Pg. 99: Stephen J. Davis's "Christ Child"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Christ Child: Cultural Memories of a Young Jesus by Stephen J. Davis.

About the book, from the publisher:

Little is known about the early childhood of Jesus Christ. But in the decades after his death, stories began circulating about his origins. One collection of such tales was the so-called Infancy Gospel of Thomas, known in antiquity as the Paidika or “Childhood Deeds” of Jesus. In it, Jesus not only performs miracles while at play (such as turning clay birds into live sparrows) but also gets enmeshed in a series of interpersonal conflicts and curses to death children and teachers who rub him the wrong way. How would early readers have made sense of this young Jesus?

In this highly innovative book, Stephen Davis draws on current theories about how human communities construe the past to answer this question. He explores how ancient readers would have used texts, images, places, and other key reference points from their own social world to understand the Christ child’s curious actions. He then shows how the figure of a young Jesus was later picked up and exploited in the context of medieval Jewish-Christian and Christian-Muslim encounters. Challenging many scholarly assumptions, Davis adds a crucial dimension to the story of how Christian history was created.

Learn more about Christ Child at the Yale University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Christ Child.

--Marshal Zeringue

Twelve books with irresistible titles

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Joel Cunningham tagged twelve books with the most irresistible titles, including:

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, by Michael Chabon

I think the title took this one at least partway to its eventual Pulitzer. It was definitely responsible for my buying it (in hardcover, no less!), despite the fact that I was then a poor college student. I can’t imagine a more appropriate moniker for a book about a couple of guys writing superhero comics in the 1940s.

Read about another book on the list.

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay is on Sam Anderson's list of five books we'll still be talking about in 2020.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mike Mullin’s "Sunrise," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Sunrise by Mike Mullin.

The entry begins:

Since the last time I guest posted in this space, Ashfall has been optioned for development as a television series. However, casting the book is still a complete fantasy exercise for me—authors almost never get a voice in casting.

There’s a good reason not to include me in casting an Ashfall television series—I would be hopelessly bad at it. I watch very little television and only perhaps a dozen or so movies per year—I prefer to spend my time reading. So I had to turn to Twitter to get suggestions for this post.

For Alex, @seaofships suggested casting Nick...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Mike Mullin's website.

My Book, The Movie: Ashfall.

Writers Read: Mike Mullin.

The Page 69 Test: Sunrise.

My Book, The Movie: Sunrise.

--Marshal Zeringue

John Green's 6 favorite coming-of-age books

John Green's books include the best-selling novel, The Fault in Our Stars.

One of the author's six favorite coming-of-age books, as shared at The Week magazine:

The Blood of the Lamb by Peter de Vries

There are two coming-of-age stories here: one in which Don Wanderhop endures a difficult (but often hilarious) childhood and another in which he must come into a different kind of adulthood, as a father of a child living with cancer. Funny, angry, and thoroughly human, The Blood of the Lamb is the best novel about cancer I've ever read.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Maya Lang reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Maya Lang, author of The Sixteenth of June.

One book she tagged:

Anthony Doerr’s All the Light We Cannot See. I always fear reading novels in the prime of being hyped because it seems unfair; how can the book possibly live up? But Anthony Doerr cannot be praised enough. This is an enthralling, marvelous read—the kind of book you can’t put down, where you simultaneously need to know what happens yet dread having it end because its company has been so lovely. Radios, snails, museums, gemology, France, the sea; Doerr’s world is teeming with beauty, with life itself, a convergence of...[read on]

About The Sixteenth of June, from the publisher:

A finely observed, wry social satire set in Philadelphia over the course of a single day, this soaring debut novel paints a moving portrait of a family at a turning point.

Leopold Portman, a young IT manager a few years out of college, dreams of settling down in Philly’s bucolic suburbs and starting a family with his fiancée, Nora. A talented singer in mourning for her mother, Nora has abandoned a promising opera career and wonders what her destiny holds. Her best friend, Stephen, Leopold’s brother, dithers in his seventh year of graduate school and privately questions Leo and Nora’s relationship. On June 16, 2004, the three are brought together—first for a funeral, then for an annual Bloomsday party. As the long-simmering tensions between them come to a head, they are forced to confront the choices of their pasts and their hopes for the future.

Clever, lyrical, and often hilarious, The Sixteenth of June is a feat of storytelling and a sharp depiction of modern American family life. It delves into the tensions and allegiances of friendships, the murky uncertainty of early adulthood, and the yearning to belong. This remarkable novel offers a nod to James Joyce's celebrated classic, Ulysses, and it is about the secrets we keep and the lengths we’ll go to for acceptance and love.

Visit Maya Lang's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Sixteenth of June.

Writers Read: Maya Lang.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five books that changed Richelle Mead

Richelle Mead is the author of the Vampire Academy series. One of five books that changed her, as shared with the Sydney Morning Herald:

To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

True fact: I don't like many classics. I grew up reading modern genre novels and still stick to them. This coming-of-age book, however, is one I make an exception for and one that everyone should read. Lee's cutting insights on race and prejudice, not to mention human nature, are just as relevant today as they were in her time - which says something about both her brilliance and modern society's shortcomings.

Read about another book on the list.

