Tag: fiction

Book Talk: THE POSSIBILITIES, by Kaui Hart Hemmings
July 3, 2014 reading

Book Talk: THE POSSIBILITIES, by Kaui Hart Hemmings

The Possibilities: A Novel Kaui Hart Hemmings (Facebook) (Twitter) Simon & Schuster (May 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1476725799 / 9781476725796) Fiction, 288 pages A version of this review was submitted to Shelf Awareness for Readers, but was not published due to timing and space limitations. Shelf Awareness provided me with a publisher-furnished galley to facilitate the review, and compensated me for the review they received. In her second novel, The Possibilities, Kaui Hart Hemmings again displays […]

(Audio)Book Talk: THE MARTIAN, by Andy Weir
June 26, 2014 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: THE MARTIAN, by Andy Weir

The Martian: A Novel Andy Weir (Facebook) Audiobook read by R.C. Bray Crown (February 2014), hardcover (ISBN 0804139024 / 9780804139021) Fiction (science fiction/suspense), 384 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Podium Publishing, March 2013; Audible ASIN B00B5HO5XA) The Martian is almost certainly one of those books that I wouldn’t have noticed in my pre-book-blogging life, and given that my pre-book-blogging reading life didn’t include audiobooks, I absolutely wouldn’t have read it by ear even if I had become aware of its existence. I […]

(Audio)Book Talk: THE CUCKOO’S CALLING, by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)
June 19, 2014 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: THE CUCKOO’S CALLING, by Robert Galbraith (J.K. Rowling)

The Cuckoo’s Calling (A Cormoran Strike Novel) Robert Galbraith (pseudonym of J.K. Rowling) Audiobook read by Robert Glenister Mulholland Books (2014), Paperback (ISBN 1478980826 / 9781478980827) Fiction, 464 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Hachette Audio, May 2013, ISBN 9781611134933; Audible ASIN B00CTQ2ZS8) True confession time: I doubt I would have paid any attention to The Cuckoo’s Calling if I hadn’t learned that “Robert Galbraith” was a pseudonym, and that this detective novel was a no-longer-secret side project for […]

Book Talk: MIDSUMMER, by Carole Giangrande
June 10, 2014 reading

Book Talk: MIDSUMMER, by Carole Giangrande

Midsummer Carole Giangrande (Facebook) (Twitter) (Goodreads) Inanna Poetry and Fiction Series (2014), Paperback (ISBN 1771331380 / 9781771331388) Fiction (novella), 150 pages Source: Publisher, via TLC Book Tours I don’t often read novellas. I’m not sure many people do, actually–they’re such an odd specialized form of fiction, and I suspect that probably makes it a challenge to get them published. I like that they’re more developed than short stories without requiring the time commitment of full-length fiction, but those same […]

Book Talk: THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak
May 6, 2014 reading

Book Talk: THE BOOK THIEF, by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief Markus Zusak (Facebook) (Twitter) (Tumblr) Alfred A. Knopf (2007), Paperback (ISBN 0375842209 / 9780375842207) Fiction (YA), 576 pages Source: Purchased I have no good excuses for why it took so long for me to read The Book Thief. I bought it more than four years ago–it was logged into my LibraryThing catalog on January 1, 2010–and began reading it just over four months ago, on January 1 of this year. It was the first book I started reading in […]

Book Talk: CLEVER GIRL, by Tessa Hadley
April 29, 2014 reading

Book Talk: CLEVER GIRL, by Tessa Hadley

Clever Girl: A Novel Tessa Hadley Harper (March 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 0062270397 / 9780062270399) Fiction, 272 pages Source: Publisher, for TLC Book Tours I was scheduled as the last stop on the TLC Book Tour for Clever Girl earlier this month, but hadn’t finished reading it at the time I was due to post. I apologize for missing my deadline, but I have a few thoughts on the book to share now. Given some of the turns that […]

(Audio)Book Talk: THE HEADMASTER’S WIFE, by Thomas Christopher Greene
April 22, 2014 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: THE HEADMASTER’S WIFE, by Thomas Christopher Greene

