When Wanderers Cease to Roam, Vivian Swift.

This is a most unusual memoir. I love that it engaged me from the first page to the last. Swift's concept as well as her art are marvelous.

Mudbound by Hillary Jordan

Mudbound is a poignant debut novel set in the Jim Crow’s American south of the late 1940’s. The story involving two families and their prejudices, both subtle and brutal, is told by several voices. Jordan explores the meanings of respect, love, marriage, family and friendship, in an extremely complex tale.

Between Here and April by Deborah Copaken Kogan

How could a mother kill her children?  In her first novel, memoirist, TV producer and photojournalist Kogan examines motherhood in a way few books ever have.  She attempts with breathtaking prose and insights, to give the reader a heart-wrenching answer.  Her tale is gripping, hard to put down and definitely not a feel-good book; but I think it’s a great book.

A Cure for Night by Justin Peacock

Peacock’s debut novel is a marvelous page-turner, and I loved his writing.   Cure for Night deals with the law, lawyers, bad guys, and a few good guys.  In Peacocks able hands the law and court become a contest over who tells the best story, fiction or non-fiction.  Doesn’t matter, just win.   Here’s a quote from the book:

“That’s what the criminal law is: it’s how the day tries to correct the night’s mistakes. Most of my cases, people have done something they never would’ve dreamed of doing in broad daylight.”

“What does that make us?” I said. “The night’s janitors?”

“We’re absolutely that,” Myra said, sipping her cosmo. “What else do we do but clean up after it? That’s why we’ll never run out of work. Not unless someone invents a cure for night.”

The Graveyard Book, Neil Gaiman

This is Gaimans' first book for Teens; I'd put it at Middle School, and up. It contains all the things kids love: wonder, terror and magic. When tragedy strikes local household, the only survivor; Bod who is under 2 years old, scoots out the door, across the street, and into the Graveyard. For the next 14 years, he is the only living person in the Graveyard, which has become his home. Oh, he has plenty of company and he is well taken care of, and his education is very unusual, as you can only imagine. Great, fun read, for anyone older than 10.

The Flying Troutmans, Miriam Toews

This is essentially a "road-trip" book, one we hope never happens, to us. The main character, Hattie, is living in Paris, she gets a call that her sister is institutionalized, again. The call comes from her niece, 11, who along with her 15 year old brother, have no adults around, and they need help. Things are dire, and Hattie has no maternal instincts, what so ever. She hatches a plan to find the kids father, who left years ago, unable to cope with the sister's mental illness. Her hope is the father will step up to the plate and take the kids off her hands. Their trip takes them from home, Manitoba, to South Dakota, to Flagstaff, to 29 Palms, to the border lands of the U.S. and Mexico. It's quite a trip, and you'll be glad you went along for the ride.

Good news for Sci-Fi/Fantasy fans.

This a very interesting piece of news.

Jane Belson, the widow of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams, has given permission for a sixth book to be added to the series. The Guardian reported that And Another Thing . . . will be written by children's author Eoin Colfer, who said being chosen by Belson for this task was "like suddenly being offered the superpower of your choice."

The book, which is scheduled to be published next fall by Penguin, will "make no claims for Eoin being Douglas," said Joanna Prior, the publisher's marketing and publicity director. "It's not Eoin Colfer writing as Douglas Adams, as was the case with Sebastian Faulks [who wrote as Ian Fleming]. It's absolutely about him being himself--Eoin the author, but with the cast of Hitchhiker."

Coal Black Horse, Robert Olmstead

One of my favorite authors is Cormac McCarthy, he’s a master of noir.  I’m telling you this because I think if he wrote a book about the Civil War, it would be this book.  Olmstead uses lush, fiery language to describe one of the most horrible battles ever experienced by Americans- Gettysburg, through the eyes of a 14 year old boy.  With this masterful telling you experience the depravity and cruelty that surrounds the battlefield and the lengths the boy, sent out to find his father, goes through to survive; his actions are balanced against love, loyalty and family.  This is a terrific book, but it’s not for the faint of heart.

Good People, Marcus Sakey

The only thing weak about this book is the cover, I mean, come on; I’d have probably passed this book by, based on the cover.

Lucky for me, I’m already a fan of Sakey’s and have been looking forward to his next book. His books are always set in Chicago, this is his third, and they just keep getting better. When you pick it up, be prepared to read all day. Good People is full of action, suspense, and realistic characters; cops, robbers, good people and bad people; lots of bad people. The plot is very involved and I’m not giving anything away, trust me, just dive in.