To Kill a Mockingbird made Robert Williams's top ten list of loners in fiction, Alyssa Bereznak's top ten list of literary heroes with weird names, Louise Doughty's top ten list of courtroom dramas, Hanna McGrath's top fifteen list of epic epigraphs, the Telegraph's list of ten great meals in literature, Nicole Hill's list of fourteen characters their creators should have spared, Isla Blair's six best books list, Lauren Passell's list of ten pairs of books made better when read together, Charlie Fletcher's top ten list of adventure classics, Sheila Bair's 6 favorite books list, Kathryn Erskine's top ten list of first person narratives, Julia Donaldson's six best books list, TIME magazine's top 10 list of books you were forced to read in school, John Mullan's list of ten of the best lawyers in literature, John Cusack's list of books that made a difference to him, Lisa Scottoline's top ten list of books about justice, and Luke Leitch's list of ten literary one-hit wonders. It is one of Sanjeev Bhaskar's six best books and one of Alexandra Styron's five best stories of fathers and daughters.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Donis Casey's "Hell With the Lid Blown Off"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Hell with the Lid Blown Off by Donis Casey.

About the book, from the publisher:

In the summer of 1916, a big twister brings destruction to the land around Boynton OK. Alafair Tucker’s family and neighbors are not spared the ruin and grief spread by the storm. But no one is going to mourn for Jubal Beldon, who made it his business to know the ugly secrets of everyone in town. It doesn’t matter if Jubal’s insinuations are true or not. In a small town like Boynton, rumor is as damaging as fact.But as Mr. Lee the undertaker does his grim duty for the storm victims, he discovers that even in death Jubal isn’t going to leave his neighbors in peace. He was already dead when the tornado carried his body to the middle of a fallow field. Had he died in an accident or had he been murdered by someone whose secret he had threatened to expose? There are dozens of people who would have been happy to do the deed, including members of Jubal’s own family. As Sheriff Scott Tucker and his deputy Trenton Calder look into the circumstances surrounding Jubal’s demise, it begins to look like the prime suspect may be someone very dear to the widow Beckie MacKenzie, the beloved music teacher and mentor of Alafair’s daughter Ruth. Ruth fears that the secrets exposed by the investigation are going to cause more damage to her friend’s life than the tornado. Alafair has her own suspicions about how Jubal Beldon came to die, and the reason may hit very close to home.

Visit Donis Casey's website.

Writers Read: Donis Casey.

The Page 69 Test: Hell with the Lid Blown Off.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten recordings of poets

Richard Carrington and Andrew Motion set up the Poetry Archive, a continually expanding online audio library of poets reading their own work. One of Motion's ten favorite recordings in the collection:

"Memorial"
Alice Oswald, 2011

Alice Oswald’s long poem Memorial brilliantly fillets and reheats Homer’s Iliad in ways that honour the original and also strike disturbing contemporary echoes. Her delivery is almost relentlessly steady, but the effect is not to suppress the shock and thrill of her lines, only to sharpen them; the whole performance has a startlingly live feeling – facing its audience very boldly, yet intimate in its address.

Read about--and listen to--another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Jenny Milchman's "Ruin Falls," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Ruin Falls by Jenny Milchman.

The entry begins:

Here’s the log line for Ruin Falls, the movie:

The hardest part isn’t losing everything you love. It’s getting it back.

This novel centers around Liz Daniels, a woman who at the beginning isn’t very strong. She lets herself be led by her husband…but she’s not going to have her husband around for very long. As soon as she doesn’t, she must become strong on her own. Call it a twist on girl meets boy.

Girl loses boy. Girl must find herself.

Since this movie would be basically carried by Liz, the role will require a very strong female lead. Charlize Theron, perhaps. Or maybe...[read on]

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

My Book, The Movie: Cover of Snow.

The Page 69 Test: Cover of Snow.

Writers Read: Jenny Milchman.

The Page 69 Test: Ruin Falls.

My Book, The Movie: Ruin Falls.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five top books about how to pull a heist

Matthew Quirk's new novel is The Directive.

One of the author's five recommended books about the myths and realities of how to pull a heist, as shared at The Daily Beast:

The Lock Artist by Steve Hamilton

As I learned to pick locks for The Directive, I was surprised how I had rarely, if ever, seen a good account in fiction. Then I found Hamilton’s novel. He not only has the best and most accurate lock-picking and safe-cracking passages I’ve read, he grounds them in an emotionally-involving story told from the point of view of a young man with a dangerous gift who hasn’t spoken a word since a childhood trauma.

Read about another entry on the list.

Also see the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on heists.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Eric Helleiner's "Forgotten Foundations of Bretton Woods"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Forgotten Foundations of Bretton Woods: International Development and the Making of the Postwar Order by Eric Helleiner.

About the book, from the publisher:

Eric Helleiner's new book provides a powerful corrective to conventional accounts of the negotiations at Bretton Woods, New Hampshire, in 1944. These negotiations resulted in the creation of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank—the key international financial institutions of the postwar global economic order. Critics of Bretton Woods have argued that its architects devoted little attention to international development issues or the concerns of poorer countries. On the basis of extensive historical research and access to new archival sources, Helleiner challenges these assumptions, providing a major reinterpretation that will interest all those concerned with the politics and history of the global economy, North-South relations, and international development.

The Bretton Woods architects—who included many officials and analysts from poorer regions of the world—discussed innovative proposals that anticipated more contemporary debates about how to reconcile the existing liberal global economic order with the development aspirations of emerging powers such as India, China, and Brazil. Alongside the much-studied Anglo-American relationship was an overlooked but pioneering North-South dialogue. Helleiner’s unconventional history brings to light not only these forgotten foundations of the Bretton Woods system but also their subsequent neglect after World War II.

