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Weekly Hardback Fiction Best Seller Comparison

Written on July 12, 2010 at 5:01 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.

Wall Street Journal Top 5	New York Times Top 5
Private James Patterson*	Private James Patterson*
Sizzling Sixteen Janet Evanovich	Sizzling Sixteen Janet Evanovich
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Stephenie Meyer	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson	The Overton Widow Glenn Beck
The Overton Widow Glenn Beck	The Help Kathryn Stockton

*New this week

Fiction New Releases 07/13 – 07/19/2009

Written on July 12, 2010 at 5:01 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Hardback fiction new releases:

07/13/10

The Whisperers (Charlie Parker Series #9) (John Connolly)

Damaged (Maggie O’Dell Series #8) (Alex Kava)

Lucy (Laurence Gonzalez)*

Beautiful Malice (Rebecca James)*

Fly Away Home (Jennifer Weiner)

Shadow Hills (Anastasia Hopcus)

Faithful Place (Tana French)

Rules of Betrayal (Christopher Reich)

Captive Queen of Eleanor of Aquitaine (Alison Weir)

Tongues of Serpents of Temeraire (Naomi Novik)

Layover in Dubai (Dan Fesperman)

Red Hook Road (Ayelet Waldman)*

Corduroy Mansions (Alexander McCall Smith)

Linger (Maggie Stiefvater)

Savages (Don Winslow)

Siren (Tricia Rayburn)*

The Glass Rainbow (Dave Robicheaux Series #18) (James Lee Burke)

Memory Wall: Stories (Anthony Doerr)

Live to Tell (Detective D.D Warren Series #4 ) (Lisa Gardner)

07/15/2010

The Surf Guru (Doug Dorst)

Lady of the Butterflies (Fiona Mountain)*

The Taken (Hazel Micallef Mysteries) (Inger Ash Wolfe)

*Added to my TBR list

Book Review: “A Fierce Radiance” by Lauren Belfer

Written on July 9, 2010 at 5:00 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

“A Fierce Radiance” by Lauren Belfer is classified as historical fiction. But in all fairness, this novel cannot be pigeon holed into the expectations of one category. It combines love with espionage, mystery with idealism and wraps it all in the sweeping tale of Claire Shipley.

Set in NYC just after the Pearl Harbor attack, the book follows the life of photo journalist Claire Shipley. She is assigned to cover a study of a new potentially lifesaving medicine – penicillin – at the Rockefeller Institute. The story intertwines with and changes her life as it builds & destroys relationships.

Although I’m not usually a fan of romance, that particular element in “A Fierce Radiance” was a bonus, not a distraction. A few scenes were more explicit than expected, but given the context of the relationship, it never felt inappropriate. Strong language, which is only an issue for me in excess, was used artfully for emphasis. The mystery/intrigue elements kept the narrative moving at a nice clip. But best of all, the characters were not flat individuals living two dimensional lives. Belfer infuses them with deep personalities and places them squarely into complex situations with no easy or “right” decisions. There are no well orchestrated tidy endings. When you close the back cover you’re left feeling as if you’ve glimpsed into a life that is still burning brightly. And personally, I was glad to have had that glimpse.

A Few of My Favorite Things

Written on July 7, 2010 at 5:54 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Part of the joy of handling this aspect of CKY Books is the opportunity to “meet” such a variety of people. I’ve chatted with stay at home moms who are making extra money selling books. I’ve talked to stay at home moms who also do book reviews. I’ve communicated with students and authors and I’ve learned from every one of them whether it’s a new recipe or money saving tip, or about another book that lands on my TBR list.

Jenn’s Bookshelves – She posts up reviews and even has her son in on the gig. His insights are fun to read and her reviews are insightful.

Pam of Bookalicious – A reviewer with a wicked sense of humor.

As I Turn the Pages – Another reviewer. She’s just starting out but I enjoy reading her thoughts. And she’s already had a couple of book giveaways!

Jamie DeBree’s blog – The Variety Pages – I’m not usually into “romance” but am enjoying her serial “Indelibly Inked” and I LOVE her “Everyday Romance” feature. (Incidentally – I have a guest post going up for that feature this week. I honestly didn’t plan on that when I planned this post but there ya go. I’ll link it when it’s up.)

