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August 27, 2015

20SomethingReads.com Newsletter August 27, 2015
The Dating Supply + Demand
Special Feature: EVERYBODY RISE by Stephanie Clifford
Books on Screen: June - December 2015
Reviews
Graphic Novel Reviews
The Dating Supply + Demand

If you know anything about us by now, you know that we’ve got love on our minds. Call us hopeless romantics or just call us #basic, but the point is...we’re not the only ones. We’re fairly convinced that 20somethings around the world are just like us. (That’s right, Mom, we are not special.) We understand that love doesn’t just come out of thin air, or show up on your doorstep like your online clothing purchases...which we happen to know a thing or two about. We know that sometimes you have to jump through hoops and hurdles just to get a little romance in your life, and that starts with dating.

Dating these days is pretty cutthroat. We’re talking HUNGER GAMES-style survival of the fittest situation over here. And sometimes it seems like the odds are NOT ever in our favor…. Look, we’re generally pretty happy single ladies (Netflix and chill is totally legit solo, btw), but sometimes --- after a fourth bad Tinder date in a row --- it seems like maybe we’re the problem. So we were thrilled to come across Jon Birger’s fresh-on-the-market book, DATE-ONOMICS. It informed us --- in so many numbers and words --- that statistically, as unattached, female college grads in NYC looking to date some men, the odds are not in our favor for real.

Turns out, dating really is a numbers game. According to Birger’s research, there are 30 percent more college-educated women in New York State than there are men in our demographic (ages 22-29). And that’s pretty much how it shakes out for most of the US states; overall, there are 33 percent more degree-carrying women than men in this country. That’s pretty bleak if you are a college-educated woman out here trying to date a man with the same educational background as you.

So. What to do. Birger offers some solutions in his book, but we’ve been at it for years and at this point have a bunch of our own methods (#experts). If you can’t afford to fly out to Silicon Valley every weekend to hit up all those tech bros to work out all the kinks in your latest update, we suggest three things. 1) Go to all of the events with people who share your interests, including but not limited to: concerts, book readings, Burning Man (bring bug spray), all-night Jenga tournaments, pizza parties, mini golf marathons, Shara’s kugel party, kickball leagues, etc. Our favorite online resource for finding your kind of people is Meetup.com. 2) Shake things up a bit by getting out of your comfort zone! We know it seems counterintuitive to solution #1, but different strokes. 3) Do as Buddha did and stop looking...that’s when the men start to come. Bonus solution! Offer sacrificial lambs to the gods of love.

Ultimately, we can do whatever we want to get a man, but with the odds stacked against us there’s no guaranteeing that he’ll stick around (#AshleyMadison). Point is, we’re not going to let a relationship define our happiness. Except for the deep and loving relationship we have with Henry Cavill. In our heads. And also doughnuts.

And if you have some time to kill in between all those dates or episodes of “The Mindy Project,” check out the latest post on our blog. In “A Window into the Future: A WINDOW OPENS by Elisabeth Egan,” contributor Ronnie Alvarado writes about how reading the Glamour books editor’s new novel felt like looking through a window to her future. Click here to read all about it, and to see why Ronnie thinks A WINDOW OPENS is the perfect read for 20somethings who love books (ahem!).

And if you haven’t been keeping up with our weekly #wcw posts, you can catch our latest one here. No surprise that we’re all about celebrating strong female voices in literature, so make sure to check in with us every Wednesday to see which ladies we’ve been crushing on lately.

Speaking of strong female voices, be sure to check out our Special Feature for EVERYBODY RISE by Stephanie Clifford here. The author's debut is a keenly observed novel in which a young woman plunges headlong into a glittering world of wealth and social prestige in Manhattan. We guarantee that this is not to be missed. For more information, scroll down.

