What is Sebastian Rotella reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Sebastian Rotella, author of The Convert's Song.

His entry begins:

I alternate among English-language and foreign authors. I try to maintain the foreign languages I speak by reading in the original, even if it induces a headache. There’s a lot of treacherous translation out there. Here are some recent travels in fiction.

A while back I was invited to Festival America, a wonderful literary event in Vincennes outside Paris. I picked up a French book called Arab Jazz, by Karim Miske. It’s a crime novel that takes place in a neighborhood of northeast Paris I know from my work as a foreign correspondent. Fascinating turf: a mix of yuppies, bohemians and immigrants, tough housing projects and hip cafes. In the book, a wild-eyed crew of Islamic extremists, Orthodox Jews and Jehovah’s Witnesses get tangled up in a ritualistic murder, police corruption and the trafficking of a designer super-drug. The main protagonist is a troubled young Moroccan immigrant who reads crime novels all day. I enjoyed Miske’s command of sub-cultures and slang. This subject matter, the new France-in-the-making, is...[read on]

About The Convert's Song, from the publisher:

A global manhunt sweeps up a former federal agent when his childhood friend becomes the chief suspect in a terrorist rampage.

His hazardous stint in U.S. law enforcement behind him, Valentine Pescatore has started over as a private investigator in Buenos Aires. Then he runs into a long-lost friend: Raymond Mercer, a charismatic, troubled singer who has converted to Islam. After a terrorist attack kills hundreds, suspicion falls on Raymond—and Pescatore.

Angry and bewildered, Pescatore joins forces with Fatima Belhaj, an alluring French agent. They pursue the enigmatic Raymond into a global labyrinth of intrigue. Is he a terrorist, a gangster, a spy? Is his loyalty to Pescatore genuine, or just another lethal scam?

From the jungles of South America to the streets of Paris to the battlegrounds of Baghdad, The Convert’s Song leads Pescatore on a race to stop a high-stakes campaign of terror.

Learn more about The Convert's Song at the Mulholland Books website.

Writers Read: Sebastian Rotella.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six of the best books about wounded masculinity

Laura Kipnis's new book is Men: Notes from an Ongoing Investigation. One of her six favorite books about wounded masculinity, as shared at The Week magazine:

U & I by Nicholson Baker

The "U" in the title is John Updike, whose talent obsesses Baker: How does his own stack up in comparison? A grandiloquent goofball, Baker can't stop fretting about his literary reputation, his psoriasis (an affliction he's proud to share with Updike), and why Updike invited writer Tim O'Brien to go golfing instead of him. His ambitions, insecurities, and pettiness are cringe-making, but also, in a weird way, magnificent.

Read about another book on the list.

U and I is one of Rebecca Mead's top 10 books about reading.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Max M. Edling's "A Hercules in the Cradle"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: A Hercules in the Cradle: War, Money, and the American State, 1783-1867 by Max M. Edling.

About the book, from the publisher:

Two and a half centuries after the American Revolution the United States stands as one of the greatest powers on earth and the undoubted leader of the western hemisphere. This stupendous evolution was far from a foregone conclusion at independence. The conquest of the North American continent required violence, suffering, and bloodshed. It also required the creation of a national government strong enough to go to war against, and acquire territory from, its North American rivals.

In A Hercules in the Cradle, Max M. Edling argues that the federal government’s abilities to tax and to borrow money, developed in the early years of the republic, were critical to the young nation’s ability to wage war and expand its territory. He traces the growth of this capacity from the time of the founding to the aftermath of the Civil War, including the funding of the War of 1812 and the Mexican War. Edling maintains that the Founding Fathers clearly understood the connection between public finance and power: a well-managed public debt was a key part of every modern state. Creating a debt would always be a delicate and contentious matter in the American context, however, and statesmen of all persuasions tried to pay down the national debt in times of peace. A Hercules in the Cradle explores the origin and evolution of American public finance and shows how the nation’s rise to great-power status in the nineteenth century rested on its ability to go into debt.

Learn more about A Hercules in the Cradle at The University of Chicago Press website.

The Page 99 Test: A Hercules in the Cradle.

--Marshal Zeringue

Coffee with a canine: Nikki Kelly & Alfie and Goose

Featured at Coffee with a Canine: Nikki Kelly & Alfie and Goose.

The author, on how Alfie and Goose both help and hinder her work:

When I'm working (usually through the night) they won't leave my side, so they sleep on the sofa in my office. But, when they wake up and decide they want attention I have to take a break to...[read on]

About Kelly's new novel Lailah, from the publisher:

The girl knows she’s different. She doesn’t age. She has no family. She has visions of a past life, but no clear clues as to what she is, or where she comes from. But there is a face in her dreams – a light that breaks through the darkness. She knows his name is Gabriel.

On her way home from work, the girl encounters an injured stranger whose name is Jonah. Soon, she will understand that Jonah belongs to a generation of Vampires that serve darker forces. Jonah and the few like him are fighting with help from an unlikely ally, a rogue Angel named Gabriel.

In the crossfire between good and evil, love and hate, and life and death, the girl learns her name: Lailah. But when the lines between black and white begin to blur, where in the spectrum will she find her place? And with whom?

Gabriel and Jonah both want to protect her. But Lailah will have to fight her own battle to find out who she truly is.

Visit Nikki Kelly's website.

Coffee with a Canine: Nikki Kelly & Alfie and Goose.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Jenna Black's "Revolution"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Revolution (Replica Trilogy Series #3) by Jenna Black.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Revolution, Nadia Lake and Nate Hayes find themselves at the center of a horrifying conspiracy in the action-packed finale of Jenna Black’s SF romance series that began with Replica

Paxco has a new ruler.

