Newtonville Books Community Blog

December 31, 2008

To Savor in Snow

Filed under: Staff Pick — @ 2:02 pm

It’s snowing here in Newtonville again. A lot. When folks walk in the door, snowhaired, bootstomping, and asking for a snowy day read, I always say the same thing: Zadie Smith, On Beauty.

I can’t help myself. I think that book on a snowy weekend was my best reading experience ever. I was living on Cape Cod, my house lost power in a storm, and I laid in front of the fire and read by candlelight for two straight days. It was all far too quaint.

Even without weather it’s a fantastic book, but I’ve a special jealousy aimed at anyone curling up with On Beauty for the first time on a day like this. You won’t forget it.

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December 27, 2008

This Republic of Suffering: Death and the American Civil War

Filed under: Staff Pick — @ 12:19 pm

Drew Gilpin Faust’s in-depth study of the death toll of the Civil War is an engaging and illuminating look at the bloodiest war in American history.  At 368 pages, it’s not too intimidating to pick up, and its quick pace sets it apart from other historical excavations of the war.  Ranked on the New York Times’ top 10 notable books of 2008 list,  Republic of Suffering is a great read both for civil war buffs and those new to the subject.

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December 23, 2008

Entertainment Weekly Best of Lists

Filed under: Literature News — admin @ 1:35 pm

The always-entertaining Entertainment Weekly offers up their best-of-2008 lists below, featuring some familiar titles along with some new ones. Three of the authors–Elisa Albert, Margot Livesey, and Ann Hood–read at the bookstore in 2008.
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Fiction
1. SAY YOU’RE ONE OF THEM, Uwem Akpan
2. THE BOOK OF DAHLIA, Elisa Albert
3. OLIVE KITTERIDGE, Elizabeth Strout
4. LUSH LIFE, Richard Price
5. BOTTOMLESS BELLY BUTTON, Dash Shaw
6. THE HOUSE ON FORTUNE STREET, Margot Livesey
7. DISQUIET, Julia Leigh
8. THE STORY OF EDGAR SAWTELLE, David Wroblewski
9. AMERICAN WIFE, Curtis Sittenfeld
10. WHAT HAPPENED TO ANNA K., Irina Reyn

Nonfiction
1. BEAUTIFUL BOY, David Sheff
2. NIXONLAND, Rick Perlstein
3. THE FOREVER WAR, Dexter Filkins
4. PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION, Mark Harris
5. THE BIN LADENS, Steve Coll
6. BOTTLEMANIA, Elizabeth Royte
7. THE AGE OF AMERICAN UNREASON, Susan Jacoby
8. COMFORT, Ann Hood
9. THE NIGHT OF THE GUN, David Carr
10. STATE BY STATE, Edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey

December 22, 2008

PEN New England Nature Writing Event

Filed under: Uncategorized — admin @ 2:16 pm

PEN New England & the Harvard Museum of Natural History
present

NATURE AND THE WRITTEN WORD:
A Roundtable Discussion on the Task and Craft of Nature Writing

Thursday, January 29th, 6:30 PM
Harvard Center for the Humanities
12 Quincy Street, Cambridge

How can writers best engage and inspire public concern for wildlife, nature, and
conservation? Join us for a roundtable discussion with four of New England’s most
prominent natural history authors as they tackle this and other important questions.

Featuring:
Sy Montgomery, author of The Good Good Pig
Katy Payne, Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants
John Elder, Reading the Mountains of Home
Moderated by Dale Peterson, Jane Goodall: The Woman Who Redefined Man

Free and open to the public. Reception to follow…

December 21, 2008

January reading series at Pine Manor

Filed under: Events — admin @ 6:43 pm

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For those of you looking for literary inspiration in the dark days of January, be sure to check out the Solstice MFA Winter reading series at Pine Manor College, which is free and open to the public!

THE SOLSTICE MFA IN CREATIVE WRITING OF PINE MANOR COLLEGE

ANNOUNCES ITS JANUARY READING SERIES

[Chestnut Hill, MA, November, 2008] The Solstice MFA Program announces
its Winter Reading Series, taking place January 2-9 in the Founder’s
Room of Pine Manor College, located at 400 Heath Street in Chestnut
Hill. Authors’ books will be available after all readings; cash-bar
receptions will follow the readings on January 7 and 9. *Plenty of free
parking!

Friday, January 2 at 7:30 p.m. Amy Hoffman & Dzvinia Orlowsky

Amy Hoffman (author of the memoirs Hospital Time and An Army of
Ex-Lovers) & Dzvinia Orlowsky (author of four poetry collections, most
recently Convertible Night, Flurry of Stones).

Saturday, January 3 at 7:30 p.m. Meg Kearney & Laura Williams McCaffrey

Director and poet Meg Kearney (author of An Unkindness of Ravens and The
Secret of Me) & Laura Williams McCaffrey (author of Alia Waking and
Water Shaper).

