Solarized

Not a whole lot of new books coming this week - although there are a couple pretty big releases - but there are four events at Warwick's for you to attend!

• Solar by Ian McEwan - a new book by the 2-time Booker Prize winner is always somewhat of a literary event. (Warwick's has signed copies available!)  A Nobel Prize-winning physicist halfheartedly works on a governmental global warming project as his marriage crumbles - can he salvage both? Alas, the early reviews are not great - it doesn't seem like Solar is Sir Ian's finest work, nor destined to earn him that 3rd Booker. Booklist: "readers are taxed to even care" about the characters & crises in this "draggy novel". PW: "The scientific material is absorbing, but the interpersonal portions are much less so. Troublesome, since McEwan seems to prefer the latter, making for an inconsistent novel that one finishes feeling unpleasantly glacial."  Sorry, I didn't mean to talk you out of reading it.
• Pearl of China by Anchee Min - set amidst the turmoil of the dawn of the 20th century in China (Mao, the Boxer Rebellion, civil war), Min reimagines the early life of Pearl S. Buck and her friendship with young Willow Yee. Of course, Anchee will be at Warwick's for this book - Thursday, April 8th at 7:30 - plenty of time for you to read the book first.
• Deception by Jonathan Kellerman - more "Alex Delaware" from the award-winning patriarch of the Kellerman empire.
• Giada at Home: Family Recipes From Italy and California by Giada de Laurentiis - the new cookbook by the Food Network star. Like "cheese-stuffed dates wrapped in salty prosciutto, creamy risotto with the earthy and deep flavors of mushrooms and gorgonzola, and lamb chops basted with honey and balsamic vinegar."  I'm in.
• About Face by Donna Leon comes out in paperback this week.

Happenings:

• Jack Bowen, author of If You Can Read This: The Philosophy of Bumper Stickers on Monday night at 7:30. There's a short piece on Jack's book over on KPBS's Culture Lust blog - check it out.
• Midge Raymond, author of Forgetting English, is hosting a Writing Workshop on Tuesday night at 7:00.
• Karl Rove (sigh, yes, that Karl Rove) will be signing his new book, Courage and Consequence on Wednesday evening at 6:00. (Note: this is a ticketed event & only books purchased from Warwick's will be signed.)
• Indu Sundaresan, author of Shadow Princess, the concluding novel in her Taj Trilogy, will be here on Thursday night at 7:30.

Happy Birthday Octavio Paz (1918-1998; March 31) and Hans Christen Anderson (1805-1875; April 2)!

Girl, Don't Play With That Fire!

A couple of these (Kerr and Judt) released on March 18th (Thursday is an odd day for new releases), while the rest are out on Tuesday this week. The biggest book in this post: the much-anticipated paperback release of Stieg Larsson's The Girl Who Played with Fire happens on Tuesday. Part three of the late Larsson's massively successful trilogy, The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, releases on May 25th.

• If the Dead Rise Not by Philip Kerr - Kerr's sixth novel featuring WWII-era Berlin private detective, Bernie Gunther. The early books – now packaged as a trilogy know as "Berlin Noir" - were great, but more in a classic, "Hey, dollface", Chandler-esque gumshoe style. Once Kerr revisited the series in 2003, after a decade away from Bernie, the characters and plots have had a much grittier taste to them and really pulsate with great historical nuances and blazing dialogue. Dead alternates between a seasoned, bitter, & exiled Bernie living in the political volatility of Cuba 1954 and the relative innocence of 1934's Berlin Bernie, just beginning to suspect the path his homeland is on. For fans, it’s great to see pre-war Bernie again – and newcomers can jump right in, as Kerr is writing the best stuff of his career.
• Ill Fares the Land by Tony Judt - critically acclaimed historian Judt, author of Reappraisals: Reflections on the Forgotten 20th Century and Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945, returns with his treatise on where we as a society have gone wrong in the last 60 years. The title is from Oliver Goldsmith's poem of nostagia, The Deserted Village:  "Ill fares the land, to hastening ills a prey, Where wealth accumulates, and men decay."
• Caught by Harlan Coben - a new thriller by the bestselling author.

• Matterhorn by Karl Marlantes - Marlantes spent the last 30 years perfecting his intensely personal novel of the Vietnam War and has been getting some stellar early reviews. PW called it "a grand, distinctive accomplishment" and Warwick's own John Hughes has been raving about it. Come down & meet the author on Monday, April 19th.
• Known to Evil by Walter Mosley - continuing the "Leonid McGill" series of mysteries.
• Bite Me by Christopher Moore - I'll give you the first sentence of the publisher's blurb & let you decide: "The city of San Francisco is being stalked by a huge shaved vampyre cat named Chet, and only I, Abby Normal, emergency backup mistress of the Greater Bay Area night, and my manga-haired love monkey, Foo Dog, stand between the ravenous monster and a bloody massacre of the general public."
• 1001 Beers You Must Taste Before You Die by Adrian Tierney-Jones - just too funny to not make a note of. I plan on trying them all, even if it kills me.

Paperbacks:

• Gone Tomorrow by Lee Child
• The Girl Who Played with Fire by Stieg Larsson

Happenings: a busy week.

• Stephen J. Cannell, The Pallbearers - Tuesday at 7:30.
• Annabelle Gurwitch & Jeff Kahn, You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up - Wednesday night at 6:30 at Isabel's Cantina. (This is a ticketed dinner event - you can check warwicks.com or call for details.)
• Springtime Children's Party - Thursday afternoon at 4:30.
• Frances Mayes, Every Day in Tuscany - Thursday night at 7:30. A follow up to her bestsellers, Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany.
• Cherie Currie, Neon Angel - a "signing only" event on Saturday afternoon at 4:00. Currie was the lead singer for Joan Jett's band The Runaways in the 80's - you know, "Ch-ch-ch-ch-cherrybomb!"

Upcoming Paranormalities

by Heather
Zombies, ghosts, vampires, werewolves, fairies and dystopic societies - they have all been markedly present in my reading material as of late. Perhaps it’s because these topics seem to be so prevalent in current popular culture or maybe it’s just that I have been making an effort to catch up on my paranormal reading because my desk was starting to overflow with reading copies. I’ve read countless paranormal novels over the last several months, some that are currently out and others which will be released between now and this summer. As I’ve waded my way through the lackluster, uninspired ridiculousness, I greatly feared that I would never come across a new novel worth recommending. Who knew there could be that many horrid writers being published? Fortunately, after much toil, boredom, and hair pulling, I finally came across a few notable new novels in the genre.

Soulless by Gail Carriger, has been out since October, but since it’s sequel, Changeless is due out in May it would be remiss of me not to mention it. This is that book that you pick-up, start to read, and then just can’t put down. It’s that novel that causes a smirk to cross your lips and your chest to tighten with a mixture of anticipation and downright enjoyment. Soulless, the first in a new series by Gail Carriger is that book. The perfect blend of paranormal, romance, comedy, alternative history, and steam punk, Soulless manages to reach beyond the genres with it’s wonderful prose, witty dialogue, and unforgettable characters.

