BookCon 2014 Recap

Posted by Kate on Sunday, June 1, 2014. Filed under: ,
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We spent Saturday at BookCon - BEA's replacement for the Power Reader event we've attended the last two years. We bought tickets to this year's Power Reader day shortly after they went on sale - only to have them converted to BookCon tickets months later. We were concerned about the changes but BookCon staff assured us we'd "have access to everything we loved about Power Reader day", so we decided to give it a shot.

Our short take on it: BookCon is not BEA.

We haven't registered as bloggers for BEA in the past because it hadn't felt necessary. Spending one day as Power Readers gave us access to the entire exhibit hall and plenty of opportunity to check things out. Our biggest beef with BookCon is that we only got access to a small portion of the exhibit hall so we missed out on visiting some publishers we really enjoyed chatting with previous years, like Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, William Morrow, Penguin and Baker & Taylor, among others.

Our second big issue was that in past years it felt like coming to BEA was giving you a day pass into the awesome publishing world. BookCon was more like hey, come be part of a huge mass here to see celebrities! Personalized passes were replaced with generic ones and access to the entire exhibit hall was replaced with celebrity panels that were so poorly crowd-controlled that there were a few times we feared for our safety - and we weren't even trying to get into said panels, just around them!

That said, we did find glimmers of our previous experiences throughout the day. We had really nice chats with representatives from New Harbringer Publications, Mom's Choice Awards and the This Is Teen crowd from Scholastic. We got to meet some really fun, new-to-us authors during signings including Kristie Cook, Corey Ann Haydu, Liz Pichon, Lynn Brunelle and Paul Zelinsky. We grabbed a few ARCs we're excited about and our littlest BookCon-er decided to take her first steps while there! All-in-all, a good day.

Next year, we're planning to be there as bloggers. It feels more our speed after the big changes this year. We're looking forward to it already!

Review: The House Girl

Posted by Cathie on Thursday, March 27, 2014. Filed under: , , , ,
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The House Girl by Tara Conklin
Published by: William Morrow

Our source: Complimentary copy from the publisher


What it’s about (from Goodreads):

Virginia, 1852. Seventeen-year-old Josephine Bell decides to run from the failing tobacco farm where she is a slave and nurse to her ailing mistress, the aspiring artist Lu Anne Bell. New York City, 2004. Lina Sparrow, an ambitious first-year associate in an elite law firm, is given a difficult, highly sensitive assignment that could make her career: she must find the “perfect plaintiff” to lead a historic class-action lawsuit worth trillions of dollars in reparations for descendants of American slaves.

It is through her father, the renowned artist Oscar Sparrow, that Lina discovers Josephine Bell and a controversy roiling the art world: are the iconic paintings long ascribed to Lu Anne Bell really the work of her house slave, Josephine? A descendant of Josephine’s would be the perfect face for the reparations lawsuit—if Lina can find one. While following the runaway girl’s faint trail through old letters and plantation records, Lina finds herself questioning her own family history and the secrets that her father has never revealed: How did Lina’s mother die? And why will he never speak about her?

Moving between antebellum Virginia and modern-day New York, this searing, suspenseful and heartbreaking tale of art and history, love and secrets, explores what it means to repair a wrong and asks whether truth is sometimes more important than justice.

Our thoughts:

I have to admit; in the beginning of this book I was skeptical. I mean a class action lawsuit for the ancestors of slaves to collect money from companies that benefited from slave labor? That would be an impossible case not only to try, but also to figure out who should be compensated.