Learn more about Forgotten Foundations of Bretton Woods at the Cornell University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Forgotten Foundations of Bretton Woods.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight great YA novels involving characters with mental illness

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog, Dahlia Adler tagged eight great YA novels involving characters who struggle with mental illness, including:

Crazy, by Amy Reed

Told through a series of e-mails and instant messaging conversations, on the surface this book almost reads like the story of a guy and girl’s toxic friendship. But both the reader and Connor progressively realize that Izzy’s not operating with neurotypical brain chemistry, and what results is a startlingly realistic look at bipolar disorder that’s certain to hit very close to home for those who have it or have people in their lives who do.

Read about another entry on the list.

Writers Read: Amy Reed.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Jane Lindskold's "Artemis Awakening"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Artemis Awakening by Jane Lindskold.

About the book, from the publisher:

Artemis Awakening is the start of a new series by New York Times bestseller Jane Lindskold. The distant world Artemis is a pleasure planet created out of bare rock by a technologically advanced human empire that provided its richest citizens with a veritable Eden to play in. All tech was concealed and the animals (and the humans brought to live there) were bioengineered to help the guests enjoy their stay…but there was always the possibility of danger so that visitors could brag that they had “bested” the environment.

The Empire was shattered in a horrific war; centuries later humanity has lost much of the advanced technology and Artemis is a fable told to children. Until young archeologist Griffin Dane finds intriguing hints that send him on a quest to find the lost world. Stranded on Artemis after crashing his ship, he encounters the Huntress Adara and her psych-linked companion, the puma Sand Shadow. Their journey with her will lead Dane to discover the planet’s secrets…and perhaps provide a key to give unimagined power back to mankind.

Visit Jane Lindskold's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Thirteen Orphans.

The Page 69 Test: Five Odd Honors.

Writers Read: Jane Lindskold.

The Page 69 Test: Artemis Awakening.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eleven fictional maladies that will keep you up at night

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Joel Cunningham tagged 11 fictional maladies that will keep you up at night, including:

The Andromeda Strain (The Andromeda Strain, by Michael Crichton)

As alien viruses go, the Andromeda Strain really sets a high bar. Shortly after it touches down on Earth via a crashed military satellite, it infects and kills the first humans it encounters, then rapidly mutates to infect everything else—from humans (wiping out an entire town), to the plastic and metal barriers constructed to contain it. And you thought dinosaurs that could open doors were bad.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Donis Casey reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Donis Casey, author of Hell with the Lid Blown Off.

Her entry begins:

When I am writing, I generally do not read as much as I do in those precious interims between books, when I actually have a life. Not that I don’t read at all. I do. In fact, I read too much, if that is really a thing. I want to read every book I see. I am interested in just about anything except sports (unless the sports story is more of a human interest story). The problem with wanting to read everything is that even though I am a fast reader, it takes me forever to finish any one book. There are only so many hours in the day, after all, and I can’t possibly let a day go by without making some progress in every book in my current reading pile.

At the moment, I am reading five books at once. One literary novel, one traditional mystery, one short story collection, two non-fiction. I am almost finished with Nicole Mones’ novel Lost in Translation (no relation to the movie). Since I love exotic settings I couldn’t pass this book up when I saw that it is set in China. The story revolves around an ex-pat American woman, Alice, who lives in Bejing and works as a translator for English speakers traveling to China for business. She is hired by an American archaeologist who believes he knows the location of treasure that has been lost for years in the vast outback of the northwest border country between China and Mongolia. The government sends two Chinese scientists along on the expedition, and Alice finds herself...[read on]

About Hell with the Lid Blown Off, from the publisher:

In the summer of 1916, a big twister brings destruction to the land around Boynton OK. Alafair Tucker’s family and neighbors are not spared the ruin and grief spread by the storm. But no one is going to mourn for Jubal Beldon, who made it his business to know the ugly secrets of everyone in town. It doesn’t matter if Jubal’s insinuations are true or not. In a small town like Boynton, rumor is as damaging as fact.But as Mr. Lee the undertaker does his grim duty for the storm victims, he discovers that even in death Jubal isn’t going to leave his neighbors in peace. He was already dead when the tornado carried his body to the middle of a fallow field. Had he died in an accident or had he been murdered by someone whose secret he had threatened to expose? There are dozens of people who would have been happy to do the deed, including members of Jubal’s own family. As Sheriff Scott Tucker and his deputy Trenton Calder look into the circumstances surrounding Jubal’s demise, it begins to look like the prime suspect may be someone very dear to the widow Beckie MacKenzie, the beloved music teacher and mentor of Alafair’s daughter Ruth. Ruth fears that the secrets exposed by the investigation are going to cause more damage to her friend’s life than the tornado. Alafair has her own suspicions about how Jubal Beldon came to die, and the reason may hit very close to home.

Visit Donis Casey's website.

Writers Read: Donis Casey.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Arthur Versluis's "American Gurus"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: American Gurus: From Transcendentalism to New Age Religion by Arthur Versluis.

About the book, from the publisher:

By the early twenty-first century, a phenomenon that once was inconceivable had become nearly commonplace in American society: the public spiritual teacher who neither belongs to, nor is authorized by a major religious tradition. From the Oprah Winfrey-endorsed Eckhart Tolle to figures like Gangaji and Adhyashanti, there are now countless spiritual teachers who claim and teach variants of instant or immediate enlightenment.