The Little Book by Selden Edwards

This is a masterpiece of unequaled storytelling; the tale of Wheeler Burden, exiled heir of a famous New England family. He's a philosopher, student of history, rock idol, writer, lover of women, recluse, and baseball hero. In 1988 he is forty-seven, living in San Francisco. Suddenly he is, still his modern self, looking like the rocker he is, with a cultivated Wild Bill Hitchcock persona, meandering in a city and time he knows mysteriously well: fin de siècle Vienna. It is 1897, precisely ninety-one years before his last memory and a half-century before his birth. While in Vienna, he mets his father, grandfather, grandmother, Freud and Jung.

Edwards has great fun with time travel paradoxes and anachronisms, but the real romance in this book is with the period, topped by nostalgia for the old-school American elite, as represented by the we-all-went-to-the-same-prep-school Burdens. This novel ends up a sweet, wistful elegy to the promise and hopes of the 20th century. Edwards began writing this, his first novel, as a young English teacher in 1974, and continued to layer and refine the manuscript until its completion in 2007.

Leather Maiden, Joe R. Lansdale

Leather Maiden the new thriller from Landsdale, reminded me of Cormac McCarthy's writing. Believe me when I say, that's high praise from me. It's a aggressive mix of suspense, raw humor, and mystery that unfolds in the vividly rendered shadowy lowlands of eastern Texas. It’s noir at it's best; full of salty humor, brisk plotting and appealingly off-key characters who move through a world that's at one moment folksy and the next macabre. With its mysterious disappearances, abandoned houses, midnight trysts, and hidden culverts, Lansdale's latest is a contemporary Hardy Boys story on crank, read to best advantage late at night under the covers, with the aid of a flashlight.

This is the first time I've read Landsdale, and now I understand why he's won all of his awards. He has received the British Fantasy Award, the American Mystery Award, the Edgar Award, the Grinzane Cavour Prize for literature, and seven Bram Stoker Awards.

Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins

I received the ARC for this novel at the BEA this year. It's Collins' first Young Adult read, she's published juvenile books previously, geared to the under 12 crowd. Bob beat me to the punch, he read it first, and loved it. We have significantly different reading taste, but he assured me I'd love it; and he was right. As soon as I finished I took it to work to pass around.

Hunger Games, is a page-turner. Collins has created a brilliantly imagined dystopia; equal to Brave New World. It keeps you guessing and on the edge, and you make connections with the characters without realizing it. You get swept up into the story immediately and do not want it to be over when you reach the last page; then on the last page you discover you've just read Book One. At least there's hope the saga will continue.

The Good Thief by Hannah Tinti

This first novel is different from anything I’ve read in a long time, and I absolutely loved it! It’s filled with vivid characters, imaginative descriptions, and perfect pacing. Once started, you won’t want to stop reading until you’ve turned the last page.

Full of wit, humor, and memorable characters, it has an authentic feel and a fast moving plot. The subject matter is dark, but it doesn’t feel that way at all. In fact, it is surprisingly lighthearted. I was fully engrossed in this world of outcasts populated with a dwarf living on the roof, a doctor who buys recently deceased bodies, the religious crippled orphan boy with a good heart, the cruel owner of a mousetrap factory, a violent giant assassin with a soft spot for orphan boys, a hard of hearing widowed landlady, and the tall-tale spinning con man.

I thoroughly enjoyed it and would highly recommend it to anyone 14 years and up.

The Given Day, Dennis Lehane

I've been waiting forever for this to be published. The last time I talked to Lehane, he said it was turning into a "brick", and he didn't know when it'd be published. He is my favorite writer and I wasn't too happy with the 5 year wait.

But, it was worth it, totally. The rest of his novels have been mysteries, this is not. It is historical fiction, at it's finest. Well written, well researched, The Given Day covers a turbulant time in American history, at the end of The Great War and, of course, it's set in Boston. Over 700 pages, but truly a fast read; because you can't put it down, it just flows and you are swept up, as you read it.

I told a fellow bookseller, It flows like silk.