Dorothy Hayes claims to be the secret daughter of the recently-assassinated Chairman. She also claims that Nate Hayes, the true heir and her supposed brother, was the one who murdered their father.

Nate and his best friend, Nadia Lake, are the only ones who know the truth about what really happened to the Chairman, and more importantly, the truth about Dorothy.

But with Dorothy in power, Nate and Nadia know their days are numbered. They have nowhere to run except the Basement, Paxco’s perilous and lawless slums. But Dorothy is far from content with driving her enemies into hiding.

She wants them dead.

Visit Jenna Black's website.

Writers Read: Jenna Black.

The Page 69 Test: Revolution.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Jonathan Petropoulos reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Jonathan Petropoulos, author of Artists Under Hitler: Collaboration and Survival in Nazi Germany.

His entry begins:

I just finished one book, Ian McEwan’s Amsterdam, and am half way through Anne Sinclair’s My Grandfather’s Gallery. The former is by my favorite writer, whom I admire for his nuanced prose, his character development, and perhaps most of all, for his ability to master specific professions. In Amsterdam, he puts himself inside the heads of a musician (a composer) and a journalist. McEwan has brilliant things to say about the creative process—how artists push themselves and sacrifice in order to achieve something great—and his journalist character also takes up the issue of balancing professional accomplishment with the pressures of the “real world.” McEwan is also always good for an astonishing ending. In this case...[read on]

About Artists Under Hitler, from the publisher:

“What are we to make of those cultural figures, many with significant international reputations, who tried to find accommodation with the Nazi regime?” Jonathan Petropoulos asks in this exploration of some of the most acute moral questions of the Third Reich. In his nuanced analysis of prominent German artists, architects, composers, film directors, painters, and writers who rejected exile, choosing instead to stay during Germany’s darkest period, Petropoulos shows how individuals variously dealt with the regime’s public opposition to modern art. His findings explode the myth that all modern artists were anti-Nazi and all Nazis anti-modernist.

Artists Under Hitler closely examines cases of artists who failed in their attempts to find accommodation with the Nazi regime (Walter Gropius, Paul Hindemith, Gottfried Benn, Ernst Barlach, Emil Nolde) as well as others whose desire for official acceptance was realized (Richard Strauss, Gustaf Gründgens, Leni Riefenstahl, Arno Breker, Albert Speer). Collectively these ten figures illuminate the complex cultural history of Nazi Germany, while individually they provide haunting portraits of people facing excruciating choices and grave moral questions.

Learn more about Artists Under Hitler at the Yale University Press website.

Writers Read: Jonathan Petropoulos.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Donald Stoker's "Clausewitz: His Life and Work"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Clausewitz: His Life and Work by Donald Stoker.

About the book, from the publisher:

Carl von Clausewitz's masterwork, On War, is generally considered the greatest text on military theory ever written. Clausewitz is a touchstone for the field today, and is read by scholars, students, and military personnel around the world. And yet to Clausewitz himself, far more important than achieving recognition for his scholarly and theoretical contributions was achieving glory on the field of battle-winning renown not with his pen but with his sword.

Military historian Donald Stoker's perceptive biography of Carl von Clausewitz moves skillfully between Clausewitz's career as a soldier and his work as a theoretician and author, exploring the composition of On War and other works while also emphasizing the many military engagements in which Clausewitz fought. Though Clausewitz certainly spilled his share of ink, he also spilled blood--his as well as that of the enemy. As an officer in the Prussian army, Clausewitz fought in battles from Jena-Auerstedt to Waterloo, as well as the battle of Borodino while serving the Russians. Stoker takes readers through the heat of these battles, providing historical overview and discussing each engagement in detail. Rich context is provided by Clausewitz himself, who wrote abundant letters to his wife and friends throughout his life, and from which Stoker draws extensively.

Clausewitz argues for the centrality of Clausewitz's work as a soldier, but it does not neglect his historical achievements in military theory. Stoker unpacks each of Clausewitz's significant works, considering their influences and describing the circumstances around their composition. The interplay between the biographical details of Clausewitz's life and the arguments put forth in his written works allows for a deeper understanding of these familiar texts, and Stoker's insightful commentary adds depth to the discussion. The result is an absorbing reassessment of both the man and his legacy, and a significant contribution to the study of Clausewitz and his place in today's military and political landscape.

Learn more about Clausewitz: His Life and Work at the Oxford University Press website.

Donald Stoker is Professor of Strategy and Policy for the U.S. Naval War College's program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is the author of The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War.

The Page 99 Test: The Grand Design.

My Book, The Movie: Clausewitz: His Life and Work.

The Page 99 Test: Clausewitz: His Life and Work.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five novelists who were one-hit wonders

One of five authors who became famous after publishing a single novel and never published another one, as tagged by John Bardinelli at The Barnes & Noble Book Blog:

To Kill a Mockingbird, by Harper Lee

Harper Lee always had a strong interest in English literature. During her college years she wrote a number of short stories and eventually secured in agent in 1956. Her very next piece was the original manuscript for To Kill a Mockingbird. It read more like a collection of stories than a unified narrative, so for the next two and a half years she worked with an editor to turn it into the novel we still write book reports about today.

Lee is notoriously reclusive and declines nearly every interview and speech request that comes her way. Many suspect she’s secretly working on another book, which is possibly the least dramatic but most tantalizing conspiracy theory I’ve heard in months. After To Kill a Mockingbird’s release, Lee was reported to have started writing a second book, The Long Goodbye. She eventually shelved it for unknown reasons. Then, Lee started on a non-fiction book about a serial murderer in Alabama, but that, too, was filed away.