Birthmarked by Caragh O’Brien, which will be released at the end this month, is a tremendously dystopic novel that faintly echoes themes from Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. This is a teen novel, but one that’s premise will be appreciated by adults. The writer, a high school English teacher, does an incredible job of creating characters full of complexities and an environment that is both fantastic and harshly real in its depiction.

The Passage by Justin Cronin is a highly anticipated and much touted new novel out of Random House. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen so much hype for a science fiction novel. Usually, I’m turned off by excessive amounts of plugging because the novels rarely live up to the praise, but this is one book that paid off. The Passage is one of those books that is completely intimidating at first sight because of it's immense size, but once you've read the first few pages you discover an immersing story that sucks you in and refuses to let go. A perfect mixture of classic Michael Crichton meets Resident Evil, this is a novel capable of appealing to science fiction and more mainstream fiction readers, while still maintaining a uniqueness of it’s own. A perfect summer blockbuster that frustrated me to no ends because after nearly 1,000 pages I was loathe to see the end, and am now yearning for a sequel, even though this first book has yet to be released (June 8, 2010).

I would like to end this by taking the time to acknowledge a few of the sequels that are currently or about to be released. Darklight by Lesley Livingston (Wondrous Strange) and Hourglass by Claudia Gray (Evernight) are available now. Linger by Maggie Stiefvater (Shiver); The Dead-Tossed Waves by Carrie Ryan (The Forest of Hands and Teeth), and Guardian of the Gate by Michelle Zink (Prophecy of the Sisters) are all out this summer. I have read each of these titles and they are all fantastic, but pay close attention to Guardian of the Gate, which is by far the best of the group.

The Big Short Week

Well, since last Tuesday was such a massive book release day, this week is of course, a little lighter. Not to mention that March Madness begins this week - reports say that the brackets could cost employers $1.8 billion in unproductive wages this year, based on the amount of time we all watch basketball on the clock. Personally, I think this statistic is ridiculous - I would never watch basketball at work. (If you need a bracket though, you can email me at seth@warwicks.com.) Still, there're a handful of books to note:

• The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis - hot on the heels of Sandra Bullock's Oscar win for her role in The Blind Side (written by Lewis), comes his book on the collapse of the American economy. From the publisher:  "Truth really is stranger than fiction. Who better than (Lewis) to explain how the event we were told was impossible - the free fall of the American economy - finally occurred; how the things that we wanted, like ridiculously easy money and greatly expanded home ownership, were vehicles for that crash; and how shareholder demand for profit forced investment executives to eat the forbidden fruit of toxic derivatives. (Lewis) proves yet again that he is the finest and funniest chronicler of our times."
• Think Twice by Lisa Scottoline - lawyer's evil twin sister gets mixed up in drug-running & tries to impersonate her. Sweet!
• The Pallbearers by Stephen J. Cannell - the bestselling author and creator of every super-cool TV show from the late-70's and early-80's (The A-Team, 21 Jump Street, The Greatest American Hero, The Rockford Files) returns with another in his series of Shane Scully novels. Meet the man himself, at Warwick's on Tuesday, March 23rd at 7:30.
• Dimiter by William Peter Blatty - it's been awhile, but I know you remember him - this is the new novel from the author of The Exorcist. PW gave it a surprising starred review, calling it "a beautifully written, haunting tale of vengeance, spiritual searching, loss, and love."

Happenings:

• Tuesday, March 16th - Anil Ananathswamy, author of The Edge of Physics: A Journey to Earth's Extremes to Unlock the Secrets of the Universe. From the pub: "In this timely and original book, science writer Anil Ananthaswamy sets out in search of the world's most audacious physics experiments: the telescopes and detectors that promise to shed new light on things like dark matter, dark energy, and the phenomenon of quantum gravity (which string theory tries to explain). He soon finds himself at the ends of the earth - in cold and remote and sometimes dangerous places. As it turns out, extreme physics requires extreme environments."  
• Thursday, March 18th - Chang-rae Lee, author of The Surrendered. Reviews have already been calling this "masterful", "haunting", "engrossing", "harrowing", "heartbreaking", & "breathtaking".

Birthdays are fun to know!  The late Douglas Adams (1952-2001), author of the Hitchhickers Guide to the Galaxy series was born on March 11. Penelope Lively, author of the Booker Prize-winning Moon Tiger (as well as over 40 other books for both kids and adults), was born in Cairo on St. Patrick's Day in 1933.  The late John Updike, winner of virtually every major literary prize out there, was born on March 18, 1932. And Philip Roth's 77th birthday is March 19 - so send him a card.

Are You Seth? vol.8

The Devil's Star by Jo Nesbo - on sale Tuesday!
In all honesty, most of the fallible detective types in these crime novels I read all sort of blend together after awhile. "Wasn't that alcoholic, Scandinavian cop in that other book by that other guy?" This is by no means a knock on the authors or their books, just maybe a criticism directed at me, who can't seem to space these books out enough so that I can tell these characters apart. Anyway, the point is that none of this applies to Norwegian author Jo Nesbo and his unfortunately named, brilliant, alcoholic Oslo police detective, Harry Hole. The Devil's Star is the third of Nesbo's books to be translated into English and, I think, the finest in the series to date.

Normally, I wouldn't hesitate in steering a reader towards a book set later in a series if I really felt that the order to the books wasn't vital to understanding the plot - Henning Mankell's Wallander series, for example, doesn't really need to be read in order (especially as they were not published in the States in the correct order.) You do need to read Jo Nesbo's books in order, however, to better appreciate the political morass that is the Oslo police department and the tense undercurrent of hate flowing between Harry and his co-worker, Tom Waaler. In The Redbreast, Harry begins to suspect that Waaler isn't exactly Oslo's most honest cop, but the tension doesn't go farther than angry conversations and some bad blood. In Nemesis, Waaler is the title reference, as Harry begins to suspect that he has had a role in the death of a colleague and has elaborately set Harry up to take the fall. Everything comes to a head in The Devil's Star, as Harry is reluctantly paired with Waaler on his latest case, but can't let on that he has suspicions as to Waaler's corruption.

Without sacrificing plot for character, Nesbo manages to perfectly work this cranked-up tension between cops into this labyrinth of a crime novel. Harry is, like I said, a flawed man - by the events in TDS, he has managed to mangle his once-healthy relationship with his girlfriend, ostracize himself from most of his co-workers, and is steadlily drinking himself into oblivion. Ah, but he's still a great cop! When a girl's body turns up, missing an index finger and sporting a 5-pointed red diamond under her eyelid, Harry works through his hatred of Waaler to try and solve the case. He soon realizes that there is a pattern between this and several other Oslo murders - could a serial killer be at work? Coupled with the political tension, this novel crackles with intrigue, mystery, and psychological complexities - a great read for fans of Henning Mankell, Ken Bruen, Karen Fossum, Olen Steinhauer, Ian Rankin...the list goes on.