The Dawn Patrol, Don Winslow

Don Winslow is a California writer, when his work focuses on California, it has an authentic and compelling feel to it. Winslow often takes a segment of fringe society, this time surfers, and so thoroughly steeps his story in it, that we come away feeling like experts. This new novel is no exception. The Dawn Patrol surfs every morning before work; they’ve been together forever, some since elementary school, and have jobs they go to after the morning rides. Their jobs are varied, cop, P.I., waitress, attorney, lifeguard, drug-lord, I did say varied. With short chapters and gritty dialog, Winslow keeps the pace fast and the interest high. Several subplots make the main story line even more compelling; the whole narrative plays out against a coming "swell"-the big waves that surfers dream about. This is a thriller that is hard to put down

The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society, Mary Ann Shaffer & Annie Barrows

Now, I must admit to being a book snob. Part of my snobbery is I usually don't read books written by two authors, for me, it generally hasn't worked. This time it worked, in spades. Maybe it's because the authors are related, they're an aunt and niece. For what ever reason this novel works. Get ready to fall in love with a book.

It takes place in Guernsey, after WWII. Readers discover the island and it's inhabitants thru a series of letters. We learn about their strengths and bravery in very hard times. The entire book is nothing but letters, letters full of warmth, humor and humanity. As I was reading I couldn't wait to go on to the next one, to see what or whom I would discover.

I think these would be a great read for book groups, too.

I've pre-ordered, and sent this book to my Mom, my daughters, and my friend's daughter and daughter-in-law. That's how great it is.

Bikeman, Thomas F. Flynn

Every American and many others, of course, remember where they were on 9/11/2001. I do, you do, we all remember. Most of us were not in Manhattan that day, but NYC is all of ours hometown, so we remember.

Flynn was there and heard the 1st plane fly over, while not recognizing exactly what it was; he recognized it was not normal. He got on his bicycle, rode toward the towers, and experienced hell. Bikeman is a narrative poem, about what he experienced that morning. What sets his story apart for other 9/11 accounts is his journalist’s eye and poet’s pen. I think it's amazing to have an epic poem published today; but he has friends in high places, and I'm glad.

An Award

The Mountains & Plains Independent Booksellers Association's 2008 Regional Book Awards, has awarded the top fiction prize to one of my favorites, God of Animals by Aryn Kyle.

This is my review from 2007:

It's wonderful book by a first time author; one of those novels that stay with you for a long time. It's different, of course, but I'd compare it to The Turtle Warrior, Augusta Locke, Name all the Animals, and Blind Your Ponies. For me, fits in with these greats because I couldn't put the book down, and when I had to, I couldn't wait to get back to it. And it passed my ultimate test; it stayed with me long after I closed the book for the final time. Kyle paints a true picture of the modern American West, and the struggles of the families who live there. The God of Animals is a magnificent story of western life and character."

Undiscovered Country: A Novel, Lin Enger

This first novel blew me away. It's a hair-raising tale of betrayal, murder and revenge; the riveting portrait of a young man trying to hold his family together in a world turned upside down. The writing is rich and descriptive, but still spare. The protagonist, Jesse, an English Teacher, is writing a memoir for the benefit of his younger brother, who is getting ready to graduate from High School. Both of their parents are gone, and he wants his brother to know the truth about how their father died, 10 years earlier.

City of Theives, David Benioff

This coming of age story is set in war torn Russia. The narrator talks his grandfather into telling him about his experiences during the 1941 Siege of Leningrad. He knows his grandfather killed two Germans with a knife before he was 18, but nothing more. No one has been able to pry the story from Grandfather. Many war survivors don’t talk about their experiences, but I’m sure glad this tale was told. It’s quite a harrowing story, and because of Benioff’s meticulous research, sounds very authentic. I’d recommend this novel to any lover of great fiction. I have to tell you, without spoiling the story, I smiled when I read the last page.

Heart in the Right Place, Carolyn Jourdan

I truly love this book. Carolyn Jourdan was on the fast track in Washington DC, when her Mom had a heart attack, and she rushed home to Tennessee to help out. Dad is a country doctor, and Mom had been his receptionist, so Carolyn, a high power attorney, became Doc's receptionist, just until Mom recovered. I literally laughed and cried while reading this wonderful memoir. It's being considered for a TV series, or mini-series, I won't hold my breath, because they may not be smart enough to do it.

Hit and Run, Lawrence Block

I have two favorite assassins, and this book is about one of them, Keller. Block is a master of the mystery genre, and the “Hit” series featuring Keller, is great. Framed for a high-profile murder he didn’t commit Keller goes on the run to save is life. He has $200.00 in his pocket and has to get from Iowa to NYC without being found. It’s a wild ride, and Keller ends up re-inventing himself, new name, new occupation, new location, and a new life. This may be the end of Keller, say it isn’t so, Mr. Block, say it isn’t so. The other books in this series are Hit Man, Hit List and Hit Parade.