Read about another entry on the list.

To Kill a Mockingbird made Ellie Irving's top ten list of quiet heroes and heroines, a list of five books that changed Richelle Mead, 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

Stephen Policoff's "Come Away," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Come Away by Stephen Policoff.

The entry begins:

I do think Come Away would make a great movie, though it would probably take a Bold and Fearless director/producer to try to get it done. A dark domestic comedy with a mild buzz of the supernatural? A film featuring a small green girl who may or may not be a hallucination of the main character, the loosely-wrapped Paul Brickner? Sure! Bring it on.

I have always thought Edward Norton would be a great Paul (who is the main character also of my first novel, Beautiful Somewhere Else). He has the right blend of intensity, goofiness, and vaguely endearing inhibition which I see in Paul, not unlike the character he played in Moonrise Kingdom. Paul’s wife Nadia is harder; maybe Olivia...[read on]

Visit Stephen Policoff's faculty webpage and Facebook page, and learn more about Come Away.

Writers Read: Stephen Policoff.

The Page 69 Test: Come Away.

My Book, The Movie: Come Away.

--Marshal Zeringue

Kate DiCamillo's 3 favorite books of 2014

At Omnivoracious Kate DiCamillo tagged three favorite books she read this year, including:

Dear Committee Members by Julie Schumacher

I laugh out loud a lot in my day to day life. But it is very, very rare that I laugh out loud as I am reading a book. This story--told entirely in letters of recommendation--made me laugh loud and long. It also moved me.

Read about another book on the list.

Dear Committee Members is among Ellen Wehle's four top novels "in which teachers and students run just a little bit off the rails."

The Page 69 Test: Dear Committee Members.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Neguin Yavari's "Advice for the Sultan"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Advice for the Sultan: Prophetic Voices and Secular Politics in Medieval Islam by Neguin Yavari.

About the book, from the publisher:

In Advice for the Sultan Neguin Yavari excavates multiple, conflicting strands of Islamic political thought from the medieval past to the present, reassessing these ideas and their impact over the longue duree. Her aim is to revise our understanding of the relation- ship between modern history and the current master narratives of both Western and Islamic histories of political thought. She does this by re-examinating Islamic advice literature, bringing it to life in novel ways. Yavari argues that if read laterally and closely, it promotes secular values such as reason and moderation as the most effective safeguard against political instability and divine rebuke. Related questions raised in this book include, can Islamic political thought be folded into the discipline of intellectual history? How do we write the history of political thought when its end-product is not seen as the march of a manifest destiny, or progressive secularisation, or the promotion of liberal values, such as is the case with the Islamic world today? Is it possible to read texts for context if the values adumbrated in them do not take hold in society, or to study those that produce political communities that differ radically from those that emerged in eighteenth- and the nineteenth-century Europe?

Learn more about Advice for the Sultan at the Oxford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Advice for the Sultan.

--Marshal Zeringue

6 of the most prolific authors

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog John Bardinelli tagged six of the most prolific authors, including:

Stephen King

While he may not have the numbers as high as the others on the list, you can’t ignore the writing force that is Stephen King. Since his 1973 debut novel Carrie, King has released over 60 full-length works of fiction and almost 200 short stories. He’s created screenplays and written both comics and non-fiction. Just about every idea that comes out of his brain is eventually adapted into a movie. All he needs to do is live long enough, and he’ll have a comfortable spot with the other insanely prolific writers of the world.

Read about another author on the list.

Learn about Stephen King's top 10 works of literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Ann Purser's "Suspicion at Seven"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Suspicion at Seven: A Lois Meade Mystery by Ann Purser.

About the book, from the publisher:

Lois Meade has done enough buffing and polishing over the years with her cleaning business, New Brooms, to know that all that glitters is not gold. So when a bag of costume jewellery is the main clue in a murder, she has a strong suspicion that appearances may be deceiving…

After a woman is discovered in the Mill House Hotel, strangled with a silver necklace beside a bag filled with faux silver, gold and pearls, costume jewelry dealer Donald Black seems like the obvious suspect. But Lois knows Donald’s wife, who runs a baker’s shop near the hotel, and can’t believe her husband could be a killer. Plus, Donald has an airtight alibi.

Nevertheless, Donald is no angel. It appears he’s running a pyramid scheme, and Lois’s mother is getting sucked in. Could the murder have anything to do with his unscrupulous business practices?

As Inspector Cowgill and Lois hope the bling may shine a light on the killer, the discovery of a second body on the old waterwheel in the hotel may be grist for the mill in solving the murder—if they can manage to catch the culprit without getting the runaround.

Learn more about the book and author at Ann Purser's website.

The Page 69 Test: Found Guilty at Five.

Writers Read: Ann Purser.

My Book, The Movie: Suspicion at Seven.

The Page 69 Test: Suspicion at Seven.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top science fiction books about superintelligence

"The idea that humans might one day become superintelligent — or invent a superintelligent computer — is a staple of science fiction," writes Annalee Newitz at io9. "It's also taken seriously by scientists and engineers as a plausible outcome of today's technologies." One of ten key books Newitz says we should read to understand brains of the future:

Excession, by Iain M. Banks

This is one of Banks' early Culture novels, which focuses a lot on the superintelligent Minds that run human culture with sarcastic benevolence. Like the robots in Isaac Asimov's I, Robot collection, who lead humanity into a world of unprecedented peace and prosperity, these Minds allow humans to goof around like idiots while they keep things running. Often implanted in Ships and Orbitals where humans live, these Minds are humanity's caretakers — but they also have their own, incomprehensibly complex business to deal with. In Excession, they discover a subspace anomaly that may be an intrusion from another universe. Only the Minds can fully comprehend such a thing, and even they are out of their depth.