So whether you’re enjoying your single life or your couple life, here are three more books to check out this week. #booksandchill

Millions of Americans struggle with severe clutter and hoarding. New York writer and bohemian Barry Yourgrau is one of them and explores this in MESS: One Man's Struggle to Clean Up His House and His Act. Behind the door of his Queens apartment, Yourgrau’s life is, quite literally, chaos. Confronted by his exasperated girlfriend, a globe-trotting food critic, he embarks on a heartfelt, wide-ranging, and too often uproarious project to take control of his crammed, disorderly apartment and life, and to explore the wider world of collecting, clutter and extreme hoarding.

THE WEDNESDAY SISTERS author Meg Waite Clayton returns with THE RACE FOR PARIS. Encouraged by her husband, the editor of a New York newspaper, Liv is determined to be the first photographer to reach Paris with the Allies and capture its freedom from the Nazis. However, her Commanding Officer has other ideas about the role of women in the press corps. To fulfill her ambitions, Liv must go AWOL. She persuades her reporter friend Jane to join her, and the two women find a guardian angel in Fletcher, a British military photographer who reluctantly agrees to escort them.

FISHBOWL by Bradley Somer tells the story of a goldfish named Ian, who falls from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He's longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne. Plummeting toward the street below, Ian witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents.

Oh, and in case we don’t speak to you before, have a great Labor Day weekend! For us it means 3.5 days off --- wahooo!

5 Things We’re Obsessed With at This Very Moment, in no particular order:
1. When your two BFFs become BFFs and write a screenplay together. Here's looking at you JLaw and SchumSchum.
2. Jennifer Weiner, author of WHO DO YOU LOVE, calling in to "Bachelor in Paradise: After Paradise" was the highbrow-meets-lowbrow highlight of our week.
3. So many new "Books on Screen" coming this fall. Our favorite new trailers are for Victor Frankenstein and Carol.
4. Drake and Serena Williams reigniting their love flame. H-A-W-T! We'll take a Love-Love score any day.
5. The books we're reading! Emily: THE SECRET HISTORY by Donna Tartt. Nicole: MY BRILLIANT FRIEND by Elena Ferrante.

Nicole Sherman (Nicole@bookreporter.com) + Emily Hoenig (Emily@bookreporter.com)

Special Feature: EVERYBODY RISE by Stephanie Clifford

EVERYBODY RISE is a keenly observed novel in which a young woman plunges headlong into a glittering world of wealth and social prestige. Evelyn Beegan, an irresistibly flawed heroine, relentlessly elbows her way up the social ladder. In order to be accepted, she must pass as upper class and be seen as someone with an established old money background. Her lies start slowly but quickly grow until the ground underneath her begins to give way.

If you're interested in winning 1 of 50 copies of EVERYBODY RISE by Stephanie Clifford from Bookreporter.com, click here to enter. The contest ends Tuesday, September 8th at noon ET.

- Click here to see the Special Feature.
- Click here to read a review.

- Click here to read more about the book.
- Click here for an excerpt.
- Click here to read more about author Stephanie Clifford.

 

Books on Screen: June - December 2015

A few months ago, we brought you a roundup of the Books on Screen that were released from January to May. Entertainment enthusiasts know that there's still plenty of films adapted from books to look forward to in 2015 --- as a blue-eyed wise man once said, "The best is yet to come."

This summer alone has already brought us Jurassic World --- a box office success of Indominus rex proportions --- and we're still looking forward to Gillian Flynn Adaptation #2, a.k.a. Dark Places, and the fantastic-looking The Fantastic Four in August. When temperatures cool later in the year, we'll have Everest --- based on a number of books about the 1996 Everest tragedy, including Jon Krakauer's INTO THIN AIR and survivor Lou Kasischke's memoir, AFTER THE WIND --- as well as a darkly intense iteration of Macbeth, with A-list talent bringing the doomed Scots to life...and *spoiler alert* death.

We can look forward to movies about men with high-tech gadgets (Spectre, Jobs), impressive literary pedigrees (Brooklyn, The Light Between Oceans, Victor Frankenstein) and forward-thinking social politics (The Danish Girl, Carol). Not to mention movies based on books with built-in, eager fan bases, like Room and The Martian.