It is not often that a book makes me cry, but this one had me sitting there teary eyed while reading it. Conklin did a fabulous job of weaving together a tale of two exceptional women, spanning a time difference of over 150 years, and tying it all together beautifully. This is the type of book that stays with you long after you've read it.
We would recommend this to:

Fans of Historical Fiction

Review: The Time Keeper

Posted by Cathie on Monday, March 24, 2014. Filed under: , , , ,
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The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom
Published by: Hyperion

Our source: Our local library

What it’s about (from Goodreads):

In this fable, the first man on earth to count the hours becomes Father Time. The inventor of the world's first clock is punished for trying to measure God's greatest gift. He is banished to a cave for centuries and forced to listen to the voices of all who come after him seeking more days, more years. Eventually, with his soul nearly broken, Father Time is granted his freedom, along with a magical hourglass and a mission: a chance to redeem himself by teaching two earthly people the true meaning of time.

He returns to our world--now dominated by the hour-counting he so innocently began--and commences a journey with two unlikely partners: one a teenage girl who is about to give up on life, the other a wealthy old businessman who wants to live forever. To save himself, he must save them both. And stop the world to do so. 

Our thoughts:

This is a wonderful story about the meaning of time. If you think about it, we count time constantly, all day long. There are clocks everywhere. There is the clock on the nightstand telling us when to get up, one on the stove, the microwave, the coffee pot, the water cooler, the TV, the VCR and even our phones. We have clocks on our walls, in our cars, and on our wrists, all counting down the minutes to what? Why do we always need to know what time it is?

The point that Mitch Albom makes in The Time Keeper is that we should all stop trying to control time and spend more time appreciating it. Granted we do need to measure time in order to function in today's world. I can't imagine my boss would be too pleased if I wandered in to work at any hour, but I do think we would all be more relaxed if we didn't pay such close attention to the clock.

I can't say that I like all of Mitch Albom's work, but I really enjoyed this book. I loved the story line and the ending.
We would recommend this to:

Fans of Historical Fiction

Review: Watch How We Walk

Posted by Cathie on Thursday, March 20, 2014. Filed under: , , , ,
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Watch How We Walk by Jennifer LoveGrove

Published by: ECW Press
Our source: ARC from the publisher
What it’s about (from Goodreads):
Alternating between a woman’s childhood in a small town and as an adult in the city, this novel traces a Jehovah Witness family’s splintering belief system, their isolation, and the erosion of their relationships. As Emily becomes closer to her closeted Uncle Tyler, she begins to challenge her upbringing. Her questions about the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ insular lifestyle, rigid codes of conduct, and tenets of their faith haunt her older sister Lenora too. When Lenora disappears, everything changes and Emily becomes obsessed with taking on her sister’s identity, believing that Lenora is controlling her actions. Ultimately, Emily finds release through self-mutilation. The narrative offers a haunting, cutting exploration of the Jehovah’s Witness practice and practical impact of “disfellowshipping,” proselytization, and cultural abstinence, as well as their attitude toward the “worldlings” outside of their faith.

Our thoughts:

In the beginning of this book I had a little trouble deciphering whether the chapter was written from the childhood Emily or the adult Emily. It wasn't made so easily clear. The childhood Emily is written as a child would observe the world around them, factual observations without any thought as to the reason why things are the way they are.

As a child Emily embraced her religion as a Jehovah's Witness and enjoyed attending meetings with her family. It wasn't until Emily got a little older that she realized how hard it was to conform to a religion who's expectations seemed unrealistic.


On a whole this is a very sad, but very moving story. It's the kind of book that stays with you long after you're done reading it. 
We would recommend this to:

Fans of contemporary fiction

Review: A Beautiful Truth

Posted by Cathie on Monday, March 17, 2014. Filed under: , , ,
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A Beautiful Truth by Colin McAdam
Published by: Soho Press
Our source: ARC from the publisher
 
What it’s about (from Goodreads):
 
Looee, a chimp raised by a well-meaning and compassionate human couple who cannot conceive a baby of their own, is forever set apart.  He’s not human, but with his peculiar upbringing he is no longer like other chimps.  One tragic night Looee’s two natures collide and their unique family is forever changed.

At the Girdish Institute in Florida, a group of chimpanzees has been studied for decades.  The work at Girdish has proven that chimps have memories and solve problems, that they can learn language and need friends, and that they build complex cultures. They are political, altruistic, get angry, and forgive. When Looee is moved to the Institute, he is forced to try to find a place in their world.