Read about another book on the list.

Iain M. Banks' Culture novels appear on Charlie Jane Anders's list of ten book series so addictive, you never want them to end. Consider Phlebas, the first story in the Culture series, is one of Peter Millar's six favorite satires on despotism.

--Marshal Zeringue

Cover story: "A History of Stepfamilies in Early America"

Lisa Wilson is the Charles J. MacCurdy Professor of American History at Connecticut College and the author of A History of Stepfamilies in Early America (University of North Carolina Press, 2014). She is also the author of the award-winning, Ye Heart of a Man: The Domestic Life of Men in Colonial New England (Yale University Press, 1999) and Life After Death: Widows in Pennsylvania, 1750-1850 (Temple University Press, 1992).

Here Wilson explains the connection of the book's cover to the pages within:

The cover of my book is a group portrait called The Washington Family. It was created by the well-known portrait-painter, Edward Savage, between 1789 and 1796. The children in the portrait are the stepson and stepdaughter of George Washington -- George "Washy" Washington Parke Custis and Eleanor "Nelly" Parke Custis. They were the children of Washington's stepson, Jackie Custis who by his stepfather's side at Yorktown at the end of the Revolution contracted "camp fever" and died soon after. Washington promised to take in his children. This portrait was very large and was proudly displayed at Mount Vernon. The father of our country was actually the head of a stepfather family. He never had children of his own. He like other members of the founding generation, such as Benjamin Franklin or Paul Revere, was a member of a stepfamily. Stepfamilies were very common in the past as well as the present. In fact, I argue they were "traditional" American families.

Learn more about A History of Stepfamilies in Early America at The University of North Carolina Press website.

The Page 99 Test: A History of Stepfamilies in Early America.

--Marshal Zeringue

Beth Bernobich's "The Time Roads," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: The Time Roads by Beth Bernobich.

The entry begins:

The Time Roads is probably the first novel where I matched real-world actors to the characters in my head. It's also a novel that consists of four separate stories, written over the course of twelve years, so my choices reflect not only how I pictured my characters, but when I first wrote the story where each first appeared.

Áine Devereaux, the Queen of Éire, is easy. My choice is Cate Blanchett as she appeared in Elizabeth. She has the height, the regal attitude, the ability to play both sides of Áine's character, by turns cool and dispassionate, fierce and quick-tempered.

Continuing along the list of actors from Elizabeth, Joseph...[read on]

Learn more about the book and author at Beth Bernobich's website.

The Page 69 Test: Passion Play.

The Page 69 Test: The Time Roads.

My Book, The Movie: The Time Roads.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Jenna Black reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Jenna Black, author of Revolution (Replica Trilogy Series #3).

Her entry begins:

In September, I went to the Writer's Police Academy (my third time!), and went to a presentation by thriller writer and explosives expert John Gilstrap. He was such an entertaining presenter that I just had to read one of his books. At the autographing at the end of the weekend, I picked up Threat Warning, which was a middle book in his Jonathan Graves thriller series. I read it and became completely addicted, so I've been working my way through the entire series as well as a couple of his standalone thrillers. The one I finished most recently was Hostage Zero. A couple of kids are kidnapped, and...[read on]

About Revolution, from the publisher:

In Revolution, Nadia Lake and Nate Hayes find themselves at the center of a horrifying conspiracy in the action-packed finale of Jenna Black’s SF romance series that began with Replica

Paxco has a new ruler.

Dorothy Hayes claims to be the secret daughter of the recently-assassinated Chairman. She also claims that Nate Hayes, the true heir and her supposed brother, was the one who murdered their father.

Nate and his best friend, Nadia Lake, are the only ones who know the truth about what really happened to the Chairman, and more importantly, the truth about Dorothy.

But with Dorothy in power, Nate and Nadia know their days are numbered. They have nowhere to run except the Basement, Paxco’s perilous and lawless slums. But Dorothy is far from content with driving her enemies into hiding.

She wants them dead.

Visit Jenna Black's website.

Writers Read: Jenna Black.

--Marshal Zeringue

The top 5 James Bond titles

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Joel Cunningham tagged the top five James Bond titles, including:

Goldfinger, by Ian Fleming

In the grand tradition of villains with oddly appropriate names, one figure outshines all others: the precious-metal-obsessed Goldfinger, star of one of the best Bonds on the page or onscreen. It’s a little ridiculous, maybe a little dirty, and entirely memorable. No one’s ever going to be like, “Goldfinger—which one was that again?”

Read about another title on the list.

Honor Blackman played Pussy Galore in the movie version of Goldfinger. Learn about her six best books.

--Marshal Zeringue

Free book: "Last Days in Shanghai"

The Campaign for the American Reader and Counterpoint Press are giving away a copy of Casey Walker's new novel, Last Days in Shanghai.

HOW TO ENTER: (1) send an email to this address:

(2) In the subject line, type Last Days.

(3) Include your name (or alias or whatever you wish to be called if I email you to tell you you've won the book) in the body of the email.

[I will not sell or share your email address; nor will I be in touch with you unless it is to tell you you have won the book.  I promise.]

Contest closes at 6PM (CST) on Thursday, December 11, 2014.

Note: check your email on December 12th to see if you've won: you'll have 2 days to respond with your address. If I don't hear from you in 48 hours, I'll pick another winner. [Or just go ahead and include your address in your entry-email; I promise I'll not sell it or send you anything other than book.]

Only one entry per person, please.

Winner must have a US mailing address.

Read more about Last Days in Shanghai.