American Gurus tells the story of how this phenomenon emerged. Through an examination of the broader literary and religious context of the subject, Arthur Versluis shows that a characteristic feature of the Western esoteric tradition is the claim that every person can achieve "spontaneous, direct, unmediated spiritual insight." This claim was articulated with special clarity by the New England Transcendentalists Bronson Alcott and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Versluis explores Transcendentalism, Walt Whitman, the Beat movement, Timothy Leary, and the New Age movement to shed light on the emergence of the contemporary American guru.

This insightful study is the first to show how Asian religions and Western mysticism converged to produce the phenomenon of "spontaneously enlightened" American gurus.

Learn more about American Gurus at the Oxford University Press website, and visit Arthur Versluis's website.

The Page 99 Test: American Gurus.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Maya Lang's "The Sixteenth of June"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Sixteenth of June: A Novel by Maya Lang.

About the book, from the publisher:

A finely observed, wry social satire set in Philadelphia over the course of a single day, this soaring debut novel paints a moving portrait of a family at a turning point.

Leopold Portman, a young IT manager a few years out of college, dreams of settling down in Philly’s bucolic suburbs and starting a family with his fiancée, Nora. A talented singer in mourning for her mother, Nora has abandoned a promising opera career and wonders what her destiny holds. Her best friend, Stephen, Leopold’s brother, dithers in his seventh year of graduate school and privately questions Leo and Nora’s relationship. On June 16, 2004, the three are brought together—first for a funeral, then for an annual Bloomsday party. As the long-simmering tensions between them come to a head, they are forced to confront the choices of their pasts and their hopes for the future.

Clever, lyrical, and often hilarious, The Sixteenth of June is a feat of storytelling and a sharp depiction of modern American family life. It delves into the tensions and allegiances of friendships, the murky uncertainty of early adulthood, and the yearning to belong. This remarkable novel offers a nod to James Joyce's celebrated classic, Ulysses, and it is about the secrets we keep and the lengths we’ll go to for acceptance and love.

Visit Maya Lang's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Sixteenth of June.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six famous books with extremely faithful film adaptations

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Matt Kraus tagged six famous books with extremely faithful film adaptations, including:

Lord of the Flies, by William Golding

There have been two adaptations of William Golding’s Lord of the Flies: a black-and-white British version made in 1963 and a second, American version made in 1990. The former remains the definitive adaptation of the book, and part of that is its relative adherence to Golding’s material. (The 1990 version changes a great deal, and is not particularly respected by film fans.) It doesn’t outright copy its source, since many of the scenes were improvised on the fly by the child actors, but director Peter Brook stuck closely to the novel’s plot, which allowed him to keep its cynical themes intact.

Read about another entry on the list.

Lord of the Flies is on Michael Hogan's list of the ten best fictional evil children, Danny Wallace's six best books list, Gemma Malley's top ten list of dystopian novels for teenagers, AbeBooks' list of 20 books of shattered childhoods and is one of the top ten works of literature according to Stephen King. It appears on John Mullan's lists of ten of the best pigs in literature, ten of the best pairs of glasses in literature, and ten of the best horrid children in literature, Katharine Quarmby's top ten list of disability stories, and William Skidelsky's list of ten of the best accounts of being marooned in literature. It is a book that made a difference to Isla Fisher and is one of Suzi Quatro's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eileen Brady's "Muzzled," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Muzzled by Eileen Brady.

The entry begins:

Piece of cake. I’d cast Meryl Streep as Dr. Kate Turner. When you read Muzzled you’ll know why. That’s Meryl at about 28 years old – think Kramer vs. Kramer. For Luke Gianetti, the handsome but out of reach (for now) police officer who is studying for his law degree, I’d like that handsome Irishman Colin Farrell. Of course, I’d have to do a little hasty rewrite and add an Irish ancestor into his family tree, but hey, it’s my movie, my screenplay.

I’ve got several eccentric characters in the book, such as the son of two English teachers, Henry James, a tattooed biker who loves to bake. Either Vin Diesel or...[read on]

Visit Eileen Brady's website.

The Page 69 Test: Muzzled.

My Book, The Movie: Muzzled.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten books of the English moor

At the Guardian William Atkins's tagged ten top books of the English moor...ie, not counting three of the more famous books in that tradition, RD Blackmore's Lorna Doone, Arthur Conan Doyle's The Hound of the Baskervilles and Emily Brontë's Wuthering Heights. One title on the list:

The Black Dwarf by Walter Scott

"Haunted by a consciousness of his own deformity", the antihero of Scott's 1816 novel of misanthropy and revenge makes his home on "Mucklestane Moor", above Liddesdale. The Black Dwarf is based partly on a real-life recluse known to the author, and partly on a spiteful supernatural being of Border lore, the "Brown Man of the Muirs". Scott was aware of his novel's own deformity, and regretted its 'bungled' ending, but it's likely that it was absorbed by one acolyte of his, Emily Brontë: it's not hard to see its influence upon her own novel of moorland misanthropy and revenge.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Jane Lindskold reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Jane Lindskold, author of Artemis Awakening.

Her entry begins:

Back in February, I turned in the sequel for Artemis Awakening over to my editor at Tor. Up until then, my reading had mostly been either research or through audio books. In audio books, I went on a rather weird binge, alternating social farces by P.G. Wodehouse with re-reads of many of the Spenser crime/detective novels by Robert B. Parker.