Check out our bookshelf here for our top 20 titles hitting the big screen later this year, and be sure to keep up with our monthly Books on Screen feature for a more in-depth look at the adaptations we'll be watching in theaters and at home.

 

Reviews

AURORA by Kim Stanley Robinson (Science Fiction)
A major new novel from one of science fiction's most powerful voices, AURORA tells the incredible story of our first voyage beyond the solar system. Brilliantly imagined and beautifully told, it is the work of a writer at the height of his powers. Reviewed by Pauline Finch.

BARBARA THE SLUT AND OTHER PEOPLE by Lauren Holmes (Fiction/Short Stories)
In “Desert Hearts,” a woman takes a job selling sex toys in San Francisco rather than embark on the law career she pursued only for the sake of her father. In “Pearl and the Swiss Guy Fall in Love,” a woman realizes she much prefers the company of her pit bull to the neurotic foreign fling who won’t decamp from her apartment. And in “Barbara the Slut,” a young woman with an autistic brother, a Princeton acceptance letter, and a love of sex navigates her high school’s toxic, slut-shaming culture with open eyes. Lauren Holmes' debut collection is about family, friends and lovers, and the flaws that make us most human. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

THE BEAT GOES ON: The Complete Rebus Stories by Ian Rankin (Crime Fiction/Short Stories)
Brilliant, irascible, and frequently frustrating to both his friends and his long-suffering bosses, DI John Rebus has made the dark places of Edinburgh his home for over two decades. THE BEAT GOES ON collects all of Ian Rankin's Rebus short stories for the first time, including two never-before published tales written specifically for this collection. It’s a must-have book for crime fiction aficionados and a superb introduction for anyone looking to experience Rebus and the dark, twist-filled crimes he investigates. Reviewed by Barbara Lipkien Gershenbaum.

BLACK-EYED SUSANS by Julia Heaberlin (Psychological Thriller)
As a 16-year-old, Tessa Cartwright was found in a Texas field, barely alive with only fragments of memory as to how she got there. Ever since, the press has pursued her as the lone surviving “Black-Eyed Susan.” Her testimony about those tragic hours put a man on death row. Now, almost two decades later, Tessa is shocked to discover a freshly planted patch of black-eyed susans just outside her bedroom window. As the clock ticks toward the execution, Tessa fears for her sanity, but even more for the safety of her teenaged daughter. Reviewed by Matthew Mastricova.

BROWSINGS: A Year of Reading, Collecting, and Living with Books by Michael Dirda (Literary Criticism)
Michael Dirda's latest volume collects 50 of his witty and wide-ranging reflections on literary journalism, book collecting, and the writers he loves. Reaching from the classics to the post-moderns, his allusions dance from Samuel Johnson, Ralph Waldo Emerson and M. F. K. Fisher to Marilynne Robinson, Hunter S. Thompson and David Foster Wallace. Dirda's topics are equally diverse: literary pets, the lost art of cursive writing, novelists in old age, Oberlin College, a year in Marseille, writer's block and much more, not to overlook a few rants about Washington life and American culture. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.

COLLECTOR OF SECRETS by Richard Goodfellow (Thriller)
Max Travers, an English teacher in Japan, wants out, as his manipulative boss, Yoko, is trying to swindle the unsuspecting parents of his students. Desperate to seize his locked-up passport, he sneaks into Yoko's office in the middle of the night only to surprise the Japanese mafia's burglary in progress. Escaping with his life, Max is on the run from tattooed Yakuza, the Japanese police, and a mysterious American named Lloyd Elgin, who seems to have ties in high places. All are after the leather book Max grabbed instead of his passport. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

THE DARKEST HEART by Dan Smith (Literary Thriller)
Leaving behind his life of violence in Brazil's darkest shadows, Zico is determined to become a better man. But it seems his old life isn't quite done with him yet when he's tasked with making one last kill. It's one that could get him everything he has ever wanted: a house, some land, cash in his pocket, a future for him and his girlfriend, Daniella. But this one isn't like all the others. This one comes at a much higher price. Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.

