August Book Club Selection

The month of August had turned into a griddle where the days just lay there and sizzled. —Sue Monk Kidd, The Secret Lives of Bees

Couldn't have said it better myself, Sue. Plenty of sizzle going on around here. Yesterday we hit a balmy 117. No matter though because Tray and I are beach bound in a matter of weeks. That's right, our annual beach trip is on, and there's a definite skip in my weary step. Throw your best at me world, I can take it as long as my calendar shows some Tray time ahead.

Tracy and I take vacationing seriously. As in if you're the vacation-agenda-making type, you seriously can't come with us. The one thing we do plan is which book we want with us in that beach chair and this year's pick is The Curious Charms of Arthur Pepper by Phaedra Patrick. Here's hoping we'll all be charmed by Arthur who's described as bumbling and endearing, sweet but not saccharine. Sounds like the perfect book to beat the heat this August.

Posted by Rachel

The Hope of a Good Book

I Read; I Travel; I Become. —Derek Walcott

Forgive me, Reader, for I have succumbed.  It’s been three months since my last confession.  I may or may not have gone into Costco in search of staples like bread and butter (not the Liquid Plumr), and found myself buying books.  I said I was after staples, right?  So my actions seemed entirely appropriate.  Normally, I can muster up some restraint, but I admit I was defenseless.  

Here’s how I justified buying not one or two but three books. (After all, it is the magic number.) Our family reunion, happening in one week, is at Bethany Beach.  Like the siren’s song, the Atlantic is calling me to come hither.  It’s beckoning me and my books to find home on his shore and plunge into pages when I’m not in the sea.  Reason enough.  But then there’s the FACT that Rachel and I sneak away from our jobs and better yet, our troubles, to head to Cali for a weekend.  It’s the most relaxing thing I do all year long.  And though I heard doubt in her voice a few posts back, it’s going to happen.  I’m sending Knee Deep her way today so she remembers that we owe it to ourselves to find the key to paradise.

That was ample justification. There is always this beautiful truth: the hope of a good book is gratifying in and of itself. So I give my dollars away and put promise squarely on my library shelf.  Here are the 3 books that beguiled me:

Brown Girl Dreaming by Jacqueline Woodson (given it away to several (including Rachel), never purchased for myself)

Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry by Mildred D. Taylor (40th anniversary special edition)

Our Souls at Night by Kent Haruf (I’ve read great reviews about this one)

Posted by Tracy

The Last Bookstore

"...printed books are magical, and real bookshops keep that magic alive." —Jen Campbell, The Bookshop Book

Sometimes the world seems gloomy, but then you're reminded there are still people like Josh Spencer and you instantly feel better. This man is magical. I'm thinking a Two at Twenty-Seven road trip is in order. Who's with us?

*Don't be scared off by the video's length, it will be the best twelve minutes of your day.

Posted by Rachel

Weekly Wrap-Up

You pierce my soul. I am half agony, half hope...I have loved none but you. —Jane Austen

WHAT WE LOVE THIS WEEK

Jane. In case you haven't noticed, she's a favorite around here. Ms. Austen died 199 years ago, on July 18, 1817. She was only 41. Let's just think about that for a minute. Forty-one and she'd already written six novels. Way to show us all up, Jane.

Our new search feature. We're all about making it easier for you to find a book you're interested in pronto so nothing comes between you and your next favorite read. Thanks mighty intern! On your mobile device, just scroll to the bottom and you'll find that cute search bar.

Tom Hanks' taste in books. We spy some books we've loved on his list and a couple we've been eyeballin'.

This is proof-positive of the power of a good title.

This list has us hankering for a beach day where nothing comes between us, the ocean, and a good book.

COMING NEXT WEEK

The Last Book Store.

We're launching our new book rating system—just one more way we're making it easy for you to find your next favorite read.

A Swashbuckling Good Tale

This is my favorite book in all the world, though I have never read it.

It's hot. As in stifling. As in not fit for human habitation. And it's only getting hotter. We're supposed to hit 115 by Saturday. It's this time of year that I always look around and think, "Who would live here?" Oh yeah, me. Just so we're clear, it's under duress. With no annual beach trip with Tray on the books yet, what's a girl to do but crank up the AC and reach for an escape read? (Post power bill, I won't be able to afford a beach trip anyway.)