When I did read print that wasn’t research, it was usually before bed and chosen at random. I read Neil Gaiman’s The Ocean at the End of the Lane; Patricia McKillip’s The Sorceress and the Cygnet and The Cygnet and the Firebird; and several novels by Clifford Simak. I also read short story collections by Paul Dellinger and Charles de Lint.

However, once my manuscript was turned in, I went on a reading binge. I read the entire of Garth Nix’s “Keys to the Kingdom” series, which was quite good...[read on]

About Artemis Awakening, from the publisher:

Artemis Awakening is the start of a new series by New York Times bestseller Jane Lindskold. The distant world Artemis is a pleasure planet created out of bare rock by a technologically advanced human empire that provided its richest citizens with a veritable Eden to play in. All tech was concealed and the animals (and the humans brought to live there) were bioengineered to help the guests enjoy their stay…but there was always the possibility of danger so that visitors could brag that they had “bested” the environment.

The Empire was shattered in a horrific war; centuries later humanity has lost much of the advanced technology and Artemis is a fable told to children. Until young archeologist Griffin Dane finds intriguing hints that send him on a quest to find the lost world. Stranded on Artemis after crashing his ship, he encounters the Huntress Adara and her psych-linked companion, the puma Sand Shadow. Their journey with her will lead Dane to discover the planet’s secrets…and perhaps provide a key to give unimagined power back to mankind.

Visit Jane Lindskold's website and blog.

Writers Read: Jane Lindskold.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Michael A. Kahn's "Face Value"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Face Value: A Rachel Gold Mystery by Michael Kahn.

About the book, from the publisher:

As St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold knows firsthand, the grueling hours and demands of Big Law take their toll on young lawyers. Some turn to drugs, some quit the profession, and occasionally one quits altogether. According to the medical examiner, Sari Bashir quit altogether on that Thursday night. That’s when she fell to her death from the eighth floor of the downtown garage where she parked her car.

The police ruled her death a suicide. Stanley Plotkin, however, rules it a homicide. Stanley is the weird mailroom clerk at Sari’s law firm, but he is also a true genius. Among his obsessions is the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), a massive compilation that correlates hundreds of facial muscle actions with specific emotions and mental states. For someone like Stanley, whose Asperger’s Syndrome renders him incapable of intuiting emotions from facial expressions, his mastery of FACS has caused him to conclude that Sari did not kill herself.

Rachel had been close with Sari, who worked for her during law school. She also knows Stanley—and his quirkiness and his genius—because their mothers are friends. Thus when Stanley announces his conclusion to Rachel as she drives him home from Sari’s memorial service, she can’t simply dismiss it. And when Sari’s father pleads with Rachel to review the police file on his daughter’s suicide, she reluctantly starts down a path that will lead into the heart of a dark criminal enterprise in which Sari was simply collateral damage.

Visit Michael A. Kahn's website.

Writer Read: Michael A. Kahn.

The Page 69 Test: Face Value.

--Marshal Zeringue

Top ten teen books adults shouldn't resist

One title from Kirkus Reviews' list of ten top teen books adults shouldn't resist:

THE MIRK AND MIDNIGHT HOUR
by Jane Nickerson

The author of Strands of Bronze and Gold (2013) returns to both Mississippi and fairy-tale retellings in this Civil War version of "Tam Lin."

Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 69 Test: The Mirk and Midnight Hour.

My Book, The Movie: The Mirk and Midnight Hour.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Yehudah Mirsky's "Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution by Yehudah Mirsky.

About the book, from the publisher:

Rav Abraham Isaac Kook (1865–1935) was one of the most influential—and controversial—rabbis of the twentieth century. A visionary writer and outstanding rabbinic leader, Kook was a philosopher, mystic, poet, jurist, communal leader, and veritable saint. The first chief rabbi of Jewish Palestine and the founding theologian of religious Zionism, he struggled to understand and shape his revolutionary times. His life and writings resonate with the defining tensions of Jewish life and thought.

A powerfully original thinker, Rav Kook combined strict traditionalism and an embrace of modernity, Orthodoxy and tolerance, piety and audacity, scholasticism and ecstasy, and passionate nationalism with profound universalism. Though little known in the English-speaking world, his life and teachings are essential to understanding current Israeli politics, contemporary Jewish spirituality, and modern Jewish thought. This biography, the first in English in more than half a century, offers a rich and insightful portrait of the man and his complex legacy. Yehudah Mirsky clears away widespread misunderstandings of Kook’s ideas and provides fresh insights into his personality and worldview. Mirsky demonstrates how Kook's richly erudite, dazzlingly poetic writings convey a breathtaking vision in which "the old will become new, and the new will become holy."

Learn more about Rav Kook at the Yale University Press.

The Page 99 Test: Rav Kook: Mystic in a Time of Revolution.

--Marshal Zeringue

The 10 best books for fans of "The Twilight Zone"

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Becky Ferreira tagged the ten best books for fans of The Twilight Zone, including:

A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter Miller

Twilight Zone episodes are famous for leaving viewer's brain a-buzzing. And oh, how this 1959 classic delivers on that front. This is one of those books where extreme cynicism meets gorgeous prose, and we guarantee the result will stick with you.

Read about another entry on the list.

A Canticle for Leibowitz is one of Joel Cunningham's top eleven sci-fi classics paired with a "literary" novel, Amanda Yesilbas, Katharine Trendacosta, and Annalee Newitz's top thirteen post-apocalyptic stories that actually teach valuable lessons.

--Marshal Zeringue

David Fuller's "Sundance," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Sundance by David Fuller.

