her ailing grandmother in Connecticut. Before Stella's grandmother dies, she tells Stella the truth about Tilly, her runaway daughter, and Stella decides to give up the vast and penetrating loneliness of the city to find this lost woman the family had never mentioned.

The Gin Closet unravels the strange and powerful intimacy that forms between Tilly and Stella as they move to San Francisco to make a home with Abe, Tilly's overworked and elusive son. Shifting between the perspectives of both women, the narrative documents the construction of a fragile triangle that eventually breaks under its own weight.

With an uncanny ear for dialogue and a witty, unflinching candor about sex, love, and power, Leslie Jamison reminds us that no matter how unexpected its turns are, this life we're given is all we have: the cruelties that unhinge us, the beauties that clarify us, the addictions that deform us, those fleeting possibilities of grace that fade as quickly as they come. In the words of writer Charles D'Ambrosio, this extraordinary novel teaches us that "history has its way, the body has its way, and the rebellions we believe in leave behind a bleak wisdom, if we're lucky -- and defeat, if we're not." The Gin Closet marks the debut of a stunning new talent in fiction.

Browse inside The Gin Closet, and learn more about the book and author at Leslie Jamison's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Gin Closet.

--Marshal Zeringue

Peter Mayle's 6 favorite travel books

The Vintage Caper, Peter Mayle's latest novel, "begins high above Los Angeles, at the extravagant home and equally impressive wine cellar of entertainment lawyer Danny Roth. Unfortunately, after inviting the Los Angeles Times to write an extensive profile extolling the liquid treasures of his collection, Roth finds himself the victim of a world-class wine heist."

Mayle told The Week magazine about his six favorite travel books. One title on the list:

Everybody Was So Young by Amanda Vaill

Gerald and Sara Murphy were American settlers on the French Riviera in the 1920s. Their friends included the famous of the day: Pablo Picasso, Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Cole Porter, Dorothy Parker, and dozens of others. This is the Murphys’ evocative and fascinating story.

Read about another book on Mayle's list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Chris Knopf's "Short Squeeze," the movie

Now showing at My Book, The Movie: Short Squeeze by Chris Knopf.

The entry begins:

When I did the casting for the film version of my book Two Time a few years ago, I made what some thought was a bold decision to give the part of Jackie Swaitkowski, in a crucial supporting role, to Drew Barrymore. Well, now that Jackie has a series of her own, beginning with Short Squeeze (St.Martin’s, Jan 2010), I feel even better about that choice. While Drew continues to exercise her significant comedic abilities, she also proved her depth and versatility when she played Edith Bouvier Beale in Grey Gardens. Jackie is impetuous on the verge of reckless, intelligent, pig-headed, but occasionally stricken with a loss of confidence, a perennial wise-cracker, but sometimes overwhelmed by tender sentiment, tomboyish but eager to be a girl in the right circumstances, not so great at commitment, but deeply fond of certain nut job friends, a quirky dresser and all-out slob of a housekeeper. And uncontrollably curious and determined when on the hunt of a killer. Doesn’t that sound like a woman played by Drew Barrymore?

Her boyfriend Harry Goodlander, the 6’ 8” bald logistics expert, looks like Harlan Coben only much taller. Harlan’s a writer, not an actor, so we’d have to get...[read on]

Coffee with a canine: Chris Knopf & Sam.

My Book, The Movie: Two Time.

The Page 99 Test: Hard Stop.

Writers Read: Chris Knopf.

My Book, The Movie: Short Squeeze.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: J. Weatherford's "The Secret History of the Mongol Queens"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Mongol queens of the thirteenth century ruled the largest empire the world has ever known. Yet sometime near the end of the century, censors cut a section from The Secret History of the Mongols, leaving a single tantalizing quote from Genghis Khan: “Let us reward our female offspring.” Only this hint of a father’s legacy for his daughters remained of a much larger story.

The queens of the Silk Route turned their father’s conquests into the world’s first truly international empire, fostering trade, education, and religion throughout their territories and creating an economic system that stretched from the Pacific to the Mediterranean. Outlandish stories of these powerful queens trickled out of the Empire, shocking the citizens of Europe and and the Islamic world.

After Genghis Khan’s death in 1227, conflicts erupted between his daughters and his daughters-in-law; what began as a war between powerful women soon became a war against women in power as brother turned against sister, son against mother. At the end of this epic struggle, the dynasty of the Mongol queens had seemingly been extinguished forever, as even their names were erased from the historical record.