Our thoughts:

Let me start off by saying that I am not a fan of exotic animals as pets. As a child, our family had a female squirrel monkey named Samantha. I'm sure when my father brought her home from the pet store he envisioned her playing with his six children and being like the rest of us kids. That was never the case. We had a large cage for her in the living room which took up the whole length of the wall. Though I was quite young, I don't remember Samantha ever being fun or friendly. I do remember the noise and the stench.

In A Beautiful Truth I believe the author, Colin Mcadam, is trying to make the point that there is value in trying to communicate with apes, but that we shouldn't be trying to make them fit into human culture. While I whole heartedly agree with this, I really didn't like this book. Besides the fact that I found it disturbing and cruel to the animals and the humans who had to take care of them, I found the book hard to read. Sentences and thoughts did not flow smoothly, and at many points I had no idea what the author was talking about. Half way through the book the story dragged so much that I contemplated not even bothering to finish reading it.

But finish it I did. The best part of this book is that a portion of the proceeds will benefit Save The Chimp sanctuary.
We would recommend this to:

Fans of animal stories

Review: The Dress Lodger

Posted by Cathie on Thursday, March 13, 2014. Filed under: , , ,
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The Dress Lodger by Sheri Holman

Published by: Ballantine Books
Our source: Library book sale
What it’s about (from Goodreads):
In Sunderland, England, a city quarantined by the cholera epidemic of 1831, a defiant, fifteen-year old beauty in an elegant blue dress makes her way between shadow and lamp light. A potter's assistant by day and dress lodger by night, Gustine sells herself for necessity in a rented gown, scrimping to feed and protect her only love: her fragile baby boy. 

She holds a glimmer of hope after meeting Dr. Henry Chiver, a prisoner of his own dark past. But in a world where suspicion of medicine runs rampant like a fever, these two lost souls will become irrevocably linked, as each crosses lines between rich and destitute, decorum and abandon, damnation and salvation. By turns tender and horrifying, The Dress Lodger is a captivating historical thriller charged with a distinctly modern voice. 

Our thoughts:

This book sticks with me, not simply because it is my favorite genre, historical fiction, but I also liked the fact that it was told in multiple narratives. Each chapter was telling more of the story but from a different character's view.

In this tale Gustine is a dress lodger. I had never heard of a dress lodger before but evidently it was a profession in England in the 1800's. I would describe a dress lodge as a young poor girl in a beautiful dress being followed by an old woman. The girl was a prostitute and the dress was to make her look like she was from a higher class in order to get more clients. The purpose of the older woman following the dress lodger wasn't so much for protection of the young girl as it was to ensure the return of the dress.

In the book, The Dress Lodger, Gustine is afraid of the older woman who follows her, referring to her as "The Eye". This image of a girl followed through the streets, as if by her old age, or her own mortality, really stuck with me. I very much enjoyed this strange tale and think I will definitely read this book again.
We would recommend this to:

Fans of Historical Fiction

Five 2014 Release We're Excited About

Posted by Unknown on Wednesday, January 1, 2014.
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New year, new books! Here are five we can't wait to get our hands on.


Hollow City by Ransom Riggs - We loved Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children so we can't wait for this sequel! 


Midnight Crossroad by Charlaine Harris - We're fans of Charlaine Harris, but we really haven't been loving the last few books in the Sookie series she put out. We're excited to see her start fresh and have high hopes for this one!


Make You Mine by Macy Beckett - We've loved everything by Macy Beckett, so we're excited to get a new series this year!


Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor - This series has been amazing so far. We can't wait to see how the story wraps up.


Isla and the Happily Ever After by Stephanie Perkins - Another series wrap-up we're anxiously awaiting! We're expecting this one to be as sweet and addictive as the first two.

What releases are you looking forward to this year?

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