Ahoy!

Lots of new books this week -
Hardcovers:

• The Silent Sea by Clive Cussler (part of Clive's "Oregon Files" series of adventure novels. This one involves the discovery of a wrecked WWII-era blimp in the jungle of Argentina.)
• Bone Fire by Mark Spragg (the new novel by the acclaimed author of An Unfinished Life. There are some amazingly mixed reviews on this one so far: Library Journal called it "a gleaming tale" in which "not one word is out of place...each and every character is well drawn and intensely believable" while PW saw more of "a dry and unsatisfying contemporary western" that "lacks narrative momentum and a sense of purpose."  Ouch. You be the judge.)
• A Week in December by Sebastian Faulks (a novel of intesecting lives in modern London by the author of Birdsong and Charlotte Gray)
• The Weed That Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley (the author's second novel featuring 11-year old sleuth, Flavia de Luce. Book 1, The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, was a 2009 favorite of Janet & Vicki.)
• The Surrendered by Chang-rae Lee (this new novel by the acclaimed author of Aloft is getting some great early reviews. Lee worked on The Surrendered for the better part of a decade, never able to finish due to the intense personal nature of the storyline - “I wouldn't be here if there hadn't been a war (in Korea). In a way, that's why I didn't want to write this book” he told PW. You can meet him at Warwick's on Thursday, March 18th at 7:30pm.)
• Chelsea Chelsea Bang Bang by Chelsea Handler (the new memoir by the comedienne & host of late night's "Chelsea Lately". Also an upcoming event at Warwick's - she'll be here on Saturday, May 8th at 3:00pm for a signing only. Stay tuned to warwicks.com for more info.)
• Every Day in Tuscany by Frances Mayes (yet another upcoming Warwick's event - Ms. Mayes returns to the W on March 25th for this follow-up to her bestsellers, Under the Tuscan Sun and Bella Tuscany. In 2005 we had around 200 people here for her event, so get in early, I say.)
• The Devil and Sherlock Holmes by David Grann (a collection of journalism pieces & essays by the author of last year's staff favorite, The Lost City of Z. I've read this already & while it's not nearly as compelling as a whole, as Lost City, it does have some fascinating pieces within. My favorite has to be "City of Water" which chronicles the lives of the men who've been toiling under the streets of New York for the last 30 years to complete the construction of City Tunnel #3 - the conduit for the 1.3 billion gallons of water used by the city's residents every day. Come by for Coffee with a Bookseller on Tuesday & I'll tell you more.)

Paperbacks:

• The Wild Things by Dave Eggers (the paperback is a faux-fur-free edition, unlike the awesome hardcover.)
• Don't Cry: Stories by Mary Gaitskill
• The Missing by Tim Gautreaux
• Woman with Birthmark by Hakan Nesser (the third in Nesser's "Van Veeteren" crime series that started with Borkmann's Point.)
• Tea Time for the Traditionally Built by Alexander McCall Smith (Part 10 of the "Number One Ladies Detective Agency" series.)

There's also a new set coming out this week of those beautiful Penguin hardback classics designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith: Emma, Treasure Island, Lady Chatterley's Lover, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, and The Odyssey.

Happenings:

• Coffee with a Bookseller, March Edition on Tuesday morning at 10am - featuring, yours truly.
• Gabrielle Burton, author of Impatient with Desire - a novel of Tamsen Donner of the ill-fated Donner Party - on Thursday the 11th at 7:30.

Are You Seth? vol.7

Warwick's has been a chaotic, exhausting place this week - we've been having beautiful new carpeting put in storewide, which entails moving everything off of the floor so that the old carpet can be torn out and the new can be laid down. This makes for long days for booksellers. But I'm still managing to get some reading done - over on my other site, The Book Catapult, you can read about the ten books I've read so far in 2010. Or, we can talk about books in person, as there's another edition of "Coffee with a Bookseller" coming this Tuesday morning at 10AM, where you and I can rap about what's new & good for you in books.

To tide you over, let's talk about journalist Ted Conover's new book, The Routes of Man: How Roads Are Changing the World and the Way We Live Today.

As a reader of maybe 98% fiction, I tend to not be able to read through nonfiction books at one go and I need to break them up with novels for some reason. I've been chipping away at this one for the better part of a month, but I'm going to commit a bit of bookseller taboo and recommend it anyway. Conover is the author of three previous books that I've loved: the National Book Critics Circle Award-winning Newjack (when he was denied entry into Sing Sing prison for a story, he got a job as a prison guard there instead), Rolling Nowhere (he spent a season literally riding the rails with the last of America's hobos), and Coyotes (this should be required reading for anyone living in Southern California, as Conover repeatedly crosses the Mexican border, dodging the INS with illegal migrant workers). Routes (his first book in over a decade) is a series of six loosely linked essays about the culture of the road across the globe - how those roads connect us, divide us, and alter our world, for good or for ill. In his typical fashion, Conover doesn't just report on a story, researching from afar - he fully immerses himself in the issue, no matter the circumstances or discomforts. The first essay here is my favorite - "Forest Primeval to Park Avenue" - in which Conover travels the hard route taken by Peruvian mahogany as it is cut (often illegally) and taken overland through the mountains and jungles to be processed and sold as furniture, crown moldings, and cabinet doors in the United States. (My father was a cabinet maker, so I've always been curious, but I never really thought about all of the logistics involved.) From there Conover travels to India's Zanskar Valley ("Slipping From Shangri-La") to trek a footpath across the Himalayas only accessible when the river freezes, which literally frees the local teenagers to be able to walk out into the world at large. Then to the overland trucking route across East Africa ("The Road is Very Unfair") that has been the superhighway for the AIDS virus to spread across the globe. And on to the series of highways dotted with Israeli checkpoints across the whole of the borderland between Israel & Palestine ("A War You Can Commute To"). (That's as far as I've gotten, but the other 2 parts are about the burgeoning car culture in China, reminiscent of the 1950's in the US, and traveling the harrowing highways of Lagos, Nigeria in an ambulance.)

Conover has an unparalleled skill at giving the reader the sense of total immersion - really, due to his own personal immersion in the subject matter. This is not pedestrian journalism here - more in the vein of Sebastian Junger or Jon Krakauer - and his life is often as in danger as you would imagine it to be in such rough corners of our world. The reviews I have read (a couple have run in the New York Times, which is always a good sign) have all been positive, but have mildly complained about the overall cohesiveness of this book - Conover struggles to link all the narratives into his greater theme - but even the slightly negative press has recognized Conover's skill at writing the adventure/travelogue, which is what attracted me in the first place. Maybe he shouldn't have tried to link everything together thematically & just stuck with his real strength - straight-up, hardcore journalism, of which he has few peers.  Most definitely worth checking out.