DARKNESS THE COLOR OF SNOW by Thomas Cobb (Psychological Thriller)
On a cold, icy night, patrolman Ronny Forbert chases after a car driven by his old friend turned nemesis, Matt Laferiere. Within minutes, what begins as a clear-cut arrest for drunk driving spirals out of control into a heated argument between two young men with a troubled past and ends in a fatal hit and run. As uneasy relationships, dark secrets and old grievances reveal themselves, there are people in town who believe that a crime must have been committed, and someone --- Officer Forbert --- must pay a price, a choice that will hold devastating consequences for them all. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

DAYS OF AWE by Lauren Fox (Fiction)
Only a year ago Isabel Moore was married, was the object of adoration for her 10-year-old daughter, and thought she knew everything about her wild, extravagant, beloved best friend, Josie. But in that one short year, her husband moved out and rented his own apartment; her daughter grew into a moody insomniac; and Josie was killed in a single-car accident. As the relationships that long defined Isabel change before her eyes, she must try to understand who she really is. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

DEVIL'S BRIDGE by Linda Fairstein (Thriller)
The Manhattan waterfront is one of New York City’s most magnificent vistas, boasting both the majestic Statue of Liberty and the George Washington Bridge, the world’s busiest span for motor vehicles. But in DEVIL’S BRIDGE, Detective Mike Chapman will discover the peril that lurks along this seemingly benign expanse as he takes on his most personal case yet: the disappearance of Alex Cooper. Reviewed by Roz Shea.

DRAGONFISH by Vu Tran (Literary Thriller)
Robert, an Oakland cop, still can't let go of Suzy, the enigmatic Vietnamese wife who left him two years ago. Now she's disappeared from her new husband, Sonny, a violent Vietnamese smuggler and gambler who's blackmailing Robert into finding her for him. As he pursues her through the sleek and seamy gambling dens of Las Vegas, shadowed by Sonny's sadistic son, "Junior," and assisted by unexpected and reluctant allies, Robert learns more about his ex-wife than he ever did during their marriage. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

FISHBOWL by Bradley Somer (Fiction)
A goldfish named Ian is falling from the 27th-floor balcony on which his fishbowl sits. He's longed for adventure, so when the opportunity arises, he escapes from his bowl, clears the balcony railing and finds himself airborne. Plummeting toward the street below, Ian witnesses the lives of the Seville on Roxy residents. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

FOOL'S QUEST: Book II of the Fitz and the Fool Trilogy by Robin Hobb (Fantasy)
Long ago, Fitz and the Fool changed the world, bringing back the magic of dragons and securing both the Farseer succession and the stability of the kingdom. Or so they thought. But now the Fool is near death, maimed by mysterious pale-skinned figures whose plans for world domination hinge upon the powers the Fool may share with Fitz’s own daughter. In a horrible instant, though, Fitz’s world is undone and his beloved daughter stolen away by those who would use her as they had once sought to use the Fool --- as a weapon. Reviewed by Stephen Hubbard.

FRICTION by Sandra Brown (Thriller)
Following the death of his wife four years ago, Crawford Hunt fell into a downward spiral and lost custody of his five-year-old daughter, Georgia, to her grandparents. But he has cleaned up his act and met all the court-imposed requirements, and now the fate of his family lies with Judge Holly Spencer. When a masked gunman barges into the courtroom during the custody hearing, Crawford saves Holly from a bullet. After uncovering a horrifying truth about the gunman, he realizes that the unknown person behind the shooting remains at large…and a threat. Reviewed by Maggie Harding.

THE GRATITUDE DIARIES: How a Year Looking on the Bright Side Can Transform Your Life by Janice Kaplan (Memoir/Personal Growth)
On New Year’s Eve, journalist and former Parade editor in chief Janice Kaplan makes a promise to be grateful and look on the bright side of whatever happens. She realizes that how she feels over the next months will have less to do with the events that occur than her own attitude and perspective. Relying on both amusing personal experiences and extensive research, Kaplan explores how gratitude can transform every aspect of life, including marriage and friendship, money and ambition, health and fitness. Reviewed by Carole Turner.