Don’t Pet Me, I’m Writing – Another romance author, Tawna Fenske. This lady is hilarious.

200 Books – Amanda started this site a couple of years ago when she challenged herself to read 200 books in a year. Now she uses it to talk about her life and yes, her continued reading adventures.

The Bibliophile’s Adventurers Club – They post all sorts of interesting tidbits.

Budget Confessions – I really enjoy her transparency. She’s given me some great ideas for my own personal budget & tracking.

HomeGrown Mom and Frugal Follies have had some great features & series. Both seem to be on hiatus right now but I still check the feed once a week. Angela (HomeGrown Mom) is a bit more active on Twitter than on her blog.

I could keep going but those are a few to get you started. What about you? Please, share some of YOUR favorite links. I always enjoy discovering new places to visit.

Teaser Tuesday: “32 Candles” by Ernessa T. Carter

Written on July 6, 2010 at 5:41 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

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!

“32 Candles” was released on June 22. I picked it up this weekend. Review will be up Friday.

He didn’t recognize me. Probably because I was dressed in a large bunny suit, I realized, a little late in the game.

Hardback Fiction New Releases 07/06 – 13/2010

Written on July 5, 2010 at 8:44 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Hardback fiction new releases:

07/06/10

The Search (Nora Roberts)

Still Missing (Chevy Stevens)*

The Cookbook Collector (Allegra Goodman)

A Hidden Affair (Pam Jenoff)*

The Island (Elin Hilderbrand)*

It All Began in Monte Carlo (Elizabeth Alder)

Thin Rich Pretty (Beth Harbison)

Undead and Unfinished (Betsy Taylor Series #9) (MaryJanice Davidson)

Silent Scream (Anna Travis Series #5) (Lynda La Plante)

Inspector Singh Investigates: A Most Peculiar Malaysian Murder (Shamini Flint)

Red Rain (Bruce Murkoff)

Blood Rites (Dresden Files Series #6) (Jim Butcher)

The Cold Kiss (John Rector)*

Song of Dragons (Annals of Drakis Series #1) (Tracy Hickman)*

Father of the Rain (Lily King)*

As Husbands Go (Susan Isaacs)*

Gateways (Elizabeth A Hull)

Discord’s Apple (Carrie Vaughn)*

Platinum (Aliya S King)

Kings of the North (Cecelia Holland)

Think of a Number (John Verdon)

Primeval (Event Group Series) (David L Goleman)

The Hundred Foot Journey (Richard C Morais)

What Is Left The Daughter (Howard Norman)*

The Bone Fire (Christine Barber)

Everything (Kevin Canty)

The King’s Mistress (Emma Campion)*

Midnight Angels (Lorenzo Carcaterra)

The Darling Dahlias and the Cucumber Tree (Susan Wittig Albert)

Betrayed (Robert K Tanenbaum)

The News Where You Are (Catherine O’Flynn)

The Cabal (David Hagberg)

They’re  Watching (Gregg Hurwitz)*

The Drowning River:  A Mystery in Florence (Christobel Kent)

Kings of the Earth (Jon Clinch)

Stork Raving Mad (Meg Langslow Series #12) (Donna Andrews)

The Writing Circle (Corinne Demas)

The Fuller Memorandum (Bob Howard – Laundry Series #5) (Charles Stross)

A Dog’s Purpose (W Bruce Cameron)

The Scarlet Contessa: A Novel of the Italian Renaissance (Jeanne Kalogridis)

Legacies (Shadow Grail Series #1) (Mercedes Lackey)*

This Must Be The Place (Kate Racculia)*

July 8, 2010

For the King (Catherine Delors)

The Blind Contessa’s New Machine (Carey Wallace)

The Prophecy (Chris Kuzneski)

Paisley Hanover Kisses & Tells (Cameron Tuttle)

Becoming Kate (Dixie Owens)*

July 11, 2010

Burnt Mountain (Anne Rivers Siddons)

July 12, 2010

Wherever You Go (Joan Leegant)

Ghostgirl: Lovesick (Tonya Hurley)

*Added to my TBR list

WSJ & NYT Best Seller Comparison

Written on July 5, 2010 at 8:42 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Here’s the weekly comparison of the Wall Street Journal and New York Times Top 5 bestsellers in Fiction Hardback.