Follow Casey Walker on Twitter.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Karen Abbott's "Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy: Four Women Undercover in the Civil War by Karen Abbott.

About the book, from the publisher:

Karen Abbott, the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and “pioneer of sizzle history” (USA Today), tells the spellbinding true story of four women who risked everything to become spies during the Civil War.

Karen Abbott illuminates one of the most fascinating yet little known aspects of the Civil War: the stories of four courageous women—a socialite, a farmgirl, an abolitionist, and a widow—who were spies.

After shooting a Union soldier in her front hall with a pocket pistol, Belle Boyd became a courier and spy for the Confederate army, using her charms to seduce men on both sides. Emma Edmonds cut off her hair and assumed the identity of a man to enlist as a Union private, witnessing the bloodiest battles of the Civil War. The beautiful widow, Rose O’Neale Greenhow, engaged in affairs with powerful Northern politicians to gather intelligence for the Confederacy, and used her young daughter to send information to Southern generals. Elizabeth Van Lew, a wealthy Richmond abolitionist, hid behind her proper Southern manners as she orchestrated a far-reaching espionage ring, right under the noses of suspicious rebel detectives.

Using a wealth of primary source material and interviews with the spies’ descendants, Abbott seamlessly weaves the adventures of these four heroines throughout the tumultuous years of the war. With a cast of real-life characters including Walt Whitman, Nathaniel Hawthorne, General Stonewall Jackson, detective Allan Pinkerton, Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln, and Emperor Napoleon III, Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy draws you into the war as these daring women lived it.

Visit Karen Abbott's website.

Abbott's previous books include the New York Times bestselling Sin in the Second City and American Rose.

The Page 69 Test: Sin in the Second City.

The Page 99 Test: American Rose.

The Page 99 Test: Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy.

--Marshal Zeringue

Five of the best new books about ancient history

One of five top new books about ancient history, as shared at History of the Ancient World:

The Amazons: Lives and Legends of Warrior Women across the Ancient World
by Adrienne Mayor

Amazons—fierce warrior women dwelling on the fringes of the known world—were the mythic archenemies of the ancient Greeks. Heracles and Achilles displayed their valor in duels with Amazon queens, and the Athenians reveled in their victory over a powerful Amazon army. In historical times, Cyrus of Persia, Alexander the Great, and the Roman general Pompey tangled with Amazons.

But just who were these bold barbarian archers on horseback who gloried in fighting, hunting, and sexual freedom? Were Amazons real? In this deeply researched, wide-ranging, and lavishly illustrated book, National Book Award finalist Adrienne Mayor presents the Amazons as they have never been seen before. This is the first comprehensive account of warrior women in myth and history across the ancient world, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Great Wall of China.

Mayor tells how amazing new archaeological discoveries of battle-scarred female skeletons buried with their weapons prove that women warriors were not merely figments of the Greek imagination. Combining classical myth and art, nomad traditions, and scientific archaeology, she reveals intimate, surprising details and original insights about the lives and legends of the women known as Amazons. Provocatively arguing that a timeless search for a balance between the sexes explains the allure of the Amazons, Mayor reminds us that there were as many Amazon love stories as there were war stories. The Greeks were not the only people enchanted by Amazons—Mayor shows that warlike women of nomadic cultures inspired exciting tales in ancient Egypt, Persia, India, Central Asia, and China.

Driven by a detective’s curiosity, Mayor unearths long-buried evidence and sifts fact from fiction to show how flesh-and-blood women of the Eurasian steppes were mythologized as Amazons, the equals of men. The result is likely to become a classic.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Page 99 Test: The Amazons.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Stephen Policoff's "Come Away"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: Come Away by Stephen Policoff.

About the book, from the publisher:

Who is the small, greenish girl Paul Brickner repeatedly sees skittering around the edge of his yard in upstate New York? No one else seems to see her. Ever since Spring was injured in a fluke fall, Paul has been possessed with the anxiety that he might lose her.

Visit Stephen Policoff's faculty webpage and Facebook page, and learn more about Come Away.

Writers Read: Stephen Policoff.

The Page 69 Test: Come Away.

--Marshal Zeringue

Eight of the best books told by child narrators

The Off the Shelf Staff tagged eight great books told by child narrators, including:

The Life of Pi
by Yann Martel

A ship sinks and sixteen year old Pi finds himself in a lifeboat, his only companions a hyena, an orangutan, a wounded zebra, and Richard Parker, a 450-pound Bengal tiger. Soon the tiger has dispatched all but Pi, whose fear, knowledge, and cunning allow him to coexist with Richard Parker for 227 days while lost at sea. A mesmerizing tale that keeps you guessing long after you turn the last page.

Read about another entry on the list.

Life of Pi is on Janis MacKay's top ten list of books set on the ocean, Kathryn Williams's list of six notable novels set in just one place, Scott Greenstone's list of seven top allegorical novels, Sara Gruen's six favorite books list, the Barnes & Noble Review's list of five top books on castaways, and John Mullan's list of ten of the best zoos in literature.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Geoffrey Parker's "Imprudent King"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Imprudent King: A New Life of Philip II by Geoffrey Parker.

About the book, from the publisher:

Philip II is not only the most famous king in Spanish history, but one of the most famous monarchs in English history: the man who married Mary Tudor and later launched the Spanish Armada against her sister Elizabeth I. This compelling biography of the most powerful European monarch of his day begins with his conception (1526) and ends with his ascent to Paradise (1603), two occurrences surprisingly well documented by contemporaries. Eminent historian Geoffrey Parker draws on four decades of research on Philip as well as a recent, extraordinary archival discovery—a trove of 3,000 documents in the vaults of the Hispanic Society of America in New York City, unread since crossing Philip’s own desk more than four centuries ago. Many of them change significantly what we know about the king.