One of the most unusual and important warrior queens of history arose to avenge the wrongs, rescue the tattered shreds of the Mongol Empire, and restore order to a shattered world. Putting on her quiver and picking up her bow, Queen Mandhuhai led her soldiers through victory after victory. In her thirties she married a seventeen-year-old prince, and she bore eight children in the midst of a career spent fighting the Ming Dynasty of China on one side and a series of Muslim warlords on the other. Her unprecedented success on the battlefield provoked the Chinese into the most frantic and expensive phase of wall building in history. Charging into battle even while pregnant, she fought to reassemble the Mongol Nation of Genghis Khan and to preserve it for her own children to rule in peace.

At the conclusion of his magnificently researched and ground-breaking narrative, Weatherford notes that, despite their mystery and the efforts to erase them from our collective memory, the deeds of these Mongol queens inspired great artists from Chaucer and Milton to Goethe and Puccini, and so their stories live on today. With The Secret History of the Mongol Queens, Jack Weatherford restores the queens’ missing chapter to the annals of history.

Read more about The Secret History of the Mongol Queens at the publisher's website, and learn more about Jack Weatherford at his Macalester College faculty webpage.

The Page 99 Test: The Secret History of the Mongol Queens.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: JT Ellison's "The Cold Room"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: The Cold Room by J.T. Ellison.

About the book:

Homicide Detective Taylor Jackson thinks she's seen it all in Nashville—from the Southern Strangler to the Snow White Killer. But she's never seen anything as perverse as the Conductor. Once his victim is captured, he contains her in a glass coffin, slowly starving her to death. Only then does he give in to his attraction.

When he's finished, he creatively disposes of the body by reenacting scenes from famous paintings. And it seems similar macabre works are being displayed in Europe. Taylor teams up with her fiancé, FBI profiler Dr. John Baldwin, and a New Scotland Yard detective named James "Memphis" Highsmythe, a haunted man who only has eyes for Taylor, to put an end to the Conductor's art collection.

Has the killer gone international with his craft? Or are there dueling artists, competing to create the ultimate masterpiece?

Learn more about the book and author at J.T. Ellison's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: All the Pretty Girls.

The Page 99 Test: 14.

The Page 69 Test: 14.

The Page 99 Test: Judas Kiss.

My Book, The Movie: the Taylor Jackson series.

The Page 69 Test: The Cold Room.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top 10 picture book characters

Shirley Hughes is one of the best-loved and most innovative creators of books for young children. She has written and illustrated over 50 books, sold more than eleven million copies, won major awards and created some of the most enduring characters in children's literature, including including Dogger, Alfie, and Lucy and Tom.

For the Guardian, she named her top 10 picture book characters.

One character on the list:

Ginger – Charlotte Voake

The relaxed simplicity of this kind of illustration is the hallmark of a true professional. Many small people will strangely identify with Ginger the cat's irritation when a kitten arrives to ruffle his life. The pictures sprawl nonchalantly across the page but nevertheless express a great deal of emotion.

Read about another picture book on Hughes' list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Josh Berk reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Josh Berk, author of The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin.

His entry begins:

I was lucky enough to recently meet Rebecca Stead and have her sign When You Reach Me, this year's Newbery Winner, for me. I'm not bragging about how fancy my friends are! OK, I sort of am. But anyway, the book is great. I was completely enthralled. It has some fantastical elements, but somehow feels entirely real. The narrator is a sixth grader named Miranda who is completely convincing and likable. The story captured me from page one. I think I liked some of the small moments best, like when Miranda is learning the right way to cut bread at a deli. Maybe it's these small, almost mundane moments, that make the big, fantastic things work so well. It's also worth nothing that the adult characters are well-rounded and believable. This is...[read on]

Among the early praise for The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin:

"This witty tale of mainstreaming, misfits and murder glitters like the 'Future Diamonds' that coal-mine souvenirs promise to someday become..."
--Kirkus Reviews, starred review

"A humorous first novel from an author to watch."
--Booklist

"A genre-bending breakthrough that teens are going to love."
--School Library Journal, starred review,

Read an excerpt from The Dark Days of Hamburger Halpin, and learn more about the book and author at Josh Berk's website and blog.

Writers Read: Josh Berk.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Philipp Ziesche's "Cosmopolitan Patriots"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Cosmopolitan Patriots: Americans in Paris in the Age of Revolution by Philipp Ziesche.

