Library Love Fest

A Very Special Message from Resident Mixologist, Robert Van Booy

What's the perfect drink after a good book buzz? Let Bobby break it down for you.

Thirsty yet?

-Virginia, Bobby, and Kayleigh

Laura Lippman on Craig Ferguson

I tweeted about this earlier, but it's too good not to post.  Craig Ferguson, in his charming brogue, calls Laura Lippman a "naughty librarian" and reads an excerpt from I'd Know You Anywhere, which we've been steadily buzzing about.

Enjoy!

-Kayleigh

Adam & Eve

Happy September! A fresh batch of Fall books ease the sorrow as we bid summer one last lingering adieu.  Shelves get crowded, reading piles teeter, and new hardcovers cage-match for nightstand rights.  Here's one of the contenders: Sena Jeter Naslund's Adam & Eve, a literary tour de force from the acclaimed author of Ahab's Wife and Abundance.  Library Journal writes: “Naslund pulls it off. This thriller is rich in brilliant discourses on religion, fanaticism, the meaning of ancient cave art, the speculative future, and love." Here's Sena's message to librarians.

-Kayleigh

Book Giveaway! Kill the Dead by Richard Kadrey

Richard Kadrey returns with high-octane follow-up to his addicting SANDMAN SLIM. Publishers Weekly has given it a nice shout-out:

“James Stark, antihero of 2009's Sandman Slim, returns in this gritty, over-the-top tale of supernatural mayhem. Having taken his revenge on the rival magician who got him sent to Hell, Stark settles in sorcery-infested Los Angeles and gets a part-time gig with the Golden Vigil, an angelic hit squad of dubious morality that's somehow allied with Homeland Security. He spends the rest of his time as a freelance slayer of monsters. When Lucifer comes to Earth, supposedly to oversee a Hollywood biopic of his life, he hires Stark to be his bodyguard, but something isn't quite right and soon the city is awash in murderous zombies. Stark has to get to the bottom of the mystery or risk being sent back to Hell, along with everyone he cares about.
Profane, intensely metaphoric language somehow makes self-tortured monster Stark sympathetic and turns a simple story into a powerful noir thriller.”
- Publishers Weekly
Eos, $22.99 (448p) ISBN 978-0-06-171431-3; October 2010

Richard Kadrey’s series is snarky, sarcastic, dark, twisted, and totally addicting. If you haven’t read this author, you’re in for a treat. 

“If Simon R. Green wrote an episode of Dog the Bounty Hunter, it would read much like Sandman Slim—violent, vivid, non-stop action of the supernatural kind. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Charlaine Harris

Send an email to librarylovefest at harpercollins dot com and we’ll get you started with a copy of SANDMAN SLIM.

-Virginia

Little Princes

We are so excited about the upcoming release of Little Princes, by Conor Grennan.  Last month, I wrote about this amazing story.  If you missed it, click here.

We received a great review from Lisa Steckhahn, Reference Librarian from the West Allis Public Library in Wisconsin.  Here is Lisa's review of Little Princes:

A three month stint volunteering in an orphanage in Nepal on a trip around the world became a life mission that not only changed Conor Grennan’s life but the lives of many of Nepal’s children forever. Most of these orphans are not really orphans at all.  Their parents were conned by human traffickers who convinced them that they could give their children a better life by allowing them to be taken away.  So inspired by his time volunteering he started a nonprofit foundation called Next Generation Nepal (NDP).  This book recounts his story from his arrival in Nepal to trekking across the Himalayas in search of the children’s parents.  When I started this book I knew next to nothing about Nepal. But this engaging story has educated and touched me about this little know part of the world.  This book is sure to become a hit when it's released in January.

-Lisa Steckhahn
Reference Librarian
West Allis Public Library

Many thanks to Lisa and everyone at the West Allis Public Library.  If you would like a copy of Little Princes and didn't request one previously, please post a comment or email us at librarylovefest at harpercollins dot com and I would be more than happy to send you one.  I'd love to hear your comments!  I truly believe you will love Little Princes as much as we do!

Enjoy,

-Bobby

Women Power!

90 years ago today women got the right to vote.

When election time rolls around, nothing gets my Irish up like an indifferent person – especially a woman - who doesn’t exercise her right to vote.

It took a lot of moxie, smarts and guts for women like Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony to stand up for their rights – which are now our rights.

We get to pull the lever, punch a card, raise a hand, have our say because of the bravery and fortitude of these women.

Worth remembering today.

-Virginia

http://www.dontknowmuch.com/2010/08/dont-know-much-about%C2%AE-the-19th-amendment/

Tom Franklin: a star for a star!

BOOKLIST
September 1, 2010

*Crooked Letter, Crooked Letter.  Franklin, Tom (Author)
Oct 2010. 288 p. Morrow, hardcover, $24.99. (9780060594664).