Carpet Bagging

What's going down this week at Warwick's? Well, first of all, we're having new carpeting installed storewide! (Admittedly, the staff is more excited by this than you really should be.) So, just so you're aware,the place is going to be kind of chaotic when you stop by, but don't be afraid - we're still here to help! Look at all the great new titles we have to offer:

Hardcovers:

• House Rules by Jodi Picoult (headed for the top of the bestseller lists, of course, this one is about a teenage boy with Asperger's Syndrome who has a penchant for crime scene analysis - until the focus is turned around to him.)
• Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter by Seth Grahame-Smith (he's the guy who brought us the high art of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, so use your imagination here.)
• The House of Tomorrow by Peter Bognanni (Publisher's Weekly gave it a starred review: "an honest, noisy, and raucous look at friendship and how loud music can make almost everything better.")
• Noir by Robert Coover (the pioneering postmoderist tackles the crime novel - good review buzz thus far.)
• The Heights by Peter Hedges (first new novel in over 10 years by the author of What's Eating Gilbert Grape)
• The Teaberry Strangler by Laura Childs (not a lot of buzz about this cozy mystery, but I like the title.)
• The Shaking Woman or A History of Nerves by Siri Hustvedt (a memoir of personal neurological conditions by the acclaimed novelist - who also happens to be married to Paul Auster. I've always thought that a dinner party at their house would be very intimidating.)
• Silk Parachute by John McPhee (McPhee's latest collection of essays covers "lacrosse, long-exposure view-camera photography, the weird foods he has sometimes been served in the course of his reportorial travels, a U.S. Open golf championship, and a season in Europe 'on the chalk' from the downs and sea cliffs of England to the Maas valley in the Netherlands and the champagne country of northern France".)

Paperbacks:

• The Risk of Darkness by Susan Hill (the 3rd part in the "Simon Serailler" series - a favorite of Janet and Adriana)
• Grave Goods by Ariana Franklin (The NYT called it "richly detailed, almost indecently thrilling")
• Brooklyn by Colm Toibin (longlisted for the 2009 Booker Prize)

Happenings:

• Tuesday the 2nd at 7:30 we have the rescheduled event with Stephanie Tourles, author of Raw Energy: 124 Raw Food Recipes For Energy Bars, Smoothies, and Other Snacks to Supercharge Your Body.
• And on Thursday March 4th, acclaimed novelist Chitra Divakaruni returns to the store for her new novel, One Amazing Thing.

Gabriel Garcia Marquez turns 82 on Saturday.  John Irving and the late (but still publishing) Ralph Ellison were also born in the first week of March.

Ask Yourself This...

...what's the deal this week at Warwick's?
(February 21-27)  New Hardcovers:

• Split Image by Robert B. Parker (the first publication since Parker's death in January at age 77. His long-time editor Helen Brann said "Bob wrote five pages a day every day but Sunday every day of his adult life. He was very clear about it. No more and no less than five pages.")
• The Infinities by John Banville (Banville's first novel since he won the 2005 Booker Prize for The Sea. Publisher's Weekly gave it a big-time starred review: "The narrative is rife with asides, but it is to the common trajectory of a life that...it lends its most consoling notes, elevating the temporal and profane to the holy eternal.")
• You Say Tomato, I Say Shut Up: A Love Story by Annabelle Gurwitch & Jeff Kahn (the authors will be here for a signing on March 24th - stay tuned for details.) 
• The Tudors: The Complete Story of England's Most Notorious Dynasty by G.J. Meyer

New Paperbacks:

• Vienna Secrets by Frank Tallis (the next in Tallis's "Max Liebermann" series.)
• Shannon by Frank Delaney (Kirkus Reviews called it "a rousing tale of forbidden love, civil war, horrible death and other things Irish.")
• The Unforgiving Minute: A Soldier's Education by Craig Mullaney (West Point grad, Rhodes Scholar, Airborne Ranger in Afghanistan. Bob Woodward says it's "one of the most thoughtful and honest accounts ever written by a young Army officer confronting all the tests of life.")
• A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr ("Kerr’s Berlin Noir trilogy - considered a modern noir classic - has now been turned into a full-blown series by Mr. Kerr. Now in 1950’s Argentina, Bernie Gunther has been given a new life by the Perons, reluctantly joining the hidden ranks of exiled Nazis. When a disturbing case shows links to one he remembers from his more legit, pre-war days, the ever vengeful Bernie realizes that one of the Nazis in his midst is responsible for many of the ill turns his life has taken. The writing is extremely crisp, the dialogue sharp, and Gunther has more life in him than, well, most people I know. I thought Kerr couldn’t top the 4th book in the series, but this may be the finest in the series to date." -Seth)

Warwick's Happenings: a quiet week at the 'wick.

• Tuesday at 7:30, we have Wendy Craig-Purcell, CEO & minister of the Unity Center & author of Ask Yourself This. (Check warwicks.com for more details, of course.)

Sunday February 21st is the birthday of National Book Award-winning novelist Ha Jin - he has a new collection of short stories that's been getting some great press. Victor Hugo would have been 208 years old on Friday the 26th and Saturday is John Steinbeck's birthday, but you don't have to get either of them anything.

"As a rule, I think dead people should not continue to publish."

There is no industry on earth (apart from perhaps the petroleum business) that makes more money on the backs of the dead than publishing does. Think about it, some of your favorite writers are dead. Homer? Dead. Jane Austen? Dead. Well anyway, this is nothing new. Often the most cherished of our writers is not most cherished until they’ve passed on. What has changed in recent years is the growth of a controversial sub-genre within the dead author trade, and that’s the posthumous publication of unfinished works by prominent writers. This season we’ve seen unfinished works by Nabokov and Ralph Ellison, published in various states of disrepair. (The Nabokov book, The Original of Laura, is nothing more than 138 hand written index cards.  Despite the beautiful design of the book, which is a series of facsimile copies of the notecards, perforated, in case the reader wants to punch them out and rearrange them into their own post-modern, Nabokovian novel fragment, the book is flat out unreadable.) And coming next fall is David Foster Wallace’s final work, which supposedly exists in two distinct drafts, though it is as yet unclear which draft was the revision. The Wall Street Journal ran a great piece here about this recent wave and rather than parrot what they’ve said, we suggest you read it.

The fact that Nabokov left instructions to burn his unfinished manuscript upon his death got the staff around here wondering what is the right thing to do? To print or not to print? Or, what do you do with an author’s last wishes? Here’s a run down of what the booksellers at Warwick’s had to say:

Jim Stewart: If I really didn’t want my manuscripts printed I would have them torched way before I was bedridden and waiting for death. So if an author requests to have his unfinished or not yet published drafts destroyed, and hasn’t done it himself, he is reluctant to part with them. Subconsciously he does indeed want them published. To read an unfinished book the reader would have to be a big enough fan to enjoy the writing without finding out the ending. Hiring another writer to finish the book would require him or her to be named as coauthor. Robert Ludlum had written a series of Bourne books that have been popular, but I have no interest in reading Eric Van Lustbader’s books continuing the Bourne cash cow.

