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Best Sellers 04/19/2010

Monday, April 19th, 2010

Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.  Changes, Jim Butcher’s new Dresden novel, debuts at #1 on both lists. The Help holds strong at #2. The Walk (Richard Paul Evans) debuts at #4 on NYT (#12 on WSJ) and A River in the Sky (Elizabeth Peters) debuts at #5 (#15 on WSJ).

Reading Preferences

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

I picked up Irene Zutell’s “Pieces of Happily Ever After last week. Based on reviews, I was very excited to read it- until I got started. This is not intended as another review. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t finish a book but I didn’t even get halfway through this one.  In fact every time I considered picking it up my stomach knotted in dread. What an odd sensation! I’ve never actually DREADED a book before, except maybe a Statistics textbook or two. Nevertheless, I hardly read enough of Zutell’s work for a fair evaluation. But I found it necessary to seriously consider my reaction.

I mulled this over quite a bit. It wasn’t that I found fault with the author’s writing style. I didn’t particularly like the main character but I’ve run into that in many novels before. An unlikeable character doesn’t inevitably destroy a narrative. I finally decided my reaction came down to personal preference. I’m drawn to stories with a different reality. I cut my reading teeth on fantasy & horror and those are still my two favorite genres. I hardly limit myself to those but apparently I do need SOME difference:  a different time period, an alternate history, a twist to society or a completely different universe. Everything I’ve read implements at least one of those elements. “Pieces of Happily Ever After” is a story taken straight from the tabloid pages & fleshed out to the personal level. And while the inner monologues were artfully intertwined with outer interactions and the characters were fleshy it was a little too realistic and not enough of a reprieve from the daily grind.

So are YOUR requirements for a good book? What would cause you to set a book aside unfinished?

Teaser Tuesday – “Escapement” by Jay Lake

Tuesday, April 13th, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser is from “Escapement” by Jay Lake. The sequel “Pinion” was recently released and caught my attention so I’m catching up before picking that one up.

Paolina felt a stab of fear. She shrieked when they grabbed her, already clamping her knees together, but the fidalgos dragged her to the back room, shoved her in with the books and bottles, and shut the one door in all of Praia Nova that actually had a key.

Hardback Fiction Bestsellers 04/12/2010

Monday, April 12th, 2010

Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback. Doesn’t look like it hurts to be a Wimpy Kid right now! Jeff Kinney holds the top two spots on the WSJ list with books from his series. (He’s also at # 6 and #7) The Help moves back up to #3 on WJS but drops to #2 on NYT. House Rules drops from #2 to #5 on the NYT list. Caught drops to #5 from #1 on WSJ but reappears on the NYT list at #3. Silver Borne (Patricia Briggs) debuts on the list at #4 on WSJ and #1 on NYT. Deception (Jonathan Kellerman) rounds out the NYT list at #4.

New Releases this week (hardback fiction)

Monday, April 12th, 2010

So anything you’re going to put on your “to be read” list?

Fiction new releases:

04/13/2010

Every Last One (Anna Quindlen)

Silent Auction (Jane K. Cleland)

The Desert Spear (Peter V. Brett)

The Cinderella Society (Kay Cassidy)

Wrecked (Regan Reilly Series #13) (Carol Higgins Clark)

Elegy for April (Quirke Series #3) (Benjamin Black)

Batman and Robin: Batman Returns Volume 1 Deluxe Edition (Grant Morrison)

Return of the Crimson Guard (Ian C. Esslemont)

Of Flesh and Blood (Daniel Kalla)

The Heretics Wife (Brenda Rickman Vantrease)*

Instinct: A Chess Team Adventure (Jeremy Robinson)*

The Burying Place (Brian Freeman)

American Taliban (Pearl Abraham)*

Dead Head (Dirty Business Series #3) (Rosemary Harris)

A Twist of Orchids (Michelle Wan)

A Mighty Fortress (Safehold Series #4) (David Weber)

In Free Fall (Christine Lo)*

Area 10 (Christos Gage)

Happy Now? (Katherine Shonk)

Kiss in the Dark (Kisses and Lies Series #3) (Lauren Hendersen)

Sham Rock (Notre Dame Mystery Series #13) (Ralph McInerny)

Up Jim River (Michael Flynn)

The Bride Collector (Ted Dekker)

The Shadow of Your Smile (Mary Higgins Clark)

Beatrice and Virgil (Yann Martel)

The Inheritance (Simon Tolkien)*

Watcher of the Dead (Sword of the Shadow Series #4) (J.V. Jones)

Two in the Hat (Raffi Yessayan)

Bitter Seeds (Ian Tregillis)*

The Handbook for Lightening Strike Survivors (Michele  Young-Stone)*

Tales of the Otherworld (Kelly Armstrong)

*Added to my “to be read” list

Review: Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton

Friday, April 9th, 2010

I was a little surprised to find Michael Crichton’s “Pirates Latitude” on the “New Fiction” table at my local library last week and snatched it up immediately. Apparently the complete manuscript was found after his death in 2008. Harper Collins is no fool; it was published last November. My library has it coded with a checkout limit of two weeks.  I only needed two evenings.  This is not a novel you’ll set down easily.

The narrative immediately transports one to Port Royal, Jamica in 1665 – a coarse English colony in the middle of Spanish territory. The story reads like a movie (and I mean that in the most positive way possible)  which is good because rumor has it Steven Spielberg has already signed on to produce it.  A cast of varied and interesting characters tumble throughout the pages where scoundrels, whores & ruffians command loyalty and cheers. Reading this novel is like riding the high sea itself:  high & low, rough & smooth.  You never know where you’re going to be tossed next. Crichton is an adept navigator though. The action starts with a hanging and doesn’t stop until you finish the last (unexpected) paragraph.

