Jamie Dornan
Jamie Dornan will portray Christian Grey in the movie version of Fifty Shades of Grey. The 31 year old actor currently stars on ABC’S “Once Upon A Time”. He was also a former Calvin Klein underwear model. The role originally called for a salary of $125,000 – which is quite low for this type of high profile part. Negotiations are still underway, so time will tell if Dornan will be able to command a higher salary.
I am continually awed by the power of classics, a genre so often scoffed by those who think classics have no importance or relevance in our contemporary lives.
Main Street by Sinclair Lewis
How wrong they are.
Our September pick for the Cheshire Cats Classics Club was Main Street by Sinclair Lewis, not to be confused by Upton Sinclair, who wrote The Jungle. Main Street is the story of Carol Kennicott, a city girl who dreams of making over a small town. She has high ideals, lofty thoughts, and big hopes.
She marries Will Kennicott, a small town doctor and they move to the Midwest town of Gopher Prairie, Minnesota (based on Lewis’ hometown of Sauk Center). When Carol first see Gopher Prairie, she is horrified- it’s so small town, ugly, and provincial. She immediately hates her new home.
Main Street is essentially the story of Carol and her foibles, misdoings, and failed attempts at making Gopher Prairie more modern and less offensive, in her opinion. But more than that, it is the story of one young woman and her attempts at fitting in, a task she never accomplishes. In her efforts to modernize and bring culture to Gopher Prairie, Carol offends, bulldozes, and in general doesn’t understand the ways of the town.
There is a lot to Main Street, many characters and stories, all of which are rich and full. You know these people, because these people are in your town, your city, your village. Yes, Lewis does stereotype and characterize, but stereotypes so often have truth behind them.
Lewis writes in a contemporary voice, witty, and satirical in a way that is meant to hit you at your core. Which in Gopher Prairie are you? Are you Vida? The Red Swed? Mrs. Bogart? Lewis attacks the “perfect” small town lifestyle that people told still hold dear. The ideal that everything is SO much better in suburbia, nothing bad ever happens, and everyone just loves one another. Oh, how wrong we are to still believe this falsity. Lewis cleverly attacks gender roles, government and bureaucracy, religion, friendship, marriage, and the bonds that tie us together.
Lewis made me laugh, made me rage, made me think, and came pretty darn close to making me cry, when several main characters die (small spoiler alert!).
I haven’t been touched, angered, or thought so much by a book in a while. Highly recommend.
Rating: 5 stars (and you know how stingy I am with my 5 stars!)
See you in the stacks,
Jenn
Jill Shalvis
New York Times and USA Today bestseller Jill Shalvis is the award winning author of over four dozen romance novels, including her sexy contemporary and award winning Lucky Harbor series. Forever and a Day was one of Amazon’s Top Romances for 2012). She won a Rita for Simply Irresistible and is a 3-time National Readers Choice winner as well. She also has one of the best author websites that includes her wonderfully entertaining and hilarious blog. She posts everyday and it is well worth your time to check it out.
On October 16th, Ms. Shalvis was a guest contributor to the Huffington Post’s Book section with her list of her favorite “alpha males” in fiction. Of course her number one alpha male is her husband, but her list includes some good picks. How many do you agree with!
1. Roarke – From JD Robb’s In Death series
2. Jamie – Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
3. Heathcliff from Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
4. Hawk from Mystery Man by Kristen Ashley
5. Wrath from Dark Lover by JR Ward
6. Wolf from Mackenzie’s Mountain by Linda Howard
7. Piers Yelverton from When Beauty Tamed The Beast by Eloisa James
8. Archangel Raphael from Nalini Singh’s “Angel” series
9. Nick Allegrezza from Truly Madly Yours by Rachel GIbson
10. Ranger from Janet Evanovich’s “Stephanie Plum” series.
The Today Show announced on October 16 their new selection for their book club, Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones: Mad About The Boy.
In a triumphant return after fourteen years of silence, Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy is timely, tender, touching, page-turning, witty, wise, outrageous, and bloody hilarious. Bridget Jones stumbles through the challenges of loss, single motherhood, tweeting, texting, technology,and rediscovering her sexuality.
Helen Fielding
The “Today” selections, chosen every four to five weeks, will have stickers on their covers indicating their inclusion in the club. The books, chosen by a team of producers and the show’s co-hosts, will include both fiction and nonfiction, newly released titles and classics. Discussion groups and excerpts will be featured online.
Who says you can’t read and drive? Here are some new audiobooks available at CPL that can help liven up a dreary commute…
MaddAddam by Margaret Atwood, read by Bernadette Dunne, Bob Walter and Robbie Daymond. The conclusion to the dystopian trilogy that includes Oryx and Crake and The Year of the Flood. Months after the Waterless Flood pandemic has wiped out most of humanity, Toby and Ren have rescued their friend Amanda from the vicious Painballers. They return to the MaddAddamite cob house, accompanied by the Crakers, the gentle, quasihuman species engineered by the brilliant but deceased Crake. At the center of this novel is the extraordinary story of Zeb’s past, which involves a lost brother, a hidden murder, a bear, and a bizarre act of revenge.
The People in the Trees by Hanya Yanagihara, read by Arthur Morey , William Roberts, and Erin Yuen. In 1950, a young doctor signs on with an anthropologist for an expedition to a remote island in search of a rumored lost tribe. They succeed, finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers they dub ‘The Dreamers,’ who turn out to be fantastically long-lived but progressively more senile.
The Cuckoo’s Calling by Robert Galbraith, read by Robert Glenister. A brilliant mystery in a classic vein: down-on-his-luck private detective Cormoran Strike investigates a supermodel’s apparent suicide. The Cuckoo’s Calling is a crime fiction novel by J. K. Rowling, published under the pseudonym Robert Galbraith.
Mistress by James Patterson and David Ellis, read by Kevin T. Collins. After the beautiful Diana Hotchkiss is found murdered outside her apartment, an obsessive man, Ben, discovers she was leading an illicit double life.
W is for Wasted by Sue Grafton, read by Judy Kaye. Wasted lives, wasted time, and wasted opportunities are at the heart of this twenty-third entry in the long-running Kinsey Millhone series, which reveals how the deaths of two very different men impact Kinsey’s life.
True Love by Jude Devereaux, read by Tavia Gilbert. Jude Devereaux launches the brand-new Nantucket Brides series. The story follows young Alix Madsen, a brokenhearted architect student, who unexpectedly becomes the owner of a quaint little Nantucket property, and she soon starts falling for the charming architect living in the guest house. But even with all the romance in the air, she becomes aware that Kingsley left the house to Alix in order to help solve an old family mystery.
Still Foolin’ ‘Em : Where I’ve Been, Where I’m Going, and Where the Hell are My Keys by Billy Crystal, read by Billy Crystal. Hilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America’s favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career.
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