The Headmaster’s Wife Thomas Christopher Greene (Facebook) Audiobook read by Kevin T. Collins, Tavia Gilbert, and Stephen Hoye Thomas Dunne Books (February 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1250038944 / 9781250038944) Fiction, 288 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Audible Studios, February 2014; ASIN B00IMNIZK4) I decided to read Thomas Christopher Greene’s The Headmaster’s Wife because of solid recommendations from trusted bloggers and a lifelong weakness for boarding-school stories with New England settings, despite some misgivings that it might have some elements that cut a little too close for my taste. […]

Book Talk: GOING OVER, by Beth Kephart
April 15, 2014 reading

Book Talk: GOING OVER, by Beth Kephart

Going Over Beth Kephart (Twitter) Chronicle Books (Aoril 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 1452124574 / 9781452124575) Fiction (YA), 264 pages Source: ARC from publisher, for blog tour tied to launch Someday, I may stop saying that each new Beth Kephart book I read is the best yet, but in order for that to happen, she’ll have to stop outdoing herself. She hasn’t reached that point yet. Going Over, Kephart’s latest work of young-adult fiction, is as ambitious […]

Book Talk: REAL HAPPY FAMILY, by Caeli Wolfson Widger
March 31, 2014 reading

Book Talk: REAL HAPPY FAMILY, by Caeli Wolfson Widger

Real Happy Family: A Novel Caeli Wolfson Widger (Twitter) New Harvest (March 2014), Hardcover (ISBN 0544263618 / 9780544263611) Fiction, 384 pages Source: Publisher, for TLC Book Tours There’s something trippy and “down-the-rabbit-hole”-ish about fiction that uses reality television as a backdrop, particularly if you accept that the “reality” of such television is, to a good degree, fictional. Seven years ago, Carolyn Parkhurst crafted her second novel, Lost and Found, around one season of an Amazing Race-like competition show; in […]

(Audio)Book Talk: FANGIRL, by Rainbow Rowell
March 25, 2014 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: FANGIRL, by Rainbow Rowell

Fangirl Rainbow Rowell (Twitter) (Facebook) (Tumblr) Audiobook read by Rebecca Lowman and Maxwell Caulfield St. Martins Griffin (September 2013), Hardcover (ISBN 1250030951 / 9781250030955) Fiction (YA), 448 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Random House Audio, 2013, ISBN 9780804121286; Audible ASIN B00E9YYT64) It doesn’t happen often–at least, not for me–but sometimes you go into a book just knowing it’s going to hit some of your sweet spots. Like so many other readers, I fell hard for Rainbow […]

(Audio)Book Talk: DEFENDING JACOB, by William Landay
February 27, 2014 reading

(Audio)Book Talk: DEFENDING JACOB, by William Landay

Defending Jacob: A Novel William Landay (Facebook) (Twitter) Audiobook read by Grover Gardner Bantam (2013), Paperback (ISBN 0345533666 / 9780345533661) Fiction (genre: suspense/legal thriller), 448 pages Source: Purchased audiobook (Blackstone Audio, 2012; Audible ASIN B0073OGZNM) SGW at The Cue Card neatly summed up this novel very much as I would have, so I’m just going to quote her: “Defending Jacob has all the elements of a riveting Presumed Innocent courtroom crime drama. It reminded me a […]

Book Talk: COINCIDENCE, by J.W. Ironmonger
February 20, 2014 reading

Book Talk: COINCIDENCE, by J.W. Ironmonger

Coincidence: A Novel (previously published in the UK as The Coincidence Authority) J.W. Ironmonger (Twitter) Harper Perennial (2014), Paperback (ISBN 0062309897 / 9780062309891) Fiction, 304 pages Source: ARC from the publisher, via TLC Book Tours  Visit the other stops on this TLC Book Tour for more discussion of Coincidence. I received a copy of the book to facilitate this post, but was not otherwise compensated for participation in this blog tour. Comments: I like this […]