The Sunday Salon... Spring Reads, Literally!

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It is BEAUTIFUL weather finally in Connecticut! I am done with winter! How about you?! We heated up the end of the winter a little this week with some romance, but for the start of Spring, which "officially" came over a week ago (with the prediction of a Nor' easter that didn't quite make it), I thought we would look at "Spring Books"... literally! To get our minds onto Spring, I've gathered together some books with Spring in the title. Not only are these literally spring books, but these are books written by well known authors, that may not be as well known as the books you associate these writers with...

Cold Springs by Rick Riordan... Chadwick’s life was balanced on the edge of a knife — his career, his marriage, his relationship with his dangerously troubled daughter. And then one autumn night, the worst possible thing happened . . . Nearly a decade later, Chadwick’s heart is on the mend. Working for an old military buddy, he now saves kids for a living — escorting troubled teens to a Texas wilderness school that specializes in the toughest brand of love. Until he gets a call that threatens to shatter his new life. Mallory Zedman, the daughter of his oldest friend, is taking the same terrible path Chadwick’s own daughter once took. Defiant and out-of-control, Mallory is determined to destroy herself and anyone who tries to stop her. No sooner does Chadwick snatch her off the streets than he discovers she is wanted for questioning in a brutal murder – a slaying that seems directly linked to Chadwick’s past. To save Mallory, tough love will not be enough. Chadwick must find the truth behind the murder – and in doing so, revisit the infidelities, broken promises, and violent passions that cracked his world apart. From the wealthy enclave of San Francisco’s Pacific Heights to the gang-ruled streets of West Oakland to the stark open spaces of Cold Springs, Texas, Chadwick must race to save not only Mallory, but the one thing he still has left to lose – a slim hope of redemption.

Rick Riordan is off the charts in popularity with his children's books such as the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and The Kane Chronicles, both of which involve the wonderful world of mythology. But Rick Riordan also writes for adults, and Cold Springs is one of those books. This book is quite a departure from his childrens' books and from his Tres Navarre PI series. Cold Springs is a dark thriller that has gotten the gambit of reviews. The plot is complex and the characters are suppose to make even the reader uncomfortable, but the final kick is suppose tomake it all worthwhile.

Goddess of Spring by P.C. Cast... Lina’s trendy bakery in Tulsa is proving to be less than lucrative, and she must come up with a plan. When she stumbles upon an Italian Goddess cookbook, Lina can’t help but think she’s found the answer to her problem – even if it means invoking a goddess to save her business. Soon enough, Lina finds herself face-to-face with Demeter, who has a plan of her own. She proposes that Lina exchange souls with Persephone, the Goddess of Spring, who will breathe new life into the bakery. In return, Lina must set order to the Underworld. Before all this, Lina’s problems mostly involved sourdough and second dates. Now that she embodies the enchanting Persephone, Lina has weightier things on her mind – like the formidable task of bringing Spring to a world of spirits. But when the handsome, brooding Hades kindles a spark in her heart, Lina wonders if this Lord of the Underworld might be the man of her dreams…

Long before the wildly popular The House of Night YA series, there was the Goddess Summoning series, which "retells ancient myths giving them a sexy, modern twist and introducing heroines to some of the most fantastic heroes the world has ever known." This of course is a romantic fantasy series for adults, and also seems to have a devoted following, although this is the first I've taken a peek at the series. Have you read this yet? The Goddess of Spring is the second in the series, and it's suppose to be the best.

Torrents of Spring by Ernest Hemingway... Set in northern Michigan in the mid-1920s The Torrents of Spring is about two World War I veterans, Yogi Johnson and writer Scripps O'Neill, both of whom work at a pump factory. The story begins with O'Neill returnning home to find that

his wife and small daughter have left him. O'Neill befriends a British waitress, Diana, at a diner and asks her to marry him immediately, but soon becomes disenchanted with her. Diana tries to impress her husband by reading books from the lists of The New York Times Book Reviews but he soon leaves her (as she feared he would) for another waitress, Mandy, who enthralls him with literary (but possibly made up) anecdotes. Johnson, who became depressed after a Parisian prostitute leaves him for a British officer, has a period during which he anguishes over the fact that he doesn't seem to desire any woman at all, even though spring is approaching. Ultimately, he falls in love with a native American woman who enters a restaurant clothed only in mocassins, the wife of one of the two Indians he befriends near the end of the story.