The entry begins:

As a recovering screenwriter (a term my wife coined for me a few years back, so when you hear others use it, you’ll know from where they stole it), I know the ‘business’ pretty well. And I know casting and how it works. I didn’t write the novel to be made into a movie, which is why I wrote it as a novel. But people talk, and when writing screenplays, you always start with your favorites, a little list you keep in your head. The dream list. Sometimes you even write the names down in case your agent bothers to ask who you see in the role. He’ll ignore your suggestions, but it’s nice to be asked. But before we get into the Pitts and the Clooneys and the Costners and the Hamms, when it comes to my novel Sundance, we had better begin at the beginning.

Robert Redford may well be available. And if I had written the novel twenty years ago, he would be the hands-down first choice. But if you cast him now, then you have to cast an older Etta, say Helen Mirren or Judi Dench. Even if you nudge their true ages up a notch for the story, keeping in mind the Sundance Kid would have been 46 in 1913, this perhaps is a notch too far.

So here’s how it will work: You’ve got that list of four or five guys, movie stars, because our image of the Sundance Kid was created by a Movie Star. And you go after them, and this is in no particular order. Well, Brad Pitt loves your project, he wept when he read it, he laughed, he was on the edge of his seat, and he...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at David Fuller's website and blog.

The Page 69 Test: Sweetsmoke.

The Page 69 Test: Sundance.

Writers Read: David Fuller.

My Book, The Movie: Sundance.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Mark Billingham's "The Bones Beneath"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Bones Beneath by Mark Billingham.

About the book, from the publisher:

The Bones Beneath, the twelfth novel in the internationally bestselling Tom Thorne series shows Thorne facing perhaps the most dangerous killer he has ever put away, Stuart Nicklin. When Nicklin announces that he wishes to reveal the whereabouts of one of his earliest victims and that he wants the cop who caught him to be there when he does it, it becomes clear that Thorne’s life is about to become seriously unpleasant. Thorne is forced to accompany Nicklin to a remote island off the Welsh coast which is cut off from the mainland in every sense. Shrouded in myth and legend, it is said to be the resting place of 20,000 saints and as Thorne and his team search for bones that are somewhat more recent, it becomes clear that Nicklin’s motives are far from altruistic.

The twisted scheme of a dangerous and manipulative psychopath will result in many more victims and will leave Tom Thorne with the most terrible choice he has ever had to make.

Learn more about the book and author at Mark Billingham's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Bones Beneath.

--Marshal Zeringue

Bob Mould's six best books

Bob Mould is am American musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and DJ. An original member of the influential 1980's band Hüsker Dü, he released several albums after the band separated, including Workbook, Body of Song and Life and Times as well as Sugar's legendary album Copper Blue. His memoir is See a Little Light: The Trail of Rage and Melody. One of Mould's six favorite books, as shared at The Week magazine:

Outsiders by Howard S. Becker

In this 1963 book, Becker used his experiences as a young musician in Chicago to delve into labeling theory, deviance, and the function of subcultures. In learning the techniques, codes, and language of a subculture, an individual transitions from "normal" to "deviant" — or so society thinks.

Read about another entry on the list.

Writers Read: Howard S. Becker (2007).

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Meryl Gordon reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Meryl Gordon, author of The Phantom of Fifth Avenue.

Her entry begins:

I am addicted to thrillers and newly published fiction -- I love to see how contemporary writers create suspense and hook you on their characters. I just finished reading Julie Glass' latest novel, And the Dark Sacred Night, which is a wonderful unraveling of family secrets and deals with how withholding information can damage multiple generations. I've read all of...[read on]

About The Phantom of Fifth Avenue, from the publisher:

Born in 1906, Huguette Clark grew up in her family's 121-room Beaux Arts mansion in New York and was one of the leading celebrities of her day. Her father William Andrews Clark, was a copper magnate, the second richest man in American, and not above bribing his way into the Senate.

Huguette attended the coronation of King George V. And at twenty-two with a personal fortune of $50 million to her name, she married a Princeton man and childhood friend William MacDonald Gower. Two-years later the couple divorced. After a series of failed romances, Huguette began to withdraw from society--first living with her mother in a kind of Grey Gardens isolation then as a modern-day Miss Havisham, spending her days in a vast apartment overlooking Central Park, eating crackers and watching The Flintstones with only servants for company.

All her money and all her real estate could not protect her in her later life from being manipulated by shady hangers-on and hospitals that were only too happy to admit (and bill) a healthy woman. But what happened to Huguette that turned a vivacious, young socialite into a recluse? And what was her life like inside that gilded, copper cage?

Visit Meryl Gordon's website.

See: Meryl Gordon's five best chronicles of high society.

The Page 99 Test: The Phantom of Fifth Avenue.

Writers Read: Meryl Gordon.

--Marshal Zeringue

Fifteen of the most interesting male characters in Jane Austen's novels

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Melissa Albert ranked, "in ascending order from cads to dreamboats, [fifteen of the] romantic leads (and wannabes) of Austen’s brilliant books." Number two on the list:

Fitzwilliam Darcy (Pride and Prejudice)

He’s the Big Kahuna. The White Whale. The Man All Women Want Men to Want to Be. As the most overexposed (or perhaps just exposed?) romantic hero in literature, Darcy’s name has become synonymous with a certain kind of man: the hard exterior coating the sweet, shy core, the “jerk till you get to know him” who has probably inspired countless people to wait out unworthy crush objects, hoping their rudeness is a sign of secret, Darcy-like wonderfulness. I’m far from immune to his appeal (brooding good looks, great family values, nice house, code of honor, 10,000 a year), but snappy, bright Lizzie Bennet may find herself working double time to keep dinner conversation going.