Call Me Old Fashioned…

Wednesday, April 7th, 2010

There is a culture surrounding traditional books that I enjoy being a part of. It’s exciting to hold a used book in my hands and consider its journey through other readers before reaching me. I enjoy selling used books or passing them on to friends, knowing I’m participating in a community that keeps a story alive. Bookshelves can be an intimate glance into someone’s life. It is comforting to pick up a beloved novel on a rainy day to pass the time. The scent of pages in a library or used bookstore immediately relaxes me and encourages me to slow down, to take a break from my hectic life, and just browse. There is a tactile experience that I enjoy with books as much as the reading itself. So it is with mild discomfort that I watch the growing trend of reading devices and e-publishing.

Danny Bloom interviewed Dr. Anne Mangen, a reading specialist at the National Centre for Reading Research and Education at Stavanger University in Norway. She published a paper regarding the differences between reading on paper and reading on screen. Now I haven’t read her article. And I’m not at all interested in getting into the physiological specifics of the process of reading – at least not right now. But within the comments on this topic, one in particular caught my eye:

“Reading on an e-ink device may *be* ‘reading on a screen’; but it doesn’t *feel* like it. Why else would I have kept reaching with my left hand to the upper-right corner of my device to try to turn the page, when it was new? I’ve also heard reports of people reaching for their bookmarks when they were knocking off for the night.”

That’s fine but I think I would MISS the feel of paper, the sound of pages turning, the weight of a book. Call me old fashioned but a friend handing me a novel they enjoyed means more than someone saying “Hey, download this file.”

Please don’t get me wrong. I’m not a techno-phobe. And I can certainly see the occasional advantage to an e-reader. We’re traveling in June but are limiting our luggage to carry on bags. I’m already trying to plan what I absolutely have to pack in order to make room for books. A single small device instead of several larger books would make a big difference. But that’s the only situation that I can possibly imagine more convenience over traditional books. Maybe it’s just me but I don’t consider it a nuisance to carry a book with me (for example) to the doctor’s office.  E-readers DO have the benefit of instant gratification. And while I DO tend to be rather impatient, even that isn’t enough to sway me. When I think of a future without traditional books I imagine what John Spartan (Demolition Man) must have felt like when waking up in the futuristic LA. It’s so…sterile. Impersonal. A special element in missing.

What do YOU think?

Teaser Tuesday – Pieces of Happily Ever After by Irene Zutell

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010

Teaser Tuesdays is a weekly bookish meme, hosted by MizB of Should Be Reading. Anyone can play along! Just do the following:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

My teaser is from “Pieces of Happily Ever After” by Irene Zutell:

When I hang up the phone, Gabby’s in my face. “I know who that was and I don’t ever want you to go back to that place. I want you here with me.”

Upcoming Hardback Fiction New Releases

Monday, April 5th, 2010

I decided to divide up the best seller and new releases posts to see if they were easier to read. What do you think?

Fiction new releases:

04/06/2010

Cat of the Century (Mrs. Murphy Series #18) (Rita Mae Brown)

The Telling (Season of Grace Series #3) (Beverly Lewis)

The Aloha Quilt (Elm Creek Quilt Series #15) (Jennifer Chiaverini)

The Walk (Richard Paul Evans)

Claude and Camille: A Novel of Claude Monet (Stephanie Cowell)*

Changes (Dresden Files #12) (Jim Butcher)

Nowhere to Run (Joe Pickett Series #10) CJ Box

The Last Time I Saw You (Elizabeth Berg)*

For Keeps (Natasha Friend)

Will Grayson, Will Grayson (John Green)*

The Swimming Pool (Holly LeCaw)

The Reckoning (Darkest Powers Series #3) Kelley Armstrong

At the Gates of Darkness (Demonwar Saga #2) (Raymond E Feist)

Miss Julia Renews Her Vows (Miss Julia Series #11) (Ann B Ross)

Imperfect Birds (Anne Lamott)

A River in the Sky (Amelia Peabody Series #19) (Elizabeth Peters)

The Lake Shore Unlimited (Sue Miller)

The Imperfectionists (Tom Rachman)

The Black Cat (Richard Jury Series #22) (Martha Grimes)

What Becomes (AL Kennedy)

Laughed ‘Til He Died (Death on Demand Series #20) (Carolyn G Hart)

04/07/2010

Six Mile Creek (Richard Helms)

*Added to my “to be read” list

Hardback Fiction Bestsellers 04/05/2010

Monday, April 5th, 2010

Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.  ”Caught” (Harlan Coben) debuts at #1 and “Fablehaven: Keys to the Demon Prison” (Brandon Mull) debuted at #3 on the WSJ.  “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” (Jeff Kinney) moves up to #2 (it was at #6 last week).  ”The Help” (Kathryn Stockett) dropped one spot to #4 and “Fang” (James Patterson) dropped all the way to #5 from #1.

“Caught” (Harlan Coben) debuted at #1 on the NYT list as well. I guess I need to get a copy of this book soon! “The Help” (Kathryn Stockett), “House Rules” (Jodi Picoult) and “The Silent Sea” (Clive Cussler) each dropped a spot to #2, #3 and #4 respectively. “Bite Me” (Christopher Moore) rounds out the NYT list at #5.

The new releases list will post up later today in a separate post!