The book examines Philip’s long apprenticeship; his three principal interests (work, play, and religion); and the major political, military, and personal challenges he faced during his long reign. Parker offers fresh insights into the causes of Philip’s leadership failures: was his empire simply too big to manage, or would a monarch with different talents and temperament have fared better?

Learn more about Imprudent King at the Yale University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Imprudent King.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Andrew Denning reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Andrew Denning, author of Skiing into Modernity: A Cultural and Environmental History.

His entry begins:

I’m currently plowing through Guy Delisle’s fantastic Jerusalem: Chronicles from the Holy City — an absolute joy to read! Delisle, a graphic novelist, accompanied his partner to Israel for a year while she worked for Doctors Without Borders in the West Bank. The author cared for the couple’s two children as his partner went to work each day, and his observations of daily life are rendered in an engaging visual style and with a wry sense of humor. He offers occasional descriptions of the political situation and ethnic conflicts in this city celebrated by Christians, Jews, and Muslims alike, but...[read on]

About Skiing into Modernity, from the publisher:

Skiing into Modernity is the story of how skiing moved from Europe’s Scandinavian periphery to the mountains of central Europe, where it came to define the modern Alps and set the standard for skiing across the world.

Denning offers a fresh, sophisticated, and engaging cultural and environmental history of skiing that alters our understanding of the sport and reveals how leisure practices evolve in unison with our changing relationship to nature. Denning probes the modernist self-definition of Alpine skiers and the sport’s historical appeal for individuals who sought to escape city strictures while achieving mastery of mountain environments through technology and speed—two central features distinguishing early twentieth-century cultures.

Skiing into Modernity surpasses existing literature on the history of skiing to explore intersections between work, tourism, leisure, development, environmental destruction, urbanism, and more.

Learn more about Skiing into Modernity at the University of California Press website and Andrew Denning's website.

Writers Read: Andrew Denning.

--Marshal Zeringue

Tawni Waters's "Beauty of the Broken," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Beauty of the Broken by Tawni Waters.

The entry begins:

Beauty of the Broken would make a kick-ass movie. My agent says so, which is sort of like your mom saying you’re special, but still.

The book’s protagonist Mara Stonebrook is a quirky, tortured girl growing up in an abusive family in the small, bigoted town of Barnaby, New Mexico. In a fit of drunken rage, her daddy beats her beloved brother Iggy so badly, he gives him brain damage. Mara’s depressed, alcoholic mother does nothing to protect Iggy, leaving Mara responsible for his welfare.

To make matters worse, Mara finds herself falling in love with Xylia Brown, a beautiful, hip transplant from San Francisco who worships goddesses rather than a male version of God. Mara’s lesbian ardor is so not cool in her hyper-religious community. Let’s just say the townsfolk frown on homosexuality. Emphatically frown. Sometimes, with weapons.

Enter Henry Begay, who moves to Barnaby from his home on the nearby reservation, spouting “blasphemous” religion and sporting braids, thick glasses, and white-freckled clothing because his father is obsessed with squirting things with bleach.

Mara, Henry, Iggy, and Xylia form an alliance of soulful rejects. The fiery, hateful Reverend Winchell is not amused by the influx of heathens, and his son, the pimply, self-righteous Elijah Winchell takes it on himself to torture them. Hijinx ensue. And by hinjinx, I mean mayhem and death, with a generous side-helping of forbidden love.

On the chance that Hollywood agrees with my agent, my dream cast for Beauty of the Broken:

Jennifer Lawrence as Mara: She reminds me of Mara in so many ways. Down-to-earth, sassy, irreverent, and...[read on]

Visit Tawni Waters's Facebook page.

My Book, The Movie: Beauty of the Broken.

--Marshal Zeringue

Ten top YA literature retellings – beyond the fairy tales

At BuzzFeed, the good folks at St. Martin's Press tagged ten top YA literature retellings – beyond the fairy tales, including:

The Hollow by Jessica Verday

Retelling of: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving

When Abbey’s best friend, Kristen, vanishes at the bridge near Sleepy Hollow Cemetary, everyone else is all too quick to believe Kristen is dead, and it may not have been an accident. Abbey refuses to believe Kristen could really be gone, and as she investigates what may have happened to her friend, she learns a secret that makes her question everything she thought she knew.

Read about another entry on the list.

My Book, The Movie: The Hollow.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Lisa Wilson's "A History of Stepfamilies in Early America"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: A History of Stepfamilies in Early America by Lisa Wilson.

About the book, from the publisher:

Stepfamilies are not a modern phenomenon, but despite this reality, the history of stepfamilies in America has yet to be fully explored. In the first book-length work on the topic, Lisa Wilson examines the stereotypes and actualities of colonial stepfamilies and reveals them to be important factors in early United States domestic history. Remarriage was a necessity in this era, when war and disease took a heavy toll, all too often leading to domestic stress, and cultural views of stepfamilies during this time placed great strain on stepmothers and stepfathers. Both were seen either as unfit substitutes or as potentially unstable influences, and nowhere were these concerns stronger than in white middle-class families, for whom stepparents presented a paradox.

Wilson shares the stories of real stepfamilies in early New England, investigating the relationship between prejudice and lived experience, and, in the end, offers a new way of looking at family units throughout history and the cultural stereotypes that still affect stepfamilies today.

Learn more about A History of Stepfamilies in Early America at The University of North Carolina Press website.

The Page 99 Test: A History of Stepfamilies in Early America.