Read about another entry on the list.

Pride and Prejudice also appears on Molly Schoemann-McCann's list of ten fictional men who have ruined real live romance, Emma Donoghue's list of five favorite unconventional fictional families, Amelia Schonbek's list of five approachable must-read classics, Melissa Albert's list of recommended reading for eight villains, Jane Stokes's top ten list of the hottest men in required reading, Gwyneth Rees's top ten list of books about siblings, the Observer's list of the ten best fictional mothers, Paula Byrne's list of the ten best Jane Austen characters, Robert McCrum's list of the top ten opening lines of novels in the English language, a top ten list of literary lessons in love, Simon Mason's top ten list of fictional families, Cathy Cassidy's top ten list of stories about sisters, Paul Murray's top ten list of wicked clerics, John Mullan's lists of ten of the best housekeepers in fiction, ten great novels with terrible original titles, and ten of the best visits to Brighton in literature, Luke Leitch's top ten list of the most successful literary sequels ever, and is one of the top ten works of literature according to Norman Mailer. Richard Price has never read it, but it is the book Mary Gordon cares most about sharing with her children.

The Page 99 Test: Pride and Prejudice.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Lisa O'Donnell's "Closed Doors"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Closed Doors by Lisa O'Donnell.

About the book, from the publisher:

In this tense and brilliant tale from the national bestselling author of The Death of Bees, a young boy on a small Scottish island, where everyone knows everything about everyone else, discovers that a secret can be a dangerous thing.

Eleven-year-old Michael Murray is the best at two things: hacky sack and keeping secrets. His family thinks he's too young to hear grown-up stuff, but he listens at doors—it's the only way to find out anything. And Michael's heard a secret, one that may explain the bruises on his mother's face.

When the whispers at home and on the street become too loud to ignore, Michael begins to wonder if there is an even bigger secret he doesn't know about. Scared of what might happen if anyone finds out, and desperate for life to return to normal, Michael sets out to piece together the truth. But he also has to prepare for the upcoming talent show, keep an eye out for Dirty Alice—his archnemesis from down the street—and avoid eating Granny's watery stew.

Closed Doors is the startling new novel from Lisa O'Donnell, the acclaimed author of The Death of Bees. It is a vivid evocation of the fears and freedoms of childhood and a powerful tale of love, of the loss of innocence, and of the importance of family in difficult times.

Learn more about the book and author at Lisa O'Donnell's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Death of Bees.

Writers Read: Lisa O'Donnell.

The Page 69 Test: Closed Doors.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Michael Blanding's "The Map Thief"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: The Map Thief: The Gripping Story of an Esteemed Rare-Map Dealer Who Made Millions Stealing Priceless Maps by Michael Blanding.

About the book, from the publisher:

The story of an infamous crime, a revered map dealer with an unsavory secret, and the ruthless subculture that consumed him

Maps have long exerted a special fascination on viewers—both as beautiful works of art and as practical tools to navigate the world. But to those who collect them, the map trade can be a cutthroat business, inhabited by quirky and sometimes disreputable characters in search of a finite number of extremely rare objects.

Once considered a respectable antiquarian map dealer, E. Forbes Smiley spent years doubling as a map thief —until he was finally arrested slipping maps out of books in the Yale University library. The Map Thief delves into the untold history of this fascinating high-stakes criminal and the inside story of the industry that consumed him.

Acclaimed reporter Michael Blanding has interviewed all the key players in this stranger-than-fiction story, and shares the fascinating histories of maps that charted the New World, and how they went from being practical instruments to quirky heirlooms to highly coveted objects. Though pieces of the map theft story have been written before, Blanding is the first reporter to explore the story in full—and had the rare privilege of having access to Smiley himself after he’d gone silent in the wake of his crimes. Moreover, although Smiley swears he has admitted to all of the maps he stole, libraries claim he stole hundreds more—and offer intriguing clues to prove it. Now, through a series of exclusive interviews with Smiley and other key individuals, Blanding teases out an astonishing tale of destruction and redemption.

The Map Thief interweaves Smiley’s escapades with the stories of the explorers and mapmakers he knew better than anyone. Tracking a series of thefts as brazen as the art heists in Provenance and a subculture as obsessive as the oenophiles in The Billionaire’s Vinegar, Blanding has pieced together an unforgettable story of high-stakes crime.

Visit Michael Blanding's website.

The Page 99 Test: The Map Thief.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top boarding school stories

Murder Most Unladylike, the first book in Robin Stevens's Wells and Wong Mysteries series, will be out in the UK on June 5th, 2014, and in the US in spring 2015. One of the author's top ten boarding school stories, as shared at the Guardian:

Cat Among the Pigeons by Agatha Christie

This is Agatha Christie's boarding school mystery, and it's a real treat. As well as tennis, iced buns and Latin, it packs in several murders, a jewel theft and an international spying ring (and a lot of other subplot that would take too long to explain). Christie doesn't often write about children (and when she does they usually read like very short adults), but the heroine of this book is charming, resourceful and exhaustingly gung-ho. Nothing daunted, she gallops about trying to solve the mystery before the adults do – with, to be fair, only limited success. But at least she tries.

