Adult Fiction

They’re Not What They Seem…

/ Kaitlin / Leave a comment

Can you figure out what these women have in common?

AlanaAlanna: The First Adventure by Tamora Pierce “I did this because I wanted to become a knight.”

 

 

Jacket.aspxShadowbridge by Gregory Frost “I did this because I needed to protect myself.”

 

 

Jacket.aspxThe Education of Bet by Lauren Baratz-Logsted “I did this because I wanted an education.”

 

 

jacketA Soldier’s Secret: The Incredible True Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero by Marissa Moss “I did this because I wanted to escape from my previous life and fight for a cause.”

 

 

Jacket.aspxTwelfth Night by William Shakespeare “I did this because I needed a way to live.”

 

 

Jacket.aspxDisney’s Mulan “I did this because I needed to protect my family.”

 

 

Jacket.aspxBloody Jack by L.A. Meyer. “I did this because I wanted to sail around the world.”

 

 

Jacket.aspxSelf-Made Man by Norah Vincent “I did this because I wanted to learn about how men live.”

 

 

Jacket.aspxRowan Hood: Outlaw Girl of Sherwood Forest by Nancy Springer “I did this because I was searching for my father.”

 

Ouran

Ouran High School Host Club by Bisco Hatori “I did this because I was in debt.”

 

 

Did you guess? Women disguised as men. They were disguised so they could fight for themselves or their families, protect themselves when they were all alone in a man’s world, and earn an education, which they would have been denied otherwise. Each and every one of these is absolutely fascinating. Do yourself a favor and work your way through this list!

Do you have any favorite books/movies/plays with this subject that did not make this list?

Book Recommendations from Beyond

/ Mary / Leave a comment

No, this isn’t an April Fool’s joke.  New Books Alerts brought a surprise to my inbox recently.

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Did you catch it? Not the book itself, although I did rush out to the shelves to see if it was there. The review. It is 2016 and a New Book Alert showed up with a review by none other than the great (and very late)  Dorothy L. Sayers, author of the beloved Lord Peter Wimsey mysteries.

Jacket2      Jacket3      Jacket4     Jacket4

Now those who are not devotees of British crime fiction may never have heard of Miss Sayers, but to me her name was as eye-catching as a five-star review. She wrote the Lord Peter series between 1923-1937, twelve books in all. (If you are interested, author Jill Paton Walsh added four more titles to the series, bringing the Lord Peter tales to sixteen.)

JacketBy the way, the book, Death of an Airman by Christopher St. John Sprigg, was on the shelf, so now I have a new story to read, recommended by an author, long gone but yet, still very much here. And that is one of the things I love about books. Old friends, both authors and characters, never completely leave us.

 

The Oscars of Audiobooks – the Audie Awards

/ Louise / Leave a comment

I am a big audiobook fan, and I’m not the only one! Audiobooks sales are booming. In fact, audiobooks are the fastest-growing segment in publishing . Much of this surge in popularity can be related to the increasing popularity of the digital download,  though most audiobooks are available in both cd and digital formats. The production quality of audiobooks has also increased dramatically in recent years, with accomplished performers bringing their talents to the audiobook realm. Not surprisingly, publishers are producing more and more audiobooks – look how the publication of audiobooks has grown:

Capture1Recently, the Audio Publishers Association released their finalists for the 2016 Audie Awards. Once a smallish gathering of industry insiders, the Audies have taken on a lot more prestige these days. You might call them the Oscars of the audiobook world! There are a total of 135 audiobooks in 25 categories competing for awards this year, and the winners will be announced at the annual Audies Gala on May 11. We own many of the nominated titles, here are some in the most popular categories:

imageBest Female Narrator:

imageBest Male Narrator:

imageNarration by Author:

Mystery:

imageFiction:

imageNon-Fiction:

You can see the list of finalists in all categories, and even hear short sound clips, here.

 

Does It Really Have To End ‘Happily Ever After’?

/ Linda / Leave a comment

beginnings

I’m a big reader of contemporary romances – the proverbial ‘happy ever after’ stuff.  For a change of pace, I’ve decided to read books that end not quite so happy.  Here’s a selection of titles.

rainwaterRainwater – Sandra Brown – In a time of drought and economic depression in 1934, Ella Barron runs her boardinghouse in Texas while caring for her son, Solly, and responds to the calm influence of one of her boarders, David Rainwater, while facing the tension and uncertainty around her.

 

pilots wifeThe Pilot’s Wife – Anita Shreve – When her husband, a pilot, dies in an airplane crash off the Irish coast, Kathryn Lyons finds herself in the media spotlight as rumors abound of her husband’s shocking secret past.