This was Ernest Hemingway's very first novel published in 1926. It was a parody, full of satire and written in ten days for the sole purpose of breaking his contract with publisher Boni and Liveright. It seems Hemingway wanted to sign with the more prestigious publisher Scribner and the only way he could get out of his contract with Boni and Liveright was to write something "so bad" that they wouldn't publish it. This wasn't really the case with Torrents of Spring, that it was "so bad', but because it was a parody of Sherwood Anderson, another author that Boni and Liveright published, the publishers rejected it and thus terminated their contract with Hemingway. Of course Scribner only had 1250 copies of Torrents of Spring published for the first printing, but Scribner remained Hemingway's publisher from then on.

Do you have any Spring books to offer this week?!

Weekly Recap... This week was a week of world travel, time travel, hot romance with a bite or two added by a hot vampyre, and it all started with monday morning coffee at My Korean Deli. This past monday I highlighted My Korean Deli by Ben Ryder Howe in Monday Memoirs. It's the story of the senior editor of The Paris Review, Ben Ryder Howe, turning his life upside down buying a deli for his immigrant in-laws. The story revolves around this deli and the interesting people that he crosses paths with. Then we heated some things up with a review of the Historical Romance Legacy by Jeanette Baker. Mix together a mysterious letter, Scotland, an ancient castle, and ancient curses with romance and a bit of time travel and you've got the recipe for Legacy by Jeanette Baker. I loved it! But you can read my full review by following this link to Legacy. And if vampyre's are more your style, then check out my review of It Happened One Bite by Lydia Dare, which I reviewed thursday on Chick with Books! A bit of Paranormal Historical Romance with an ancient coven of witches, and a handsome vampyre locked away for 20 years in the late 1700's in the Highlands! A great story, great characters and lots of sparks! Then we step over the threshold to China, and 3 generations of women who fight their way back to being a loving and caring family in A Thread of Sky by Deanna Fei. A Thread of Sky made a stop at Chick with Books as part of its Virtual Book Tour with TLC. Deanna Fei does an amazing job showing us the complexities of women's relationships as well as dealing with racism and prejudice. This was a wonderful book, that captured my attention with the well developed characters and interesting story line. The writing itself was beautiful as well. You can read my review by following the link to A Thread of Sky. And what would a week be without a little teaser for fridays First Lines? This week we opened up the pages to Daughters of the River Huong by Uyen Nicole Duong, which is "a richly woven tapestry of family, country, conflict, and redemption. A saga spanning four generations of Vietnamese women, we discover lives inextricably tied to their country’s struggle for independence. Narrated by the teenaged Simone, a girl who flaunts convention and enters into a forbidden relationship of love and sensuality, readers are drawn to the lives of four of Simone’s ancestors, from Huyen Phi, the Mystique Concubine from the extinct Kingdom of Champa, to Ginseng, the Mystique Concubine’s second daughter and a heroine of the Vietnamese Revolution." I just received a review copy in the mail of Daughters of the River Huong, and am so looking forward to continueing the story. I love stories that deal with generations of women and the fabric that ties them together. This looks to be one of those stories that we can wrap our arms around while traveling to a place that will fascinate us as well as sadden us. You can find the beginning of this story at First Lines.

So what are you reading this week? What books caught your eye this past week? Share your great finds right here with all of us! And in the meantime...

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon... Treasure Hunting in a Book Sale

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! Grab a cup of joe, relax, and let's talk about books! Yes, after a hectic week of "this and that", it's time to sit back and reflect on what we've been able to squeeze in this week, the far off places we've visited as we immersed ourselves into the written page...