Rural Mississippi in the 1970s was rife with racial tension, but skin color didn’t matter to boyhood companions Silas Jones and Larry Ott. Silas, the son of a poor, single black mother, and Larry, the child of white lower-middle-class parents, were both outsiders, Silas because of his color, Larry because he was quiet and a little odd, his nose always buried in horror novels. The young men’s bond strengthened over time, until the night a pretty local girl went on a date with Larry to the drive-in movies and was never heard from again. No body was found and Larry never confessed, but that didn’t keep the townspeople from suspecting him. Estranged from his friend, Silas heads off to college in Oxford, Mississippi, and more than 20 years later, returns to take a job as town constable. He sees no reason to contact Larry, who’s settled into a lonely existence as a mechanic, unable to escape the relentless whispers and dirty looks. The disappearance of another girl brings the two former friends back together, forcing them to come to terms with buried secrets and dark truths. Edgar Award winner Franklin (Hell at the Breech, 2003) renders luminous prose and a cast of compelling characters in this moody, masterful entry.— Allison Block

Congratulations, Tom!

-Virginia

Stiltsville – will you review this?!

Ever since I picked up the manuscript of this novel, I have been talking about it – to my friends, to my family, to my co-workers, to librarians – to anyone who would listen.  This book very quietly wrapped itself around my heart and it has stayed there ever since.  Set against the backdrop of Miami, this affecting debut novel offers a gripping, bittersweet portrait of a marriage—and a romance—that deepens over the course of three decades.  I just love this book and it seems I’m not alone:

Nina Sankovitch on the Huffington Post writes, “Stiltsville is a compelling portrait of a marriage, a sweet serenade to Southern Florida, and a moving account of a woman’s life.” Read the rest here.

“I fell in love with Susanna Daniel’s characters, Dennis and Frances. The dialogue, the pacing, and the tenderness between this married couple is so authentic and true. But it’s the setting of Florida, and especially the place that is Stiltsville, that literally elevates this story to magic.”
   — Hannah Tinti, author of The Good Thief

“Set against the wild and changeable landscape of South Florida, Stiltsville is a wise and loving portrait of a marriage, written with keen insight into the ways two lives grow together over the years. This is a rare first novel. Susanna Daniel writes beautifully of matters of the heart.”
   — Jennifer Haigh, author of The Condition, Baker Towers, and Mrs. Kimble

“Like the narrator of this wonderful novel I fell in love in the opening pages of Stiltsville. There was nothing I wanted more than to spend time in the company of these vivid characters and keep reading Susanna Daniel’s lovely, lucid prose. Sadly, like all good books, this one came to an end-for me at two in the morning. Happily I can go back and be transported all over again. Many readers, I’m sure, will follow me.”
   — Margot Livesey, author of The House on Fortune Street
 
I’ve got 50  finished copies that I’d like to send to anyone who wants to write a review.  Send us an email (librarylovefest AT harpercollins DOT com) if you’re interested.

Thanks!

-Virginia

Tim Dorsey

The unscripted book reviews are often the best.  That’s why I love to roam the halls of HarperCollins with my flip video camera, surprising people with my very favorite question: “What are you reading?”  Here’s the latest!

For more on Tim Dorsey's latest Serge Storms story, Electric Barracuda, check out the catalog page.

-Virginia

Brave Girl Eating

When I wasn't busy blogging about Charles Bukowski's birthday (shameless plug, I know), I happened to catch Jezebel's post on Harriet Brown's Brave Girl Eating: A Family's Struggle with Anorexia.  Having come from a family where eating disorders were fairly common, Brown's argument for a family-based method of recovery really hits home.  I appreciate the point she makes regarding our perception of eating disorders: the way we correlate them with extremes, whether it's stick-thinness or morbid obesity.  Many victims do, in fact, suffer invisibly. 

Do you want to know more about Brave Girl Eating? Browse inside the book, and check out these stellar pre-publication quotes:

“Harriet Brown’s Brave Girl Eating is an up close and personal account of one family’s struggle to help a child with anorexia nervosa. What sets this book apart is the author’s incorporation of clinical research findings from the field of eating disorders into the story of one family’s struggle. Ms. Brown’s tale of how her family was able to participate in her daughter’s recovery process is a compelling story of family strength and an inspiring story for all of us committed to treating individuals with eating disorders.”— Evelyn Attia, MD, Director, Center for Eating Disorders, Columbia University Medical Center, Weill Cornell Medical College

“As a woman who once knew the grip of a life-controlling eating disorder, I held my breath reading Harriet Brown’s story. As a mother of daughters, I wept for her. Then cheered.”— Joyce Maynard

“Brave Girl Eating is one of the most up to date, relevant and honest accounts of one family’s battle with the life threatening challenges of anorexia. Brown has masterfully woven science, history and heart throughout this compelling and tender story. Brave Girl Eating was fortunate to have one brave family.”— Lynn S. Grefe, Chief Executive Officer, National Eating Disorders Association

“Brave Girl Eating is a story that gets too close for comfort; it’s an honest account of the toll anorexia takes on the writer’s family and their tenacious, loving efforts to fight back. Harriet Brown is an intelligent, elegant writer and this book offers both solace and useful information for families struggling with eating disorders.”— Audrey Niffenegger  

-Kayleigh