Sunday, January 4 at 7:30 p.m. Tanya Whiton & Sandra Scofield

Program Administrator and fiction writer Tanya Whiton & Sandra Scofield
(National Book Award Finalist for Beyond Deserving; author of seven
novels, a memoir, and a craft book).

Monday, January 5 from 4:30-5:30 p.m. Graduating Student Readings

Tuesday, January 6 at 7:30 p.m. Ray Gonzalez & An Na

Ray Gonzalez (author more than 15 books, including The Underground
Heart: A Return to a Hidden Landscape) & An Na (author of The Fold; Wait
For Me; and A Step From Heaven).

Wednesday, January 7 at 7:30 p.m. Terrance Hayes & Naomi Shihab Nye

Terrance Hayes (author of Hip Logic, Muscular Music, and Wind in a Box)
& Special Guest Naomi Shihab Nye (author and/or editor of more than 20
volumes, including the National Book Award Finalist 19 Varieties of
Gazelle: Poems of the Middle East and the recent Honeybee).

Thursday, January 8 from 4:45-5:45p.m. Graduating Student Readings

Thursday, January 8 at 7:30 p.m. Laban Carrick Hill & Venise Berry

Laban Carrick Hill (author of America Dreaming: How Youth Changed
America in the 60s) & Venise Berry (author of four novels, including the
forthcoming Pockets of Sanity).

Friday, January 9 at 7:30 p.m. Steven Huff & Randall Kenan

Steven Huff (author of two poetry collections and the forthcoming short
fictions, A Pig in Paris) & Randall Kenan (author of several books of
fiction and nonfiction, including Walking on Water: Black American Lives
at the Turn of the Twenty-First Century and The Fire This Time).

Directions to Pine Manor College, complete bios of our authors, and more
information about the Solstice MFA in Creative Writing Program can be
found at www.pmc.edu/mfa.

Five Books To Give Yourself This Year

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sylvia @ 11:19 am

NPR.org December 19, 2008

by  Karen Grigsby Bates

You’ve shopped for the family, put up the tree, baked the kugel, prepped the brisket and mailed off your packages. Now give yourself a present: time alone with a good book. I read scads of them over the year, and these five would be particularly good company if and when you manage to grab a little quiet time during all the holiday chaos. (If you’re feeling extra-generous, they’re good presents for other people, too.)

AW

1.) American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld, hardcover, 558 pages, Random House, list price: $26

 TG

2.) Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas, paperback, 336 pages, St. Martin’s Press, list price: $13.95

ISYE

3.) I See You Everywhere by Julia Glass, hardcover, 304 pages, Knopf, list price: $24.95

 UA

 4.) Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri, hardcover, 352 pages, Knopf, list price: $25

MAR
5.) Mrs. Astor Regrets: The Hidden Betrayals of a Family Beyond Reproach by Meryl Gordon, hardcover, 336 pages, Houghton Mifflin, list price: $28

Please see below for descriptions and links to read excerpts:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=98381111

December 14, 2008

Stephanie Plum Series by Janet Evanovich

Filed under: Staff Pick — Sarah @ 1:03 pm

Any of the books in the series from One for the Money to Fearless Fourteen are a great read! Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter who always seems to find herself in wacky situations where things never seem to go right but always end up working out for the best! Stephanie Plum and the rest of the characters in her novels are fun, flawed and totally endearing. These mysteries are quick, entertaining reads – perfect when you want a good story!

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December 10, 2008

The Lady Elizabeth

Filed under: Staff Pick — Sylvia @ 8:53 pm

TLE 

Can’t get enough of the Tudors? Me either. My latest craving was thoroughly satiated from The Lady Elizabeth by Alison Weir. Weir, an accomplished historian and nonfiction author, has taken a hand at historical fiction and she does it marvelously. The life of Elizabeth is chronicled from age 2, when she asks her governor, “Why is it that yesterday you called me Lady Princess, and today just Lady Elizabeth?” to when Queen Mary dies and Elizabeth is finally crowned Queen Elizabeth. Weir draws on her extensive scholarship of the era and virtually everything that occurs on the novel holds true to historical records. Weir paints a fascinating and vivid account of Elizabeth’s life. This book was a true pleasure.

December 9, 2008

Best Book Covers of 2008

Filed under: Uncategorized — FormerDrew @ 12:22 pm

Here are some of Newtonville Books’ favorite book covers of the past year!

December 6, 2008

Another movie based on a book!

Filed under: Uncategorized — Sarah @ 1:37 pm

Tis the season for movies based on books . . . we have Despereax, Dewey, Twilight and now Marley and Me starring Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson coming out December 25! The movie is based on the book by John Grogan – you should also check out the children’s books A Very Marley Christmas and Bad Dog, Marley!

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