This week I went to my local Borders and its' "Going out of Business Sale". It is utter chaos on the shelves there. If you are looking for anything in particular you are virtually out of luck as the shelves are filled with books that people thought twice about, condensing book sections, and shrinking inventory... But it's also fun. It's like a treasure hunt, trying to find the little gems that are buried beneath all that chaos. It also makes me look... really look at all those titles and I've actually learned a thing or two about some authors.

Did you know? That the Alfred Hitchcock movie Strangers on a Train was written by Patricia Highsmith? Do you know who Patricia Highsmith is? I am a bit embarrassed to admit I hadn't read her before. But I will rectify that situation with Selected Novels and Short Stories by Patricia Highsmith, which includes Strangers on a Train and The Price of Salt, her other very well known novel. But Patricia Highsmith also wrote The Talented Mr. Ripley! Do you remember that movie?! I am amazed that she wrote both of these psychological "chillers". Strangers on the Train was her debut novel which she wrote in the 50's, and The Talented Mr. Ripley she wrote in the late 80's.

Some books were screaming for me to save them, or at least hand them to another customer looking to purchase some books... Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See was sitting there on a shelf (one of my favorite reads) and so was a copy of Little Bee by Chris Cleave. There was a copy of Stitches by David Small in the Biographies, along with Maus by Art Spiegelman, which I own but haven't read yet. Both of which are graphic novels. Stitches was an amazing book for its' subtle artwork, and Maus is amazing for other reasons as it's the story of the Holocaust, with the main characters depicted by mice and cats. I did pick up a graphic novel though... I brought home with me Forget Sorrow by Belle Yang, which is her ancestral tale, and her graphic memoir. We learn about Belle and China as we travel back to Belle's father's era as he recounts tales of growing up and the world as it was back then. The illustrations appear to be woodcuts and are beautiful.

What other books came home with me?

Illustrado by Miguel Syjuco... This won the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2008, even before it was in book form. "It begins with a body. On a clear day in winter, the battered corpse of Crispin Salvador is pulled from the Hudson River—taken from the world is the controve

rsial lion of Philippine literature. Gone, too, is the only manuscript of his final book, a work meant to rescue him from obscurity by exposing the crimes of the Filipino ruling families. Miguel, his student and only remaining friend, sets out for Manila to investigate. To understand

the death, Miguel scours the life, piecing together Salvador’s story through his poetry, interviews, novels, polemics, and memoirs. The result is a rich and dramatic family saga of four generations, tracing 150 years of Philippine history forged under the Spanish, the Americans, and the Filipinos themselves." And the book is filled with bits and pieces of interviews and novels, etc. Not really an epistolary novel, but similar in thought.

The Elephants Journey by Jose Saramago... Based on the actual event of King Joao III of Portugal in 1551 giving Archduke Maximilian a elephant named Solomon as a wedding gift. The elephant traveled from Lisbon to Vienna... all on foot! "The Enchanting Tale of an elephant, his keeper, and their journey through sixteenth-century Europe, based on a true story."What Jose Saramago does is take this amazing tale and with wit, humor and an underlying seriousness gives us a gift to read. The elephant is our hero in the story and from the bit I've read, the writing is wonderful. But of course, Jose Saramago has won the Nobel Prize for Literature! The book itself is slim and about the size of a trade paperback even though my copy is hardcover, and the size and design of the cover gives the impression that you are opening the book to a wonderful fairytale.

Of course these are only some of the highlights of my treasure hunt. I wander first through literature, then through mysteries, memoirs and then history. I always take a peek at romance and YA novels. Sci-fi gets a brief look, but isn't my norm for reading. How do you travel through a book sale? Do you have fun looking through the chaos? Share some of your great finds!