 

english patientThe English Patient – Michael Ondaatje – Portrays the convergence of four damaged lives in a bomb-riddled Italian villa in the last days of the war.

 

awakeningThe Awakening – Kate Chapin – In turn-of-the century New Orleans, Edna Pontellier, a woman who feels trapped in her stifling role as wife and mother, falls passionately in love with another man.

 

me beforeMe Before You – JoJo Moyes – Taking a job as an assistant to extreme sports enthusiast Will, who is wheelchair bound after a motorcycle accident, Louisa struggles with her employer’s acerbic moods and learns of his shocking plans before demonstrating to him that life is still worth living.

 

time travelTime Traveler’s Wife – Audrey Niffenegger – Passionately in love, Clare and Henry vow to hold onto each other and their marriage as they struggle with the effects of Chrono-Displacement Disorder, a condition that casts Henry involuntarily into the world of time travel.

 

my sisterMy Sister’s Keeper – Jodi Picoult – Conceived to provide a bone marrow match for her leukemia-stricken sister, teenage Kate begins to question her moral obligations in light of countless medical procedures and decides to fight for the right to make decisions about her own body.

 

art of racingThe Art of Racing in the Rain – Garth Stein – Evaluating his life on the eve of his death, atypical canine Enzo considers the sacrifices his master, Denny Swift, has made in his pursuit of becoming a professional race car driver, and the dog’s own efforts to preserve the Swift family.

 

bridgesBridges of Madison County – Robert James Walker – On assignment shooting the covered bridges in Iowa, photographer Robert Kincaid falls in love with Iowa native Francesca Johnson during four days of love, magic, and beauty.

 

girlThe Girl With The Pearl Earring – Tracy Chevalier – A poor seventeenth-century servant girl knows her place in the household of the painter Johannes Vermeer, but when he begins to paint her, nasty whispers and rumors circulate throughout the town.

Time Travel Stories, That are NOT Science Fiction

/ Sharon Tyler / 1 Comment

time-travelEver wish you could slip away to another time or place? Want to see how things really were during your favorite era of history or perhaps take a peek at a future that might not yet be written in stone?

I have always been intrigued by the notion, but no matter how much I enjoy science fiction I have never been a fan of books that paired the two. You might think that any book that has time travel is automatically science fiction, but this is far from the truth. While the two often overlap, there are many other kinds of books that feature time travel. There is a genre of time travel romance, sometimes magic or other aspects of the story trigger the travel, and sometimes in fiction it just happens.

Here are some of the best books I have seen that feature time travel, but are not science fiction.timet1

The Impossible Lives of Greta Wells  by Andrew Sean Greer
To alleviate her suffocating depression after the death of her twin brother and the break-up with her long-time lover, Greta Wells embarks on a radical psychiatric treatment that has an unexpected side effect, which transports her to the lives she might have had if she had been born in a different era.

Night Watch: a Novel of Discworld by Terry Pratchett
timet4Flung back in time by a mysterious accident, Sam Vimes has to start all over again. He must get a new name and a job, and there’s only one job he’s good at: cop in the Watch. He must track down a brutal murderer. He must find his younger self and teach him everything he knows. He must whip the cowardly, despised Night Watch into a crack fighting force – fast. Because Sam Vimes knows what’s going to happen. He remembers it. He was there. It’s part of history. And you can’t change history…timet2

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
Hurtled back through time more than two hundred years to Scotland in 1743, Claire Randall finds herself caught in the midst of an unfamiliar world torn apart by violence, pestilence, and revolution and haunted by her growing feelings for James Fraser, a young soldier.

11/22/63 by Stephen Kingtimet3
Receiving a horrific essay from a GED student with a traumatic past, high-school English teacher Jake Epping is enlisted by a friend to travel back in time to prevent the assassination of John F. Kennedy, a mission for which he must befriend troubled loner Lee Harvey Oswald.

Now & Then by Jacqueline Sheehan
Her life spinning out of control to the point timet5that she wakes up one day among her Irish ancestors in 1844, Anna struggles to find her way home while navigating a time and culture completely foreign to her, a situation that is further complicated by her troubled teenage nephew.

More books that include time travel without being science fiction, but I did not have room for above, include: The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger, Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel, Orfeo by Richard Powers, The Shining Girls by Lauren Beukes, The House on the Strand by Daphne Du Maurier,  Replay by Ken Grimwood, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Mark Twain, Timebound by Rysa Walker, Morrigan’s Cross by Nora Roberts, and 1632 by Eric Flint.