About the book, from the publisher:

This truly transnational history reveals the important role of Americans abroad in the Age of Revolution, as well as providing an early example of the limits of American influence on other nations. From the beginning of the French Revolution to its end at the hands of Napoleon, American cosmopolitans like Thomas Jefferson, Gouverneur Morris, Thomas Paine, Joel Barlow, and James Monroe drafted constitutions, argued over violent means and noble ends, confronted sudden regime changes, and negotiated diplomatic crises such as the XYZ Affair and the Louisiana Purchase. Eager to report on what they regarded as universal political ideals and practices, Americans again and again confronted the particular circumstances of a foreign nation in turmoil. In turn, what they witnessed in Paris caused these prominent Americans to reflect on the condition and prospects of their own republic. Thus, their individual stories highlight overlooked parallels between the nation-building process in both France and America, and the two countries' common struggle to reconcile the rights of man with their own national identities.

Read more about Cosmopolitan Patriots at the publisher's website.

Philipp Ziesche is Assistant Editor of the Papers of Benjamin Franklin at Yale University.

The Page 99 Test: Cosmopolitan Patriots.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top 10 books on grand strategy

Will Inboden named his top 10 books on grand strategy for Foreign Policy.

One title on his list:

Paul Kennedy, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500-2000.

A bestseller and instant-classic when it was first published in 1987, by a decade later Kennedy's concluding warning of imminent American decline because of "imperial overstretch" seemed dated and unduly alarmist. But now today, just over two decades since publication, the book's lessons from history appear as relevant as ever.

Read about another book on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Craig McDonald's "Print the Legend"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Print the Legend by Craig McDonald.

About the book, from the publisher:

Craig McDonald's debut, Head Games, a relentlessly slick and action packed literary caper novel, was shortlisted for the Edgar, Anthony, Crimespress and Gumshoe awards for Best First Novel. Now, with Print the Legend, McDonald exceeds the extraordinary promise of his debut, delivering a consummate mystery about a conspiracy gone wrong, and the outer edges of creative jealousy and obsessive revenge.

It was the shot heard around the world: On July 2, 1961, Ernest Hemingway died from a shotgun blast to the head... 4 years later, two men have come to Idaho to confront the widow Hemingway—men who have doubts about the circumstances of Hemingway's death. One is crime novelist Hector Lassiter, the oldest and best of Hem's friends...the last man standing of the Lost Generation. Hector has heard rumors of some surviving Hemingway manuscripts: a "lost" chapter of A Moveable Feast and a full-length novel written by a deluded Hemingway that Hector fears might compromise his own reputation. The other man is professor Richard Paulson, who along with his pregnant wife Hannah, herself an aspiring writer, is bent on proving that Mary Hemingway murdered Papa. As Hector digs into the mystery of Hemingway's lost writings, he uncovers an audacious, decades-long conspiracy tied to the emergent art movements of 1920's Paris, the most duplicitous of Cold War espionage tactics, and J. Edgar Hoover's FBI...

Read more about Print the Legend, and learn more about the author and his work at Craig McDonald's website, blog, and Crimespace page.

Read "The Story Behind the Story: Print the Legend, by Craig McDonald," at The Rap Sheet.

Writers Read: Craig McDonald.

The Page 69 Test: Print the Legend.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: John David Lewis' "Nothing Less than Victory"

The current feature at the Page 99 Test: Nothing Less than Victory: Decisive Wars and the Lessons of History by John David Lewis.

About the book, from the publisher:

The goal of war is to defeat the enemy's will to fight. But how this can be accomplished is a thorny issue. Nothing Less than Victory provocatively shows that aggressive, strategic military offenses can win wars and establish lasting peace, while defensive maneuvers have often led to prolonged carnage, indecision, and stalemate. Taking an ambitious and sweeping look at six major wars, from antiquity to World War II, John David Lewis shows how victorious military commanders have achieved long-term peace by identifying the core of the enemy's ideological, political, and social support for a war, fiercely striking at this objective, and demanding that the enemy acknowledges its defeat.

Lewis examines the Greco-Persian and Theban wars, the Second Punic War, Aurelian's wars to reunify Rome, the American Civil War, and the Second World War. He considers successful examples of overwhelming force, such as the Greek mutilation of Xerxes' army and navy, the Theban-led invasion of the Spartan homeland, and Hannibal's attack against Italy--as well as failed tactics of defense, including Fabius's policy of delay, McClellan's retreat from Richmond, and Chamberlain's appeasement of Hitler. Lewis shows that a war's endurance rests in each side's reasoning, moral purpose, and commitment to fight, and why an effectively aimed, well-planned, and quickly executed offense can end a conflict and create the conditions needed for long-term peace.

Recognizing the human motivations behind military conflicts, Nothing Less than Victory makes a powerful case for offensive actions in pursuit of peace.

Read an excerpt from Nothing Less than Victory, and learn more about the book and author at John David Lewis' website.

