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Library Marketing Staff Picks
Our favorite new and forthcoming books!
Jennifer Parmelee Childs Recommends:
Many fans of Shakespeare think that "Romeo and Juliet" was his invention and that the story took place in “fair Verona.” Anne Fortier takes a deeper look at the origins of the star-crossed lovers in this debut novel and shatters these myths. The story intertwines two plot lines—the contemporary story of Julie Jacobs, who discovers she is the descendant of Giulietta Tolomei, the real-life Juliet, and an historical retelling of an early version of the Romeo and Juliet story, set in Siena. As you are drawn into the lives of both “Juliets” you see that Shakespeare's old curse, “A plague on both your houses!" is still at work and Giulietta’s fate may soon be Julie’s fate too. Both storylines are compelling and I got lost in the book. Fortier’s descriptions of Siena are enchanting and readers will be ready to book a trip to Italy as soon as they finish the last page. A fabulous summer read, great book club pick, and a perfect choice for fans of historical fiction. Brava!
978-0-345-51610-7 | $25.00/NCR | Ballantine | HC | August
Erica McDonald Recommends:
Your heart will break for vulnerable Moses as he yearns for and struggles to find his place in the world, so have that tissue ready. The Bells is a sensual love story of the unlikely places family is to be found, with a cast of lively and endearing characters. The journey and direction of Moses’s life will haunt you through to the last page, which you hope will never come. My experience in reading The Bells was very similar to that of Sarah Dunant’s Sacred Hearts. Her novel sparked my brief, somewhat odd obsession with nuns and I sought further reading about young aristocratic girls forced into convents in Italy. With The Bells, I wanted to learn more about the castrati; those young boys in Italy victimized in order to preserve their voices. That is what I value most in historical fiction, to be so moved and engaged with obscure historical details that I yearn to learn more.
978-0-307-59052-7
| $24.00 | Crown | HC | September
978-0-307-35823-3 | $32.00C | Random House Canada | HC | September
Marcia Purcell Recommends:
The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the Ocean by Susan Casey
The chances of me ever being on a surfboard are about as good as me sprouting wings and being the first human to fly to the moon—in other words, nil. And yet it's a joke around the office that other than my love for books/reading—I work to pay for the cruises I take. There is something endlessly fascinating about the ocean—constantly changing, beautiful, soothing—yet terrifying in a storm. Susan Casey, Editor-in-Chief of O, the Oprah Magazine, has written a vastly entertaining book about the ocean—in particular about those master surfers who live to ride 50+ foot waves and will fly anywhere to find them, and about the giant waves that appear regularly and can swallow up ships as large as tankers and cruise ships. Her descriptions of the surfer's rides will please any adventure-lover. Her analysis of why rogue waves occur will interest the ecology and scientific-minded. And her descriptions of being caught on a ship in the middle of these huge waves is very alarming! (Even my beloved QE2 was hit by one but survived thanks to luck and a great Captain!) Enjoyable for the descriptions of water alone, you appreciate Casey's powers of observation and her gutsy attitude. Wide appeal and certainly a hit in any Dude collection.
978-0-7679-2884-7
| $27.95 | Doubleday | HC | September 2010
978-0-385-66667-1 | $34.95C | Doubleday Canada | HC | September 2010
Marie Kent Recommends:
One of the great pleasures of working in book publishing is getting
to witness and be a part of the advance buzz that crops up pre-publication.
It happened with The
Passage and Cutting
for Stone and now with Richard Harvell’s debut novel, The
Bells. A few weeks ago Erica began raving about it so I decided
to give it a go. Last week, I parked myself in her office every morning
to discuss the pages I’d read the night before. This book is unlike
any piece of historical fiction I’ve read before. Gone are the queens
and other royal figures, the courtiers and painters. Moses, the son
of a deaf-mute, grew up in a belfry before being cast out, found by
two monks and taken to live in the Abbey of St. Gall where he sings
in the choir. He is the one that no one wants with an operatic voice
so in demand it becomes his curse. Gothic in tone with gorgeous language
that has an ear for sound this book will pull you into the landscape
of the Swiss Alps, Mozart’s Vienna, and Moses’ world.
978-0-307-59052-7
| $24.00 | Crown | HC | September
978-0-307-35823-3 | $32.00C | Random House Canada | HC | September
David Eicke Recommends:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell
Sometimes, when I begin to think about how hard it must have been to write this book, I curl up in a ball, hide under my desk, and chew on a highlighter until I fall asleep. It’s the only way I can deal. David Mitchell is an Englishman, and he’s chosen to write about a Dutch colony in Japan in 1799. I’m thinking he might have spent some time in a library. Not only is it extraordinarily well researched, but it’s also written with great energy, grace, and intelligence. Normally, in historical novels, I can’t relate to the characters because what they’re going through is so foreign to me, but the issues facing his characters were human and eternal enough that they became thoroughly modern to me. Sure Jacob was a clerk in the 18th century, but he was so REAL to me that he might as well have been working on the 3rd floor here in New York. This is my first David Mitchell novel, but he’s succeeded in making me want to read everything else he’s written.
978-1-4000-6545-5 | $26.00/$32.00C | Random House | HC | June
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