 |
|
20SomethingReads.com Newsletter |
January 23, 2013 |
|
|
New Year, New Books!
|
I’m sure you were all waiting on pins and needles to find out what the holiday movie my family went to see this year. Unfortunately, it was not Les Miserables. Instead, we all went to see Django Unchained. I know; a terrible idea. I’ve never been a big fan of Quentin Tarantino --- okay, I strongly dislike everything about him --- but I tried to keep an open mind when going into the movie. The verdict: It’s exactly what you would expect from a Tarantino movie. That’s all I will say, although it did have a great soundtrack.
On the bright side, I got the chance to see The Silver Linings Playbook and it was amazing! I highly recommend it and I’m looking forward to reading the book as well. I’m going to try to go see all of the Best Picture nominees before the Oscars, but I’m not sure I’ll get to all of them. I’ve seen 4/9, so I’ve still got a ways to go. How about you? Do you try to see all the movies? What have you liked? Drop me a note at Maureen@bookreporter.com and let me know!
We have some new blogs for you this month. The first is a return to our favorite “20 Questions” series with Robin Marantz Henig, co-author of TWENTYSOMETHING: Why Do Young Adults Seem Stuck? Robin wrote this book with her daughter Samantha Henig after the success of a 2010 cover story she wrote for the New York Times Magazine. It’s a look at whether or not societal changes have caused Millennials to have a harder time during their 20s than their Baby Boomer parents. Next month, we look forward to sharing our review with you, so stay tuned for more on this topic. And as always, we'll be curious about what you think.
Another blog is from the team at 20SomethingReads, and it focuses on Book Things to Look Forward to in 2013. Even though the Catching Fire movie won’t be in theaters until November, there are quite a few things to keep you entertained until then, including new releases of highly anticipated books like CRASH AND BURN by Michael Hassan and the conclusion to Lauren Oliver’s Delirium trilogy with REQUIEM.
January wouldn’t be complete without a “New Year, New You” bookshelf, so we obliged and compiled a list of 20 books to help inspire you at the start of 2013. Broken up into four categories --- New You, New Style, New Body, and New Books --- we hope you enjoy our selections and find some inspiration!
Speaking of resolutions, I promised myself that I would not buy any new books until I finally read all of the older books that have been sitting on my shelves for way too long. With the upcoming releases of Z: A Novel of Zelda Fitzgerald by Therese Anne Fowler --- you all know my love of THE GREAT GATSBY --- and CRASH AND BURN by Michael Hassan, I think I’ll be forced to give up on that resolution. Oh well, there’s always next year. At least we can all agree that in 2013 we will resolve to read MORE books, both new and old!
--- Maureen Linehan, Maureen@bookreporter.com
P.S. – Go see The Silver Linings Playbook!
|
|
|
|
What's NEW on 20SomethingReads.com?
|
|
Bookshelf: New Year, New You
We're a little more than two weeks into the New Year, and like us, many of you probably have broken your resolutions. With this in mind we have decided to compile a bookshelf to remind you --- and ourselves --- that it is never too late to make some changes in your life!
Bookshelf: Downton Abbey
The BBC’s period drama “Downton Abbey” has quickly become one of the most popular series on television, even outside of the UK. Can’t get enough of the Crawleys? Thirsty for more early 20th-century love, loss, blackmail and betrayal? We’ve put together a bookshelf consisting of everything “Downton,” including DVD sets of all three seasons, soundtracks of the show’s original music, and a number of books about the real life people and places that inspired one of Masterpiece Classic’s most critically acclaimed features.
Blog: 20 Questions: A Day in the Life of Robin Marantz Henig
In 2010, Robin Marantz Henig wrote a cover story for The New York Times Magazine titled, "What Is It About Twentysomethings?" that posed a question to readers, asking why people in their 20s are taking so long to grow up. After a lot of debate on this topic, Robin, along with her daughter Samantha Henig, decided to dig a little deeper into this theory, to see if people in their 20s today really are taking longer than their Baby Boomer parents to grow up.
Blog: Book Things to Look Forward to in 2013
Since we all survived the apocalypse, we figured we might as well celebrate our successful entry into 2013! While 2012 had some pretty great moments, there’s so much to look forward to as the New Year gets underway – especially book-related things.
|
|
What's Coming Up on 20SomethingReads.com?
|
Review: TWENTYSOMETHING: Why Do Young Adults Seem to Suck? by Robin Marantz Henig and Samantha Henig (Late January)
Blog: 20 Questions for Alexandra Bracken, author of THE DARKEST MINDS (Late January)
Bookshelf: 20 Romance Books for Valentine's Day (February)
Bookshelf: 50th Anniversary of James Bond (February)
Bookshelf: Spring 2013 Books on Screen (February)
|
|
Reviews
|
ASHENDEN by Elizabeth Wilhide (Fiction)
When brother and sister Charlie and Ros discover that they have inherited their aunt’s grand English country house, they must decide if they should sell it. As they survey the effects of time on the estate’s architectural treasures, a narrative spanning two-and-a-half centuries unfolds. We meet those who built the house, lived in it and loved it, worked in it, and those who would subvert it to their own ends. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.
-Click here to read an excerpt.
-Click here to read an interview.
Y by Marjorie Celona (Fiction)
Marjorie Celona’s debut novel is about a wise-beyond-her-years foster child abandoned as a newborn on the doorstep of the local YMCA. Swaddled in a dirty gray sweatshirt with nothing but a Swiss Army knife tucked between her feet, little Shannon is discovered by a man who catches only a glimpse of her troubled mother as she disappears from view. That morning, all three lives are forever changed. Reviewed by Eileen Zimmerman Nicol.