Barbara:  My example would be Suite Francaise by Irene Nemirovsky - her manuscripts were found years after she died. This book seems very unfinished to me - I think she would have wanted to polish edit it. But the book has sold well & people seem intrigued by both her novel and the story behind how the book came to be published. So, I'm conflicted!

Adrian: It's called "bottom-drawer publishing". It always smacks to me a little bit of...how do I say it? As a rule, I think dead people should not continue to publish.

Jamie: It's like digging up a grave & putting it in a museum.

Scott: I think the best argument in going against an author's final wishes would be the case of Kafka. If Max Brod had done what his friend asked of him we would be without The Trial and The Castle, two of the great classics of the twentieth century. That we have to trod upon the wishes and reputations of countless dead writers to get that one lost classic, well, in my mind it's worth all the bad karma. On the other hand, there is a difference between a posthumous unfinished novel and an unfinished manuscript. Books like the Nabokov are nothing more than curiosities for literary rubberneckers and though Nabokov once tried to destroy a version of Lolita, he was of sound mind when he said destroy The Original of Laura. If I am found dead before this blog entry is posted, please have my comments removed.

Since we first had the 'Dead Author' discussion at Warwick's, two more egregious examples of dead authors being exploited for the publisher's benefit have caught our attention. First, we discovered that inside the latest book in Robert Jordan's The Wheel of Time series there is a reproduction of Robert Jordan's signature on the title page. Innocent enough, were it not for the fact that Robert Jordan is dead and his wife selected another author to ghost write this book based on Mr. Jordan's notes. In other words, Robert Jordan autographed a book from the grave that he did not write. The only possible rationale from the publisher's point of view is to deceive readers into thinking Mr. Jordan was somehow involved in the writing of the book. Second, we have the most bizarre use of a dead author that we've ever seen. On the back of the latest John Irving novel there is a blurb from the great Canadian writer Robertson Davies. Davies says: "In his novels the still, sad music of humanity rises to the orgasmic uproar of a rock band." Great blurb, right?  Problem is, John Irving's novel the blurb appears on was published in 2009. Robertson Davies died in 1995.

What's Crack-a-lackin'? - This Week @Warwick's

What's new? I'll tell you what's new!

New books due out this week:

• The Man From Beijing by Henning Mankell (new stand-alone crime novel)
• Last Snow by Eric Van Lustbader (also writes Jason Bourne novels for the Robert Ludlum estate)
• Horns by Joe Hill (Stephen King's son, FYI.)
• The Death of American Virtue: Clinton vs Starr by Ken Gormley (ahh, ten years after...)
• Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard by Chip Heath
• The Secret History of the Mongol Queens by Jack Weatherford

New in Paperback:

• Little Bee by Chris Cleave (see event below)
• The Tourist by Olen Steinhauer (From Seth's hardcover staff rec: "Breathing fresh air into the spy novel without telling too predictable of a tale, Steinhauer creates a world with an unusual degree of what feels like actual reality...")
• Ballistics: Poems by Billy Collins
• Even the Dogs by Jon McGregor
• Bamboo and Blood by James Church

Warwick's Happenings:

• Lunch with Chris Cleave, author of Little Bee, at Burgundy on Thursday the 18th at 12:30.
• Warren St. John (right), author of the current One Book, One San Diego selection, Outcasts United: An American Town, a Refugee Team, and One Woman's Quest to Make a Difference will be at a super-special event at Isabel's Cantina on Thursday the 18th at 6:30pm.
• Oh yeah, Ozzy Osbourne will be here on Friday. No big deal. Check warwicks.com for event details or watch our helpful public service announcment video.

A Public Service Announcement Regarding the Prince of Darkness

The Ozzman Cometh.  Ozzy Osbourne, the Prince of Darkness himself, will be signing copies of his new memoir, I Am Ozzy, at Warwick's on Friday, February 19th beginning at 6:30pm.  Full event details are available here.  Please enjoy this professionally made video public service announcement concerning Ozzy's visit.

Picking Up The Postmistress

by Heather
I just wanted to call a little attention to a wonderful new book being released on February 9th. The Postmistress by Sarah Blake was one of those books I picked up, looked at, then promptly put aside because there was a) no horrific murder b) no fairies or vampires or c) it just didn’t look exciting enough. So that was pretty much it, I lifted it up, glanced at the cover, and threw it back on the pile…Until our rep came in, picked it up, and told me to read it. Now, usually if someone tells me to read something I look at them, roll my eyes like a rebellious teenager, and give a sarcastic response, but seeing as how I have fortunately grown out of my teen years, instead of dismissing him I asked the question “Why?” His response: "Because it’s a really good story, and I guarantee that you’ll love it." Well, because I trust him, I read it.

What can I say? He was right. The Postmistress is an amazingly well written and captivating novel. The story, which takes place in 1940, is just plain good. It’s at times deceptively simple, yet deals with complex issues such as war, the impending holocaust, guilt, love, and loss, smoothly, in a way that draws the reader in, making it difficult to put down (although, I do have to admit to putting it down briefly, when I was laid up in bed with a busted ankle). The Postmistress is a human story; one where the characters breathe like flesh and blood people and an era of fear and uncertainty is drawn beautifully. This novel, that I threw back on the pile turned out to be an addicting, suburb piece of literature, that fools you with its simplicity and goes on to create a wonderful reading experience.

So, on Tuesday, February 9th head on up to our front window and pick up this wonderful new novel. Enjoy its style, laugh, grieve, and thrill with its characters and have a fantastic time enjoying a truly superb story.

Coffee with a Bookseller, February Edition

Since I'm a glutton for punishment, I will be hosting yet another edition of "Coffee with a Bookseller" this coming Tuesday morning at 10am.  This time around, fellow bookie John Hughes will be joining me - unless he backs out at the last minute. (Hopefully, by posting this threat on the internet, John will realize that it is in everyone's best interests if he fulfills his promise to be co-host....) Anyway, John reads primarily nonfiction (I read 99% fiction) so we thought it might be a good idea to mix it up a bit - and this time, it will be more organized, focused, and will feature handouts for attendees to take home to study! We'll each be mentioning about 5 or 6 books that are new and noteworthy - things you may not have noticed before or authors you've never heard of, so come on down. Coffee and scones for everyone in attendance!

(Shameless self promotion: to see what I've been reading lately - as a way of enticing you to attend - you can always check out The Book Catapult!)

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Update 2/10/10: here's the list of books that John & I talked about -
John:
The Checklist Manifesto – Atul Gawande
I.O.U. – John Lanchester
An Artist in Treason – Andro Linklater
The Lost Books of the Odyssey – Zachary Mason
Privileges – Jonathan Dee
59 Seconds – Richard Wiseman
What the Dog Saw – Malcolm Gladwell
The Lady Queen – Nancy Goldstein
Art Instinct – Denis Dutton
The Whale – Philip Hoare
Drive – Daniel Pink

Seth:
Let the Great World Spin – Colum McCann
The Lost City of Z – David Grann
Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned – Wells Tower
The Farmer’s Daughter – Jim Harrison
The Routes of Man - Ted Conover
The Godfather of Kathmandu – John Burdett
Briefly mentioned:
The Postmistress – Sarah Blake
The Information Officer – Mark Mills
The Devil & Sherlock Holmes – David Grann (March)
If the Dead Rise Not – Philip Kerr (March)
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet – David Mitchell (June)

Are You Seth? vol.6

For the first volume of "Are You Seth?" for 2010, I have chosen the last book I read in 2009 - Colum McCann's Let the Great World Spin, winner of the 2009 National Book Award & a book that completely surprised me in it's brilliance and simple elegance.