Humor

I thought I'd throw in a little Bookstore/Library humor.

Bookstores and Libraries are really not so different.

I can see this happening in both,

and I know it happens all the time in the bookstore.

From Unshelved.com

The Garden of Last Days, Andre Dubus III

When I first started reading The Garden of Last Days, I thought of Elmore Leonard, most of the characters are connected by a Florida strip club. They work or visit there regularly, and their lives become intertwined. Dubus shows why each character does what he does, we may not approve, but we understand. He explores the faith, fate, love, power and culture that shape these denizens of the underbelly of America. This is a fast moving, multi-layered novel; there are several sub-plots going on that culminate with disaster. Dubus artfully carries the reader along with fast paced, short chapters, so you are never bored or left hanging.

Children's Books

Here is a short list of very good read-out-loud Children's Books. I highly recommend all four.

The Worst Best Friend - Alexis O'Neill

A Couple of Boys Have the Best Week Ever - Marla Frazee

The Little Fingers and Ten Little Toes - Mem Fox

Dodsworth in New York - Tim Egan

Book Expo America

I have an exciting time coming up. Today, I'm leaving for Book Expo America, or as we booksellers call it, The Book Show. All the publishers are there to tell us about their new books, and give us copies of unpublished ones; and many of my favorite authors will be there to chat and sign books. This will be my 6th year attending the BEA.

This year the BEA is in Los Angeles, so I don't have too far to go; I'm staying at the Holiday Inn, right across the street from the L.A. Convention Center. Here are some of the things I'm looking forward to:

Today, I'm attending a Luncheon for African American Bookselling Professionals, it's being underwritten by Random House, and RH said it was OK for me to attend. The speakers are Nikki Turner, Donald Welch, Bertie Bowman, Halima Bashir and Terry McMillan. Terry McMillan is the only one I've read, so it'll be a great opportunity to discover new authors, and met other booksellers.


On Friday, I'm having breakfast with Sherman Alexie, Judy Blume, Neil Gaiman and Eoin Colfer. I'm most excited about Neil Gaiman, he's like a Rock God for booksellers; even if you don't normally read fantasy, you should read him.


On Saturday, there's Speed Dating with Children's Authors and Illustrators. I try to never miss this one, it's always fun.

On Sunday, I'm having breakfast with Dennis Lehane, Ted Turner and Azar Nafisi. Dennis Lehane is my all time favorite author, and it's been too long between books. I'm so excited.


Then, on Sunday, I'm having lunch with Micheal Connelly and Dean Koontz.



In between there will be lots of activities, and chances to stroll the aisles, and be given as many ARCs, as I can handle. The publishers want booksellers to have a chance to read their upcoming books, before they're released, so that we can hand-sell their book to you the public. I usually come home with hundreds of books, a few signed.

Hopefully, I'll have something exciting to tell about when I get home, and some photos to share. This is the first year I've gone, that I'll have my camera with me. I always come home good and tired, books are heavy. This is the first year I'll be attending alone, Bob's not up to it this year.

Don't worry, I've traveled alone, a lot, some weekends, a driving trip to Yosemite, and once I went to Hawaii by myself, Bob didn't want to go, he went the next time.

All photos, from the publishers.

The Art of Racing in the Rain - Garth Stein

The novel's premise, a dog living a good life so he can be reincarnated as a human, is creative. The execution, told from the dog's point of view, is brilliant. The dog, Enzo, recounts a heart-wrenching but deeply funny and ultimately uplifting story of family, love, loyalty, friendship and hope. Enzo learned much of what he knows about the world by listening carefully to his master and watching television, when he’s home alone; including his theory on reincarnation. The Art of Racing in the Rain is a beautifully crafted and captivating look at the wonders and absurdities of human life, as only a dog could tell it. This one is moving fast, it’ll be on the best seller list, soon.

Sundays at Tiffany's by James Patterson & Gabrielle Charbonnet

I have a tiny bit of book snob in me, I really hate to admit it, but it's true. I usually don't read novels that are co-written. To me, it smacks too much of a writing factory; but I like most of Patterson's writing, and my friend Tom highly recommended Sundays at Tiffany's. He said Patterson is giving Sparks a run for his money. I'd say there's no contest. Sparks is pretty sappy, and he has his niche, and tons of readers, but this novel is more like The Time Traveler's Wife. We find one man involved with the same woman, when the woman is a girl; then when she is a woman. This is a wonderful, sweet love story, and well written, to boot. Charbonnet is a children's author, and this is her first adult book.