--Marshal Zeringue

Cover story: "Heaven Can Wait"

Diana Walsh Pasulka earned her B.A. degree from the University of California at Davis, her M.A. from the Graduate Theological Union in Berkeley and her Ph.D. in Religious Studies from Syracuse University. She is an Associate Professor in the Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of North Carolina, Wilmington, and has published on the subject of conceptions of the afterlife and Catholic history.

Pasulka's new book is Heaven Can Wait: Purgatory in Catholic Devotional and Popular Culture.

Here she explains the connection of the book's cover to the pages within:

Heaven Can Wait is my first book and I felt a keen obligation to choose a cover that would convey the variety of meanings that I felt were important in my research. Of course, this is almost an impossible task, but I believe I accomplished it by choosing the painting by seventeenth century Peruvian Incan artist Diego Quispe Tito. His style influenced an artistic movement called the Cusco School (Escuela Cuzqueña). His work incorporated indigenous symbols and signs with European Catholic elements. More than anything his work portrays a sensual and almost tactile view of the afterlife. I was immediately drawn to the painting because it covered the spectrum of what people believed about purgatory for hundreds of years. The Virgin Mary, who was at one time considered “The Queen of Purgatory,” is represented here as a compassionate liberator of suffering souls, pictured below her, rising from flames.

My book asks the question “What happened to the Catholic doctrine of purgatory?” The doctrine and its devotions were a central aspect of Catholic practice for hundreds of years, and today representations of purgatory are more likely to be found in video games and in movies than in a local Catholic church. The story I uncover reveals a long trend to disassociate purgatory from its most physical or material representations. When clerics discuss purgatory today it is referred to as a “condition” and not a place. Yet its most popular representations, as portrayed by Tito’s painting, reveal a different story, rich in sensory data, and beautiful to behold.

Learn more about Heaven Can Wait at the Oxford University Press website.

The Page 99 Test: Heaven Can Wait.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 69: Beth Bernobich's "The Time Roads"

Featured at the Page 69 Test: The Time Roads by Beth Bernobich.

About the book, from the publisher:

A fantastical nineteenth century alternate historical steampunk romp from Beth Bernobich, the critically acclaimed author of the River of Souls trilogy.

Éire is one of the most powerful empires in the world. The Anglian Dependencies are a dusty backwater filled with resentful colonial subjects, Europe is a disjointed mess, and many look to Éire for stability and peace. In a series of braided stories, Beth Bernobich has created a tale about the brilliant Éireann scientists who have already bent the laws of nature for Man's benefit. And who now are striving to conquer the nature of time.

The Golden Octopus: Áine Lasairíona Devereaux, the young Queen of Éire, balances Court politics while pursing the Crown's goals of furthering scientific discovery. When those discoveries lead to the death and madness of those she loves, Áine must choose between her heart and her duty to her kingdom.

A Flight of Numbers Fantastique Strange: Síomón Madóc is desperately trying to discover who is killing the brightest of Éire's mathematicians. The key to saving lives lies in the future...and Síomón must figure out a way to get there.

Ars Memoriae: Éireann spymaster Aidrean Ó Deághaidh goes to the kingdom of Montenegro to investigate rumors of great unrest. But Ó Deághaidh is tormented by visions of a different timeline and suspects that someone in his own government is playing a double game….

The Time Roads: Éire stands on the brink of the modern age, but old troubles still plague the kingdom. An encounter with a mysterious stranger near death holds the clue to both the past and the future of the nation.

Learn more about the book and author at Beth Bernobich's website.

The Page 69 Test: Passion Play.

The Page 69 Test: The Time Roads.

--Marshal Zeringue

The six greatest fictional mustaches

At The Barnes & Noble Book Blog Ginni Chen tagged six of greatest fictional mustaches, including:

Ignatius Reilly (A Confederacy of Dunces, by John Kennedy Toole)

“Full, pursed lips protruded beneath the bushy black moustache and, at their corners, sank into little folds filled with disapproval and potato chip crumbs.” It’s probably one of the funniest lines in all of literature, and it’ll forever echo in our minds when we watch our mustachioed friends eat.

Read about another entry on the list.

Ignatius Reilly is on Chrissie Gruebel's top eleven list of books that will make you glad you're single, Melissa Albert's list of six of the worst fictional characters to sit next to on a plane and Jill Boyd's list of five of the worst fictional characters to invite to Thanksgiving. A Confederacy of Dunces is among the Telegraph's critics' fifty best cult books, Melissa Albert's eight favorite fictional misfits, Ken Jennings's eight notable books about parents and kids, Sarah Stodol's top ten lost-then-found novels, Hallie Ephron's top ten books for a good laugh, Stephen Kelman's top 10 outsiders' stories, John Mullan's ten best moustaches in literature, Michael Lewis's five favorite books, and Cracked magazine's classic funny novels.

--Marshal Zeringue

Pg. 99: Oleg Benesch's "Inventing the Way of the Samurai"

Featured at the Page 99 Test: Inventing the Way of the Samurai: Nationalism, Internationalism, and Bushido in Modern Japan by Oleg Benesch.

About the book, from the publisher:

Inventing the Way of the Samurai examines the development of the 'way of the samurai' - bushido - which is popularly viewed as a defining element of the Japanese national character and even the 'soul of Japan'. Rather than a continuation of ancient traditions, however, bushido developed from a search for identity during Japan's modernization in the late nineteenth century. The former samurai class were widely viewed as a relic of a bygone age in the 1880s, and the first significant discussions of bushido at the end of the decade were strongly influenced by contemporary European ideals of gentlemen and chivalry. At the same time, Japanese thinkers increasingly looked to their own traditions in search of sources of national identity, and this process accelerated as national confidence grew with military victories over China and Russia.