I honestly had not noticed Let the Great World Spin much before it won the National Book Award. It had an interesting cover - a drawing of NYC by artist Matteo Pericolli - but ended up lost in the shuffle on the hardback tables at Warwick's. After the award, it was rushed to paperback by Random House, complete with a shiny gold "award winner" label & was given prominent display space in the front of the store. But it's one of those paperbacks that annoyingly does not have any plot synopsis on it's cover, so I pretty much ignored it, since I had no idea what it was about. Then I somehow stumbled across the old New York Times book review from August and my eyes were finally opened.

Those that know me - or have heard me blathering in Warwick's or have read my reviews in various places - know that I love novels with multi-layered, labyrinthine structures that try to engage the reader by tripping them up when they think things are safe and normal. I want to be challenged when I read fiction - the books that have a playful structure are always the ones that stick with me, long after I've closed their covers. Colum McCann has created just such a novel, with just such a structure, but in such a simple, subtle way, as to not confuse or alienate the reader - hence the massive award, I suppose. Jonathan Mahler said it best in his NYT book review, that this book "will sneak up on you", beginning "slowly and quietly on the other side of the ocean".

The story drifts easily between multiple narrators & differing storylines - all set somewhere around the day in 1974 when Philippe Petit walked his tightrope between the Twin Towers - while the characters float in and out of each others sections, showing the reader how easily all of our lives can be connected.

Ciaran & John Corrigan are brothers from Dublin, making their way on the mean streets of New York. John - "Corrigan" to everyone who knows him, even his brother - is a priest who forgoes all personal pleasures & ammenities in an attempt to make the lives of his local cadre of prostitutes slightly better. Claire Soderberg is the lonely Park Avenue wife of a city judge who's mourning the loss of her son in Vietnam through a women-only support group. She finds an unusual bond with Gloria, a middle-aged black woman whose three sons were killed in the same war. Lara is a recovering addict & a trendy Greenwich Village artist struggling with her identity in the wake of several drug-fueled years. Corrigan's van is hit on the FDR by Lara & her boyfriend, killing Corrigan's passenger, Jazzlyn. Jazzlyn's prostitute mother, Tillie, is sent to prison by Claire's husband, the Honorable Judge Soderberg, whose next case happens to be that against the tightrope walker, just brought to earth. Lara, crippled by guilt, seeks out Ciaran for reasons she's unsure of. Gloria, seeking a new meaning to her life, ultimately adopts Jazzlyn's two daughters, one of which seeks answers from Ciaran later in life.

All plots within are circular, wrapping around and through each other to create a magnificent, beautifully told tale of, well, life as a human being. It's at times a love letter to the city of New York and its multitudes, a polemic on the duplicitous nature of humanity, and an ode to the fallen Towers, in their innocent prime in '74. But more than anything, it is a story about people and how you just never know how your actions, thoughts, and prejudices affect those you come in contact with every single day. So, hang up that cell phone, look one another in the eye, and remember what our common bonds really are, because you never know who you might be talking to and how integral to your own life they just might be.

10 Books You Probably Have Not Read

by Heather
I’ve been looking around at all of those "best of 2009" lists that have been popping up on every website (including this one), TV show, or magazine trying to put together my own top 10 list of books in 2009, but after much thought and many variations, I’ve decided to ditch ’09 and present a list of 10 of my favorite books that most people have probably not read. It’s a mouthful, I know, but it’s my hope that someone will read this eclectic list and find a treasure.

So here they are in no particular order:

Titus Andronicus by William Shakespeare
Yes, I realize that this is a play, not a book, and it’s Shakespeare, so not that unheard of, but let me tell you all, this gruesome, brilliant, revenge-filled play is one of Shakespeare’s least known works. It’s gritty; there’s murder, rape, and general mayhem, cutting off of appendages, interracial affairs, war, politics, romance…I could keep going on. Mainly, this is my all time favorite of Shakespeare’s tragedies, the only one I can quote full passages from, and if you haven’t yet given it a whirl, well, you’re just not a true fan of The Bard.

How to be Lost by Amanda Eyre Ward
I’ve recommended this novel many times over the last several years and have been happy to see a few book clubs pick it up. The story of three young sisters, Caroline, Madeline, and Ellie, driven together to create a world of their own in order to survive a neglectful mother and alcoholic father only to be torn apart by the sudden disappearance of five-year-old Ellie. A tragic, yet humorous novel that explores the secret life of sisters and the coping mechanisms used to deal with an unexpected loss, How to be Lost is a read that touches the heart.

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Just because I love to mix it up. This is the ultimate in computer geek sci-fi & is a brilliantly written look into the not too distant future. Stephenson creates a world where high-tech pizza deliverymen work for the mob and sim-lives and avatars are more important than reality. Action, adventure, mystery, and murder make for one thrilling read. This is by far my favorite science fiction read from the last decade.

Jennifer Government by Max Barry
First of all, why haven’t you read this book? I mean, it has everything, murder, mystery, romance, and of course Marketing. Yeah, I said Marketing. Jennifer Government presents a world where PR and Marketing rule the very air you breathe, where your last name reflects the company you work for, your children’s schools are run by toy companies and fast food restaurants, your stadiums are named after large companies (oh, wait, that’s the real world), and corporations will do anything to make a sale, even kill. Sound familiar? No? Well, the next time you watch the Chargers at Qualcomm, or catch a foul ball at Petco Park, a bell just might go off. I’m kidding, sort of…but sarcasm aside, this is a great book, fun, with some fantastic twists, and a good laugh at the free-market system.

A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner
This is actually a short story, about 44 pages total, but it is one of my all time favorites. I don’t want to go over the plot too much, because it’s short enough that I could easily and inadvertently give away the ending, but think of old south, and what happens when a reclusive gentlewoman passes away, leaving behind an eyebrow raising mystery for a gawking town.

Mallory’s Oracle by Carol O’Connell
While not the best in the series (that would be Find Me), this is the first book in O’Connell’s "Detective Kathleen Mallory" series. I don’t usually like police procedurals, but this series is so unique that I can’t help but love it. Mallory, a math and computer prodigy, former street kid, and sociopath, was taken in as a young child by Detective Louis Markowitz and his wife. Now a brilliant, if slightly uncouth, police officer, she prowls the streets looking for her adopted father’s killer. Sounds simple, but that’s deceptive, in reality this novel and the series itself has depth, exploring the psychology of Mallory through the eyes of those surrounding her. I own every book in this series, and each copy is worn and very well read, can’t say that often which is why I recommend it here.