Bright Shiny Morning by James Frey

I started this with great trepidation; I loved Frey first two books, A Million Little Pieces and My Friend Leonard, and he was pilloried for presenting them as memoir, not fiction. For me, it was all about the writing, and Frey is a great writer. OK, he uses run-on sentences and not enough punctuation, but it works. I'm happy to say this one works, too.

I didn't know what to expect, but plunged right in to this 500 page monster; not all monsters are bad. This one is good. It's about Los Angeles, a city I know well (my hubs is retired LAPD), and Frey lived and worked here for awhile. It's not a cohesive narrative but a compilation of vignettes of several characters who have come to the city to fulfill their dreams. Frey states a lot of facts, but this is fiction, and the wise reader will remember the nudge-nudge, wink-wink disclaimer in the front of the book: Nothing in this book should be considered accurate or reliable. It's fiction, wonderful fiction.

The God of War, Marisa Silver

This is a complex novel by a great storyteller. It deals with the importance parenting, family, and location, in all our lives. As much as I loved this story, I found it too complex for a tidy summary, so I'm offering a quote from another author.

“Marisa Silver is the author for whom we've all been waiting. With unabashed voice she steadily, bravely, unerringly tells a heartbreakingly beautiful story for our time. The God of War is the truest novel I've read in ages.”
- Alexandra Fuller, author of Don’t Let’s Go to the Dogs Tonight

the Middle Place, Kelly Corrigan

So, what is the Middle Place? According to Corrigan it’s where you find yourself when you’re both a parent and a child; what others have called the “sandwich generation”. I like Corrigan’s description better. This is not a sociology study, it’s a memoir; a memoir about her time dealing with breast cancer, but more than that, it’s a wonderful tribute to her fantastic father, George Corrigan. He is the reason she kept her maiden name, because she always loved when people asked, “Are you George Corrigan’s daughter?” No one would ask, if she’d taken her married name, it is as simple as that. She captures our hearts and teaches us something new about family, love, and yes, even death. A great read; a laugh and cry read, I loved it.

So Brave, Young and Handsome, Leif Enger

Those of us who loves Enger's first novel Peace Like a River, couldn't believe our good fortune, when his second novel arrived. It had been a long wait, seven years; I'd about given up, thinking Enger was a one book wonder, it happens.

While both books could be described as a heroic quest, a tragedy, a romance, and a meditation on the possibility of magic in the everyday world, they are also different. The current offering is a rugged and nimble story about an aging train robber on a quest forgiveness, and the blocked writer who goes with him. The writer’s inviting voice guides us through this expansive saga of redemption in the early West, circa 1915, and gives a teeming vitality to a period too often represented with stock phrases and characters. I am very impressed with Enger research, I’d compare his research to Lamour’s; he gets time, place and history right. He doesn’t write fantasy.

How to Talk to a Widower, Johathan Tropper

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. It was engaging and witty, poignant and touching. The points about grief and the fear of moving on resonated true. The characters were very true to life; the family dynamic was also true to life and incredibly funny. Before you read it, you may not see how you'd laugh out loud about a slacker who fell hopelessly for a vibrant, talented, beautiful older woman who dies and leaves him and her teenage son adrift, but you will laugh, I promise. This book has a little bit of everything, and really I loved it.

No Time for Goodbye, Linwood Barclay

This mystery/thriller held my interest from the first page to the last page; I felt like I was on a rollercoaster ride. This is the set-up, a 14 year old girl wakes up in the morning, and no one is home, no one is ever going to be home again. The story involves how this is handled and how the mystery is finally solved. There are many unexpected twist and turns that are plausible, I never felt I'd entered the "Twilight Zone", as I might have with a different author telling the tale. This is the first novel I've read by Barclay, it won't be the last.

Small Favor, Jim Butcher

This is the 10th novel in the Dresden Files. I reviewed the first one and have read the rest. They are all good. Often an author with a established series, just goes stale; but not Butcher, his most recent grabs you just the way the first one did. Did you know that Harry Dresden is the only wizard listed in the Chicago phone book? No? Well, find out what else you don't know. This series is outside my normal reading, it's fantasy, not the quasi-romantic bodice-ripper that a lot of fantasy novels are, but more he-man adventure fantasy. I usually read a series in the order written, it's not necessary. Jump right in.