THE GUILTY ONE by Sophie Littlefield (Psychological Suspense)
Maris’ safe suburban world was shattered the day her daughter was found murdered, presumably at the hands of the young woman’s boyfriend. Her marriage crumbling, her routine shattered, Maris walks away from her pampered life as a Bay Area mom the day she receives a call from Ron, father of her daughter’s killer. Wracked with guilt over his son’s actions (and his own possible contribution to them), he asks Maris a single question: Should he jump? With a man’s life in her hands, Maris must decide, perhaps for the first time, what she truly wants. Reviewed by Ray Palen.

HOSTAGE TAKER by Stefanie Pintoff (Thriller)
A group of strangers are taken hostage inside Saint Patrick’s Cathedral, and all of Manhattan is poised to react. When it becomes clear that the centuries-old cathedral itself is in peril, FBI agent Eve Rossi and her team of ex-cons are tasked with identifying the mastermind behind this dastardly plot. Eve is up against a rapidly ticking clock. But the dangerous man calling the shots has a timetable of his own --- and a searing question for his targets: What are you guilty of? Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

HOW TO BE A GROWN-UP by Emma McLaughlin and Nicola Kraus (Fiction)
When Rory McGovern’s husband, Blake, loses his dream job, he announces that he feels like “taking a break” from being a husband and father. Without him, her only hope is to accept a full-time position working for two twenty-somethings. These girls think they know it all and have been given the millions from venture capitalists to back up their delusion: that the future of digital media is a high-end “lifestyle” site --- for kids! Can Rory learn to decipher her bosses’ lingo, texts that read like license plates, and arbitrary mandates? And is there any hope of saving her marriage? Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

IN THE DARK PLACES: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson (Mystery)
Two young men have vanished, and the investigation leads to two troubling clues in two different locations --- a scorched van and a peculiar bloodstain in an abandoned airport hangar. As Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his team scramble for answers, the inquiry takes an even darker turn when a truck careens off an icy road in a freak hailstorm. In the wreckage, rescuers find the driver, who was killed on impact, as well as another body --- a body that was dead well before the crash. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

LAST WORDS by Michael Koryta (Thriller)
An investigator for a Florida-based Death Row defense firm, Markus Novak’s life derailed when his wife, Lauren, was killed in the midst of a case the two were working together. Two years later, her murderer is still at large, and Novak's attempts to learn the truth about her death through less-than-legal means and jailhouse bargaining have put his job on the line. Now he's been sent to Garrison, Indiana, to assess a cold case that he's certain his boss has no intention of taking. But it's not often that the man who many believe got away with murder is the one calling for the case to be reopened. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

MESS: One Man's Struggle to Clean Up His House and His Act by Barry Yourgrau (Memoir)
Millions of Americans struggle with severe clutter and hoarding. New York writer and bohemian Barry Yourgrau is one of them. Behind the door of his Queens apartment, Yourgrau’s life is, quite literally, chaos. Confronted by his exasperated girlfriend, a globe-trotting food critic, he embarks on a heartfelt, wide-ranging, and too often uproarious project to take control of his crammed, disorderly apartment and life, and to explore the wider world of collecting, clutter and extreme hoarding. Reviewed by Sarah Rachel Egelman.

THE MURDERER'S DAUGHTER by Jonathan Kellerman (Psychological Thriller)
A brilliant, deeply dedicated psychologist, Grace Blades has a gift for treating troubled souls and tormented psyches. Only five years old when she witnessed her parents’ deaths in a bloody murder-suicide, Grace took refuge in her fierce intellect and found comfort in the loving couple who adopted her. But even as an adult with an accomplished professional life, she still has a dark, secret side. When her two worlds shockingly converge, Grace’s harrowing past returns with a vengeance. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.