No more whining, promise. Just a raving review of William Goldman's The Princess Bride, our Book Club selection for May (yes, May...if you're shocked by this, read here). The premise of this book is genius: an abridgement of a nonexistent novel by a purely fictional S. Morgenstern. Goldman is so convincing that even though I'd read in reviews that an unabridged edition didn't exist, I still had to stop reading and google it to be sure. It's no wonder that after the book's release in the seventies (for you youngins, that's pre-internet times), the publisher received thousands of letters requesting copies Goldman's version of the reunion scene between Westley and Buttercup that he claimed the Morgenstern family sued to keep out of the book.

Bottom line: if you loved the movie, you'll love the book even more. No surprise there. What may be a surprise is how closely the movie followed the book—must be a perk of being an award-winning screenwriter. If you're in the mood for a swashbuckling good tale and some hearty laughs, this is your book.

Posted by Rachel

Be Still Our Book-Loving Hearts

Book nerds > dreamboats. #girlfacts —Victoria Carlin

Image: Luna Photography / Victoria Carlin / twitter / mashable composite

Stop what you're doing and read this story on Mashable. It will make you swoon from the pure romance of it; you may even get teary-eyed. I certainly did. For reference purposes, I also cried/wept while watching Will and Kate's wedding and I'm not ashamed to admit it. When Harry looked back to sneak an early glimpse of Kate, and then leaned over to tell Will how lovely she looked? Who wouldn't sob over that?? Well brace yourselves, darlings, for Johnathon and Victoria. London, love, and a bookstore. Need I say more?

Posted by Rachel

Chasing Harmony

If my life was to be just a single note in an endless symphony, how could I not sound it out for as long and as loudly as I could?

I refuse to watch the news.  The headlines are replete with haunting examples of hate and divisiveness.  Makes me wish for the ghosts of Beatles past to appear and give us another heartfelt round of All You Need is Love. Imagine. Maybe that’s our challenge as human beings—to figure out how to stop judging because in the end, we’re pretty bad at it most of the time. Maybe we have to get our childhood eyes back? That’s what Lauren Wolk has me thinking after reading her moving debut novel Wolf Hollow.  

While I may be a coward when it comes to the news, I am a brave reader. Wolf Hollow revolves around serious themes like cruelty, bullying, injustice, and persecution. Sounds heavy I know, but at the heart of this story is a persistent hope and an admirable empathy. Readers have the good fortune to grow with eleven-year-old Anabelle who quickly learns about the impact of a lie, the necessity of looking at somebody’s heart in lieu of their outward appearance, and the power friendship has to transcend life itself.  I agree 100% with New York Times best selling author Sarah Pennypacker (who wrote Pax, a book I’ve been eyeballing that Rae instinctively gave me for my birthday): “The honesty of Wolf Hollow will just about shred your heart, but Annabelle’s courage and compassion will restore it to you, fuller than before. This book matters.”

P.S. Like The Book Thief, this novel is important not just for young adults but for everyone with a heart in their chest.  Both boast lovely prose. 

Posted by Tracy

In Search of Silver Linings

I slipped my hand into hers. A strange and unfamiliar feeling ran through me. It felt like the ocean, like sunlight, like horses, like love. I searched my mind and found the name for it: joy.

Yesterday, Book Riot posted an article entitled How to Read When the World is Terrible, and then today, things got even more terrible. What do you read when the news gets heavy? Maybe it's the silver-lining girl in me, but I tend to reach for books that lift. Reads that remind me the good still outweighs the bad in this sometimes weary world. Kimberly Brubaker Bradley's The War that Saved my Life is such a book. And one that I can't recommend loudly enough.

Make no mistake, this book is hard to read at times. Bradley took Madeleine L'Engle's advice to heart: "You have to write the book that wants to be written. And if the book will be too difficult for grown-ups, then you write it for children." Like any children's book worth its salt, there's no sugarcoating here. Don't let that scare you or your children off though, because this story is hope. You'll cry, you'll cheer, you'll shake your head in anger and then in wonder. And you'll fall in love with Ada, Jamie, and Susan. I guarantee it.

Posted by Rachel