Weekly Recap... Memoir Monday was a stop for Lisa Napoli and her TLC Virtual Book Tour for her memoir Radio Shangri-La. I loved it, and felt like I was traveling right along with Lisa as she left her fast-paced life in The States to the "Happiest Place on Earth". Tuesday,

I gave a heads-up to Haruki Murakami fans, and wrote about the recent issue of The New Yorker Magazine that includes his short story U.F.O. in Kushiro. It's a rare treat to have Murakami publish something in an American magazine, so if you are a fan, don't forget to grab a copy! Friday's First Lines was an excerpt from the newly released book about "girl and dog", Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee. And yes, the dog does save the day! The cover is wonderful and the story should be too! Lots of great buzz on this one! And I have a copy waiting for me to read. Saturday I reviewed the graphic novel iZombies: Dead to the World by Chris Roberson and Michael Allred. A fabulous start to a new series of Zombie - Vampire - "Were-Terrier" adventures! There are elements of mystery and romance, and I have hopes that the story will continue as well as the first five issues that are found in iZombie: Dead to the World. If you are new to graphic novels, but enjoy complex stories with vampires and a zombie or two, give this a try! I don't think you'll be disappointed!

That's how my week was... how was yours?! Share all that great reading you have on your plate this week!

Happy reading... Suzanne

The Sunday Salon... It's A Crime, "Literally"!

Welcome to The Sunday Salon! It's the time of the week where we get together to chat about... What else?! Books! It's been a beautiful week in Connecticut. The weather has warmed up into the 50's, and on friday it reached almost into the 70's! I spent some time in the bookstore this weekend already, and lots of time relaxing in the wonderful weather reading! I finished reading Song of The Silk Road by Mingmei Yip, which was a great read, and I'll be posting my review this week. One of the books I picked up at the bookstore was South of the Border, West of the Sun by Haruki Murakami. This is the year I wanted to finally read Murakami and joined the Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge to push myself a little bit. I have a good collection of Murakami waiting to be read, but when I saw South of the Border, West of the Sun, which I didn't have yet, and saw it was DISCOUNTED, well I just couldn't resist. I had only intended to read a little of the beginning but could not put it down (It is said Murakami has a way of doing that). So, today I'll be finishing South of the Border, West of the Sun, so look for that review coming up too! What else is coming up? SNOW! This coming week the east coast is expecting a bit of accumulation of the white stuff... AND that's such a Crime!... Which leads me into today's Sunday Salon... Crime Fiction and in particular International Crime Fiction, or crime in exotic places!

Crime fiction deals with the crimes at hand, the detection of them and the motives behind them. There aren't usually any courtrooms, or lawyers. And when the crime occurs in places like Sweden or Africa, we are treated to not only a great murder, but immersed in some culture we may not be familiar with. I haven't really read a lot of this type of fiction, but was in the mood the other day and wandered the bookstore looking for some new names to satisfy my hunger. Here's some of the great finds I came across...

The Coroner's Lunch by Colin Cotterill... from the back of the book: Dr. Siri Paiboun, one of the last doctors left in Laos after the Communist takeover, has been drafted to be national coroner. He is untrained for the job, but this independent 72-year-old has an outstanding qualification for it: curiosity. And he doesn't mind incurring the wrath of the Party hierarchy as he unravels mysterious murders, because the spirirts of the dead are on his side.

This is the first book in the Dr. Siri Paiboun series. The setting is Laos, a country landlocked in Southeast Asia. The books are suppose to have a bit of sarcasm & wit from our protagonist, Dr. Siri Paiboun, which makes the novels not light-hearted, but entertaining. The writing I sampled while leafing through the books was terrific. And I can't wait to start reading this series! Author Colin Cotterill is such an interesting person himself. He's lived all over the world, carrying his teaching degree with him where ever he wound up. He lived in Laos for several years, and adds his experiences of the sights & sounds of Laos into his novels.

Faceless Killers by Henning Mankell... One frozen January Morning at 5 am, Inspector Wallander responds to what he expects is a routine call out. When he reaches the isolated farmhouse he discovers a bloodbath. An old man has been tortured and beaten to death, his wife lies barely alive beside his shattered body, victims of violence beyond reason. The woman supplies Wallander with his only clue: the perpetrators may have been foreign. When this is leaked to the press, racial hatred is unleashed. Kurt Wallander is a senior police officer at Ystad, a small town in the wind-lashed Swedish province of Skåne. His life is a shambles. His wife has left him, his daughter refuses to speak to him, even his ageing father barely tolerates him. He works tirelessly, eats badly and drinks the nights away in a lonely, neglected flat. But now winter closes its grip on Ystad, and Wallander, his tenacious efforts closely monitored by the tough minded (and disarmingly attractive) district attorney Anette Brolin, must forget his trouble, and throw himself into a battle against time and xenophobia.