Movie-Made America by Robert Sklar
Yes, I read non-fiction, occasionally. Even if you’re not a huge movie fan you should take a look at this book. A cultural history, this book goes beyond looking at movies as an art form, taking in the history of the creation of film, the movie industry, production, distribution, regulation, and how it all came together to help shape America as we know it today. This history is surprisingly easy to read and full of interesting facts, taking a unique look at how something some consider as art, others as entertainment, has made such a large mark on American society.

Madam, Will You Talk? by Mary Stewart
Published in 1955, Madam, Will You Talk? is Mary Stewarts first novel and one of her best. Set in the south of France, post-WWII, the novel places an unsuspecting widow right in the middle of a murderous plot. Twists, turns, and one really great car chase make for an entertaining read by the one of the queen’s of the gothic romantic suspense genre.

Caucasia by Danzy Senna

This is one of the only books I had to read in college that I actually ended up loving. Set in the 1970’s, Caucasia is the story of Birdie, a young girl from a biracial family whose world is turned upside down when her parents divorce, leading to a split of Birdie, who looks more like her white mother and Cole, whose appearance is more African-American. As Birdie is forced to try and pass as white, and maneuver around her new life with an erratic activist mother, she longs to find a way to reconnect with her sister. Senna, whose background is extraordinarily similar to Birdie’s is an amazing writer who brings depth and humanity to her characters.

Just Ella by Margaret Haddix
I’ll preface this by saying that this is a teen novel. That being said, I love fairy tales, especially those that have been tweaked a bit. Not all are done very well, but in the case of this book, Haddix hit a homerun. A story that can easily be enjoyed by adults, Just Ella, is the story of Ella, the real Cinderella, a girl bored with castle life, and a rather dull, dimwitted Prince Charming, who yearns to move beyond the tired plotline and does. Totally original, this story enchants, but not with magic, with solid storytelling about what happens when you take your life into your own hands.

Coffee with a Bookseller, January Edition

In the interest of "coordination" amongst the vast array of web-related media outlets that Warwick's is participating in, this first post for 2010 is in the form of a quick shout-out announcement about the second edition of Coffee with a Bookseller!  That's right people, I, Seth Marko, will be LIVE and in person in the book department on the morning of Tuesday, January 12th (next Tuesday) at 10:00am to talk about what is new and exciting in the book world - as well as which awesome books you may have missed in 2009, not to mention the ones you should have gotten for Christmas from those relatives who missed the last Coffee with a Bookseller...  Coffee and scones to be provided by the good people at Brick & Bell Cafe next door - you can eat all you want for as long as you can stand listening to me. See you there!

The Best Books of 2009

In the generous spirit of the holidays, this week I posed the (impossible) question of "What was the best book you read this past year?" to the rest of my fellow Warwick's booksellers. The idea was that they could share with you, the reader, the books that they most enjoyed from this past year. Early responses were, well, mixed...

"Best book published in 2009?"
"What if the best book I read this year was from 1748?"
"I can't decide - there were too many I loved."
"I can't decide - I hated them all."
"Awwwww, c'mon!"
"I told you to stay away from me! You're fired."

Despite the hardship imposed upon them by this monumental question, most of us were able to come up with a favorite book from 2009!

James:  "I'm fudging a bit on my pick for the best book of 2009 since it was originally published in 1964. However, reading A Moveable Feast: The Restored Edition, I remembered how reading Hemingway shaped the way I write. All it takes is one true sentence and nobody did it better than Papa."

Adriana:  "Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. It's about a lonely boy who lives an isolated life with an even lonelier mother. They spend Labor Day weekend with an escaped convict and it changes their lives forever."

Heather:  "Why is the The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton one of the best books of 2009? Well, perhaps it’s because every member of the staff who has read it loves and raves about it to anyone who asks. Or, perhaps it’s because Kate Morton is an author who capably weaves a spellbinding tale, one that moves smoothly between time periods exploring the lives of three women and their mysteriously interlocking life stories. With alternating narratives that are gripping and brilliantly told, The Forgotten Garden holds the reader’s attention in a way few novels can. Simply put, it is mesmerizing and thus my favorite novel from 2009."

Emily:  "Her Fearful Symmetry by Audrey Niffenegger. I have a weird fascination with twins. And England. This is a (not scary) ghost story with a twisted aunt and a pair of English twins with a great surprise ending by the author of The Time Traveler's Wife. And its a lot better than The Time Traveler's Wife, by the way."

Alice:  "Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel, winner of the 2009 Man Booker Prize. For those who love Tudor history, a feast. The ever-fascinating story of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn, told through the life of an unlikely hero, Thomas Cromwell, chief of staff to Cardinal Wolsey and survivor of his fall to become Henry's divorce lawyer, trusted counselor, and, with Thomas Cranmer, architect of the English Reformation. Readers who remember Cromwell depicted as a conniving, remorseless, behind-the-scenes operator (A Man For All Seasons) will be startled to find in Mantel's character a Renaissance man - compassionate, sexy, and smart. Beautifully written, historically accurate and expertly realized, this novel will make you look at familiar Tudor characters in an entirely new light."

Vicki:  "Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom is a true story of hope, love, discovery, and personal reflection.  Albom reconnects with his former rabbi, Albert Lewis, who is ill and asks Mitch to write his eulogy.  So begins eight years of regular visits with Albert.  Along the way, Albom is sent to do a feature story on Christian Pastor Henry Covington, a former drug dealer and addict, whose faith has changed his life.  Albom's own faith had become one he didn't practice and one he didn't discuss.  Slowly, through his encounters with these two men, his perception of faith is changed.  Albom says, 'When things you assumed were going to be there forever are not there, you drift back to something you once had and you wonder why you let it go in the first place.'  This book has a timely message for all of us."

Margie:  "Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom. What a wonderful true story Mitch Albom has presented to us - with gratifying results. Have a Little Faith has made my beliefs in a higher power just that much stronger. We all need to have a little faith - not just in God, but in each other."

Jane:  "A Reliable Wife by Robert Goolrick - filled with great, suspenseful, seductive writing. A great fiction debut."

Rhonda:  "The Natural Laws of Good Luck: A Memoir of an Unlikely Marriage by Ellen Graf.  Ellen Graf, a sculptor living on a farm in upstate New York, decided to travel to China to meet her friend's brother.  Almost immediately in spite of a serious language barrier, they decided to marry.  Was it lust or love at first sight?  Neither.  It was a leap of faith unlike anything I have ever read.  Even better, this book is a true story.  Graf's memoir is a beautiful illustration of what those marriage vows of  'For Better or Worse, For Richer or Poorer, In Sickness and In Health' really mean."

John:  "Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide. In evocative and moving prose, Kristof and WuDunn present a persuasive case that solving many of the world’s problems rests with reducing and, hopefully, eliminating the oppression of women. Throughout the book, they present harrowing stories of women and girls, but many of these stories are ones of hope and triumph over adversity. These stories also point the way to improving the global situation of women through education and microfinance. The authors hope that they will help to create a movement and offer a tool kit and examples for people who do want to participate. Quite simply, one of the most well-written and important books I’ve read."