The Page 99 Test: Nothing Less than Victory.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Richard A. Knaak reading?

The current featured contributor at Writers Read: Richard A. Knaak, author of the newly released World of Warcraft: Stormrage.

His entry begins:

While my reading time is limited, I've recently read The Light of Burning Shadows, the second book in Chris Evans' Iron Elves series. I was asked to do a blurb for the first book and was so caught up in the tale I looked forward to reading the second as soon as I could. The mix of Napoleonic politics with traditional fantasy elements made for...[read on]

About World of Warcraft: Stormrage, from the publisher:

When the world of Azeroth was young, the god-like titans brought order to it by reshaping its lands and seas. Throughout their great work, they followed a magnificent design for what they envisioned Azeroth would become. Although the titans departed Azeroth long ago, that design endures to this day. It is known as the Emerald Dream, a lush and savagely primal version of the...

WORLD OF WARCRAFT

Many are the mysteries surrounding the Emerald Dream and its reclusive guardians, the green dragonflight. In times past, druids have entered the Dream to monitor the ebb and flow of life on Azeroth in their never-ending quest to maintain the delicate balance of nature.

However, not all dreams are pleasant ones. Recently the Emerald Nightmare, an area of corruption within the Emerald Dream, began growing in size, transforming the Dream into a realm of unimaginable horror. Green dragons have been unexpectedly caught up in the Nightmare, emerging from it with shattered minds and twisted bodies. Druids who have entered the darkening Dream lately have found it difficult -- sometimes even impossible -- to escape.

Nor are these the Nightmare's only victims: more and more people are being affected. Even Malfurion Stormrage, first and foremost of the druids on Azeroth, may have fallen victim to this growing threat. As uncontrollable nightmares spread across the world, a desperate quest begins to find and free the archdruid.

Soon nature's enemies will learn the true meaning of the name

STORMRAGE

Visit Richard A. Knaak's website and blog.

Writers Read: Richard A. Knaak.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten of the best fogs in literature

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

One fog on the list:

"Fog" by Amy Clampitt

Somewhere by the Atlantic, fog swallows the world in Clampitt's poem, "the islands' spruce-tips / drunk up like milk in the / universal emulsion". Shrouding some things makes others more distinct: "the nodding / campanula of bell buoys; / the ticking, linear / filigree of bird voices".

Read about a fog in a famous novel on Mullan's list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Julie Zickefoose & Chet Baker

The current featured guests at Coffee with a Canine: Julie Zickefoose & Chet Baker.

Zickefoose, on how they were united:

I resisted getting a dog for 13 years. I said I didn't need one more thing to care for, being a songbird rehabilitator. In 2003, my daughter Phoebe and I raised and released three ruby-throated hummingbird nestlings. You can hear the story at the NPR links here and here.

Then, in 2004, Phoebe and I raised seven orphaned chimney swifts. We released them, and it was there, standing on a railroad trestle, watching them circle overhead, and watching the tears running down my 8-year-old daughter's and 6-year-old son's faces, that I decided to get them a puppy. Get me a puppy. Get us a puppy. Something young and sweet that we could raise and love and wouldn't have to release, ever!

I chose a Boston terrier based on early childhood impressions of a neighbor's fun-loving little dog, Patsy. I wanted a dog who was smart, agile, playful, athletic, clean, and had a great sense of humor. I am completely hooked on the breed, and...[read on]

Julie Zickefoose is a writer, artist, naturalist and NPR commentator. Letters from Eden (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt), a collection of nature essays, heavily illustrated with her watercolors and drawings, was published in 2006. Chet Baker is a five year old Boston terrier.

Visit Julie Zickefoose's website and blog, and listen to her commentaries on NPR.

Learn more about Letters from Eden, and read Zickefoose's short stories online.

Read--Coffee with a Canine: Julie Zickefoose & Chet Baker.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Claire Seeber's "Lullaby"

The current feature at the Page 69 Test: Lullaby by Claire Seeber.

About the book, from the publisher:

A chilling debut from a bright new talent— a masterful psychological thriller to delight fans of Nicci French and Minette Walters

It’s every mother’s nightmare...One minute Jess Finnegan is strolling through the Tate Museum with her new husband Mickey and their 8-month old son. The next she is frantically searching for them—both have completely disappeared. As the police launch a massive manhunt, Jess discovers that the people closest to you are not always what they seem.

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

Claire Seeber is a feature writer for the Guardian, Independent on Sunday, and the Telegraph. She lives in London.

The Page 69 Test: Lullaby.

--Marshal Zeringue