Inventing the Way of the Samurai considers the people, events, and writings that drove the rapid growth of bushido , which came to emphasize martial virtues and absolute loyalty to the emperor. In the early twentieth century, bushido became a core subject in civilian and military education, and was a key ideological pillar supporting the imperial state until its collapse in 1945. The close identification of bushido with Japanese militarism meant that it was rejected immediately after the war, but different interpretations of bushido were soon revived by both Japanese and foreign commentators seeking to explain Japan's past, present, and future. This volume further explores the factors behind the resurgence of bushido, which has proven resilient through 130 years of dramatic social, political, and cultural change.

Learn more about Inventing the Way of the Samurai at the Oxford University Press website and Oleg Benesch's website.

The Page 99 Test: Inventing the Way of the Samurai.

--Marshal Zeringue

Donald Stoker's "Clausewitz: His Life and Work," the movie

Featured at My Book, The Movie: Clausewitz: His Life and Work by Donald Stoker.

The entry begins:

I think a movie about Carl von Clausewitz, the nineteenth-century Prussian officer best known for penning On War, would be quite interesting, though for reasons many might not know. When I ask my students “Who was Carl von Clausewitz?” they invariably reply “a theorist” or “a German general.” He certainly was these things, but he was much more besides.

It is this “much more” that would make a movie about Clausewitz a fascinating period piece. Our backdrop is the tumult of the French Revolution and the sweep of the Napoleonic Wars (1789-1815). Clausewitz grew up in and fought his way through this chaotic maelstrom. Born in 1780, he went into the Prussian army as a boy (probably shortly before his twelfth birthday), and saw combat for the first time before he was 13. He participated in the shelling and siege of Mainz (1793), and then fought in the back and forth campaign in the rugged Vosges. He served as a young officer in the 1806 war with France, fought in the rearguard at Auerstedt, then survived a 14-day fighting retreat and nearly a year of imprisonment in France. Meanwhile, he carried on a long, romantic courtship of Marie von Brühl, a beautiful and exceedingly intelligent woman of superior social station. They married at the end of 1810; Marie’s widowed mother—after seven years—had finally given her blessing.

Clausewitz joined the Russian army in 1812 and served from beginning to end in one of the most famous campaigns in history: Napoleon’s invasion of Russia. He fought in...[read on]

Learn more about Clausewitz: His Life and Work at the Oxford University Press website.

Donald Stoker is Professor of Strategy and Policy for the U.S. Naval War College's program at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He is the author of The Grand Design: Strategy and the U.S. Civil War.

The Page 99 Test: The Grand Design.

My Book, The Movie: Clausewitz: His Life and Work.

--Marshal Zeringue

What is Louisa Treger reading?

Featured at Writers Read: Louisa Treger, author of The Lodger.

Her entry begins:

I have two books on the go at the moment, both completely different and both brilliant.

The first is We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves by Karen Joy Fowler. This novel is best read without any prior knowledge of the plot, so I’ll just say that it begins when Rosemary Cooke, the narrator, is 22, and gets arrested for throwing a glass of milk in her college canteen. Her sister vanished when she was 5, and she hasn’t seen her brother for 11 years, but she knows he is wanted by the FBI. The narrative keeps turning back on itself, disclosing through Rosemary’s memories the traumatic events that led to these absences. It is continually surprising, funny, tragic, complex and unsettling, exploring what it means to be human - and humane. I am nearly at the end, and I love it so much that I keep putting it away because I can’t bear to finish it – I know I’m going to...[read on]

About The Lodger, from the publisher:

Dorothy Richardson is existing just above the poverty line, doing secretarial work at a dentist's office and living in a seedy boarding house in Bloomsbury, when she is invited to spend the weekend with a childhood friend. Jane has recently married a writer who is hovering on the brink of fame. His name is H.G. Wells, or Bertie, as they call him.

Bertie appears unremarkable at first. But then Dorothy notices his grey-blue eyes taking her in, openly signaling approval. He tells her he and Jane have an agreement which allows them the freedom to take lovers, although Dorothy can tell her friend would not be happy with that arrangement.

Not wanting to betray Jane, yet unable to draw back, Dorothy free-falls into an affair with Bertie. Then a new boarder arrives at the house—beautiful Veronica Leslie-Jones—and Dorothy finds herself caught between Veronica and Bertie. Amidst the personal dramas and wreckage of a militant suffragette march, Dorothy finds her voice as a writer.

Louisa Treger's The Lodger is a beautifully intimate novel that is at once an introduction to one of the most important writers of the 20th century and a compelling story of one woman tormented by unconventional desires.

Visit Louisa Treger's website.

The Page 69 Test: The Lodger.

My Book, The Movie: The Lodger.

Writers Read: Louisa Treger.

--Marshal Zeringue

Six of the best Southern fiction books

Ron Rash is the New York Times bestselling award-winning author of Serena and The Cove. His latest book is Something Rich and Strange: Selected Stories.

One of the author's six favorite Southern fiction books, as shared at The Week magazine:

The Moviegoer by Walker Percy

Reading this novel for the first time was one of the most intense experiences of my life. The setting is New Orleans the week before Mardi Gras, and the narrator is Binx Bolling, a young stockbroker. The book contains little overt drama, and I've found that people are either indifferent to it or, like me, find in it a profound and deeply moving account of the search for meaning in life.

Read about another entry on the list.

The Moviegoer is among The Barnes & Noble Review's five top books on New Orleans, Jon Krakauer's five best books about mortality and existential angst, and Richard Ford's 5 most essential books.

--Marshal Zeringue