Barbara:  "The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver tells the story of a sensitive, young Mexican-American boy who is born to write. An avid journal-keeper, his diaries become increasingly more interesting as he becomes involved with Frida Kahlo, Diego Rivera, Leon Trotsky and the People's Revolution in Mexico. When he finally returns to the US, he writes the novels he was meant to write, becomes famous and again becomes embroiled in the political hotbed of the McCarthy era."

Janet:  "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet by Reif Larsen. I loved this book!  T.S. is gifted & precocious, wise beyond his years, but still, all-in-all just a 12-year-old boy. Travel with him by train across America as he runs away from his home in Montana to Washington, D.C. to receive a Smithsonian honor. Share his adventures along the way as he finds out about the elements of life that can't be mapped or diagrammed."

Scott:  "2666 by Roberto Bolano.  Every great independent bookstore has that young self-important firebrand of a bookseller who thinks that Roberto Bolano is the next great immortal of the outlaw canon of literature.  I so didn't want to be that bookseller, but I have to say 2666 fullfills my criteria for a masterpiece.  I have no idea what it's about, but that it creates its own unique, poetic, beguiling world that I found to be unlike anything I've ever read.  It is a meditative, dreamlike labyrinth through the author's own journey towards death.  Forget the hype, dismiss the tabloid nature of his biography and read this book, if you read any Bolano."

Seth:  "Tough call between T.S. Spivet and this, but the title says it all: Everything Matters! by Ron Currie, Jr. Imagine that you were born with the absolute, unquestionable knowledge that the world would end in a fiery comet collision somewhere around your 36th birthday. How would you live your life knowing that everything you say, think, or do is relatively futile – or at least decisively finite? Would you throw it all away, would you try & save the world, or would you just...live? This was a book that completely caught me off guard – both with Currie’s brilliant narrative crafting and with the story’s powerful, raw humanity. Sharp, intelligent humor permeates every page & is the driving force behind it all – without laughter, the very idea of this would be too morose & depressing. Instead, Junior’s life story makes for one of the most original & compelling novels I have read in a long while. It’s rare that you read a new novel & come out the other side knowing that it will become one of your all-time favorites...."

Dear Mr. Oliver, It's Time For A Cholesterol Check. . .

On Wednesday, December 9th, Jamie Oliver's latest cookbook, Jamie's Food Revolution, was put through a rigorous real-world kitchen test, in the first of our Warwick's staff cookbook-themed potlucks.  Mr. Oliver's new book is directed towards wholesome, hard-working folk that don't have a lot of time to cook but love anything with Bacon fat in it.  Sounds like the staff at Warwick's!  What better way for booksellers to get to know a cookbook than to take it for a test drive?  Unfortunately, like the Ford Edge, this one is getting mixed reviews.  Jamie, we still love you, but a 'lug' of olive oil?  Really?  And man, you've got to put down the stick of butter.  Still, no one left the building hungry and, despite a criticism here or there, dishes did not go untouched.  Here's a run down of what was made, with chef commentary and photos (which definitely do not do the food justice):



Adriana made Chicken Tikka Masala:

"Although tasty, the recipe as written was too watery, and needed doctoring.  Overall, I would recommend it if you want a tasty curry and don't have a lot of time."



Phoebe made Camembert Pasta:

"Cheese and pasta, my favorite.  Camembert, garlic, rosemary and olive oil, all melted and gooey.  Delicious.  Easy.  Will definitely make it again."




Kim made Mega Chocolate Fudge Cake:

"Could have done without the nuts.  Loved the 'Squidgyness' factor, but it definitely needed the vanilla ice cream."



James made Beef and Ale Stew:

"Leave it to Jamie to show me one more way to consume ale. I made his Beef and Ale Stew recipe even easier by using a slow cooker for 8 hours on low. However, the wonderful aromas made it hard to sleep."



John made the Creamy Leek Bake:

I decided to make the "baked creamy leeks" because I found the picture of it one of the more appealing pictures in "Jamie's Food Revolution." I mention this only because the photography in this book leaves much to be desired. It seems that in an effort to make this cookbook comfortable and friendly for ordinary folks, the producers of the book have made a series of design decisions that hinder cooking: lists presented in paragraph form, cluttered photographic presentation, and less intimidating (that is, less colorful) photographs. Add to this the decision to abandon, in several instances, standard measures in favor of quaint expressions like "a lug of olive oil" and "a pat of butter." It is genuinely a shame that a cookbook with so many good and simple recipes has to be encumbered by these bad production and editorial decisions. The quality of the recipes became most evident to me at our potluck where all of the food on offer proved quite yummy. The leek dish I prepared is a surefire crowd pleaser as long as that crowd does not contain vegetarians or people shying away from excessive calories. Heavy cream and cheese make a decadent backdrop to leeks seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic, and thyme. The dish was easy to prepare. Do make sure you have the right size casserole or earthenware dish; the depth of the leek concoction (1 inch) is critical to the dish's success.

Scott made the Parsnip and Ginger Soup:

"It was not a terribly thrilling vegetable pureed soup, despite my hopes for something unique because of the ginger and parsnip.  The carrots, celery and onions just turned this into veggie soup with a hint of ginger, but most folks seemed to like it.  In a book of bad photos, this and the leek bake looked the best.  Jamie's soup chapter has a section of soup add-ons, like bacon, grated cheese, croutons, and other calorie bombs, and if I make this again I'll be backing the 'ol flavour truck up to the pot.  Honk, honk!"



Nancy Warwick made Carrots in a Bag and the Mini Shell Pasta with a Creamy Smoked Bacon and Pea Sauce:

"I love to cook but, almost by instinct, I'm opposed to the "chef-centric" cookbooks. I don't like a provocative picture of the chef, instead of a beautiful picture of the dish, next to the recipe I'm trying to prepare. I'm all about the food.  Having said that, a few years back I found myself sneaking home a copy of Jamie Oliver's "Naked Chef". With cover hidden from my family, I tried out some of the recipes. I was delighted with the results. When we received the most recent Jamie Oliver cookbook, "Jamie's Food Revolution", we decided it was the perfect choice for a staff test potluck-- the collection of recipes are easy to prepare, diverse and utilize affordable ingredients. The result: A number of employees described it as our best potluck ever (and there have been many)!  The one drawback of the cookbook is that many of the recipes depend on a lot of butter and oil. I thought about my own eating habits, which is to eat lean and healthy most of the time, and then splurge on some extravagant dish at home or at a restaurant. Jamie's book reminded me that great comfort food can be as satisfying as the most complex and involved of culinary inventions."


So, that's a run down of Jamie-palooza 2009.  We might do this again, so any cookbook suggestions would be helpful.  And no, we did not hire a professional photographer for the food shots.  Of course, neither did Jamie.