Read about another entry on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue

Sheila Kohler's "Dreaming for Freud," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Dreaming for Freud by Sheila Kohler.

The entry begins:

I can imagine two actresses in the role of Dora (Freud's young patient in my novel who remains unnamed) They both played in the film of my novel Cracks. Juno Temple played Di and has also starred in Atonement; Imogen Poots who was Poppy, a more minor role in Cracks, is also a very talented English actress who was in The Last Quartet.

As for Freud perhaps he might be played...[read on]

Visit Sheila Kohler's website.

Writers Read: Sheila Kohler.

The Page 69 Test: Dreaming for Freud.

My Book, The Movie: Dreaming for Freud.

--Marshal Zeringue

Mary Beard's 6 best books

Mary Beard is professor in classics at Cambridge and classics editor of the Times Literary Supplement. Her books include The Roman Triumph and The Fires of Vesuvius.

One of Beard's six best books, as shared at the Daily Express:

A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN by Virginia Woolf

There is something very satisfying about a short book that goes straight to the point. This started life as lectures given to women in Cambridge in the 1920s.

The question is: what does a women need to be a creative writer? The answer: money and a room of her own. Absolutely.

Read about another entry on the list.

A Room of One’s Own is among Gish Jen's five notable lectures on writing.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: John McFetridge's "Black Rock"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Black Rock: An Eddie Dougherty Mystery by John McFetridge.

About the book, from the publisher:

An artfully told police procedural set in an explosive era in recent history

Montreal 1970. The "Vampire Killer" has murdered three women and a fourth is missing. Bombs explode in the stock exchange, McGill University, and houses in Westmount. Riots break out at Sir George Williams University. James Cross and Pierre Laporte are kidnapped and the Canadian army moves onto the streets of Montreal.

A young beat cop working out of Station Ten finds himself almost alone hunting the serial killer, as the rest of the force focuses on the FLQ crisis. Constable Eddie Dougherty, the son of a French mother and an Irish-Canadian father, decides to take matters into his own hands to catch the killer before he strikes again.

Set against actual historical events, Black Rock is both a compelling page-turner and an accomplished novel in the style of Dennis Lehane.

Visit John McFetridge's website.

The Page 69 Test: Black Rock.

--Marshal Zeringue

Seven of the toughest fictional kids to babysit

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Sara Jonsson tagged seven of the worst fictional kids to babysit, including:

Matilda (Matilda, by Roald Dahl)

She’s an old soul, and has the fortitude of an angel, but the fact of the matter is she’s telekinetic. She’s also smarter than you by a few light years, and if she had a mind to, could probably get away with robbing a bank and framing you for it. All while wearing shiny Mary Janes and a jaunty bow in her hair.

Read about another entry on the list.

Matilda appears among Nicole Hill's ten top fictional tricksters, Chrissie Gruebel's top ten actually insane children’s book characters, Jeremy Strong's ten funniest fictional families, James Dawson's top ten books to get you through high school, and Christopher Timothy's six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Michael A. Kahn reading?

Featured at Writer Read: Michael A. Kahn, author of Face Value: A Rachel Gold Mystery.

His entry begins:

There are usually two books on my nightstand—one that’s fairly recent, the other much older. I tend to alternate between the two—a few chapters of one, then a few chapters of the other. Sometimes the pairings work quite well—Jane Austen happens to go nicely with Elmore Leonard, and Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness resonates with Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.

But my current pairing is hardly complementary. I am reading—or rather, wincing and occasionally skimming—About the Author by John Colapinto. It’s a clever, well-written novel featuring an unlikeable but somewhat sympathetic narrator named Cal Cunningham. Cal is a struggling wannabe author who, after two years, has yet to write a single word. He is shocked, and then angered, and then jealous to discover that his dull law school roommate has written a powerful novel based largely on Cal’s life. When the roommate dies in a traffic accident, Cal decides to have the novel published under his own name. “His” novel is a huge commercial and critical success. He’s on top of the world, and even marries the beautiful woman his dead roommate had loved. But then, alas, things start to go wrong—gradually, and then...[read on]

About Face Value, from the publisher:

As St. Louis attorney Rachel Gold knows firsthand, the grueling hours and demands of Big Law take their toll on young lawyers. Some turn to drugs, some quit the profession, and occasionally one quits altogether. According to the medical examiner, Sari Bashir quit altogether on that Thursday night. That’s when she fell to her death from the eighth floor of the downtown garage where she parked her car.

The police ruled her death a suicide. Stanley Plotkin, however, rules it a homicide. Stanley is the weird mailroom clerk at Sari’s law firm, but he is also a true genius. Among his obsessions is the Facial Action Coding System (FACS), a massive compilation that correlates hundreds of facial muscle actions with specific emotions and mental states. For someone like Stanley, whose Asperger’s Syndrome renders him incapable of intuiting emotions from facial expressions, his mastery of FACS has caused him to conclude that Sari did not kill herself.

Rachel had been close with Sari, who worked for her during law school. She also knows Stanley—and his quirkiness and his genius—because their mothers are friends. Thus when Stanley announces his conclusion to Rachel as she drives him home from Sari’s memorial service, she can’t simply dismiss it. And when Sari’s father pleads with Rachel to review the police file on his daughter’s suicide, she reluctantly starts down a path that will lead into the heart of a dark criminal enterprise in which Sari was simply collateral damage.

Visit Michael A. Kahn's website.

Writer Read: Michael A. Kahn.

--Marshal Zeringue