The list came out and I haven't shared it with you yet. Three of the ten titles, I have already talked about so I am not going to do more than mention that they were on the list. The others are a mixture of things including 2 nonfiction and 2 short stories.
First on the list is Seven Days of Us by Francesca Hornak. It focuses on the family of the Birches. Andrew is a journalist turned restaurant critic who hides in his study; Emma, his wife, quit her career to raise the family; and two grown children, Phoebe and Olivia. Olivia has been missing the few last Christmases but this year, she is forced to come home because she returned home from Liberia where she was doing relief work among disease bearing natives and required to be in quarantine for 7 days to make sure she would not spread the disease. Phoebe recently became engaged and she is occupied with planning the perfect wedding. A family who never communicated normally forced to be together for 7 days straight. All were holding back secrets also. Would anything good come out of the week?
The next three I will just list as I have talked about each of them in a previous week:
The Last Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
The Last Ballad by Wiley Cash
The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain
On to new ones, Caitlin Doughty has the first of two nonfiction works, From Here to Eternity: Traveling the World to Find the Good Death. Doughty's first book was Smoke Gets In Your Eyes. As a mortician, she has experience. It this title she discusses death cultures around the world. One reviewer says "Doughty makes the morbid very readable".
Next Alice Hoffman's The Rules of Magic. This title is a prequel to Hoffman's best seller, Practical Magic. The story focuses on Sisters, Franny and Jet and their brother, Vincent. Their mother tried hard to keep them unaware of their natural abilities but once they are sent to visit their aunt, nothing can prevent it. One reviewer said "I loved everything about it - the writing, the characters, the places/" And another said "...utterly compelling, exquisitely told, and really just so fantastic."
OK, Tom Hanks, YES that Tom Hanks, has written a book of short stories. Uncommon Type are short stories about, as reviewers have said, characters that he would like to play on film. Most reviewers loved it but a few were not impressed although they agreed that Tom Hanks can write.It doesn't seem fair, does it. Too much talent in one person.
Gabrielle Union has her collection of essays, We're Going To Need More Wine, on the list. It is important to note that this is NOT a memoir but a collection of essays. They cover all sorts of topics that a modern woman today in Hollywood would want to cover. Reviewers have said "she writes with grace, heart and energy.
Joe Hill, Stephen King's son, has Strange Weather on the list. This is subtitled Four Short Novels but I count is in the short stories genre. However, this work reinforces that fact that his mind is not all that different from his fathers. One of the stories is about it raining nails!!!! Another about a man who goes on a parachute jump and lands on a solid cloud with no way to get off. If you want to be frightened, this seems like a good place to start.
Lastly, Jennifer Egan has Manhattan Beach on the list. This is Egan's first historical fiction according to sources. Reviews have been some good, some OK. This is the story of Anna, whose father disappears after dealing with the local gangster, Dexter Styles. Anna takes care of her family by becoming a diver, repairing naval ships during WWII. However, she is fixated on finding out what happened to her father. If you are interested in the culture of the time in New York - this is for you.
There you go. Perhaps you understand why I said it was a mixture of things - and a strange mixture at that. Hope there is something here that interests you.
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