Henning Mankell is a name that came up a lot after the success and popularity of Stieg Larsson's series of books with The Girl with The Dragon Tattoo. Thia is the beginning of the Kurt Wallander series. The series is set in Sweden and there is a big fan base for these books. There is also a link on Henning Mankell's site to tourism in Ystad, where quite a bit of the action takes place.

Murder in the Marais by Cara Black... Although set in Paris in the early 1990s, Black's new series start harks back to World War II crimes. Private investigator Aimee Leduc becomes involved when she discovers the body of an elderly Jewish woman whose forehead has been inscribed with a swastika. With the arrival of a German trade delegation, meanwhile, the existence of a powerful covert group comprising former SS officers becomes clear. Aimee's subsequent investigation exposes the connection between a war-time romance gone wrong and the modern-day murder. Literate prose, intricate plotting, and multifaceted and unusual characters mark this excellent first mystery.

Cara Black shows you "the Paris you won't find in the tour books". Murder in the Marais is the first book in the Aimee Leduc series, which takes place in Paris. These novels are also popular and Cara Black just published her 11th book in the series, Murder in Passy. For fans of Aimee Leduc or new comers to the series, Soho Press has published a free online guide to the whole series. You can find it at this link at SohoPress.com.

There are some great sources to find great crime fiction too! First, since we are talking about Cara Black and Colin Cotterill, both of these authors are published by Soho Press. Their website is divided up between Soho Crime and Soho Constable, both of which have a backlist of great authors, and the current or frontlist of recent works.

The Crime Writers' Association, or CWA, is also a great place to find crime fiction authors. The CWA also sponsors The Daggar Awards, which celebrate the best in crime fiction. In 2009, Colin Cotterill won The Daggar in the Libary Award, which is the Daggar Award where library users nominate authors and an author is ultimately chosen by a panel of librarians that work with the public. But there are a lot of different Daggar awards, which you can find on the Crime Writers' Association website.

BARGAIN EReading in Murder... Gere Donovan Press is offering the first in the Kate Shugak series for free if you download the book directly from the Official Site of the Iditarod, or at a bargain price of .99cents from Amazon.com for the Kindle or Barnes & Noble for the Nook. This is a series that takes place in Alaska, and the culture is that of the Aluet's. Dana Stabenow won an Edgar Award for A Cold Day for Murder. Here's what the synopsis of the book...

A Cold Day for Murder by Dana Stabenow... Somewhere in the hinterlands of Alaska, among the millions of sprawling acres that comprise “The Park,” a young National Park Ranger has gone missing. When the detective sent after him also vanishes, the Anchorage DA’s department must turn to their reluctant former investigator, Kate Shugak. Shugak knows The Park because she’s of The Park, an Aleut who left her home village of Niniltna to pursue education, a career, and the righting of wrongs. Kate’s search for the missing men will take her from self-imposed exile back to a life she’d left behind, and face-to-face with people and problems she'd hoped never to confront again.

Weekly Recap... Last week started of Memoir Monday with Moonwalking with Einstein by Joshua Foer. A fascinating look at we can learn to memorize. Joshua learned how to do it and won the U.S. Memory Championships. On tuesday I talked about Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson, which is this months Book Club Selection for my reading group. I also talked about the use of reading group guides when discussing a book in a group. Good or not necessary? I cast my vote for a guide, although not necessary, it does add fuel to the discussion at times. And this weeks First Lines was from the Mary Higgins Clark and her soon to be released novel, I'll Walk Alone. We've been talking about crime fiction today, but if you're into murder, but want more of a mystery, Mary Higgins Clark is always a good choice!

Is crime fiction something that you enjoy?! What authors are on your hit list?! And what other reading have you done this week!? Share your great reads here!

Happy reading... Suzanne