Wall Street Journal Top 5	New York Times Top 5
Sizzling Sixteen Janet Evanovich*	Sizzling Sixteen Janet Evanovich*
The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner Stephenie Meyer	The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson
The Overton Widow Glenn Beck	The Overton Widow Glenn Beck
The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest Steig Larsson	Family Ties Danielle Steele*
Family Ties Danielle Steele*	The Lion Nelson DeMille

*New this week

Review: “The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers” Josh by Kilmer-Purcell

Written on July 2, 2010 at 5:39 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

The vast majority of books that I read are fiction. That’s not to say I refuse to read non-fiction but there it takes a lot more to pique my interest when I know the story is (supposedly) bound by reality. The cover of “The Bucolic Plague: How Two Manhattanites Became Gentleman Farmers: An Unconventional Memoir”* (Josh Kilmer-Purcell) was all it took to rouse my curiosity with this one.

The book opens with an “Author’s Caution”. One page in and I was already giggling. By the time I finished the prologue, I was loathe to put the book down.  Kilmer-Purcell recounts the journey of how he and his partner, Brent, transform from simply an advertising executive (Josh) and employee of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia (Brent) to adding “gentlemen famers” and owners of Beekman 1802 to their resumes. Add in a dash of flashbacks to his drag queen days and you have quite a rollicking tale.

The first twenty chapters were lighthearted. Kilmer-Purcell recounts what could have been tense, uncomfortable scenes with humor. Hilarity is intertwined with quiet intimate moments. His jokes can be barbed but those are, more often than not, aimed at his self allowing the reader to laugh along at his antics. I laughed out loud more than a few times and twice so hard that tears rolled down my cheeks and my husband starting showing (more than usual) concern about my sanity.

Reality gives no guarantees of a happy ending and in Chapter 21 the tone turns much more somber, reflecting the conditions in their life. Though the hilarity has been set aside, the story is no less absorbing.  Kilmer-Purcell is honest about their faults. He doesn’t sugarcoat the difficulties. He leads us down the dark roads memories as readily as he did the more buoyant ones.  The last few chapters are a guided tour through his self-reflection and discovery as well how the realizations impact him and his actions. His recollection is so achingly transparent that I was drawn completely into the account.

If you don’t usually read memoirs, make an exception for this one. If you do, add it to your list. I haven’t read enough memoirs to judge if it is truly unconventional (although some of his stories certainly are!) but I will tell you, it’s worth your time.

Disclaimer: This book was sent to me by the publisher for the purpose of review. I was not compensated in any way by HarperCollins for this review (unless you count a free book) nor did they in any way influence my opinion on this book.

*Since I have a pre-published review copy, the title reads “The Bucolic Plague: From Drag Queen to Goat Farmer: An Unconventional Memoir”. I kind of wish they hadn’t changed it.

We be clubbin…*

Written on June 30, 2010 at 5:00 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

Several months ago when we started this blog and the Twitter account, we tossed around the idea of hosting an online book club.  I’ve never participated in a book club but couldn’t tell you exactly why. I would love to so the idea of helping host one was – is -  rather appealing.

I have this vague idea to regularly post a brief overview of chapter(s) we’re reading and have participants chime in either with a comment or a post on their own blog. It would be a great opportunity to get other viewpoints on a book while meeting new people (and possibly building some blog traffic if you’re into that)

So here are a few questions:

1.       Would this be something that would interest you?

2.       Would you want to do a chapter a week? More? Less? Depends on the book?

3.       Do you want to jump in with a new(er) release or go old school?

You can respond here, or email me, or hit me up on Twitter or Facebook.  This could be a lot of fun!

*Yes, yes…I DID just make an Ice Cube reference. Please don’t hold it against me.

Teaser Tuesday: “A Fierce Radiance” Lauren Belfer

Written on June 29, 2010 at 7:21 am, by Rhoni Wilkins

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!

I’m about halfway done with “A Fierce Radiance” by Lauren Belfer. It was released on the 15th of this month.

Claire saw her cover story for the magazine taking shape. This was what she was truly here for: not fumbling espionage, but the gift she had for creating evocative images.

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