One Mississippi - Mark Childress

This is a tale of one teenage boy's odyssey from naive acceptance to a strong sense of self; it will knock your socks off. It is an extremely funny and touching story about family, best friends, first love, and surviving the scariest years of your life - the teenage years. I laughed till I almost fell off my chair, when I read the chapters about a home-grown church musical production and the hero's ill-conceived trip to the prom. One Mississippi is many things: it's wild it's unpredictable, yes it's tragic in the end, but so is life, sometimes. It’s about as easy to resist as a riptide. Jump in you’ll love it, too.

Last Lecture, Randy Pausch

In this book, Randy Pausch has combined the humor, inspiration and intelligence that made his lecture such a phenomenon and given it an indelible form.

A lot of professors give talks titled "The Last Lecture." Professors are asked to consider their own deaths and to talk about what matters most to them. When Pausch gave his "The Last Lecture.” he really was near the end of his life, he’d been diagnosed with terminal cancer. This is not a sad or maudlin book, it is life affirming. The book takes his "The Last Lecture", and expounds and expands on it. If I could, I’d quote the entire book here, that’s how good it is. Here’s on of my favorite quotes from the book: "We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand." This is a book that will be shared for generations to come.

This is unusual in a book review, but I’m an unusual book reviewer:

Belong to Me, Marisa de los Santos

Belong to Me, is utterly magical. You’ll meet the best 14 year olds, ever. The men of this novel are varied and “keepers”, in the relationship derby. But, it’s the women of this story you’ll fall the hardest for. The story is told from the perspective of 3 different characters, two of the women and one of the teenagers. De los Santos braided their tales together, to tell a beautiful tale that had me twisting and turning in all directions, laughing out loud or crying, while cheering their relationships on. The struggle through heartbreak and the will to find love and happiness is what it’s all about. This is de los Santos' second novel, and a follow-up to the first one, Love Walked In. It is not necessary to read Love Walked In, before Belong to Me. Belong to Me really does stand on it's own two feet.

The Woman Who Wouldn't, Gene Wilder

This is a very small, short work of fiction. It's only 167 pages, and the pages are about 3/4-size, but Wilder's second novel is a huge winner. His prose is elegant, spare and affecting. But it’s his romantic’s eye for the intense emotions that animate a real love story that makes The Woman Who Wouldn’t an unforgettable book. Just when it seems the tale is heading into Love Story territory, the redemptive power of love proves stronger than that in this is sweet, adult fable.

The English American by Alison Larkin

I came across this book while I was doing front list (putting new books away) this week at the bookstore. First, the book jacket caught my eye, then the title. I put one aside for myself because it is Larkin's first novel, and I love to read an authors' first. Then an hour or so later a customer requested it, and raved about an interview she'd heard with Larkin on NPR.

This is a very good book; immensely readable and enjoyable. It is semi-autobiographical, both the author and our heroine, Pippa, were given up by American birth parents and raised by English parents. The English American is a comedic but heartfelt look at issues of identity, heredity and self-acceptance. I really did laugh and cry as I read it. Plus there's the bonus of a love story, or two or three woven in. The stories of her parents, both sets, are wonderfully done, and Pip's final love is all a girl could ask for.

Lush Life by Richard Price

This is the first book I've read by Price. I loved it. I don't know about his other books, but this one was like reading Micheal Connelly and George Pelecanos, braided together. Very street, hear the beat, combined with police procedure. The setting is Manhattan, the crime is homicide. In the story of the aftermath, Price focuses on everything; the perpetrators; the victims and their families; and the cops who doggedly pursue the frailest threads of evidence and possibility. It could be overwhelming, but it's not, it's skillful writing, the best.

Beautiful Boy: A Father's Journey through His Son's Addiction by David Sheff

Beautiful Boy, is an amazing book. To me addiction is a foreign land, but Sheff uses haunting candor to tell us about his son's addiction. Before meth, Nic was a varsity athlete, honor student, and award-winning journalist. After meth, he was a trembling wraith who stole money from his eight-year-old brother, lies about everything and lived on the streets. I've always said parenting is the hardest job I've ever had. The assumption is that if we were good parents our children would not have problems. Parents with easy kids don't understand how addiction can happen. Sheff's book provides a rare opportunity to experience the parental nightmare of substance abuse. The story is compelling, and hard to put down. I hope everyone will read it to gain empathy and understanding.