THE LAWYER'S LAWYER by James Sheehan (Legal Thriller)
Jack Tobin, “the lawyer's lawyer” --- the guy the best lawyers say they'd want to represent them in a courtroom battle --- undertakes the representation of a serial killer who he believes to be innocent. The Chief of Police is outraged, the citizens of Oakville where the murders occurred erupt, and the State Attorney is out for blood as Jack challenges the criminal justice system once again. Reviewed by Stuart Shiffman.
KURT VONNEGUT: LETTERS edited by Dan Wakefield (Letters)
This extraordinary collection of personal correspondence has all the hallmarks of Kurt Vonnegut’s fiction. Written over a 60-year period, these letters, the vast majority of them never before published, are funny, moving, and full of the same uncanny wisdom that has endeared his work to readers worldwide. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.
THE DEVIL DOESN’T WANT ME: A Dutton Guilt Edged Mystery by Eric Beetner (Mystery/Thriller)
For the last 17 years, Lars has been on a job for a prominent East Coast crime family. His task is to kill Mitch the Snitch. But now a young gun named Trent has been sent to replace the aging gun for hire. When things come to a head with Trent, Lars must go on the run with Mitch's teenage daughter Shaine, trying to stay one step ahead of angry and vengeful mobsters as well as his own dark past. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
THE THIRD BULLET: A Bob Lee Swagger Novel by Stephen Hunter (Thriller/Adventure)
Why did the third bullet aimed at John F. Kennedy explode? Bob Lee Swagger knows. Fifty years after the shots that brought America to its knees, the tough-as-nails sniper turns his forensic skills toward the most baffling rifle crime of all time. With the help of a new clue, Swagger follows a tantalizing path through old records, intelligence archives, and buildings back to the sniper’s nest. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
WATCHING THE DARK: An Inspector Banks Novel by Peter Robinson (Mystery)
Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks and his colleague DI Annie Cabbot become entangled in a complex case involving corruption, a dead cop, and a missing girl that leads them across the Channel and down a dark trail to find the truth. Reviewed by Joe Hartlaub.
BLOOD MONEY by James Grippando (Legal Thriller)
When a jury finds Sydney Bennett not guilty of killing her two-year-old daughter, the public is shocked. A mob gathers outside of the jail on the night of Sydney's release, and an innocent young woman resembling Sydney ends up in a coma. The victim's parents ask defense attorney Jack Swyteck for help because they are sure the attack was not an accident. In searching for the truth, Jack makes a frightening discovery. Reviewed by Ray Palen.
FOOTPRINTS IN THE SAND: A Piper Donovan Mystery by Mary Jane Clark (Mystery)
Struggling actress and wedding-cake decorator Piper Donovan is spending the dead of winter in warm and sunny Sarasota, Florida, for her beloved cousin's wedding. But a cloud seems to be hovering over the whole affair. A bridesmaid mysteriously disappears, a neighbor's car is run off the road, and a body is found on the beach where the wedding will take place. With the nuptials threatened, it falls on Piper to unmask the killer. Reviewed by Christine M. Irvin.
THE ONE I LEFT BEHIND by Jennifer McMahon (Psychological Suspense)
A serial killer called Neptune begins kidnapping women during the summer of 1985. He leaves their severed hands on the police department steps and displays their bodies around town. Just when 13-year-old Reggie needs her mother, Vera, the most, Vera’s hand is found, yet there’s no body. Twenty-five years later, Reggie learns that her mother has been found alive. She must confront the ghosts of her past and find Neptune before he kills again. Reviewed by Amy Gwiazdowski.
THE HISTORY OF US by Leah Stewart (Fiction)
Eloise Hempel’s life is turned upside down when she must raise her sister's three children after her sister's untimely death. Nearly two decades after returning to Cincinnati and moving back into her mother's house, she is ready to resume her own life. However, when her mother creates a competition for which of the now-grown kids gets the house, their makeshift family starts to fall apart. Reviewed by Jane Krebs.
SUMMERSET ABBEY by T. J. Brown (Historical Romance)
Rowena and Victoria, daughters to the second son of the Earl of Summerset, have always treated their governess’s daughter, Prudence, like a sister. But when their father dies and they move in with their uncle’s family in a much more traditional household, Prudence is relegated to the maids’ quarters, much to the girls’ shock and dismay. The ever-present specter of class expectations makes it difficult for Prudence to maintain a foot in both worlds. Reviewed by Melanie Smith.
MY BOOKSTORE: Writers Celebrate Their Favorite Places to Browse, Read, and Shop edited by Ronald Rice (Essays)
In MY BOOKSTORE, 81 authors write about the pleasure, guidance and support that their favorite bookstores and booksellers have given them over the years. It's a joyful, industry-wide celebration of our bricks-and-mortar stores and a clarion call to readers everywhere at a time when the value and importance of these stores should be shouted from the rooftops. Reviewed by Pauline Finch.
THE NEIGHBORS by Ania Ahlborn (Psychological Suspense)
Andrew Morrison sacrificed everything to look after his alcoholic mother. But now he’s determined to get out and live his life. That means trading the home he grew up in for a rented room in the house of an old childhood friend --- both of which are in sorry shape. The better acquainted he gets with his new neighbors --- especially the sweet and sexy Harlow Ward --- the more he suspects unspeakable darkness beyond the white picket fence. Reviewed by Kate Ayers. |
|
|
|