ONE MURDER MORE by Kris Calvin (Mystery)
A beautiful legislative aide is found stabbed to death in California's Capitol building. Maren Kane, a lobbyist for a fledgling Sacramento-based toy company, is in the midst of a legislative fight that could make or break her career. When police arrest Maren's colleague for the crime, she's certain they have the wrong man. The cops suspect a crime of passion, but Maren knows that money and power drive all things tragic and scandalous in the capital. Will she be able to prove her theory --- and free her friend --- before she becomes the next victim? Reviewed by Kate Ayers.

THE RACE FOR PARIS by Meg Waite Clayton (Historical Fiction)
Encouraged by her husband, the editor of a New York newspaper, Liv is determined to be the first photographer to reach Paris with the Allies and capture its freedom from the Nazis. However, her Commanding Officer has other ideas about the role of women in the press corps. To fulfill her ambitions, Liv must go AWOL. She persuades her reporter friend Jane to join her, and the two women find a guardian angel in Fletcher, a British military photographer who reluctantly agrees to escort them. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.

SILVER LININGS: A Rose Harbor Novel by Debbie Macomber (Romance)
Jo Marie Rose and her handyman, Mark Taylor, are good friends --- and are becoming something more --- yet he still won’t reveal anything about his past. When Mark tells her that he’s moving out of town, Jo Marie is baffled. As she discovers the secret behind his decision to leave, she welcomes two visitors also seeking their own answers. Best friends Kellie Crenshaw and Katie Gilroy have returned to Cedar Cove for their 10-year high school reunion, looking to face down old hurts and find a sense of closure. Reviewed by Michele Howe.

WHO DO YOU LOVE by Jennifer Weiner (Fiction)
Rachel Blum and Andy Landis are just eight years old when they meet one night in an ER waiting room. Born with a congenital heart defect, Rachel is a veteran of hospitals, and she’s intrigued by the boy who shows up alone with a broken arm. He tells her his name. She tells him a story. After Andy is taken back to a doctor and Rachel is sent back to her bed, they think they’ll never see each other again. Yet, over the next three decades, they will meet again and again --- linked by chance, history, and the memory of the first time they met, a night that changed the course of both of their lives. Reviewed by Norah Piehl.

YOU'RE NEVER WEIRD ON THE INTERNET (ALMOST): A Memoir by Felicia Day (Memoir)
Felicia Day is a violinist, filmmaker, Internet entrepreneur, compulsive gamer, hoagie specialist, and former lonely homeschooled girl who overcame her isolated childhood to become at least semi-influential in the world of Internet geeks and Goodreads book clubs. She moved to Hollywood to pursue her dream of becoming an actress and was immediately typecast as a crazy cat-lady secretary. But her misadventures in Hollywood led her to produce her own web series, own her very own production company, and become an Internet star. Reviewed by Jana Siciliano.

 

Graphic Novel Reviews

HIP HOP FAMILY TREE, Book 3 by Ed Piskor (Graphic Novel)
Ed Piskor’s acclaimed graphic novel series continues! Book 3 highlights Run DMC’s rise to fame and introduces unassailable acts like Whodini, The Fat Boys, Slick Rick, and Doug E Fresh. The Beastie Boys become a rap group. Rick Rubin meets Russell Simmons to form Def Jam. The famous TV pilot to the dance show Graffiti Rock and the documentaries Style Wars and Breakin’ and Enterin’ are all highlighted in this comprehensive volume spanning 1983-1984. Ed Piskor continues to deliver the goods in this comprehensive history of hip hop. Full-color illustrations throughout. Reviewed by Jeremy Estes.

SPACE DUMPLINS by Craig Thompson (Graphic Novel)
For Violet Marlocke, family is the most important thing in the whole galaxy. So when her father goes missing while on a hazardous job, she can't just sit around and do nothing. To get him back, Violet throws caution to the stars and sets out with a group of misfit friends on a quest to find him. But space is vast and dangerous, and she soon discovers that her dad is in big, BIG trouble. With her father's life on the line, nothing is going to stop Violet from trying to rescue him and keep her family together. Reviewed by Jeremy Estes.

 

 

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